Nov. 28.–Dec. 4, 2014 Including Park Slope Courier, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Courier, Brooklyn Heights Courier, & Williamsburg Courier FREE SERVING GOWANUS, PARK SLOPE, PROSPECT HEIGHTS, WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, DUMBO, METROTECH, BOERUM HILL, CARROLL GARDENS, COBBLE HILL, RED HOOK, WILLIAMSBURG & GREENPOINT A height fi ght for GREED INDEED Gowanus Judge: $ root BY NOAH HUROWITZ Gowanus residents are split of elder peril over whether to allow high- rise development in the neigh- BY NOAH HUROWITZ borhood, according to locals The owner of a Park Slope old- who attended the unveiling of folks-home who is trying to a list of rezoning demands on shutter the place and sell the Monday night. building for millions was mo- Councilman Brad Lander tivated purely by greed, not by (D–Gowanus) and the Pratt fi nancial hardship as his em- Center for Community Devel- ployee previously claimed, a opment presented the draft judge ruled in a scathing de- Bridging Gowanus neighbor- cision challenging a state-ap- hood planning document at proved closure plan. the meeting, discussing for The Nov. 21 ruling by the fi rst time the synthesized Kings County Supreme Court results of a year of community Judge Wayne Saitta extended brainstorming sessions. Activ- a court order barring Pros- ists in attendance questioned pect Park Residence owner a portion of the document that Haysha Deitsch from evict- calls for allowing apartment ing the eight elderly patients towers within a certain height who remain in the assisted- range in the predominately living facility. Saitta ripped low-rise residential and man- management for letting the ufacturing area. license lapse at the building “It’s diffi cult to believe a that occupies prime real es- majority of the community tate on Grand Army Plaza, would give up our beautiful saying that the attempted clo- open skies for eight-to-18-story sure came not because of any buildings,” said Linda Mari- hardship, as stated by its di- ano. rector, but simply to fl ip the But some residents of the building to a luxury residen- Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff tial developer. Gardens public housing devel- Notes from the underground “The operator seeks to vol- opments bristled at the blan- untarily surrender its certifi - Brooklyn Heights resident Jeffrey Smith shows the unsecured entrance to the basement of a vacant ket condemnation of building cate, not because of any fi nan- big. building that he said was a major mishap in the making — until our hard-hitting coverage got the issue cial diffi culty in operating the “I live on the 21st story addressed. For the whole story, see page 12. Photo by Elizabeth Graham facility, but in order to sell the Continued on page 34 Continued on page 16 A CNG Publication Vol. 34 No. 48 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT BROOKLYNDAILY.COM DEALS Yellow & Black Exclusive Black Friday Flooring 11/28/14 Want BAMBOO? New DEALS ^ Donar Oak Real Prefinished Styles ¢ with added daily! % from attached pad! 99 sqft Blackk FridayFididay 6mm Laminate Hardwood 99 50 12HN-O ¢ Prefinished Hardwood plus ¢ from ON SALE! FlooringSale! ¢ 99 OFF! 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On purchases made with your Lumber Liquidators credit card made from November 19 – December 2, 2014 of $2,000 or more OR 12 Months 26 MONTHS SPECIAL FINANCING* Special Financing on purchases $1,000 - $1,999.99 OR 6 Months Special Financing on purchases up to $999.99. *Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. See store for details. INSIDE NNN%9IFFBCPE;8@CP%:FD GL9C@J?<;9P:E>(D<KIFK<:?:<EK<IEFIK?('K?=CFFI9IFFBCPE#EP(()'( BASH BOYCOTTED Pols absent from Verrazano’s party amid toll hikes BY MAX JAEGER The Metropolitan Transporta- Meat head: The Mayor of Hamburg (who bears a striking resemblance to one Mayor McCheese) is one of the many puppet characters starring in the “City of Hamburgers.” Photo by Oliver Dalzell tion Authority’s 50th anniver- Shakespeare shack sary celebration for the Verra- Puppets and Poets fest brings hamburgers to life By Vanessa Ogle perfect for the medium of puppetry, one of her life in Germany. Jeffrey’s grandmother hand — literally — at puppetry. zano-Narrows Bridge turned mm, the land of hamburgers! the performers explained. is from Hamburg and his grandfather is “It just allows kids to express them- The Bushwick Starr theater “Puppetry has that little bit of magic in from Frankfurt — and Kammermeyer selves because they can put their focus on Mand Alphabet Arts artist