After Long Delay Train Finally Arrives at Kensington Station

Commuters to Manhattan can sigh with relief as service from the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Kensington and Windsor Terrace is finally returned after a four month hiatus.

Somehow commuters have been making-do without F trains to Manhattan and G trains to Queens; but all that will soon end when the trains roll in once again at 15^th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Donna Rubens has been walking about a mile to get the train she needs from another station:

"It's exhausting," said Donna Rubens, a Brooklyn resident who walks with a cane and boards the F train on her way to Wall Street for life-long learning classes. "I'm already 80, but I feel like I'm 180."

Other commuters have been driving to more distant stations or taking busses. The MTA explained that service was disrupted since January due to ‘track configuration.’

"I was astonished, frankly, when I saw the sign that said on May 23rd full service was going to resume,” said Philip Traugott, 54, a recording producer who takes the F to Midtown. "I was very happy, and I was amazed that that actually got done on time as promised."

"Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks Should Stay Away"

The real estate broker that helped turn the sleepy Ditmas Park street into a haven for coffee aficionados is discouraging two coffee giants, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, from  opening shops on this section of Cortelyou Road.

Jan Rosenberg, honored last week for her role in the remarkable face lift of Cortelyou Road by the Brooklyn Independent Democrats, stated clearly that Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks should stay away from this newly revitalized strip. Right now there are successful mom-and-pop shops adding character to the area. Rosenberg suggested that they move instead to Foster Avenue, only three blocks away, a street with no other competition at the moment for coffee shops.

“I don’t think it’s a good thing for the strip,” Rosenberg said. “I’d much rather see them on Foster Avenue. There is no cafe to draw people there.”

Unfortunately it may already be too late for such a sensible approach to opening their businesses, since Dunkin’ Donuts already has a shop under construction on Cortelyou between Marlborough Road and the train station. And on Thursday night, at the ceremony which honored Rosenberg, the Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz mentioned that Starbucks is also planning to open a branch on that strip.

Community Board Encourages Working Together on New Park

Community leaders and Community Board Representatives met on February 24 for a Listening Session to discuss each group’s vision for a redesigned Dome Playground which will be built at 38^th Street and Dahill Road.

Also in attendance were representatives from the NYC Parks and Recreation Department, on hand to listen to the various ideas which were presented.

Maggie Tobin, the Kensington representative to Community Board 12 said that the meeting was composed of an “incredibly diverse group of people, a real cross-section of Kensington.”

The Brooklyn Deputy Parks Commissioner, Martin Maher welcomed the group.

“The vision comes from you. “Everyone here is of different ages, religions, boys, girls, young, old.  We will build upon this so the community can share Brooklyn together.”

The meeting was organized by Councilmember Brad Lander in conjunction with the Brooklyn Parks’ office and the Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. The 60 members of the audience were divided into four teams each of which were given an enlargement of the ground plan of the Dome Playground as a reference from which to better discuss the issues of how to best develop and utilize the new park.

CB 12 will not be meeting during the summer, from the end of June until September 27. Then there is Ramadan which will take place this year from July 31 until August 30, and then soon to follow are the Jewish holidays beginning September 28 and ending in mid-October. Review of the plans for the park will have to navigate through these obstacles, but there is good-will to make sure all the constituency has a park they can live with in the end.

YouthMarket Baby Step on Way to Full Kensington GreenMarket

The community of Kensington, Brooklyn is beginning to make headway on the proposal to have a farmer’s market in the neighborhood.

Discussions have commenced with GrowNYC, the organization which oversees the largest group of farmer’s markets in the City, to see what it would take to get a farmer’s market running in Kensington.

After preliminary discussions GrowNYC has said that they will be happy to work with the community to get a Kensington greenmarket organized sometime this coming year, but they want to begin on a smaller scale. The proposal suggests starting with a limited greenmarket run by youth, or a YouthMarket.  GrowNYC describes YouthMarkets as “a network of urban farm stands operated by neighborhood youth, supplied by local farmers, and designed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to communities throughout New York City.”

Community representative Jessica Turner is excited by the idea of the YouthMarket, especially as a first step towards a full scale greenmarket. The location which is now being considered, at least to begin with, is Fort Hamilton Parkway between East 4^th and East 5^th Streets.

Supervisor of Kensington Sanitation District Sanctioned

The severe snowstorm suffered by residents of New York last week challenged the Sanitation Department to the maximum. Unfortunately, not all districts met the challenge to an acceptable standard.

Councilman Brad Lander of the 39th District in Brooklyn received hundreds of complaints about the inadequacy of the snow removal from his constituents. The vast majority of complaints, however, came from Sanitation District 12, the Kensington/Borough Park neighborhoods, which is geographically only one third of Lander’s district.

By December 31st it was strikingly clear that Kensington/Borough Park were under served by snowplows, as by this date there were still many streets under snow, while the rest of District 39 was basically clear.

As a result of the failure of the supervisor of Sanitation District 12 to do his job properly, he has been sanctioned, held responsible and has been reassigned to a different district.

Kensington Kids May Attend District 22 School on Coney Island Avenue

The Department of Education of New York is clearing the way to make it possible for an undisclosed number of Kensington children to attend school in District 22 on Coney Island Avenue.

The proposed new school will accept some students from District 15, which includes the Kensington area, but the number of children which will be allowed in is still uncertain. Assurances to the parents of Kensington children were made by the DOE spokesman Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld, who added that the number of children will be determined by admissions criteria and demand.

