ICYMI: Obama Flies Over Area Beaches (And, Unrelated, So Did A Swastika), Prankster Cheers You Up
In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): The neighborhood received a presidential flyover this week, with President Barack Obama soaring over Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach on his way to some fundraisers Thursday. He took off from John F. Kennedy airport with three choppers – Marine One and an escort of a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King and an Osprey. Cool fact: the Osprey attachment, pictured below and which carries Secret Service, White House staff and reporters, is ultra-lux, decked out with leather seats and other amenities. Fits right in with Brighton Beach, no? His trip home was delayed due to a suspicious package at the White House. No matter what your political persuasion, seeing these in the air is pretty badass.
Here are some of the big stories you may have missed this week. You can keep up with what’s going on in the neighborhood all week long. Just follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for our daily newsletter. If you have any news tips, story ideas, questions or anything else, e-mail us at editor [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.
- Beachgoers were shocked on Saturday to see a plane flying a swastika banner over the sands, as Sheepshead Bites was the first to report. The group behind it, which claims to have invented human cloning and believes alien scientists created Earthlings, was blasted even though their intent was to rehabilitate it as a sign of peace and unity. A Queens Assemblyman doesn’t care about their intentions; he wants it banned in the future.
- A children’s hospice has opened in Manhattan Beach. There are volunteer opportunities available.
- This week’s crime, fire and court news include a Coney Island man found dead in a bathtub with chemical burns, and the arrest of his brother; another man accused of a sexual assault in Brighton Beach was found guilty, despite a fresh tattoo declaring otherwise; and the burglary of a Coney Island Avenue Verizon Wireless.
- Also, Sheepshead Bites’ Erica Sherman’s bike was stripped in broad daylight, and we should all be ashamed.
- The Brooklyn borough commissioner of the Department of Sanitation visited Sheepshead Bay on Wednesday and said the trash problem needs “immediate action.” The government has its own definition of “immediate,” judging from all the overflowing trash cans seen on Sheepshead Bay Road and Emmons Avenue in the two days after his visit.
- A prankster cheered up commuters – or made them really depressed, depending on your point of view – by posting a phony notice of the karmic consequences of not following your dreams.
We have real osprey’s in Jamaica Bay, but here’s that big, ol’ metal one with leather seats flying over the Manhattan Beach building I’ve always referred to as Saddam’s other palace:
