E S I D U • Brooklyn’s only complete S L I N P Nightlife Guide — 35 venues Brooklyn Bites • Writer-director Peter Hedges Your essential guide to BROOKLYN EATS • Inside Red Hook’s new nightclub 2003 NATIONAL AWARD WINNER Including The Bensonhurst Paper Published weekly by Brooklyn Paper Publications at 26 Court St., Brooklyn, NY 11242 Phone 718-834-9350 © Brooklyn Paper Publications • 20 pages including GO BROOKLYN • Vol.26, No. 42 BRZ • October 20, 2003 • FREE Basketball CB10 to allow 9-11 tributes Civilians to receive honor pros: Move along with firemen, cops By Deborah Kolben The Brooklyn Papers A battle in Bay Ridge over how to commemorate the victims of the World Nets here Trade Center attacks may finally have been settled. But it took the intercession of Gov. George Pataki and other elected officials to By Deborah Kolben static as Borough President Marty get it done. The Brooklyn Papers Markowitz, who has been trying Stephen Harri- to bring a professional sports Some of Brooklyn’s great- son, chairman of team to the borough since the day Community Board est basketball stars gathered he took office. 10, received a letter with real estate developer “My lifelong dream will be ful- from Pataki admon- Bruce Ratner at Junior’s filled,” Markowitz said. ishing the board for restaurant Tuesday afternoon Not so fast, Marty. its decision to post- to promote his bid to bring the Ratner is among a group of pone street namings New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn. bidders making a play to purchase for civilian victims “We are going to fulfill the the Nets from YankeeNets, the of 9-11. dream of all Brooklynites,” said parent company of the team. “I strongly dis- Ratner, who seemed to be having New York Islanders hockey agree with the no- the time of his life as he joked team owner Charles Wang also tion that only emer- Mango / Greg with basketball greats including submitted a bid to bring the Nets gency personnel lost Connie Hawkins, World B. Free to Long Island. And only real es- on that tragic day and Albert King. tate mogul Charles Kushner and should be honored Taking the microphone, some Sen. Jon Corzine, who also made and remembered in of the stars, many of who hailed a bid, said they would keep the the community through The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn / Tom Callan / Tom street namings,” Pa- from Brownsville and Bedford- team in New Jersey. Eileen Geraty’s licence plate is a tribute to her daugh- But Ratner’s bid might have taki wrote in a letter Stuyvesant, touted the importance ter, Suzanne, who died in the Twin Towers. of having an NBA team in the gotten a boost from Nets players dated Sept. 30. Borough of Kings. this week, who said they would While the gover- “I hope this happens,” rather be traded than move to nor said he wouldn’t ordinarily speak up on a decision within the purview of local government he felt compelled to have his voice heard. Hawkins said, adding, “I would Long Island. Papers The Brooklyn come back to find a job.” Both Nets point guard Jason In a meeting this week, the executive committee of CB10 voted to amend the “Brooklyn Nets, let’s go,” Kidd and center Alonzo Mourn- board’s strict street-naming guidelines to allow for the special circumstances of 9- added Free, who grew up in ing told reporters that if the Nets 11, a move that would allow all local victims on whose behalf a request is made to Brownsville and retired in 1989 moved to Long Island they would Made in Red Hook have a street named after them. after 13 years in the NBA. ask to be traded. While both On Beard Street Tuesday, “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini (left) with actors Frank Vincent and “I hope that the community board does look favorably upon the executive com- But no one seemed quite as ec- See ARENA on page 5 Steve Buscemi, of Park Slope, take a break during the filming of the popular HBO mob drama. See TRIBUTES on page 6 Hynes: Norman stole Dem bucks 10 dead in DA charges Clarence treated party as ‘personal piggy bank’ By Deborah Kolben symbolic last meal at the Park Plaza Diner ferry crash, The Brooklyn Papers on Cadman Plaza West, where many of the Brooklyn Democrats’ meetings are held, be- A grand jury investigation into the fore walking with a cadre of supporters to sale of judgeships in Brooklyn brought the district attorney’s office just before 9 pm the county’s Democratic Party boss on Oct. 9. before a judge of his own this week. 42 injured Norman arranged for his own highly pub- The chairman of the Kings County Demo- licized perp walk from the diner to District cratic