Join us Monday for Flicks on the Beach: 42 and Diversity Day!

Join us Monday for Flicks on the Beach: 42 and Diversity Day!

Before the movie, join us at MCU Park as we celebrate Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese's legacy at the Brooklyn Cyclones game as they face the Staten Island Yankees at 5:30pm. 

Then, make your way to the Boardwalk for Flicks on the Beach with a special presentation of the Jackie Robinson biographical flick, "42". Plus! Wear your favorite baseball jersey and receive special discounts on the Boardwalk.

Where:  Coney Island Beach
               Beach and West 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11224
When:    Monday, August 19th, 7:00pm
What:     Join us in your favorite baseball jersey in celebration of the movie 42 and Diversity Day! Enjoy some great deals on the Boardwalk before Monday's Screening of 42! To join in on the fun, make sure to wear your favorite baseball jersey!

The following offer will be available all day:

• Tom's Coney Island: free fountain drink with the purchase of a hot dog and fries.

Offers will be available at the following venues from 7pm- close:

• Coney's Cones: $1 off any ice cream, $2 popcorn.
• Paul's Daughter: $4 draft beers.
• Famiglia Pizzeria: Free 12 ounce soda with a purchase of a slice of pizza or hot dog.
• Place to Beach: Kids eat free.

Don't miss the fun - we promise it will be an unforgettable experience! RSVP for the event here.

How Sandy has changed the game in Coney Island

How Sandy has changed the game in Coney Island | The Indypendent



(Excerpt)

“We’ve been doing everything on the up-and-up for 20 years,” said Jane Parmel, who runs a party-planning business at the corner of West 15th St. and Mermaid Avenue. She lost $150,000 in equipment and supplies to the storm’s rising waters. “In those 20 years I’ve employed over 100 people, and I can get nothing back from the city that I’ve paid taxes to.”

Around the corner from Parmel, Magda Perez has received one $15,000 loan from the Small Business Administration. Perez and her husband Sabino Eugenio, a retired butcher, opened Mermaid Prime Meats last October with a the hope of providing groceries at affordable prices to their fellow Coney Islanders, more than a third of whom rely on food stamps. In order to use food stamps in a business, that business must have an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card swipe machine, which is provided by New York State in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the wake of Sandy damage, the state has stalled on providing Perez with a machine, which has caused her business to dwindle. Now, the Perez and her husband struggle to keep their shelves stocked. Many other businesses in the area have fared worse, remaining shuttered because they could get neither direct assistance nor loans.

“Right now there are so many dead zones where there are no banks or supermarkets,” said Perez, a 45-year resident of Coney Island. “Before the storm there were local stores where you’d run in and get what you need, now you have to go out of your way.” (Click on article title above to see the rest of story).

Stores were shuttered after Sandy flooded  Coney Island

The New Grimaldi's Pizza after Sandy hit

It is easy to see the water line along Surf Avenue. Owner worked hard to reopen.  Other stores never did.

Will Citi Bike Ever Fix Its Distribution Problem?

Will Citi Bike Ever Fix Its Distribution Problem?: Gothamist

Now that Citi Bike has remedied at least its most pressing technical problems (though a quick trip to the program's Facebook page reveals that plenty still exist) the city is working to tackle its next big issue: Distribution.
Our own Jake Dobkin aired his dock-blocking grievances earlier this summer, lamenting the tendency of DUMBO stations to fill up by 9 a.m., an obvious problem for the commuter who arrives at work at the same time as the rest of the office knaves jostling for a coveted spot in the rack.
Dobkin—nor DUMBO—are alone in this struggle. The Times reported today that the city is stepping up its efforts to "rebalance" the racks more reliably, so that frazzled commuters won't have to wonder whether they'd have been better off just walking or taking train. The DOT is adding three more large trucks to transport the bikes, as well as introducing bike trailers—bikes that haul other bikes through trafficked areas that would otherwise delay a truck. It's also erecting three "staging areas" around Manhattan, which will allow for more prompt delivery than the usual process of bringing them from the warehouse in Sunset Park.
The city, per usual, has downplayed the issue of dockblocking, indicating that it's simply a sign of the system's success. "The numbers are so big you really have to take a 'Star Trek' transporter just to keep up with the demand," Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan boasted to the paper. (Typical KHAAAAAAAN!)
But the perception that the distribution issue is somehow more minor than a technical glitch seems wrongheaded. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the problem is—a transit system must be reliable in order to be useful. Walking into work late because you couldn't find an empty rack or, conversely, because all the bikes are gone is precisely the same as walking in late because your bike wouldn't dock. Late is late, especially in the eyes of the bosses, who probably just assume you're hungover, anyway.
It's not for nothing that Washington D.C, which has been in possession of its own bike share program for several years, still suffers from serious dock-blockage. I took a trip there myself in May, and I can tell you that the problem is grave—a person should never find themselves in a foot race across Independence Avenue against a man sporting a rat tail and JNCO's for the last slot in the Capital Bikeshare rack. Which I did not.
But is the anxiety of wondering whether a Citi Bike—or a space to dock it—will be available better or worse than wondering whether the train will show up? That depends. At least the subway, occasionally, offers its own rewards: We still haven't seen a shark riding a Citi Bike.