Hannah Frishberg

New rendering revealed for Surf Avenue’s towering ‘Ocean Dreams’ development

Photo via Red Apple Real EstateA new rendering has been revealed for “Ocean Dreams” at 3514 Surf Avenue, the 21-story, 311-unit mixed-use development John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Real Estate filed applications to build on the last day of 2016. The building, to be constructed on a vacant Coney Island lot,

bath beach

62nd Precinct Being Investigated For Illegal Garage Smoking Lounge

The 62nd Precinct – covering Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, and Mapleton – has been in the spotlight this week after a New York Post exposé exposed officers had been illegally using a precinct garage as a converted smoking lounge. The Post obtained photos of the garage – a drab space with snow visible on

mill basin

This Gilded Brooklyn McMansion Has Its Own Boat Dock and Bedroom Sauna

If it weren’t so far – the farthest, in fact – from the subway, Mill Basin would likely be a much more popular destination for voyeuristic real estate tours and McMansion ogling. The lavishness of this $3.999 million property at 309 Whitman Drive can be ogled without venturing out to

Nonsponsored

Councilman calls renderings of neighborhood-changing, 1,000-unit Coney development ‘inaccurate’

Photo via The Prusik GroupCONEY ISLAND – A purportedly inaccurate rendering and information has been released regarding a neighborhood changing development on Coney Island. On January 3rd, New York Yimby broke the news that developer Prusik Group and Taconic Investment Partners – which is also currently working big time Lower East Side

Feature

From Sea Gate To The South Bronx: One Man Walks Every Block In NYC

Day 1171: Coney Island Light. Sea Gate’s lighthouse, built in 1890. (Photo via Matt Green)There are few places in the United States as pedestrian friendly as New York City, but that doesn’t make the goal of walking the entirety of this metropolis any less daunting. For Matt

Arts & Culture

From 1971 To Present: Photographer Thomas Roma Captures Brooklyn Then & Now

1973. From The Waters of Our Time. © (Thomas Roma via The Steven Kasher Gallery)Since 1971, Thomas Roma has been taking photos, almost all of them of Brooklyn. A born and bred Brooklynite, in his own words Roma is from “all over in Brooklyn, but mostly from kind of the

Bensonhurst

ICYMI: 18th Avenue’s Annie Sez And Mandee Closing, The Backwards Wheelchair Lady

Now that’s the holiday spirit. (Photo via YouTube)18th Avenue’s Annie Sez and Mandee will be closing at the end of January. Until then, everything is half off (as long as it lasts)Who remembers 18th Avenue’s Walker Theater?A neighbor told us a German Shepherd was

Announcements

Merry Christmas And Happy Hanukkah To You From The Bensonhurst Bean

Images via dover1185 / instagram and Anna Banana / flickrOur readers mean the world to us, and we want to wish our community a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. Thank you to our neighbors and advertisers for their continued support. We will return on Tuesday, December 27 and look forward to getting

Bensonhurst

Weekend Reading: Brooklyn Stories You May Have Missed

(Photo via villabatealba / Instagram)Morbid Anatomy Museum in Gowanus has closed; ‘Rebirth’ promised. [BKLYNER] Cafe Glechik kicked out of Sheepshead Bay Road location. [Sheepshead Bites] Brooklyn neighbors protest eviction of Errol’s Bakery in Flatbush. [Ditmas Park Corner] Actress Chloë Sevigny puts posh Park Slope apartment on sale. [BKR] Century-old

Bensonhurst

Where To Go For Christmas Mass In Bensonhurst And Dyker Heights

Saint Finbars. (Photo by Vincent DeMarco)Saint Finbar Catholic ChurchSaint Finbar Catholic Church, via FacebookOn Christmas Eve mass will be held in English at 4 p.m. and at midnight. On Christmas Day mass will be held at 9 a.m. and noon in English, and at 10:30 a.

Bensonhurst

[VIDEO] 20th Avenue Employee Hospitalized After Being Beat With Screwdriver In Failed Robbery

Stills of the perp at the scene of the crime. (Photo via police)Back in November, at close to midnight a creep inside 8322 20 Avenue — an address police describe as a “grocery bodega named Tyolpen” but that we were unable to locate (it’s possible the shop number was

history

Remembering 18th Avenue’s Walker Theater

The Walker Theater, back in the day, 1978 or later judging by the movies listed on its marquee. (Photo via Cinema Treasures)We learned yesterday that longtime retail branches Mandee’s and Annie Sez will be vacating their shops at 6401 18th Avenue at the end of January. As many

Bensonhurst

Remembering 18th Avenue’s Walker Theater

The Walker Theater, back in the day, 1978 or later judging by the movies listed on its marquee. (Photo via Cinema Treasures)We learned yesterday that longtime retail branches Mandee’s and Annie Sez will be vacating their shops at 6401 18th Avenue at the end of January. As many

