Under New Management Judge Takes Running of Troubled Senior Residence from Owner
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Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2015 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn, Williamsburg & Greenpoint AWP/16 pages • Vol. 38, No. 19 • May 8–14, 2015 • FREE ‘THEY FAILED ALL OF US’ Traffi c deaths deserve more attention from cops and prosecutors, says husband of victim By Noah Hurowitz The Brooklyn Paper Police need to do a better job investigating drivers who mow down pedestrians, says the hus- band of a woman who was killed by an unlicensed — and possi- bly drunk — driver on a Clinton Hill street in 2011. The widower lashed out at the cops who bun- gled the examination of his wife’s death so badly her alleged killer was never brought to trial. Jake Stevens damned police on Sunday during a memorial ser- vice for Clara Heyworth at the site of her death at the age of 28, calling them out for not ensuring the driver who killed ever saw a Stephan Keegan day behind bars. (Left) Jake Stevens, husband of the late Clara Heyworth, “F--- the police,” Stevens said watches as road safety activists paint a memorial near while standing at the corner of where a car fatally struck her at Dekalb and Vanderbilt av- Dekalb and Vanderbilt avenues, enues in 2011. where Heyworth was run down as he watched helplessly. “There has creased regulations to hold killer criticized as a lack of investiga- not been, and there will never be, drivers accountable for their ac- tion of such deaths. An orga- ever, any justice for Clara.” tions. Activists painted a pair of nizer said they have shifted to The widower called on cops rose-studded angel wings on the making memorials less confron- to do a better job investigating pavement. tational since Mayor DeBlasio be- traffic deaths and ensuring fu- Stevens has filed a civil suit gan taking road safety more seri- ture traffic deaths get the atten- against the driver. ously with his so-called “Vision tion they deserve. “We are here for those that The memorial was organized Zero” initiative, which aims to by Right of Way, a road safety end pedestrian fatalities in the come after us, not for those we Seel Alex lost,” he said. group that calls attention to bike city but, he said, there is still a Heyworth died in 2011 after a ing, but he refused further tests The police further dropped the and the driver walked. and pedestrian deaths and lobbies long way to go. driver struck her as she crossed and a judge tossed the results ball, Stevens accused, by failing “The police failed to investi- for increased penalties for reck- “When police do a terrible job the intersection. when it was learned police from MEAN to send the Accident Investiga- gate her death, the D.A. failed to less motorists. of an investigation they screw over A Breathalyzer test admin- the 88th Precinct had not cal- tion Squad to the scene until three prosecute,” he said. “In doing so, In the past the group would the victims and their families all istered at the scene showed the ibrated the testing kit in four Streets days after the crash. Because of they failed all of us.” spray paint white body outlines over again,” said road safety ac- driver — who only had a learn- years, according to a report in the weak investigation, the dis- Loved ones gathered at the in- at the site of pedestrian fatali- tivist Keegan Stephan, who helped er’s permit — had been drink- Gothamist at the time . The battle for Brooklyn’s byways trict attorney did not press charges tersection once again called for in- ties to call attention to what they paint the memorial. Under new management Judge takes running of troubled senior residence from owner By Noah Hurowitz said Councilman Brad Lander (D–Park ments showed he had actually agreed vices, and the original lawsuit became The Brooklyn Paper Slope). “The judge has been the sole pro- in January 2014 to sell the building for mired in sideshow litigation. Advocates A judge took the reins of a Grand Army tector of the residents, but he cannot pro- $76.5 million once he had cleared out all for the residents say Deitsch only kept Plaza old-folks home from its embattled vide day-to-day protection.” the residents. Most of the facility’s 120- a skeleton crew of staff, dimmed hall- owner and handed them over to a tempo- Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice odd residents decamped, but a handful way lighting, and served shoddy meals, rary administrator last month, which will Wayne Saitta seized the management remained, and their angry relatives sued which they claim was a deliberate ploy hopefully ensure that the facility’s resi- of Prospect Park Residence from owner Deitsch and the