SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 12, 2005 Including The Bensonhurst Paper Brooklyn’s REAL newspapers Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington St, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2005 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 16 pages •Vol.28, No. 7 BRZ •Saturday, February 12, 2005 • FREE CONDOMONIUM Developers rush to scoop up land before zoning change By Jotham Sederstrom The Brooklyn Papers The one-family home at 456 Ovington Ave. near Fourth Avenue hadn’t been targeted by devel- opers, but that didn’t stop a Bay Ridge real estate agency from run- ning an advertisement proclaim- ing it “perfect for condo develop- ment.” The ad concludes: “Act now before zoning laws change.” The asking price? $1,750,000. The agency, Re/Max 1st Choice Re- alty at 8112 Third Ave., and its broker, Jeanne DeLorenzo, ignited a storm when elected officials and homeowners were alerted to the 1-3/4-inch by 2-1/4- inch notice. As the city is weighing new zoning laws to protect houses like the one Re/Max 1st Choice is advertising, some viewed the ad’s text as the height of chutzpah. DeLorenzo said the building neigh- bors her own and is owned by the chil- dren of a recently deceased family This ad for a one-family house on Ovington Avenue shows an asking price of friend. The three siblings, one of whom $1,750,000, which could be a good value to a developer seeking to erect condos — lives in Connecticut, want to sell the if he acts “now before zoning laws change,” as the ad suggests. See RUSH on page 4 Hunt Ridge rapist By Jotham Sederstrom Police said the man raped and sodom- Callan / Tom The Brooklyn Papers ized the woman before fleeing with her jewelry. Police have released the name and In the second assault, police say Thomas picture of a tattooed man they are attacked another woman in her 20s after she searching for in two rapes — one in opened the door to her apartment sometime Papers The Brooklyn Bay Ridge and another in East Flat- around 8 pm. Police said he forced his way bush. Romantic Times founder and CEO Kathryn Falk in her home near Love Lane in Brooklyn Heights this week. Inset into the home after revealing a knife when shows cover of the December issue of her 24-year-old magazine, which has upset a librarian and several readers. The suspected rapist, who police identi- she answered the door. fied as Lamar Thomas, 20, struck first in Police say the suspect also goes by two Bay Ridge on Dec. 18 and again on Jan. other names: Christian Harris and Isaiah 30 in East Flatbush, said cops. Mitchell. Police say Thomas has a distinctive tat- He is described as 20 years old and ei- too on his arm that depicts Jesus Christ ther black or Hispanic. with blood-red tears running down his face. Police said that the man, who sports a In the first incident, the man engaged a bushy mane of dark hair that he tucks into Racy Romance woman in her 20s in conversation at a ponytail, is 5-foot-11 and weighs about around 5 am. Sources say the man 220 pounds. grabbed the woman near Third Avenue Anybody with information on Thomas’ and 79th Street and dragged her down the whereabouts is asked to call the CRIME- stairs to a trash cellar where a mattress STOPPERS hotline at 800-577-TIPS. All Cover of Brooklyn woman’s Suspected rapist Lamar Thomas. had been set up. calls will be kept confidential. mag raises eyebrows, ire By Jotham Sederstrom woman wrapped in each other’s arms get some respect for romance novels,” The Brooklyn Papers with only the woman’s blue robe block- wrote a subscriber of Romantic Times, ing her nether region. Beth Johnson, in an e-mail to the magazine. Diocese will shutter When Jane Raetzman, a librarian in The “clinch,” as the deep embrace typ- “The cover of RT’s December issue Oregon, picked up the December issue of ical of romance novel covers is called, was a giant step backward. The revealing Romantic Times, the self-described set off a flurry of debates, not least of all picture was unnecessary, and the head- “Christian widow” said she experienced on the very state of the romance novel. line ‘Hot Novels’ was only slightly better several fits of embarrassment before fi- “I realized,” said Raetzman in an e- than the caption ‘Scorchingly Sensual.’ nally writing an angry letter to the maga- mail to the 24-year-old magazine, “it’s Please, be tasteful and appropriate.” 17 Brooklyn schools zine’s Brooklyn publisher. She would not not enough to skip the Erotica section Kathryn Falk, who began publishing be renewing her subscription, she wrote. [anymore].” her magazine from an apartment in close By Jotham Sederstrom Cross School, 2520 Church No, it wasn’t the interview with Linda Since it went on stands worldwide, the — and appropriate — proximity to Love The Brooklyn Papers Ave., and at St. Rose of Lima Howard, author of “To Die For,” that December issue has managed to rankle Lane in Brooklyn Heights, said much of School, 259 Parkville Ave. The steamed Raetzman and several other reg- Citing shrinking enroll- readers from as far away as Australia and the controversy stems from an unexpect- fourth will open at Our Lady of ular subscribers of the monthly women’s as near as, well, Brooklyn. But while ed break from recent tradition. ment over the last five years, Christians School, 1340 E. 29th romance-fiction magazine whose office some readers defended the cover, as ei- While the cover usually features an au- the Roman Catholic Diocese St. in Midwood. is on Bergen Street in Cobble Hill. It was ther perfectly tasteful or as artwork pro- thor, December’s chosen cover girl, of Brooklyn shocked parents The list of schools, including the front cover, the type most picture / Tom Callan / Tom tected by the First Amendment, others Nicole Jordan, told publishers she pre- and schoolchildren on Ash nine others in Queens, had long when they think of Harlequin novels. said it was the type of image that begged ferred the cover of her most recent novel, Wednesday, announcing it been considered at-risk, said Draped in a red background, the cover disparagement. “Lord of Seduction,” be shown instead. will shutter 17 of the bor- diocesan spokesman Frank reveals a bare-chested man and naked “We have tried so hard and so long to See ROMANTIC RHUBARB on page 14 ough’s Catholic schools at DeRosa, who cited the increas- the end of this semester. ing cost of operating the facili- ties and a shift in religious de- Papers The Brooklyn Among the schools to close mographics throughout the city Parents and students outside St. Finbar’s School on Bath Av- in Brooklyn are: Saint Fin- for the declining enrollment. enue after learning Tuesday that their school would be closed. bar’s, at 1825 Bath Ave., in DeRosa said that a study un- Bath Beach; Sacred Hearts dertaken by the diocese re- is at all possible,” said Msgr. Holcomb that the meeting had and St. Stephen’s, at 135 Sum- Michael Hardiman, vicar for Ed- been postponed. Pour House bumps Judge vealed that over the last five mit St., in Carroll Gardens; years, parochial schools in ucation in the Diocese of Brook- “You’re children should be at and St. Thomas Aquinas, at Brooklyn and Queens have lyn, which includes Queens. home doing homework right By Jotham Sederstrom said O’Donovan, who will continue to run lineup of DJs on Thursdays, Fridays and 211 Eighth St., in Park Slope. seen enrollment drop by “This is the best reconfiguration now,” he said sternly before re- The Brooklyn Papers Henry Grattan’s at 8814 Third Ave. “It was Saturdays. The schools will be closed af- 11,000 students. In addition, he of the schools at this time.” turning to the rectory. just time to move on. And, anyway, it’s their The Judge and Jury pub will be “Myself and Andrew had been think- ter the school year ends in June. said, the diocese has con- Parents from Saint Finbar DeRosa said that the 196 stu- turn to take a piece of the pie.” ing about this for a long time,” said Wif- Eleven others, a diocesan replaced next week by the Pour House, tributed $7 million to schools learned of the eventual closing dents currently enrolled at Saint Jimmy Wiffin, who along with An- fin, adding he and Quinlan grew up and still spokesman said, will either whose revenues could not on Tuesday, when students Finbar would likely be admitted whose opening, its owners hope, will drew Gannon and Billy Quinlan pur- merge or be integrated into one add a touch of high-tech to Third Avenue. live in Bay Ridge, while Gannon moved meet annual operating expens- came home with a typed letter to either St. Frances Cabrini, at chased the establishment from O’Dono- to the neighborhood after growing up in of four existing schools, two in es. signed by the Rev. Joseph Hol- 35 Bay 11th St., or St. Mary Barry O’Donovan said his decision to van, said their watering hole could open Dublin, Ireland. “This was our chance.” East Flatbush, and one each in According to a policy estab- comb, the pastor of the parish, Mother of Jesus, at 8401 23rd sell the pub at 7901 Third Ave.