Bensonhurst

18th Avenue’s Annie Sez, Mandee Closing In January, Offering Half Off Everything

The windows are covered in wall to wall sale signs. (Photo by Hannah Frishberg / Bensonhurst Bean)The Annie Sez and Mandee retail branches that share a storefront at 6401 18th Avenue will be closing for good on Tuesday, January 31. Following the expiration of both business’s leases the building

Bensonhurst

Man Breaks Into Bath Beach Apartment, Steals Money From Resident’s Pocket

The suspect. (Photo via DCPI)The police have finally secured surveillance images of a man who broke into a Bath Beach apartment building back in November. The suspect in question kicked in the door to an apartment building near Bay 17th Street and Bath Avenue on Saturday, November 12, just

Bensonhurst

Feast Your Eyes: The Best Photos Of This Year’s Dyker Heights Lights

In past years people have gotten engaged and burst into song beneath the lights in Dyker Heights, but this year the neighborhood’s annual Christmas display made news for tour bus madness, the theft of a blowup Santa and, of course, being among (if not the) best and brightest holiday

Holidays

Feast Your Eyes: The Best Photos Of This Year’s Dyker Heights Lights

In past years people have gotten engaged and burst into song beneath the lights in Dyker Heights, but this year the neighborhood’s annual Christmas display made news for tour bus madness, the theft of a blowup Santa and, of course, being among (if not the) best and brightest holiday

Bensonhurst

Southern Brooklyn Beat: California Paper Publishes Interviews With Cranky Dyker Heights Lights Critics

(Photo by adambayoumi / Instagram)What southern Brooklyn news did you miss this week? Find out and catch up with The Southern BK Beat: California Newspaper Interviews Cranky Dyker Heights Residents About Lights [San Francisco Chronicle] An Interview With Journalist And I.S. 303 PTA President, Who Moved To Coney Island

Bensonhurst

Does This 21st Avenue Building Have The Lousiest Reputation In Bensonhurst?

Photo via Property Shark Where are the complaints? #NoPermits #AfterHours @NYC_Buildings @ABC7NYNewsDesk @BensonhurstBean @News12BK pic.twitter.com/tzbrd26Mq8 — Chung Report (@ChungReport) December 14, 2016 Bensonhurst’s 7402 21 Avenue, just a few blocks from Seth Low Playground, is a much beleaguered building. The four-story multi-family property has had 12

Bensonhurst

Bay Ridge’s Paneantico Cafe And Bakery, Home Of Chocolate Cannoli And The Six Foot Hero

(Photo by Hannah Frishberg / Bensonhurst Bean)Paneantico stands tall among both the great bakeries and the great delis of southern Brooklyn. A Bay Ridge institution since 2000, Paneantico has the old school charm of a storefront much older than 16 years. It effortlessly combines the friendly small town vibe which

Animals

German Shepherd Forced To Endure Cold In 79th Street Backyard For Months, Neighbor Says

Note: this is a stock image of a German Shepherd and not the one in questionUPDATE: Two police officers, one of whom is affiliated with the ASPCA, visited the residence last night and determined that the dog was “nourished and in good shape. Starved for attention perhaps but physically sound”

Animals

UPDATED: German Shepherd Forced To Endure Cold In 79th Street Backyard For Months, Neighbor Says

Note: this is a stock image of a German Shepherd and not the one in questionUPDATE: Two police officers, one of whom is affiliated with the ASPCA, visited the residence last night and determined that the dog was “nourished and in good shape. Starved for attention perhaps but physically sound”

Bensonhurst

Filming “Saturday Night Fever”: Local Recalls Producers Paying Protection Money, Bomb Threat To Disco

A still from Saturday Night Fever showing John Travolta on a straight trip to Groovetown with a bad case of boogie feverDecades since its production, Saturday Night Fever has become a time capsule of 1970s southern Brooklyn. At the time of its release, though, at least according to this local,

News

City Debuts App Letting You Pay Parking Meters From Your Phone

We know these aren’t NYC parking meters, but they’re fun and vintage and look similarly frustrating and dysfunctional. (Photo via Pixabay)At last: thanks to a new app announced by the de Blasio Administration yesterday, you can now pay the meter from your phone. In addition to eliminating

green

National Grid Customers: Here’s How To Save Money In The Face Of Next Month’s Rent Hikes

Photo via PixabayBeginning in January 2017 National Grid customers in Brooklyn, Staten Island and some parts of Queens can expect to see higher heating bills following a unanimous vote by New York State’s Public Service Commission to raise bills so the company can pay for the utility, DNAinfo first