Kensington Ginkgo Tree Felled Just to Steal a Cheap Bike

Last week a group of bike thieves encountered a cheap, department store bike locked up to a ginkgo tree in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. Since the bike was locked and presumably the thieves did not have the tools to cut through the chain, they decided it was worth their own intense efforts as well as the destruction of the beautiful tree which was planted there to enhance their own Kensington neighborhood, to chop down the tree to get to the bike.

The entire episode was caught on closed circuit TV, and can be viewed on YouTube. There is a thread now on the Reddit social bookmarking site discussing whether or not the tree can or cannot grow back. But in addition to the obvious waste of a wonderful tree in a neighborhood that can certainly use some “sprucing up,” the man who began the thread on Reddit explained why he is especially hurt by this wanton destruction:

“My dad co-paid with the landlord for the foresters to plan this specific tree,” he wrote. “I don’t know if it’s actually his legally, but it’s definitely his in spirit.” Later he added, “My dad really wanted that type of tree as allegedly it’s very long lived. A legacy if you will.”

Down and Out Man Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver on Ocean Parkway

Dominick Trevisano, aged 51 and father of five, was killed by a hit-and-run driver as a stumbled onto Ocean Parkway escaping from an attacker who had been beating him violently.

Mr. Trevisano was an unemployed welder who was living on the streets recently. A friend who witnessed the event said that he heard Dominick scream out in pain, staggering into the busy intersection of Avenue C and Ocean Parkway, crying, “Oh my God! I’m going to die! I’m going to die!”

After Trevisano was struck by the car, a different driver swung his car around in order to block traffic, and then called 911.

He was rushed by ambulance to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died of his wounds.

Trevisano’s  sister said that the police told her that if the driver who struck Dominick had stopped and called 911 immediately, he might have lived.

"He's not a piece of dirt that you run over and leave like that," Jeannette Coppola said with bitterness. "How can they live with themselves? Come forward. Say you're sorry."

Kensington Woman Falls to Death from 10th Floor Apartment

In a tragic accident an 86-year-old woman fell to her death from her 10^th-floor window as she struggled to close it.

Police and witnesses said that the elderly woman, whose identity was not immediately released, was closing the window inside her apartment on Ocean Parkway not far from Cortelyou Road when she suddenly plunged out the window and down to the sidewalk 10 stories below. 

The doorman of the building discovered the body after a tenant informed him that there was a woman asleep in the front garden of the building. The woman died at the scene of the accident.

"She was an old woman - so sweet and always happy," said neighbor Yvonne Giudice. "She would smile all the time."

The woman lived together with her husband, daughter and grandchildren in the apartment.

"I cried when I first heard the news," Giudice said. "I just couldn't believe it."

The woman was well known for her kindness and lovely temperament. 

"She was a sweet lady," said one neighbor, who declined to give her name. "She was just a beautiful lady."

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.