INSIDE: PAGES AND PAGES OF COUPONS TO SAVE YOU CASH! Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260–2500 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2012 Serving Brownstone Brooklyn and Williamsburg AWP/14 pages • Vol. 35, No. 22 • June 1–7, 2012 • FREE THEY LET HIM GO Witness: Police released sexual assault suspect at crime scene By Natalie O’Neill on the scene they let him go be- Harrington claims. leases and distributed surveil- The Brooklyn Paper cause the victim had returned to “I pointed to her house and lance videos the following day Cops are hunting for a Park her home a few houses away, an said, ‘She’s four or five houses showing a suspect who resem- Slope sex fiend responsible for onlooker told this paper. down on the right,’ ” he said. bles the man detained by neigh- a May 23 attack — but they al- Donald Harrington says he “They said she wasn’t there so bors at the scene. ready had him at the scene of the heard a girl scream, so he peeked they just let him go.” The move is lazy at best and, at crime and let him go, according out his window and saw a creep Cops can’t file charges with- worst, a procedural violation wor- to a witness. in a baseball cap running away. out a victim’s cooperation — but thy of a reprimand, say legal ex- Residents of 16th Street heard Another neighbor chased down critics say the way police han- perts with the National Police Ac- a woman shouting for help at 5 the man and held him until cops NYPD dled the situation is bizarre for countability Project, a non-profit am and detained a man believed showed up 15 minutes later, but Residents say police let this two reasons: the victim’s close comprised of lawyers. to have attacked her near Fourth when they learned the victim had man go after he groped a proximity to the scene, and the “You would think they would Avenue, but when cops arrived gone home, they set the man free, woman near Fourth Avenue. fact that cops sent out press re- See COPS on page 11 HOLY SMOKES! St. Ann’s will get Tobacco Warehouse Photo by Stefano Giovannini By Aaron Short St. Ann’s Warehouse will set control — a move that resulted in The Brooklyn Paper up shop inside the landmarked a lawsuit by opponents. DUMBO’s historic Tobacco shell of a Civil War-era build- But the new plan exchanges Ship shape Warehouse will become a theater ing that had been a federally pro- the lost parkland at the Tobacco under a new deal that will keep a tected park until 2010, when the Warehouse with more than an acre Fernanda and Regina Roblesgil (right), ages 6 and beloved avante-garde venue on city controversially redrew zoning of city-owned asphalt under the 8, learn the ropes aboard the Mexican sailboat B. E. The Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO will look like this Water Street by allowing private maps in an attempt to remove it Manhattan Bridge. Cuauhtemoc during Fleet Week at the Red Hook Ter- when St. Ann’s Warehouse sets up shop. development on parkland. from the National Parks Service’s See ST. ANN’S on page 11 minal on May 28. Sex, drugs, & bedrolls Ferry big news Park Slopers say outdoor hook-ups must stop Larger boats due this summer By Natalie O’Neill Avenue and Baltic Street The sex nook is also a pop- attracted crime because it’s The Brooklyn Paper have discovered dozens of ular area for drug use and a secluded, neighbors say. By Aaron Short Horny Park Slopers and condom wrappers, a dilapi- dumping ground for trash, Pocket-sized hipster pub The Brooklyn Paper drug users have turned a se- dated mattress, and even cou- residents said. L Magazine even named it They’re going to need some bigger cluded nook behind a popular ples mid-romp on Gregory “I’ve seen condoms every- the “ Best Block to Smoke a boats. grocery store into a makeshift Place, a narrow, seldom-used where — and people shoot- Joint ,” saying it’s the kind New York Waterway is calling in an armada of larger ships to transport bedroom for public sex — street behind the shop. ing up,” said neighbor De- of street where “you might Courtesy Sherifova Emilia greater numbers of seafarers across the and neighbors want them to “It’s an isolated spot for nise Morales. “It’s a real see joint-toking teens pass Neighbors say the al- East River to accommodate swelling sex and other unsavory activ- problem.” a yuppie with a one-hitter get lost before a grade school ley behind Key Food is a crowds on summer weekends. opens nearby. ities,” said neighbor Emilia The tiny block-long