Committee, Assemblyman Clarence Attorney Charles Hynes’ office at 350 Jay St. By Michael Weissenstein Norman Jr., was indicted on charges of steal- He spent the night there, was fingerprint- Associated Press ing $5,000 from his own re-election commit- ed, handcuffed and released on $25,000 bail A Staten Island ferry slammed into a pier as it was docking tee and submitting 76 fraudulent vouchers after turning over his passport and entering a Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, tearing off victims’ limbs for reimbursements for travel expenses total- not-guilty plea at his arraignment Friday and reducing the front of the mighty vessel to a tangled mass of ing more than $5,000. morning. wood, glass and steel. At least 42 people were injured. According to Hynes, the Democratic Par- Hynes called a press conference immedi- The ferry pilot responsible for docking the vessel fled the ty picked up the tab for Norman’s gas and ately after where he outlined the charges scene immediately after the crash, went to his Staten Island tolls, but Norman allegedly double-dipped, against Norman and accused the Democratic home and attempted suicide by slitting his wrists and shooting by filing for reimbursement from the As- boss of using the party as his “personal pig- himself with a pellet gun, a police official told The Associated sembly. gy bank.” Hynes said more charges against Press on the condition of anonymity. The pilot was rushed to If convicted, Norman could face up to party officials could be in the offing. the same hospital as many of the victims and underwent sur- seven years in jail. “The train is leaving,” said Hynes, noting gery. This week, Norman called the charges that those who want to avoid prosecution Staten Island Councilman Michael McMahon said Thursday “ludicrous” and told The Brooklyn Papers should come forward. / Tom Callan / Tom that investigators told him the assistant pilot slumped forward the travel expenses were an allowance, not a Jeffrey Feldman, executive director of the / Tom Callan / Tom / Tom Callan / Tom at the controls. He had failed to take his blood pressure medica- reinbursement. Kings County Democratic Committee, was tion, McMahon said. Norman accused Hynes of using the in- not indicted by the grand jury. He is still un- The 310-foot ferry, carrying about 1,500 passengers, plowed dictment as a political tactic to insure his der investigation, sources said. into the enormous wooden pilings on the Staten Island end of own re-election. Norman has responded to Hynes’ indict- its run from Manhattan at 3:20 pm, ripping a giant hole in the “He came up with nothing,” Norman said. ment with a charge of his own. Papers The Brooklyn three-level, bright-orange vessel. The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn “We’re going to win this battle.” In a letter this week to Brooklyn Chief Indicted Assemblyman Clarence Norman Frank Corchado was sleeping in the back of the Staten Island District Attorney Charles Hynes announces Joined by supporters and almost all of the Judge Ann Pfau, Norman’s attorney, Roger walks to DA’s office on Jay Street last ferry, on his way home after his shift as an elevator mechanic. the indictment of Clarence Norman on Friday. borough’s 42 district leaders, Norman took a See DEM BUCKS on page 2 Thursday. The screaming woke him. Corchado, 29, saw dozens of people running and screaming as the ferry sped toward a windswept Staten Island pier and crashed into the dock, shattering glass windows and severing the limbs of several people. “The scene was total chaos. You ever see a dead person all cut up? That really put the zap on me,” said Corchado. Oddo tags Dean’s mural ‘artist’ “There was a lady without legs, right in the middle of the boat. She was screaming,” he said. Corchado said he tried to help as many people as possible get By Deborah Kolben “Please accept this note of thanks for nabbing a wanted bank robber. out. Witnesses said some jumped into the choppy, 62-degree The Brooklyn Papers helping New York’s Finest capture a want- Following the Dean debacle, police were water and others ran as the pier chewed up the side of the boat. ed felon,” Oddo wrote to Dean. able to match a photo of Lethem on the In- “Most of the people who died were older people, I believe, A graffiti scrawler hired by presi- Oddo’s acerbic letter went on to invite ternet to a home video showing graffiti who couldn’t move or didn’t have enough time to get out of the dential hopeful Howard Dean to pen a Dean back to New York to stage a rally in vandals, allegedly including him, defacing way,” Corchado said.