BRIDGE PARTY SATURDAY B’klyn celebrates 120th B-day of its unique span By Deborah Kolben The May 24 event marks the first ever “Brook- The Brooklyn Papers lyn Bridge to the World” celebration, conceived and organized by Markowitz and his staff. The Get out your party hats — and maybe borough president hopes to make it an annual your umbrellas — the 120th birthday bash event. And despite forecasts of rain through Sun- for the borough’s most well known and day, the party will go on, a Borough Hall beloved icon, the Brooklyn Bridge, is on spokesman said this week. for this Saturday, rain or shine. For 18 years, Markowitz’s predecessor, Mango / Greg A Brooklyn Philharmonic concert at dusk, a Howard Golden, threw his “Welcome Back to laser light show beneath the stars, and a network Brooklyn” festival honoring Brooklyn natives of tour buses to “introduce Brooklyn to Brook- who achieved renown. lyn,” as Borough President Marty Markowitz put That event brought actors, musicians, writers it, are just a small part of the blowout Memorial and others, such as Tony Danza, Dom DeLuise Papers The Brooklyn Day weekend event. and Jerry Stiller, back to their native borough Coney Island beach and the Riegelman Boardwalk opened for the season on Wednesday. De- [For a complete, pullout guide to the festivi- where for a day they sported a crown and scepter spite some rain, Lana Girshik practices ballroom dancing on the boardwalk. This year marks the ties, see GO Brooklyn.] See PARTY on page 6 80th anniversary of the boardwalk’s opening, and the 100th anniversary of the old Luna Park. BROOKLYN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER / Tom Callan / Tom Including The Downtown News, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper and Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Paper The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz announces Published weekly by Brooklyn Paper Publications, 26 Court St., Brooklyn 11242 Phone 718-834-9350 AD fax 718-834-1713 • NEWS fax 718-834-9278 © 2003 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 16 pages including GO BROOKLYN • Vol.26, No. 21 AWP • May 26, 2003 • FREE Brooklyn Bridge Party at Borough Hall this week. Jesus marchers rip Traffic denial of park permit is the By Deborah Kolben permits. boards throughout Brooklyn. [On The Brooklyn Papers But the evangelical leaders claims that Wednesday, CBy put off the issue until decision was handed down specifically to next month.] A group of Pentecostal pastors is bar a Christian group from holding their an- The brouhaha stems from a May 5 up in arms following the decision of worry nual summer outreach event in Sunset Park. vote by the CB7 parks committee, rec- a Community Board 7 committee to The coalition of Christian churches, ommending the board support the block noise amplification permits spearheaded by Bay Ridge’s New Hope precinct policy. for rallies in Sunset Park. Fellowship congregation, fears a similar The pastors claim that vote was “anti- Biggest concern The ruling upheld the local 72nd vote by the full board on May 21 might Christian.” Precinct’s decision to cease granting such set a precedent for other community See JESUS on page 6 of D’town plan By Deborah Kolben The Brooklyn Papers Traffic, transit and parking were the B’klyn Heights meet mulls key issues on the minds of residents and merchants at a meeting Tuesday night on the potential impact of a $100 million plan to turn Downtown Crown Heights ‘travesty’ Brooklyn into the city’s third largest business district. / Brad Horrigan By Deborah Kolben 29 when he was murdered. The public hearing was held at Borough The Brooklyn Papers A deadlocked federal jury Hall to discuss the scope of the plan’s Draft last week came up with the Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), a Jewish leaders met in controversial verdict in the tri- study of the impacts of traffic, parking, open Brooklyn Heights Tuesday al of Lemrick Nelson. The space and noise, among many others. The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn to plan action following what jury ruled that Nelson, who The plan would create more than 5 million they called an unjust ver- was 16 at the time of the stab- new square feet of office space in Downtown dict in the case of a black bing, violated the Jewish Brooklyn and bring more than 18,500 jobs to man charged with murder- man’s civil rights but did not Peek-a-boo! the area. Downtown Brooklyn currently com- ing a Hasidic scholar be- cause his death. Stephanie Santos, 7, of Red Hook, takes a gander at the face painting prises 11 million square feet of office space cause he was Jewish. Norman Rosenbaum ad- she’s just received from Eric Sorenson during the Fifth Avenue Festival in and has just a .2 percent