street, walking his dog.” meet-up spot for public The city-subsidized service currently Brooklynites who live Sherifova, who runs a blog which abuts a brick wall and But residents are calling sex — and there’s even a has room for 149 commuters at a time, near the Key Food on Fifth documenting the problem . the sides of houses, has long See SEX on page 11 mattress on the sidewalk. File photo by J.J. Despain but a new fleet of ships shuttling between This thing is a minnow compared Williamsburg, Greenpoint, DUMBO, and to the big boats that will soon Manhattan on weekends will more than ferry passengers between Wil- double capacity to 399 passengers. limasburg, Greenpoint, DUMBO The new boats will take advantage of and Manhattan on weekends. a renovated landing at Brooklyn Bridge His artistic liberty Park’s Pier 1 — potentially reducing de- lays on the open water. “We are thrilled we are able to pro- “The larger vessels and other improve- vide our customers with this enhanced Bomb scare sculpture was a message of peace ments will make sure more New Yorkers service,” said Paul Goodman, CEO of and tourists can get wherever they want Billybey Ferry Company, which oper- By Aaron Short yakawa, 50, walked out of court a initially saw it as a threat and cor- to go,” said Mayor Bloomberg. ates the East River Ferries. “With the The Brooklyn Paper free man on Wednesday after spend- doned off three blocks of Bedford Ferry officials also changed the sched- new ferry landing, fleet of larger ves- A Greenpoint artist who sparked ing five days in jail for planting a Avenue on Friday while the bomb ule this summer, extending weekday sels, and recent addition of on-board con- a bomb scare on Bedford Avenue plastic “I Love NY” bag contain- squad investigated service beginning at 6:45 am and end- cessions from local vendors, we know by hanging illuminated trash bags ing battery-powered LED-lights that Hours later, police say they caught ing at 8:45 pm. On weekends, three of that this summer will be more success- Community Newspaper Group / Aaron Short says his art project was supposed cops thought was an explosive. Miyakawa as he was putting up an- the yacht-like cruisers will run every 45 ful than the last.” A judge released Greenpoint to make the neighborhood more Miyakawa insisted he just wanted other bag on a lamppost near Lo- minutes from 9:35 am to 9:30 pm with So far, nearly a quarter of a million artist Takeshi Miyakawa from jail peaceful. to help calm one of his favorite hang- rimer Street. Prosecutors charged a stopover at Governors Island. See FERRY on page 11 last Wednesday. Furniture designer Takeshi Mi- out spots with public art, but cops See ART on page 12 Bench mensch Grilling fi ght Fifth Ave store owner offers to pay to remove disputed seats gets messy By Will Bredderman The Brooklyn Paper Cooper Park neighbors decry A merchant who claims he has a distaste for street vendors will pay to Memorial Day’s aftermath remove controversial benches some- one illegally bolted onto Fifth Av- enue to displace a gyro cart — but By Aaron Short his offer is being ignored by the The Brooklyn Paper group responsible for street furni- They can’t take the heat — and they wish everyone else would go ture in the area. A Bay Ridge businessman says back to their kitchens. Habib Joudeh, who owns Phar- he’ll cover the costs of tearing Opponents of newly installed macy on Fifth, located more than out the benches illegally bolted grills in Cooper Park claim their 15 blocks from the corner where the onto Fifth Avenue, but the local Photo by Bryan Bruchman greatest fears were realized over benches forced the so-named Mid- Business Improvement District Memorial Day weekend when dle Eastern Halal Cart to relocate has turned down the offer. A light-up sign has changed the look of the Old Stone House in Park Slope — from a popular selling spot back in but it won’t be there for long. crowds of outdoor cooking fa- March, says he thinks street meat natics flocked to the Williamsburg sellers dirty up the sidewalk, but was needed to have the benches re- green space, seared up a storm he sympathized with the uprooted moved. inside and outside the designated cart workers. “To resolve this issue, I said ‘I’ll A sign of the times barbecue area, and left trash all “No one has the right to take the put up the money right now,’ ” said over the place. law into his own hands,” Joudeh ex- Joudeh, recalling how he offered “There was lots of illegal plained.