Sex, Stabbings, And Super Structures: 2014 Year In Review

With another trip around the sun notched in the belt loop of life, the residents of Sheepshead Bay look to the future. Superstorm Sandy ravaged our neighborhood two years ago, and although we have cautiously moved on, subtle signs of the one-in-a-lifetime catastrophe still linger in the refracted rays of light tearing through murky water.

If October 2012’s flood was the mouth to a long, grim tunnel, 2013 was that uncertain journey through darkness. In 2014, we began to see the first rays of sunlight spilling in. We’re not out of it, but with every story, good or bad, we plod along in our march to normalcy.

Normalcy, of course, doesn’t mean rainbows and cotton candy. It’s shootings and stabbings and medical insurance fraud. It’s businesses opening, and others closing. It’s a neighborhood on the cusp of a building boom, and everyday neighbors getting on with their everyday lives.

That’s 2014 in a nutshell, and to help peg those memories we’ve rounded up our top stories, month by month… an index of the milestones we’ve passed along the way.

Before we get to that, let us at Sheepshead Bites say thank you. It’s been another year of tremendous growth and rewarding relationships, and it’s made possible by your loyalty. We look forward to continuing our commitment to keeping you informed and engaged in 2015, and to chronicling the story of you, your home, your businesses and your neighborhood.

Let’s get on with it.

In memory of Ed Eisenberg, 1934 – 2014.

JANUARY

The top story of the month was a curious case of the Brighton Beach mom whose phone was stolen, and the lascivious lead the thieves gave to cops: a sex video and photos that the suspects took with the stolen phone, which were uploaded to the victim’s Dropbox account. Whatever the judge may say, the mom had her own verdict: “Sex looks very boring in their house,” she said.

A 15-year-old girl went missing in Midwood, where a man was also fatally shot. A Shabbos observant drug dealer was sentenced to five years in prison.

Don Rickles lightened the mood in that part of the neighborhood, though, when a video from 1968 resurfaced in which he strolled down Avenue M, cracking wise.

A man was shot in the stomach in Coney Island, which is also the scene of a homeless man’s dubious tale of Russian-organized bum fight clubs.

On Emmons Avenue, Loehmann’s clothing store announced it would shutter, putting 100 out of work. But those employees’ fates looked better than those of the neighborly swans across the street, who were put on a Department of Environmental Conservation kill list. Perhaps death was preferable to facing the polar vortex, which saw swaths of Jamaica Bay turned into sheets of ice – which made for dramatic photos.

The cold didn’t deter us, though. Sheepshead Bites kept our readers warm and their stomachs full during our third A Taste of Sheepshead Bay. Maybe next time we’ll serve swan.

FEBRUARY

We learned in early February that wealthy women can be swindled by a Brighton Beach man posing as an Israeli James Bond. Just say that you pal around with buddies Vladimir Putin and Robert De Niro, and you’ll get $20 million in jewelry.

The rest of the month was dominated by the story of a Kings Plaza teen riot. After a previous riot in December saw no arrests, cops took heat and busted some of the teens involved. It hasn’t had much of an effect – there was another teen mall brawl as recently as last week.

In other mayhem, Kings Plaza was also the scene of a brazen morning heist, with armed perps smashing-and-grabbing at Michael Matthew’s Jewelers; a man was robbed at gunpoint on Avenue U; an elderly man was crushed by a snow plow in Brighton Beach; a person took a fatal plunge from an East 18th Street building; and a neighbor was cuffed for passing drugs and money to her son in prison.

To help you get buff and stay safe on the mean streets, we told you about five new gyms in the area.

Gyms weren’t the only businesses to make headlines. Siam Orchid Thai Cuisine closed down; Nargis was on FX Television’s The Americans; and cameras at JM Legend Auto on Coney Island Avenue captured video of this speeding Department of Sanitation snow plow knocking a man over with a tidal wave of slush.

MARCH

Remember those swans on the kill list? They got a stay of execution in March, thanks to community outrage. They weren’t the only happy wildlife on our shores this month; there was also this adorable baby seal found tanning itself on Brighton Beach.

On the business front, the legendary Di Fara Pizza was slapped with a $1,600 fine for, uh, having too many seats; Avenue U staple Shaikh’s Place (a.k.a. Donut Shoppe) got the New York Times spotlight; My House burger joint opened on Sheepshead Bay Road; and, sadly, Avenue U’s Kings County Divers shop closed for good after 40 years.

Pols and the community also succeeded in winning an order to get a Homecrest construction site torn down after numerous violations. A new development fight was already brewing, though, after we broke the story that Loehmann’s Seaport Plaza’s owners were looking to construct an additional floor on the building. Unrelated: look at this crazy mansion that hit the market for $2.9 million!