A large influx of school-age children is expected into the district when families begin to move into the newly approved housing project, the Culver El Estates, which has yet to be built.

Snow Delays Ambulance, Results in Elderly Man’s Death

A 73 year-old Kensington man died while waiting for an ambulance in his Kensington home last Monday, December 27^th.

At about 12pm Joel Grossman called 911 and explained to the dispatcher that he was “not feeling well.” The operator took Mr. Grossman’s words to mean that his illness was not life-threatening, and therefore, due to the bad weather and extreme backlog of calls for emergency assistance, and ambulance was not sent immediately.

Mr. Grossman kept in touch with the 911 dispatcher, with at least two additional calls made between them. No ambulance was sent because he said that he “only felt sick.”

Unfortunately Mr. Grossman died in his Ocean Parkway home in Kensington before an ambulance could reach him.

Kensington Pumpkin Weighs in at 502 Pounds

John Zambito, resident of Kensington, Brooklyn, and his wife, grew a pumpkin capable of filling more than 450 pumpkin pies on land in upstate New York. Using nothing but donkey manure and fish fertilizer, this oversized pumpkin could only be transported back into the city in time for Halloween by the removal of Zambito’s car’s backseat.

Mr. Zambito is an MTA supervisor, and will keep his giant pumpkin on display in front of his house on McDonald Avenue until Thanksgiving, when the pumpkin will be forced to succumb to the will of a chainsaw.

Hikind Loses Temper at Fringe Baptist Protest

A small group of members of the fringe Westboro Baptist Church held a protest in front of Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington when things turned ugly.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, known for his support of Jewish causes in Brooklyn and even throughout the world, was participating in a counter protest in support of the Brooklyn synagogue and against the beliefs of the Westboro group, when he lost control.

Suddenly Hikind ran from his protest and approached the small fence which was holding in the Westboro protestors.

Hikind screamed at Westboro member Shirley Phelps, “You’re a whore! Just be careful the rest of your day in Brooklyn.”

Hikind was pulled away by the police, but was not arrested.

The assemblyman explained that he was infuriated by one particular sign that Phelps was holding which read, “Thank God for dead soldiers” a reference to the group’s belief that God punishes America’s tolerance for gay people by allowing US soldiers to die.

"It was an emotional moment," Hikind said. "I just wanted to take that sign from her. They're a despicable group."

Phelps said that she would not press charges against Hilkind although she did comment that “he needs to get over himself.”

Errol Cockfield: Running Communications for Democrats

Beginning in September Guyanese born Errol Cockfield will run communications for Democrats in the New York State Senate.

The Democrat Majority Leader, State Senator John Sampson, also of Guyanese descent, hired Cockfield, who is 36 years-old, to be the Communications Director of the Senate Democratic Majority.

Cockfield went to SUNY at Stonybrook, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a minor in Journalism. He has been a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times as well as the head of Newsday’s Albany Bureau.

More recently Cockfield held the position of head spokespman and advisor for New York Governor David Paterson, as well as Eliot Spitzer, the previous Governor to Paterson. Cockfield became well-known for his leadership and crisis management expertise during the historic power transfer from Spitzer to Paterson.

"I'm very humbled and excited that Senator Sampson saw fit to tap me for this important role. Under the Senator's leadership, Democrats have accomplished important victories, including reforms that allowed New York to get $700 million in federal education funding announced this week," Cockfield told reporters.

Senator Sampson was elected in 1996 to the New York State Senate where he represents Brooklyn’s 19^th Senatorial District. Among the many sections of Brooklyn included in the 19^th District are Kensington, Midwood, Crown Heights and parts of Old Mill Basin.

New Van Service Replaces Busline

Starting on August 16^th, 2010 the old B23 bus line servicing Borough Park, Kensington, and Flatbush, will be discarded in favor of a pilot commuter van service.

The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) announced the start of the Group Ride Vehicle Pilot Program, and are hoping that its success will lead to expanded service.

Other bus lines which will be replaced by the new service are the B39 and B71 in Brooklyn, and in Queens the Q74 and Q79.

The B23 carried 1500 daily weekday customers and 1240 daily weekend riders until it was cut to help get the MTA budget deficit of $800 million under control. Unfortunately without the B23 commuters were left stranded with no way to get to work, school and other places. Alternative routes commuters were forced to take added an average of 15 minutes to each person’s commute time.

"Throughout the last few months, I have heard from many constituents who relied on the B23 to get to work, to family, or even school. It’s been very difficult for commuters who relied on the B23,” said Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn).

“The innovative decision by the TLC to place the Group Ride Vehicle Pilot Program along the discontinued B23 line goes a long way towards providing residents with a safe and affordable way to travel."

The vans which will replace the B23 can carry between six and eight people at a time, and will cost each traveler only $2. The new stops of the route have not yet been announced.

“This community desperately needs public transportation and the TLC’s innovative program will ensure that residents have a safe and affordable way to travel, something the MTA should, but clearly cannot, provide,” Greenfield says.

From Pizza to Heroes

Two Brooklyn police officers, Sgt. Edward Kraemer and Officer Timothy Stines stopped off for a couple of slices of pizza on Cortelyou Road in Kensington when they suddenly heard a woman crying for help.

Kraemer explained that, “A bunch of people started screaming that there was a fire," so they raced outside to see a building with smoke pouring out of the third floor.

They rushed into the apartment building and together helped a woman and her one-year-old baby out of the building and to safety, according to the police.