By Brooklyn Star Staff
news@queensledger.com
Over 500 kids were served with new backpacks, fresh hair cuts, and more to get ready for the new school year at Atlantic Terminal on Saturday, (Credit: Ido Simantov)
Partners included Emblem Health, St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn YWCA and the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. (Credit: Ido Simantov).
By Matthew Fischetti
mfischetti@queensledger.com
After 16 months of repairs and delays, Greenpoint residents will have to hold out even longer to see their ferry service returned.
On Thursday Aug. 25, Lendlease, the private developer that owns the pier, announced that service will not return until late-October or early-November, after the company previously stated that it would open at the end of this month, due to issues with the pile work. Work on the ferry landing started in May of last year.
“Lendlease has not demonstrated the necessary urgency in returning ferry service to Greenpoint, and our community cannot trust that ferry service will return in ‘late-October/early-November’ anymore than the previous timelines that Lendlease has failed to meet,” Greenpoint Councilman Lincoln Restler said in a Thursday statement. Restler also called on the Economic Development Corporation, which oversees the NYC Ferry system, to explore alternative access at a publicly owned pier.
Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher echoed similar sentiments:“For nearly a year and a half, we have been working in good faith with Lendlease and the multiple agencies who have jurisdiction over repair work on the India Pier Ferry stop, trying to identify and resolve bureaucratic obstacles to restoring much-needed service. We are now completely out of patience. It’s clear that private entities have no place owning public transit infrastructure. The City needs to get a hold of this situation right now.”
A spokesperson for the NYCEDC said that the group “looks forward to bring NYC Ferry service back to Greenpoint as soon as Lendlease safely restores the landing.”
A source with knowledge told the Greenpoint Star that the NYCEDC will be preparing a response to the pols’ letter in the upcoming weeks.
By BK Star Staff
news@queensledger.com
42 Hotel, a new luxury lodging in Williamsburg officially opened its doors to the public earlier this week.
Located on 426 S 5th Street, the 60-room building features amenities like floor-to-ceiling windows, lounge chairs, JBL Bluetooth speakers and high speed internet access.
The hotel offers six different room packages, ranging from 240 to 320 square feet and handicap accessibility options.
Designed by architect Lucas Lee and interior designer Andres Escobar, the new hotel sports a self-described “rustic but modern” design, with Edison style bulbs adorning the lobby.
The hotel also features a beer and wine lounge, called the Community Lounge, where both local and international craft beers, and “Americana-inspired small plates” will be on the menu. Additionally, 42 Hotel has partnered with Brooklyn Speed Coffee to run their cafe, offering breakfast burritos and “third wave” coffee.
The lobby of 42 Hotel
“42 Hotel is excited to serve the residents and tourists of Williamsburg. Our hotel is all about ‘community,’ and we will be partnering with local businesses to provide hotel guests with a unique Williamsburg experience,” the management team said in a statement.
“We hope that guests will enjoy all of the details that our team has spent years on crafting.”
42 Hotel also offers perks like same-day laundry, access to a fitness center and conference room options for patrons.
Reservations can be made directly on their website: https://42hotel.com/
Starting a business is expensive. You have to test new products, secure inventory, research market trends, etc. There’s no shortage of costs for a startup business. But if you haven’t even started selling yet, where does the money come from?
Seasoned small business owners might have a network of financiers, but for entrepreneur rookies, securing funding before you’ve had a chance to prove yourself can be tricky.
Every new business can do with a bit more cash, but the application process for government issued small business grants involves more than putting your name on a list and waiting for a deposit. Not every grant is right for every business and understanding how grant-issuing organizations evaluate applicants is imperative to securing the financial assistance you need.
If you plan on investing the time and energy into applying to a small business grant program, it’s important to understand the options available and pick the grant that’s right for your business.
Small business grants are offered by all kinds of organizations, to all types of businesses, with a wide range of values, missions, and functions.
There’s no single set of criteria that can be applied to all grant opportunities, but generally, grant-lenders are looking for small businesses that embody their organization’s stated purpose and add value to a particular community or industry.
Small business grants are not loans, so lenders aren’t expecting to be paid back. They’re not investment capital, either so issuers aren’t expecting to own assets of your business. But that doesn’t mean that small business grants don’t come with expectations and incentives. Issuers still expect a return on their investment, just not a monetary one. Instead, organizations that provide small business owners with grants want to feel confident that your business idea contributes to their organization’s mission—whether it be a common good, innovation in a particular industry, or economic growth in a specific community.
A small business grant isn’t necessarily “free money” either. Grant issuers often have stipulations about how the money can be spent, sometimes even spending the money themselves on specific resources they believe will help your business grow.
If you’re to fund a small business and looking to apply for a business grant, here are some key points to keep in mind:
Focus your pitch on innovation and expansion: Organizations that issue small business grants typically favor business that they see as innovative, forward thinking, and on a path to growth. Focus your pitch on new technologies you might be developing, and what your business can do to help the organization with its mission.
Estate planning is meant to provide peace of mind to you and your loved ones in the event of your passing. There are some easily avoidable mistakes which can cause unnecessary time and cost. This article will try to list just a few in an attempt to help people avoid them. All specific matters should be discussed with a competent Brooklyn estate planning attorney.
