Summer’s In Full Swing! How Sheepshead Bay Residents Plan To Deal With The Heat

With school over and summer in full bloom, local residents are stocking up on summer supplies and looking forward to the warm weather activities that Brooklyn has to offer.

Ana Stasia, who took her two young children out to Mellett Playground on Avenue V and East 14th Street last Wednesday, explained that being a parent in Brooklyn opens up a whole new perspective on summer entertainment.

“You view things through your children’s eyes,” she explained. “You go to the aquarium or a museum and every little thing there is interesting.”

Although her children are happy to splash around in the sprinkler at Mellett Playground, she said her family’s favorite local destination was Coney Island.

“The beach always feels like a vacation,” she said. “They love the water and the boardwalk.”

Other residents had more serious plans for the summer.

Kenneth Feng, who just finished his freshman year at Midwood High School, said he plans to spend his summer studying for the SAT and prepping for his fall classes. But when he is not studying, Feng and his friends like to play basketball.

“It’s a good way to blow off some steam,” he said. “I like basketball because you get to pull off some cool tricks if you’re good at it.”

Other residents are hunting the neighborhood for cooling appliances to better tolerate the heat. Robert Malti, who said he has lived in Sheepshead Bay “on and off” for almost 50 years, said he likes to shop local and headed to A/C & Appliances Center at 1401 Avenue U on the corner of East 14th Street to look for deals on air conditioners. However, he said he wished he’d gone shopping for one in February, when prices would have probably been lower.

Still, Malti, who was shopping with his wife, said the new appliance was more important to her than it was to him.

“I was born in July. The heat doesn’t get to me,” he said. “But my wife does not like the hot rooms.”