Department of Health to to force the inhabitants out. dents will be cared for while court pro- Haysha Deitsch on April 10 and appointed keep the facility open and create a new “For a year Haysha Deitsch has shown ceedings against the owner continue — and Brian Rosenman, a nursing home ad- closure plan, claiming the original plan he had no intention of providing ser- that they will continue at all, said a Park ministrator, as receiver, as first reported was illegal and inadequate. Saitta or- vices,” said Lander. “We have every rea- Slope pol who welcomed the news. by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle . dered Deitsch to keep the facility open son to believe that his goal was to make “The core court case could not have The move comes more than a year af- for the holdouts and continue providing the facility unlivable.” been heard if all of the residents had been ter Deitsch first announced he intended the services laid out in their leases un- The number of people in the home has Photo by Jason Speakman driven out through illegal mismanage- to close the facility citing financial dif- til the lawsuit could be settled. now dwindled to seven. But Lander said A judge handed operation of Prospect Park Residence over to a re- ment, so thankfully the judge appointed ficulties — a claim The Brooklyn Paper But the remaining residents and their he hopes the new management will allow ceiver in April. someone who will provide basic services,” revealed to be bogus when court docu- families accused Deitsch of cutting ser- the remaining residents to see justice. Vinyl destination: Greenpoint Massive record fair draws thousands to Expo Center By Danielle Furfaro their wares to 3,500 record geeks Conspiracy of Beards, which The Brooklyn Paper between Friday and Sunday. is an a cappella Leonard Co- Wax on! The fair, like the radio sta- hen cover band. Fair organiz- New Jersey radio station tion, is known for champion- ers also screened a handful of WFMU brought its famed an- ing obscure musical genres, bizarre films, including Fran- nual record fair to Brooklyn for such as psychedelic, no wave, cis Ford Coppola’s low-budget the first time last weekend, draw- experimental, and old rockabilly. horror film “Dementia 13” and ing thousands of music fans from WFMU held the first fair at a creepy 1962 cult classic “Car- around the globe to Greenpoint’s Hoboken Elks Lodge in 1993, nival of Souls.” Brooklyn Expo Center. Attend- and in the intervening 22 years, And the Expo Center was a ees said the long-running bazaar it has become one of the most big hit in its first spin as a venue, is a great place to uncover hid- popular record fairs in the coun- said an organizer. den gems. try, serving as a gathering place “This is the best place that “The radio station is the num- for vinyl fetishists from near we have done it,” said station ber one source for me finding and far, Jones said. manager Ken Freedman. “It good music, and the record fair “So many people show up to has great acoustics and natu- is the same way,” said station vol- congregate in the same place who ral lighting, good bathrooms unteer Sasha Jones. “I go there only get to see each other once and ventilation. Load-in is al- and I play roulette by buying a or twice a year,” she said. ways hard because records are bunch of $1 and $2 records that This year’s fair hosted musi- heavy, [but] the problems that Photos by Stefano Giovannini I never heard of before.” Olivia Neutron John, aka Anna cal performances by Olivia Neu- we have had in the past were Ilya Chaiken fawns over a Bill Withers record at the WFMU record fair at the Brooklyn Expo More than 200 vendors hawked Nasty, belts out a tune. tron John, Danny Kroha, and nonexistent.” Center this past weekend. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! SUNDAY MAY 10TH, 2015 #!+%3s0!342)%3s0)%3s#//+)%3\Specialty Cakes by Madison Lee \WWW#OUSIN*OHNS"AKERYCOM Serving Park Slope since 1986 Open 7 Days from 7am-10pm: Breakfast, Lunch & Sunday Brunch | 70 Seventh Avenue • Park Slope • (718) 622-7333 2 AWP The Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 May 8–14, 2015 A premiere, 70 years late Ratner brings Hitchcock’s Holocaust doc to screen By Lincoln Anderson abled, homosexuals, dissi- Community News Group dents and non-Jewish Poles On May 19, the Museum and Russians. of Jewish Heritage will pre- “It’s inexplicable,” Ratner miere a never-before-seen said. “That’s why it very much 1945 documentary directed resonates today.” by Alfred Hitchcock. But un- As the Russians filmed like a typical film by the mas- Auschwitz, the British doc- ter of suspense, this isn’t a psy- umented Bergen-Belsen, and chological thriller that will the Yanks recorded other sites.