col- it — you’re watching something inanimate said the story comes alive when Jeffrey’s something else and make that something lective are sandwiching marionettes and come to life,” said Kirsten Kammermeyer, imagination beefs up her anecdotes. else do what they want to do — and say metrists together once again for their a puppetry teacher who lives in Flatbush. “He is imagining all of these little kids’ what they want to say,” she said. “They can annual Puppets and Poets Festival on Dec. “It is very bright, it’s very colorful, the hamburgers running around and playing put all that creativity and the energy into out to be mostly a celebration 6 and 7. And one of the performances in music is fun.” tag,” she said. “He is imagining all these this object they’re making come to life.” the two-day fest sounds both cheesy and The story — adapted from a children’s frankfurters.” “City of Hamburgers” is part of the saucy — and we mean that in the best kind book by Mike Reiss, a former writer for The festival will also include two adult- Puppets and Poets Festival at Bushwick of way. “City of Hamburgers” is a free, “The Simpsons” — uses rod puppets to oriented evening performances, featuring Starr (207 Starr St. between Irving and family-friendly show featuring anthropo- animate the imagination of a young boy puppet plays with more mature content. Wyckoff avenues in Bushwick, www.the- morphized junk food speaking in silly named Jeffery, who is listening to his Kammermeyer said she hopes “City of bushwickstarr.org). Dec. 6 and 7 at 3 pm. rhymes. And it is the kind of story that is grandmother tell him a bedtime story about Hamburgers” encourage kids to try their Free. of itself — and rather a lonely one at that. Your entertainment Authority honchos, engi- guide Page 35 neering enthusiasts, and even some of the men who built the iconic span attended the cele- Police Blotter ..........................8 bration at Fort Wadsworth on Letters ....................................30 bucolic Staten Island on Nov. Tom Allon ..............................33 21, but only transit bigwigs de- Standing O .............................41 livered remarks, largely crow- ing about how their agency Sports .....................................43 has maintained the bridge since its completion in 1964. Politicians from both sides of the span were conspicu- ously absent from the party, however, in the wake of the days-earlier announcement that the Authority may raise tolls on the $15 crossing. “There is nothing to cel- HOW TO REACH US ebrate until our city’s com- muters can fi nally receive the Mail: Verrazano toll relief that they Courier Life deserve,” said Borough Presi- Publications, Inc., dent Adams. 1 Metrotech Center North Assemblywoman Nicole 10th Floor, Brooklyn, Malliotakis (R–Bay Ridge), Councilman Vincent Gentile N.Y. 11201 (D–Bay Ridge), and state Sen. General Phone: Martin Golden (R–Bay Ridge), (718) 260-2500 along with Staten Island SALUTE: (Top) Cannons at Staten Island’s Fort Wadsworth fi red a 50- News Fax: elected offi cials, also issued gun salute to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on its 50th anniversary. statements that they would (718) 260-2592 (Above) Students from PS 122 braved the cold to celebrate the span’s boycott the festivities in pro- News E-Mail: test. birthday. (Right) Gay Talese, right, author of a book about the building of [email protected] “Fifty years after Robert the bridge, poses with George Scarpelli, one of the fi rst people to drive Display Ad Phone: Moses’s last great project in over it when it was completed. Photos by Georgine Benvenuto (718) 260-8302 New York was completed, our Display Ad E-Mail: community, which has been The Authority’s board will Indeed, there was no men- brating the structure and hon- [email protected] in the shadow of the Verra- vote on the toll-hike proposal tion during last Friday’s oring the engineers and work- zano-Narrows Bridge, is hurt- in January. fete of the great scar carved ers who built it,” said Bridges Display Ad Fax: ing every day with the tolls,” Gentile also panned the through the neighborhood in and Tunnels chief of opera- (718) 260-2579 said Golden. Authority for focusing cele- the early 1960s when the city tions James Fortunato. Classified Phone: On Nov. 17 the transit bration on Staten Island and razed 800 homes and busi- But the agency seemed to (718) 260-2555 agency unveiled plans to raise overlooking Brooklyn in its nesses to build access ramps contradict that message at the Classified Fax: the E-ZPass fare for cars by 42 offi cial events.