6
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, DECEMBER 29, 2019
2019 REVIEW
Continued from Page 4
Goose chase: Subway riders
on the Q-line were unexpectedly
diverted to an express route between
Prospect Park and Kings
Highway on Feb. 4 because of a
goose shacking up on the tracks
near Parkside Avenue.
Close call: A young man survived
a bullet to the head when
he was shot outside a Flatlands
diner on the afternoon of Feb. 17.
Cold Case: The feds opened
an investigation into the management
of a federal prison in
Sunset Park after over 1,600 inmates
were left without heat
in the dead of winter, sparking
weeks of protests outside the
prison. The federally operated
detention center was later sued
by the Federal Defenders of New
York for subjecting prisoners to
“inhumane” conditions when it
failed to restore heat and power
after anelectrical outage.
Sail La Vie: Party boats were
offi cially banned from docking
in Sheepshead Bay in February,
as part of an effort to eliminate
the rowdy crowds in the neighborhood.
MARCH
St. Patty: The borough’s St.
Patrick’s Day parade formally
welcomed LGBTQ marchers for
the fi rst time in the march’s 44-
year history.
Whipped: Dominatrix Charlotte
Taillor chose to relocate her
Bed-Stuy pleasure dungeon after
an intolerant neighbor vilifi ed
her during a months-long harassment
campaign.
On the lamb: Drivers on
the Gowanus Expressway made
room for a wayward baby lamb
that found her way onto the
Queens-bound side of the highway
in Sunset Park on March 13
— likely fl eeing a bloody death at
the hands of a butcher.
APRIL
Bad pot luck: The state Legislature
approved its $175 million
budget without including Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to create
a legal weed market in New
York on April 1. The state’s chief
executive attributed the setback
to disagreements over how the
drug would be taxed, where the
money would go , and safety concerns
raised by law enforcement
and constituents.
Guilty: A jury convicted
22-year-old Brooklyn man Chanel
Lewis of murdering Queens jogger
Karina Vetrano on April 2.
Lewis was found guilty of brutally
beating and choking Vetrano
who went out for a run a
few blocks from her 84th Street
home in August of 2016.
Out-house: Dozens of Sunset
Park families were left without
a home after a fi re gutted
the top fl oor of their 44th Street
apartment complex on April 3.
Residents were forced to wait
for more than a day to regain
access to their units, unsure of
the damage to their apartments
and property, and unaware if
their pets had escaped the blaze
as they awaited for fi refi ghters
and building inspectors to allow
them inside.
Measles outbreak: Mayor
Bill De Blasio declared a public
health emergency on April 9 at
the Brooklyn Public Library’s
Williamsburg Branch following
an outbreak of the measles virus
in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish
communities, where nearly 300
people fell ill. The mayor’s statement
required residents of four
Williamsburg zip codes to seek
vaccination or alternately face
Department of Health violations
and fi nes costing as much as
$1,000 per unvaccinated person.
Cold cuts: Park Slope Key
Food butchers found themselves
locked out of work amidst union
negotiations with the grocers
corporate overlords, who replaced
the unionized workers
with scabs while they picketed.
MAY
Flooded with cash: The city
revealed plans to reconstruct a
huge portion of Gerritsen Beach
in May, seeking to undo the damage
done by Hurricane Sandy
in 2012 to the neighborhoods already
pitted roads. The $6.6 Million
project would also enhance
the area’s storm preparedness.
Rest in peace: Former Sheepshead
Bay Councilman Lew Fidler
died on May 5 at the age of
62.
Disgraced: A federal judge
sentenced State Sen. John
Sampson (D–East Flatbush) to
fi ve years in prison for stealing
$440,000 while working as a
court-appointed referee for foreclosure
proceedings.
New face: City Councilwoman
Farah Louis won the special
election for the council seat
vacated by Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams on May 14.
No shelter: Park Slope residents
reacted with fury to plans
for a new homeless shelter that
would serve families on Fourth
Avenue at a meeting in May. Locals
shouted down and booed
city offi cials, who they accused
of bailing out developers.
Toxic tides: Toxic blue-green
algae infested Prospect Park in
late May, forcing locals to take
extra precaution to avoid the
hazardous material — which
can give you a rash, and even kill
furry canines, according to offi -
cials with the State Department
of Environmental Conservation.
No-moratorium: Utility
company National Grid instituted
a months-long moratorium
on new gasoline customers in
Brooklyn, Queens, and parts of
Long Island in May after state
regulators nixed a plan to build a
massive pipeline off the coast of
Coney Island. Hundreds of customers
were left without gas —
including would-be businesses
that couldn’t open — because of
the power struggle between Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s administration
and the British-based
utility, which operates under
a state-granted monopoly. National
Grid eventually caved,
agreeing to hook up new customers
in late November — and pay a
hefty fi ne to affected businesses.
JUNE
The Brooklyn Way: Rapper
Biggie Smalls was honored on
June 10 with the co-naming of
St. James Place as “Christopher
‘Notorious B.I.G’ Wallace Way.”
Renter rights: Brooklyn
renters celebrated a landmark
agreement on June 14 that limited
landlords’ ability to jack up
rent and deregulate rent-stabilized
apartments, among other
provisions favoring tenants.
Hammer beats gavel: On
June 14, former Community
Board 6 District Manager Craig
Hammerman was found not
guilty in Brooklyn Supreme
Court on charges of using bogus
documents to give himself
pay-raises from the city which
totaled more than $16,000 annually.
If found guilty, the civic
leader could have faced up to
seven years in prison for using
the signature stamps of two CB6
chairmen to issue himself four
salary bumps over a three-year
span. But Hammerman maintained
that he had been authorized
to use the signatures for
community board business — a
defense the jury accepted.
Hank’s closes — again:
Downtown Brooklyn dive bar
Hank’s Saloon shut down its Adams
Street location on June 16
because the new landlords of Hill
Country Food Park — the food
hall where the watering hole had
operated for fi ve months — gave
away their spot to another business.
JULY
Shots fi red: NYPD Chief of
Department Terence Monahan
slammed Brooklyn District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez at a Manhattan
press conference on July
8 for putting gunmen back on the
street. The police chief specifi -
cally criticized the prosecutor’s
youth diversion program where
offenders between the ages of 14
to 22 who plead guilty to weapons
possession charges can partake
in an 18- to 24-month educational
program in place of incarceration.
The district attorney’s offi
ce fi red back that instead of
Father Joe DeVincenzo expressed concerns
that a proposed families shelter
would affect his property values at a
meeting in May. Photo by Colin Mixson
This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 by Brooklyn Courier
Life LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements, articles, and photographs may not be reproduced, either in
whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address
changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, Third Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Continued on Page 8
Blue-green algae infested Prospect Park in late May.
Department of Environmental Conservation