July 26–August 1, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 11
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Angry commuters sign
petition against express
New pizza joint for W’burg
Photos by Caroline Ourso
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By Elizabeth Winn
Brooklyn Paper
A new gourmet pizza joint
fired up its ovens for the first
time in Williamsburg on July
13, dishing out calzones, salads,
and nearly 1,600 free
margherita pizzas to hungry
locals during a saucy
grand opening bash!
Brooklyn pizza lovers
called MidiCi’s fancy-pants
pies a nice change of pace
from the standard New York
City slice.
“It was wonderful!” said
guest Jacob Goldberg. “We
don’t have a lot of that Neapolitan
pizza in New York
and this just felt cleaner, less
doughy and not as greasy. It’s
gourmet style pizza.”
Restaurateurs Mitch Hymowitz
and Jeannie Scalzo
have always considered entering
the pizza business, but
it wasn’t until a few years ago
that they decided to pursue
their passion in earnest, and
(Above) Jacob Goldberg and Sami Mauskopf grab a
slice of MidiCi’s margherita pizza on opening night.
(Left) Line Cook Jean Jennot and General Manager
Dave Schafer hold up a freshly baked pie.
their passion led them to a N.
Fourth Street storefront between
Bedford and Driggs
avenues.
“With the vibrant culture
and amazing food scene,
Williamsburg was naturally
our first choice when
deciding to open our restaurant,“
said Hymowitz.
But it was more than their
love of pizzas that led them to
the Brooklyn hipster Mecca,
and Hymowitz has deep roots
in the neighborhood.
“My father Seymour grew
up in Williamsburg and it has
remained a very special place
for our family,” he said. “It’s
a bit of a homecoming really
and we couldn’t be more
thrilled to bring MidiCi to
Brooklyn.”
Business naturally slowed
following the free pizza giveaway,
but Hymowitz hasn’t
let that discourage him, he
said.
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
More than 650 scorned
straphangers signed a petition
opposing the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s
plan to run express F
trains through brownstone
Brooklyn.
Councilman Brad Lander
(D-Park Slope) delivered the
signatures to transit head
Andy Byford at the MTA’s
monthly board meeting on
Monday — arguing that the
scheme throws commuters
living between Cobble Hill
and Windsor Terrace under
the proverbial train in an effort
to shorten ride times for
southern Brooklynites.
“The current proposal adds
no train service whatsoever.
It simply eliminates service
during rush hour at six local
stations — some of the busiest
and most used ones on the
line, stations that already experience
severe overcrowding,”
Lander said at the July
22 meeting.
The Transit Authority says
adding additional trains to
make the arrangement work
is impossible due to signal
constraints that require long
spaces in between trains.
Instead, the plan calls for
four existing local trains —
two Manhattan-bound trains
in the morning, and two Coney
Island-bound trains in the
evening — to be converted
to run express between Jay
Street-Metrotech and Church
Avenue stations during weekdays.
Between those stations,
the express F train would stop
at Seventh Avenue only, while
bypassing six other stations
A
F
Councilman Brad Lander (D-Park Slope) delivered a
petition to the MTA with more than 650 signatures
opposing the transit agency’s plan to run express F
trains through brownstone Brooklyn.
in a service expected to debut
this September.
Lander said the potential
benefit to commuters would be
minuscule, arguing that catching
the limited express trains
would come down to luck.
“You’d have to be like a
lottery winner — more than
a lottery winner — to get the
benefits,” he said. “You don’t
really know which days that
you’ll be able to save the upto
six minutes.”
Assemblywoman Jo Anne
Simon (D-Cobble Hill) joined
Lander in criticizing the Transit
Authority at Monday’s
meeting, echoing his claim
that the MTA is not adding
service, but reducing it.
“Getting on those trains
now is next to impossible. It
will be even more difficult if
we are skipping two trains in
the morning, and two trains in
the afternoon,” she said. “We
should be adding service, not
reducing service — anywhere
in the system.”
Even the Transit Authority
agrees that the F express would
hurt more riders than it would
help, according to Lander, who
pointed to a 2016 study published
by the MTA that concluded
52 percent of riders
would face longer commutes
under the new plan.
However, the Authority’s
report notes that riders who
do benefit from the new express
service will save more
time on average — about 3.4
minutes — as compared to
other commuters, who will
only lose 1.3 minutes.
Southern Brooklyn politicians
defended the express F
train, claiming uptown straphangers
can wait the extra
minute to ensure their longsuffering
southern neighbors
get to work on time.
“We’re asking some people
in New York City to wait on a
platform for approximately a
minute more — those who live
closest to Manhattan,” said
Kalman Yeger (D-Borough
Park). “In exchange, those who
live further away will see their
commutes reduced.”
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