A Busy Sheepshead Bay Sunday in January


(Photos by Ray Johnson)

It’s been a very busy day in Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island as Gothamist Maps listed the Breaking News. Before heading out to check out the stories, I remember also, seeing a listing that said someone fell onto the subway tracks at one of the Coney Island train stations. By the time, I checked a little later, the listing couldn’t be found, so if anyone has any information about a fatal fall onto the subway, please let us know.

The day seems to have started at about 4:10 a.m. with a water rescue at Emmons Ave & Knapp St, but a quick trip to the spot yielded very little information. So, we’re hoping that whoever got into that frigid water is all warm and dry, by now. If you’re reading this right now, drop us a little line and let us know.

See more about why today was such a busy day in and around Sheepshead Bay.

There was a serious motor vehicle accident at 2702 Knapp St near the 7 Eleven convenience store at about 9:10 a.m. The store clerk I spoke with on the phone said that whatever happened was when he wasn’t on duty, so he was not able to offer any information.

There was an overturned auto on the Eastbound Belt Parkway at about 5:13 a.m. and I can only assume that it was because of that treacherous ice and snow condition. By the time I got to the Belt Parkway later that day, things seemed calm.

I was so sure that the listing on BreakingNews.com was for a shooting at East 18 & Ave Y, so I rushed out to check out the situation before doing a screen save. Later though, I saw the listing was for a stabbing, so it’s possible that I just read it wrong in my haste.

A worker who was cleaning the street nearby said that there was a shooting earlier this morning, causing police to shut down the street for three hours starting at 6:30 a.m.

The worker believes that the owner of a white Infiniti got shot when he discovered thieves stealing the tires from his luxury car. During the interview, my fingers got so cold that the touch sensitive screen on my camera was unresponsive. As I was walking through the Stop and Shop parking lot to get some hot coffee that I could wrap my fingers around to unthaw my fingers, I realized I was walking on a long trail of blood. Employees at the supermarket said they were not sure about what happened other than there was a stabbing and mentioned that workers had washed the blood away with Clorox. They were not aware of any link to the stabbing that occurred in the store parking lot to the Infiniti without its tires.

So was there a stabbing and a shooting or just one incident? A check of the Gothamist Map later, did not help in clearing up this question. Details about the incident is unclear, but two things are for sure: blood was shed and a white Infiniti missing its tires is now (incredibly) propped up on a blue, plastic Farmland milk carton.

On my way over to cover an unrelated story that I’m working on, the noise of fire trucks and sirens at the corner of East 18 St and Ave X got me derailed. I’m glad to report that by the time I got to the spot, there was no smoke. Before I could warm up my fingers to take some pictures or convince firefighters to talk to me, they were all packing up to leave.

This has been a very busy day, but we do hope that all victims involved are safe. Send any information to Ned Berke  (check for his e-mail address at the right bottom of this page).

Here are some of the listings for the breaking news as they appeared on the Gothamist Maps.

Water Rescue | Emmons Ave & Knapp Street Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 4:10 a.m.
Overturned Auto | Belt Parkway E/b Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 5:13 a.m.
Stabbing | East 18 St & Ave Y Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 7:27 a.m.
Serious MVA | 2702 Knapp St @ 7-11 Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 9:18 a.m.
All Hands | E 18 St Ave X Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 1:00 p.m.
All Hands | 1724 Ave X Brooklyn, NY | 1/11/2009 1:03 p.m.