Bensonhurst's Downzone
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STILL LOOKING FOR A SUMMER CAMP? TURN NOW TO PAGE 14 BROOKLYN’S REAL NEWSPAPERS Including The Bensonhurst Paper Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington St, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2005 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 20 pages •Vol.28, No. 26 BRZ • Saturday, June 25, 2005 • FREE Bensonhurst’s downzone set Dyker Heights rezone is next / Tom Callan / Tom By Jotham Sederstrom time around in the interest of saving time. our neighborhoods,” the mayor said in a The Brooklyn Papers Redrafting the entire neighborhood all at prepared statement. “As a result, residents once, said City Planning spokeswoman will know that my administration hears The City Council on Thursday Rachaele Raynoff, would have taken in- their concerns about out-of-scale develop- approved a zoning initiative intended spectors twice the time to survey. ment in Bensonhurst and is working hard to to scale back much of Bensonhurst, a The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn Upon Bloomberg’s final approval, the prevent it.” neighborhood that, like most of south- plan will cover an area bounded by Bay But before moving forward with the re- Brooklyn second baseman Armand Gaerlan scores in front of Yankees catcher P.J. Pilittere in the eighth in- west Brooklyn, has experienced an Parkway and 61st Street to the north, Mc- maining parts of Bensonhurst, City Planning ning of the Cyclones 10-7 Opening Night victory at Keyspan Park in Coney Island. onslaught of new condominium Donald Avenue to the east, Avenue U to the officials say they will likely move forward development over the past decade. south and Stillwell Avenue to the west. The with plans to down-zone Dyker Heights. Praised this week by Mayor Michael rezoning establishes height limits where Centered between Bensonhurst and Bay Bloomberg, the 120-block zoning plan came low-rise housing predominates while elimi- Ridge, the largely one-, two- and three-fami- before the full council on June 23, putting to nating the potential for uncharacteristically ly home neighborhood has attracted new in- rest a breezy four-month journey from certi- large medical storefronts and buildings de- terest from condo developers warded off by fication to law that took only half the time a signed for mixed commercial and residen- zoning changes on either side. similar initiative in Bay Ridge did. tial use. Councilman Vincent Gentile said this B’KLYN IDOLS “All in all it’s what we really wanted,” While commercial corridors along por- week that plans to rezone Dyker Heights said Howard Feuer, district manager of tions of Bay Parkway, Kings Highway, could be certified by September or October. Community Board 11. “We knew there Highlawn Avenue and avenues O and T From there, the plan would course through Clones beat Yanks, take opener would be developers that would try to come would flourish, three quarters of the plan the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Pro- in and overdevelop Bensonhurst, and now would safeguard detached and semi-de- cedure, a roughly seven-month process that By Vince DiMiceli that won’t happen.” tached housing by limiting new develop- requires hearings before and recommenda- The Brooklyn Papers Feuer said that, far from over, he and ment to 35 feet and under. tions by Community Board 10, Borough It was deja vu all over again. others would now seek to complete a sec- “This rezoning helps fulfill my promise President Marty Markowitz, the City Plan- ond zoning plan for the remaining portions to protect the city’s primarily low-density ning Commission and the City Council. And again. And again. And of Bensonhurst, which Department of City neighborhoods by ensuring that new devel- Kristin Guild, a City Planning representa- again. Planning officials said was left out the first opment does not change the character of See ZONING on page 17 For the fifth time in their five- year history, the Brooklyn Cy- clones took the season opener, this time with a 10-7 victory over the hated Staten Island Yankees. In front of the largest crowd ever to make its way into Keyspan Park, Mookie Wilson’s SLAM! squad put on a show featuring timely hitting, aggressive base running and, minus three errors, some excellent glove work. / Gary Thomas TISH But it was Jesus Gamero’s two-run homer off the left field scoreboard in the seventh, which put the Clones up 6-4, that gar- RIPS nered the biggest cheer of the The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn night from the crowd of 9,303. Brooklynite and former “American Idol” contestant Constantine Maroulis, The Clones went to work on left, who sang the National Anthem and “God Bless America” Monday the base paths early when, in the GIFF night, with Pee-Wee (center) and a sheared Sandy the Seagull. See OPENER on page 6 BROOKLYN’S BEST CYCLONES COVERAGE: PAGE 6 Ready for a close-up Callan / Tom Noted filmmaker focuses on Hynes, O’Hara The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn By Jotham Sederstrom Gifford Miller The Brooklyn Papers By Jess Wisloski An award-winning documentary film- and Neil Sloane maker, whose previous work includes The Brooklyn Papers exposes of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Enron, has his Letitia James is no fan sights set on Brooklyn, in particular Dis- of Gifford Miller. trict Attorney Charles Hynes. And, the councilwoman said Following up this year’s “Enron: The this week, she wants to make Smartest Guys in the Room,” filmmaker Alex that point perfectly clear in Gibney said light of mailings to Democrats that he had Callan / Tom in her district — paid for by already am- EXCLUSIVE taxpayers — that imply an al- assed hours liance between the City Coun- of footage cil speaker, who is running for for a documentary starring John Kennedy mayor, and the Fort Greene- O’Hara, the Sunset Park man convicted of Papers The Brooklyn Prospect Heights legislator. voter fraud six years ago. At the June 12 co-naming of 16th Avenue in Bensonhurst for Rita Blau are her husband, It’s not so much that the The film, he said, intends to follow the for- Ira, and daughters Nicole Effress and Michele Buffolino. mailings carry the air of im- mer perennial political candidate as he strug- propriety — despite emanat- gles to reverse his conviction, which O’Hara ing from the City Council maintains was ordered by Hynes as a favor to they amount to little more Park Slope Assemblyman James Brennan. than campaign literature for To Hynes and his allies, however, the as- the Upper East Side council- yet-untitled documentary couldn’t have come man — although that, too at a worse time: Gibney said that while a long Not just 16th bothers James. No, in this case shot, the documentary could be finished in it is the implication that the time for release just before the Democratic councilwoman is an ally of primary in September, where Hynes for the Once neighbors, an actor and a 9-11 someone who supports a proj- first time in his 16 years as DA faces a ect which she has risked her crowded field of challengers. politcal career fighting — de- “I think its an important story with nation- / Greg Mango / Greg victim now share a Bath Beach street veloper Bruce Ratner’s pro- al implications,” said Gibney, who is also fol- See TISH RIPS on page 7 lowing former Hynes challenger Sandra Rop- By Jotham Sederstrom unveiling of “Rita Blau Way,” in memory of a er, who last month pulled out of the race and The Brooklyn Papers mother of two who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 instead will run for a civil court judgeship. attack on the World Trade Center. “The larger story is how do citizens make When the memory of the late actor Thus, where once was simply a sign declar- a difference, and how do governments get en- Papers The Brooklyn Vincent Gardenia was honored more than ing “16th Avenue” now also stand signs pro- trenched in ways that defy political stereo- John O’Hara and his lawyer, Barry M. Fallick, are filmed by docu- 10 years ago, naming 16th Avenue claiming “Vincent Gardenia Boulevard” and types,” said the filmmaker. mentary cameraman outside Brooklyn Supreme Court Wednes- between 86th Street and Cropsey Avenue “Rita Blau Place.” While perhaps confusing to Although he has been filming O’Hara since day. Film will focus on O’Hara’s conviction for voter fraud and sub- after him, friends, family and neighbors visitors, the trio of signage, say some, stands as January, Gibney said he was still unsure what sequent battle to clear his name. rejoiced. And why not? Despite a half- a reminder of the neighborhood’s abundance of direction the project would take. Fluent in both century acting career in films including personality, talent and goodwill. television and film, the New Jersey resident PAGE 9 “Moonstruck” and “The Hustler,” the “This is a first, but we didn’t even think about said that he hadn’t decided if the documentary it,” said Howard Feuer, district manager of Com- Callan / Tom would be best suited for the big screen or, say, Italian immigrant never let go of his Bath munity Board 11. “We just did it. This is a hero, the Public Broadcasting System. Bluegrass legend Beach roots — let alone his home around this woman, so it was a no-brainer. And Vincent The Enron documentary, said Gibney, the corner. Gardenia was a talent, absolutely.” played in 1,200 theaters nationwide, to audi- Del McCoury to play So it seemed a case of deja vu when last The result is something akin to Four Corners, ences who called the film “shocking.” Celebrate Brooklyn week those same neighbors gathered on the the only spot in America where the boundaries of Papers The Brooklyn See MOVIE on page 7 corner of 16th Avenue and Bath Avenue for the See 16TH AVE on page 18 Letitia James ©The Brooklyn Papers.