FISZ Speaks Frankly at Paper Roundtable Park Slope’S Original Vietnamese Sandwich from Hanco’S (Left), and the Henry’S Version
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*/4*%&1"(&40'$0610/4504"7&:06$"4) Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com U (718) 260–2500 U Brooklyn, NY U ©2009 DOWNTOWN, PARK SLOPE & BAY RIDGE EDITIONS AWP/16 pages U Vol. 32, No. 34ÊU Friday, August 28, 2009 U FREE BLOOMY IN OUR HOOD .BZPSUP#SVDF #SJOHCBDL(FISZ Speaks frankly at Paper roundtable Park Slope’s original Vietnamese sandwich from Hanco’s (left), and the Henry’s version. By Mike McLaughlin The Brooklyn Paper SANDWICH WAR Mayor Bloomberg wants Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner to bring back Frank Gehry’s much-hyped designs for the stalled and increasingly costly arena and 16 skyscrapers. Two Vietnamese shops wage bun battle “He should use the Gehry design, because he will get great events from around the world going directly to Brooklyn,” the By Gersh Kuntzman with the pigtails of stealing his foolishly, though scrumptiously, mayor told a team of reporters and editors from the Community and Shannon Geis hamburger recipe. tried to control Indochina. Newspaper Group, the parent company of The Brooklyn Pa- The Brooklyn Paper In this battle, however, • Huynh offers bubble tea per, on Monday. “Simon and Garfunkel would go to Brooklyn Seventh Avenue in Park Slope Hanco Tang is ac- drinks, just like Tang. in a second before they go to Madison Square Garden. They’re just got its second Vietnamese cusing Henry • Huynh really did work New Yorkers.” sandwich shop — four blocks Huynh of swiping at the Bergen Street Han- co’s — and left under less- The meeting was a from the neighborhood’s first — his secrets while he stop on the campaign New York’s best worked at Tang’s orig- than-ideal circumstances. and not since the Vietnam War “He stole the recipe,” Tang trail for the would-be election coverage has there been as juicy a story inal sandwich shop on Bergen Street in Cob- told The Brooklyn Paper. “We third-termer, who won of spies, secrets, lies and Viet- the chance to run for re- ble Hill. don’t have proof, but it just namese families torn apart. There’s substantial evidence disappeared. What they election last year after the At least this time, the col- City Council acceded to his wishes that the two-term limit to bolster Tang’s claim: do is almost identical lateral damage is delicious. • Huynh’s menu is virtually to us. be eliminated, despite two public referenda affirming it. The newcomer in question — Naturally, that topic came up. identical — in typeface, in of- “They were still Henry’s — is just four blocks “It was a unique period in the city,” Bloomberg said. “The ferings, in almost every detail working for me while economy was starting to fall apart, our school system was on south of the original banh mi — to Tang’s. they were work- the verge of a major breakthrough. … So I just decided that joint, Hanco’s. • Huynh’s sandwiches are ing on opening their I would go ahead and, if the City Council wanted to change Of course, it’s not uncom- almost as identical, offer- store. They were like the law, let’s see what the voters want. mon for competitors to set up ing that delightful South- spies,” he added. “I’m “The voters want somebody independent and competent shop side by side. It happens east Asian combination of really pissed off. I spent years and hopefully they’ll think I’m that way,” he added. all the time with McDonald’s crispy and sweet ground to set up everything and then The hour-long interview covered many topics, but Bloomberg and Wendy’s, Duane Reade and pork, ham, paté, mayon- they just copied me.” dwelled on Brooklyn’s long-running saga, Atlantic Yards, ar- CVS or any number of pizze- naise, chili peppers and pick- Naturally, Huynh denied it — though he did admit that he Ben Muessig Ben guing that lawsuits by Ratner’s opponents were largely re- rias. led carrots and daikon — all sponsible for depriving Brooklyn of the vaunted architect’s But then again, Ronald Mc- piled high on a fresh baguette, had a falling out with Tang. vision. Donald doesn’t accuse the girl a relic of the days when France, See WAR on page 11 “One of the great sins here is this small group of people stalled it so long [that] the economy is different,” Bloomberg said. “I tried to get Ratner to go ahead and do the Gehry de- The Brooklyn Paper / sign … but the economy is just not there.” Mayor Bloomberg came to our Downtown Brooklyn offices on The mayor conceded that Ratner probably would have fal- Monday to defend his record — and lay out an agenda for a tered during the real-estate bust, even without relentless oppo- third term. He made news with virtually every comment. sition from groups like Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. “He might have been in trouble halfway through, but at least it would have been in the ground, going up.” He also blasted the kinds of community benefits agree- .