Also, a Goldstein High School teacher was arrested for bringing a toy gun to class, sparking criticism from colleagues that the administration bungled the incident; an elderly woman was killed after a car jumped a curb and crushed her; a woman was beaten and robbed in broad daylight in Brighton Beach; a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car on Gravesend Neck Road; and a man was arrested for flashing teen girls all over Southern Brooklyn.

APRIL

After months of denying the charges, and then claiming he was a victim, former Rasputin restaurant owner Michael Levitis decided to come clean during April showers, confessing to scamming nearly $2.2 million from more than 1,200 cash-strapped victims. He then refused to let people talk about it.

But, hey, at least he didn’t set fire to a Coney Island apartment building because he was bored, like one teenager allegedly did. That fire claimed the life of one police officer and seriously injured another.

Since we’re on the topic, here’s the other crazy stuff that happened in April: a car jumped the curb and slammed into Trio Pizzeria’s storefront on Avenue U; Coney Island’s McDonald’s was the scene of a stabbing; a Brighton man was busted for guns and pipe bombs after cops responded to a domestic dispute; and the NYPD rescued a man threatening suicide from an Avenue X rooftop.

We also learned a lesson: don’t take cops to task for parking in a bus stop unless you have a law degree.

This month, though, was really more about real estate. A Banner Avenue apartment building sold for $39.5 million, while neighbors on nearby Corbin Place challenged plans for a new building on their block; plans for a new nine-story luxury condo building on Ocean Avenue were unveiled; and, on Kings Highway, a tie baron filed plans for a new five-story retail development at East 16th Street.

MAY

The month began with a hit-and-run on Ocean Parkway that left a 60-year-old victim in critical condition; then there was a McDonald Avenue accident that left a motorcyclist in serious condition; towards the end of the month, there was a dramatic accident outside of Kings Plaza that left two people dead. Surprise: a citywide crackdown on speeding was launched.

Still, it didn’t stop this Ocean Parkway accident, which left three injured and a car wrapped around a tree.

If we can’t stop speeders, maybe we can stop flooding? Doubt it, but the feds launched a new storm surge warning map that should make everybody in Southern Brooklyn poop their pants. Maybe the $21 million New York Rising plan to make Sheepshead Bay more resilient will help. At the very least, a flood might wipe away the spray paint this cat-concerned vigilante sprayed on Emmons Avenue.

Some history: the removal of the Anatolian Gyro signage from its former Sheepshead Bay storefront led us to research some history behind one of Sheepshead Bay’s most rooted families, the Izzos. Gravesend historian Joseph Ditta looked back even further on the 200th anniversary of a grisly murder of a two-year-old boy, followed by the suicide of the perpetrator: his own father.

JUNE

Speaking of history, we made some on June 1. Sheepshead Bites, along with the Chamber of Commerce and other local partners, organized the very first Sheepshead Bay Summer Stroll. It was cool.

But the month was more notable for a series of tragic stories: a 15-year-old girl went missing; a man was stabbed to death on Brighton Beach Avenue; a man jumped in front of a Q train in Brighton Beach; a Gerritsen Beach man was killed in a hit-and-run; a man was crushed to death by a tow truck on Brigham Street; another was crushed by a forklift on Avenue M; a drunk driver drove through an accountant’s Coney Island storefront; and a 10-year-old boy and 25-year-old man were shot in Coney Island. And, folks, this is just from the list of 25 most trafficked stories in June; there were more.

Good things did happen, though. Rocca Cafe opened on Emmons Avenue, one of the first waterfront restaurant openings in years; the new DOT commissioner witnessed first-hand the chaos of Coney Island Avenue and Guider Avenue, ordering immediate safety measures; the Thunderbolt opened; and advocates found new homes for a stray cat colony on Plumb Beach that was slated for destruction.

Oh, Faberge Jewelers sued Emmons Avenue’s Faberge restaurant for trademark infringement. Good, bad? I have no idea where to file this one, but it’s notable.

JULY

What’s that up in the sky? It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a swastika.

Let’s all look away in shame, and instead watch the trailer for St. Vincent, the Bill Murray movie that features lots and lots of Marine Park.

Once you’ve cheered up, give a round of applause to Sheepshead Bites. Why? We were acquired by Corner Media on July 1. It’s been pretty awesome.

Also give a round of applause to Brennan & Carr, whose roast beef was named one of the city’s most iconic meat dishes. And then clap for Roll-N-Roaster, which followed suit on another list.

Despite all the good meat, this reader made headlines when he begged the Shake Shack CEO to set up shop in Sheepshead Bay.