vacancy rate. At the center of the meeting dressed the gathering at Con- Park Slope on Sunday. See DOWNTOWN on page 4 was Norman Rosenbaum, the gregation Mount Sinai, on brother of the victim, Yankel Callan / Tom Cadman Plaza West, calling Rosenbaum, who was stabbed the jury’s decision a “terrible to death on a Crown Heights travesty of justice.” street in 1991 during a riot by The jury, Rosenbaum said, blacks who were outraged af- had “raped the legal system.” ter a Hasidic driver accidental- Papers The Brooklyn The verdict means that Nel- Firehouses in judge’s hands ly ran over and killed a 7-year- Rabbi Joseph Potasnik and Norman Rosenbaum during son, who has already served old black boy. Rosenbaum was meeting in Brooklyn Heights at Congregation Mount Sinai. almost nine years in prison, and faces just 10 years at sen- Brooklyn Supreme to rule on closing delay tencing, will be eligible for re- lease in another year. By Neil Sloane Councilman Bill DeBlasio, one of the capricious.” The split jury decision and Patrick Gallahue plaintiffs, said in announcing the suit. “The city basically said go ahead and spared him a possible life sen- The Brooklyn Papers “And so, unfortunately, the administration close eight firehouses and then stepped tence. has left us no choice but to seek our reme- over us with respect to the City Charter,” Maimonides loses Norman Rosenbaum, 45, A Brooklyn Supreme Court judge dy in court. he told The Brooklyn Papers. told the Jewish leaders Tues- will determine Thursday whether six “This is about public safety,” he said, On Monday, Bloomberg pulled two of day that the decision was par- firehouses, four of them in Brooklyn, “the safety and security of families and the firehouses off the closure list, one in ticularly devastating following will be closed or get a reprieve. homes — and we will not go away quietly.” Brooklyn and another in Queens, saying the revelation by the jury fore- A group of 16 elected officials, led by In a hearing on Tuesday, May 20, Jus- the Albany aid package would cover their Brezenoff to LICH woman that the jurors knew Borough President Marty Markowitz, filed tice James G. Starkey said he would de- operating costs. about a negligence lawsuit suit this week to block Mayor Michael cide by Thursday, May 22 whether to “I am pleased to announce that because By Deborah Kolben Partners — operators of Long Island filed against the hospital Bloomberg from closing the firehouses due grant an injunction barring the firehouse of the assistance we have gotten today The Brooklyn Papers College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights. where his brother died. to the city’s worsening fiscal crisis. closings until he rules on the case. Starkey from Albany, and in the interests of exer- Maimonides Medical Center chief Before joining Maimonides, Brezenoff was “Everybody knew that,” the The suit, naming Bloomberg, the Fire said he would need at least two weeks to cising the maximum caution allowable Stanley Brezenoff is stepping down after the director of the Port Authority of New York forewoman told the New York Department and Fire Commissioner make such a determination. given our still precarious fiscal situation, eight years at the Borough Park hospital. and New Jersey and served as a senior deputy Times. “How can you sue Nicholas Scoppetta, was filed on May 14. The plaintiffs are represented by Man- we now believe it is possible to reduce the mayor to Ed Koch. Last year, he was heralded Kings County Hospital for “We have tried to discuss this matter hattan attorney John Burns who has taken number of fire companies that are slated Brezenoff has taken a position as chief as a leading candidate for city schools chancel- negligence and at the same the case pro bono. for closing,” Bloomberg said. “Engine executive officer of Continuum Health with the city. We have tried to be reason- See BREZENOFF on page 2 See CROWN on page 6 able and they have not been,” Park Slope Burns called the closings “arbitrary and See FIREHOUSES on page 6 Mario’s Deli to close after three generations of service service with neighborly familiari- will close the shop for good. He While the Correas acknowl- By Beverley Wang INSIDE for The Brooklyn Papers ty. Daughter Maggie Correa and estimated that business has edge that large supermarkets like her 14-year-old twins, Amanda dropped between 35 and 40 per- Key Food and Costco have cut Mario’s Deli in Park Slope and Andrew Sanchez, are familiar cent from previous years. into their profits, they don’t seems more like an old-time faces there, as is her 7-year-old, “The last two years have been blame the bigger businesses for apothecary than a corner bode- Brandon Negron, who is handy at really bad, but the bills are still their losses.