Pricey Rockaway, Brighton Beach Bathrooms Get 24-Hour Security

Pricey Rockaway Bathrooms Get 24-Hour Security - Rockaway Beach - DNAinfo.com New York

(Excerpt)
Four multimillion-dollar bathrooms awaiting installation along Rockaway Beach and Brighton Beach have had round-the-clock security guarding them since they were delivered in the summer, angering local residents who say the bathrooms are a waste and the city's priorities are wrong.

The high-priced structures, which were among 35 bathrooms and lifeguard stations provided after Hurricane Sandy by the Department of Design and Construction, have been under watch since they were delivered by barge in July. The city has only given a vague timeline for when these four bathrooms would be put in place.

Hurricane Sandy : Documentary on the Disaster of Super Storm Sandy

Snowballs instead of rocks in Jerusalem

Snowballs instead of rocks in Jerusalem

Related article:

AFP: Holy Land hit by heaviest snowfall in decades

Jerusalem — The heaviest snowfall in decades blocked roads across Israel and the Palestinian territories on Saturday, while torrential rains flooded areas of the Gaza Strip.
The heavy snow prompted Israeli authorities to interrupt the Jewish sabbath to lay on relief trains.
In northern Israel, 45 towns and villages were cut off and 200 snowbound motorists were rescued overnight, police said.
Nationwide, 29,600 households were without electricity, nearly 13,000 of them in Jerusalem, the Israel Electric Corp said.
Jerusalem city workers managed to clear most roads of drifting snow but appealed to residents to stay at home as fallen trees posed a persistent traffic hazard.
Few ventured out, apart from observant Jews walking to synagogues.
The two main highways into the city, which climb to around 795 metres (2,600 feet) above sea level, remained closed in both directions for a third straight day.
Jerusalem-based meteorologist Boaz Nechemia told AFP that between 45 and 60 centimetres (18-24 inches) of snow had accumulated in the Holy City by Saturday.
"We haven't had such a snowfall in some 70 years," he said, noting that a metre of snow fell on Jerusalem in 1920.
With road travel almost impossible, authorities laid on free trains to Tel Aviv and Haifa on the coast, interrupting the usual shutdown of public transport on the Jewish day of prayer and rest, which runs from sundown on Friday to Saturday night.

Brooklyn Councilwoman-Elect Laurie Cumbo Apologizes For "Knockout Game" Comments

Brooklyn Councilwoman-Elect Laurie Cumbo Apologizes For "Knockout Game" Comments | New York Daily News

Read original post here.

Brooklyn Beach Community Changes, and Angrily Divides

Brooklyn Beach Community Changes, and Angrily Divides - NYTimes.com
(Excerpt)
Manhattan Beach is just three blocks wide and a mile long, but lack of land mass has not prevented the neighborhood, which sits on the same spit of land as Coney Island in southern Brooklyn, from giving rise to two civic groups and a very public internecine quarrel that has divided them since 2008. That was the year a group of dissidents seceded from the Manhattan Beach Community Group, established in 1941, to form the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association.

NYC Councilmen Propose Committee to Oversee Sandy Recovery | Politicker

NYC Councilmen Propose Committee to Oversee Sandy Recovery | Politicker

Two incoming Brooklyn councilmen want to create a new committee to oversee Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

Councilmen Carlos Menchaca and Mark Treyger, both set to represent districts ravaged by Sandy a year ago, today proposed the creation of a new City Council council committee to vet the billions of dollars in funding allocated to the city by federal authorities.

“We must increase the level of organized attention to each of the communities impacted across the City. Small businesses, public housing residents, home owners and apartment renters continue to feel the impacts of Superstorm Sandy today more than a year later,” Mr. Menchaca said in a statement. “A City Council committee will provide the necessary oversight over our city agencies and ensure federal aid reach the hands of our impacted residents who deserve a just, equitable and sustainable recovery.”

Mr. Menchaca hails from Red Hook, a neighborhood that was badly flooded during Sandy. Mr. Treyger will represent Coney Island, a community that also endured a staggering amount of damage from the storm. The federal government allocated $60 billion for Sandy aid, but much of that money has yet to be spent. Recently, Senator Chuck Schumer announced that more money would be released to the thousands of homeowners and small business owners in need of recovery funds. Critics have attacked the slow pace of Sandy recovery, as well as how Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration responded to the storm.

“It has been over a year since Superstorm Sandy devastated Coney Island, Sea Gate, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Bath Beach and [coastal] communities throughout New York City. I have students in my classes who were displaced for over half the year by Sandy,” Mr. Treyger stated. “Our families deserve transparency and accountability. Creating a City Council committee dedicated to Sandy recovery will increase oversight of money coming in, make sure those dollars are helping our communities rebuild, create good paying jobs, improve local infrastructure and prepare our [coastal] communities for future storms.”

The USAF Band Holiday Flash Mob at the National Air and Space Museum 2013

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

The USAF Band Holiday Flash Mob at the National Air and Space Museum 2013

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

NYPD NYC Crime Map

NYPD NYC Crime Map

(Excerpt) The map may be searched by specific address or cross streets, a specific precinct or a specific zip code. Individual graduated points can be examined by a mouse click which will provide access to the statistics represented by the graduated point.

NYPD NYC Crime Map

NYPD NYC Crime Map

(Excerpt)
The map may be searched by specific address or cross streets, a specific precinct or a specific zip code. Individual graduated points can be examined by a mouse click which will provide access to the statistics represented by the graduated point.

Black Tie Beach 2013

See photos of this Improv event on the August 18 post.  Walked right into the middle of it.

YMCAs To Provide Jobs, Community Spirit To Coney Island, Rockaways

YMCAs To Provide Jobs, Community Spirit To Coney Island, Rockaways « CBS New York

Jobs available at the new Coney Island YMCA