Bring back that applause. Now slow it down. Real slow. Slow clap. For this tow truck driver that smashed up five parked cars and fled the scene.

Moving on, Muss Development, owner of Oceana condominiums, bought the former Station Plaza site by the Voorhies Avenue entrance to the subway station; Faberge covered up its sign; a Midwood fraudster was sentenced for using a phony charity as a piggy bank; and the rate of medical insurance fraud in our area drew national headlines.

AUGUST

Things not to do in 2015: pretend to be a lawyer when you’re not one. Beat up an autistic child. Be a public figure connected to a Medicaid scam. Infringe on the House of Faberge’s trademark. Speed on Coney Island Avenue. Beat up and rob a girl in her own apartment building. Open fire on rowdy teens.

Things to do: eat at Randazzo’s, which has snazzy new signage. Eat more pizza, this time at Pizza D’amore. Shop at Gourmanoff, Brighton Beach’s crazy opulent new supermarket.

Oh, this is also the month where we give away the dumbest crook award: to the guy who tried to break into il Fornetto, and got stuck in an air duct. Whoops.

SEPTEMBER

When locals complained of an unfair speed camera trap at the exit of the Belt Parkway, Councilman Chaim Deutsch claimed more than 6,000 tickets were issued in one day. After some fighting with the DOT, which said tough luck to those who complained, they finally shared their numbers – which were lower than Deutsch said but still high.

Oh, hey, Sheepshead Bites broke the story of an insane 30-story tower coming to Sheepshead Bay, being built by Oceana condominium development’s owners, Muss Development. We then learned all the details, and even showed you what the view from the penthouse will look like.

It was a fun month for fraud, too. Four were arrested for pretending to be dentists and several day care operators were charged with lying about their health and safety problems.

But September also saw our favorite story of the year: an immigrant couple who build a 16-foot-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty on their Shore Parkway lawn because they love America.

Finally, we capped off the warm weather with a second Summer Stroll.

OCTOBER

Things turned for the worse in October, when two people locked in a suicide pact killed themselves with cyanide at 3030 Emmons Avenue. Another person publicly hanged himself at the N line subway station on Avenue U. It wasn’t just suicides – police responded to a domestic disturbance and shot 28-year-old Denis Volchkin after he lunged at them with a knife (his mother, who summoned the police, later said they didn’t need to kill him).

The area was also in the midst of a burglary and robbery spree, with several home break-ins in Homecrest, four armed robberies in Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park and Mill Basin; another home break-in on Avenue V; an armed robbery in Warbasse Houses; and a mugger who posed as a cop robbing victims around the neighborhood.

Puppy City also closed down after half a century serving the community.

We also learned that Sheepshead Bay has the highest car insurance rates in the state. Blegh. Let’s just forget about October, shall we?

NOVEMBER

Sure, there were elections this month. But even with the reelection of two indicted pols, they were so boring that no political stories broke our top 25 most trafficked stories.

Instead it’s Michael Levitis’ sentencing; a mom shot picking up her child from a Brighton Beach elementary school; a couple of alleged pervs busted for kiddie porn; and a Brighton Beach contractor busted for scamming workers at JFK Airport.

Is that more or less depressing than the specter of hipsters moving to Sheepshead Bay for cheaper rents, as one hipster whined to the Village Voice?

Well, when they arrive, there will be a Chipotle and Red Mango on Kings Highway to greet them.

And, in honor of the Verrazano Bridge’s 50th birthday, here’s 25 things you probably didn’t know about the bridge.

DECEMBER

With the year wrapping up, the stories didn’t slow down.

We broke the story of El Greco’s closing, and detailed the seven-story mixed use development set to take its place. We also got nostalgic (twice), and then told you about eight other diners where you can still get your spoon greased.

We broke the story of the $70 million medical fraud ring that saw 10 arrested and a local clinic shut down.

We broke the story of the reactivation of the former Richard Yee’s restaurant site, which will soon be a kosher market operated by the folks behind Cherry Hill Gourmet Market.

We broke the story of the borough president’s proposal to replace Brighton Beach’s public parking lot with affordable housing.

We broke the story of the Midwood man indicted for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a respected Jewish outreach organization.

Then there’s all the other stuff – the eight-story building planned to replace Midwood’s historic Vitagraph studio site; the gaudy design proposals for Southern Brooklyn’s public libraries; the horrific murder-suicide in Brighton Beach; the tire slasher who vandalized more than 40 cars in one night; the fiery crash that left two in critical condition and shut down Ocean Parkway; and the Midwood mom who took a fatal plunge from a ski lift just to name a few.

Oh, and McDonald’s lost its balls.

And, that, folks, is 2014. Have a terrific 2015!