&&5#300,-:/¤405)&3.":034 ment that Ratner signed with several groups, some of which Our borough is a city of neighborhoods — and each has its did not exist before they signed an agreement to support the own mayor. Meet some on page 12. project in exchange for some financial backing. See MAYOR on page 12 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The menus for Hanco’s (left) and Henry’s (right) do look very similar. -0$,0654JUUTIVUTEPXOIJT$POFZQBSL By Mike McLaughlin sion was set for Thursday. land, also ran Sitt’s attractions that also helicopter ride and the train ride.” for The Brooklyn Paper Raffaelle admits that he owes around closed early last year. This year he planned Dreamland sits behind locked gates Developer Joe Sitt abruptly shut down $500,000 in rent, but said Sitt’s lock- to be on the Astroland site with Ringling on what was the Space Age theme park the Dreamland amusement park on his out was not only illegal, but hostile. Bros, but when Sitt’s negotiations with Astroland, which Sitt shut down in a land in Coney Island, the site of the “It’s so late in the season, if they had Ringling broke down, Sitt made him take lease disagreement with the land’s for- old Astroland theme park, last Friday beef with me, now is not the time,” he the whole lot, he said. mer owner, Carol Albert. Albert had morning, saying that the operator owed said. CLOSED Last weekend, he and his workers sold the land to Sitt two years earlier, Sitt disagreed, saying that he, not remained angry about the shutdown. but continued to operate the amuse- more than $500,000 in rent. Raffaelle or the kids being turned away “We just showed up for work and ment park on the site until last year . The lockout on Surf Avenue and West from the once-thriving amusement area, couldn’t get in,” said Lori Vise, who Sitt still hopes to redevelop his hold- 10th Street made about a dozen rides is the victim here. worked at Dreamland. “It’s not fair for ings in Coney Island into a 24-7-365, Ve- and attractions off limits, perhaps for “Dreamland has not come close to the visitors of Coney Island. We want gas-style Xanadu with rides, retail and the rest of the short-lived season, which meeting its financial obligations in many it back open.” hotels. But last week’s lockout turned winds down after Labor Day. months,” said Stefan Friedman, a spokes- Geis Shannon And didn’t anybody think of the chil- even Sitt’s longtime ally, Councilman Since the lockout, Dreamland’s op- man for Sitt’s company, Thor Equities. dren? Domenic Recchia (D–Coney Island), erator, Anthony Raffaelle, has been in “We are hopeful that Dreamland will “It’s not right to close down in the mid- into a critic. court trying to get a judge to declare soon pay its rent [and] re-open.” dle of the season,” said Richard Vowers of “This is a heartless person who only that Sitt acted illegally, but Monday’s Raffaelle, who has long been a be- Sheepshead Bay. “It’s going to disappoint cares about money,” Recchia told the hearing was inconclusive. Another ses- hind-the-scenes presence in Coney Is- The Brooklyn Paper / a lot of kids. My girlfriend’s son likes the Daily News on Saturday . $ZDMPOF Spike’s Jackson tribute will be £IVSMT¤B in Prospect Park this Saturday By Robert Voris spokesman Eugene Patron, ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma for The Brooklyn Paper though a full-out tribute to coo sa.” OPIJUUFS The hordes of Michael the one-time King of Pop News that the event had By Zeke Faux Jackson have beat it from could attract tens of thou- been moved to Prospect for The Brooklyn Paper Fort Greene Park — and sands, given Jackson’s vast Park calmed Fort Greene Brandon Moore wasn’t thinking about are heading for Prospect popularity. concerns. Last week, Coun- throwing a no-hitter or even beating Park’s Nethermeade for In a strange twist, all me- cilwoman Letitia James the Ironbirds when he walked out to Brooklyn Paper photographer Tom Callan Spike Lee’s posthumous dia calls to the Parks De- (D–Fort Greene) told a New the mound on Sunday — the Brook- with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2001. birthday party and me- partment were referred to York Times blog that Lee’s lyn starter was just trying to keep down morial this Saturday.