One mistake we sometimes see is a parent transferring appreciated assets like stocks or real estate to their children directly. This causes the children to lose an important tax benefit called the step up in basis, costing the children unnecessary taxes in the future. We have an in-depth article about this topic linked here. In addition, the parent loses certain tax benefits such as the primary residence capital gains tax exclusion, and STAR benefits. Instead, the parent should consider placing the property or assets into a living trust to avoid probate while keeping the step up in basis and other tax benefits.
Another lost opportunity is failing to list beneficiaries on accounts or failing to properly fund a trust. Probate can be avoided entirely simply by listing beneficiaries on bank accounts, investment accounts on life insurance policies. Forgetting to list your beneficiaries on even one account will cause an estate to have to be opened after you pass away for that account. Similarly, we have seen clients set up living trusts to avoid probate but then forget to properly fund the trust, thereby avoiding much of the benefit of a trust.
When planning an estate, it is important to have advance directives set up as well. These documents, which include a health care proxy, power of attorney are important tools to be used when someone can’t make their own medical or financial decisions. We often see clients who need help transferring their home or assets in order to qualify for Medicaid, but are unable to do so themselves because of a lack of mental capacity. For these clients, a power of attorney makes it possible to have their agent(s) make decisions for them, but the key is that the power of attorney and health care proxy has to be set up while you are of sound mind. Missing the opportunity to do it early on may mean the difference between getting the help you need quickly and going through a long and expensive Article 81 Guardianship proceeding.
Contributed by Roman Aminov, an award winning attorney in Brooklyn, NY located at 600 Avenue M, Brooklyn, NY 11230. Schedule A Consultation today by calling (347) 766-2682 or visiting https://www.aminovlaw.com/.
Queens, NY Location:
By Matthew Fischetti
mfischetti@queensledger.com
Elizabeth Crowley wants to represent Queens again. And Brooklyn. Oh, And Manhattan too.
Crowley, a former city councilwoman from Glendale, is running in the newly redrawn Senate 26, which straddles Western Queens, Northern Brooklyn, and Eastern Manhattan. Crowley is no newcomer to politics, coming from a large political family (her cousin was former Congressman Joseph Crowley, who AOC upset in 2018) and has run for a slew of offices over the years.
While the district originally encompassed her home of Glendale, Crowley said that her vision and platform apply to a greater swath of New Yorkers.
“I went to college at FIT, I went to grad school in Brooklyn. I identify with the city as a whole,” Crowley said in an interview. Crowley said that while she represented different neighborhoods back in the council, she pushed for policies that benefit New Yorkers across the board.
Crowley pushed against firehouse closures, fought to close Rikers, and advocated for increased greenway and transit options during her time on the city council. She lost re-election against Councilman Robert Holden in 2020.
“Most of them [inmates] have some level of anxiety, depression and a significant amount of the population as a serious mental health diagnosis, such as schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. And many of them have no family and no support system,” Crowley said of her decision to support bail reform, even though she noted that the legislation went too far in offering bail to alleged violent offenders.”So either way, they’re going to cycle in and out, in and out.”
Crowley said that affordability issues, child care, and education would be among her top issues if elected. In order to tackle the affordability issue, she says that New York needs to build a massive amount of affordable housing with transit to support the development.
“I have constituents in this district, over $3 million houses, in Greenpoint, pay less than property tax, then a modest, 1,000 square-foot homeowner in the district – or even, let’s say, a homeowner in southeast Queens. It’s a city-wide issue that needs to be addressed,” Crowley said, highlighting her desire for broad-based property tax reform. Earlier this year, a group of bipartisan legislators from Albany to the city council called for the issue to be addressed in the next legislative session.
While Crowley said that she wasn’t a fan of 421(a), the city’s now expired affordable housing tax break that critics said didn’t invest enough in actually affordable units, she said there still is a role for the government to subsidize construction.
She also said that she would explore options to reduce construction by “working with unions and project labor agreements to bring down wages, or to get some guarantees or give back to them for the cost of the project.” Crowley has received the most amount of support from labor unions thus far in the race.
The other candidates in the race are Kristen Gonzalez, Mike Corbett, and Nomiki Konst. The election is on Aug. 23, with early voting occurring from Aug. 13 to the 21st.
By Matthew Fischetti
mfischetti@queensledger.com
Elizabeth Crowley wants to represent Queens again. And Brooklyn. Oh, And Manhattan too.
Crowley, a former city councilwoman from Glendale, is running in the newly redrawn Senate 26, which straddles Western Queens, Northern Brooklyn, and Eastern Manhattan. Crowley is no newcomer to politics, coming from a large political family (her cousin was former Congressman Joseph Crowley, who AOC upset in 2018) and has run for a slew of offices over the years.
While the district originally encompassed her home of Glendale, Crowley said that her vision and platform apply to a greater swath of New Yorkers.
“I went to college at FIT, I went to grad school in Brooklyn. I identify with the city as a whole,” Crowley said in an interview. Crowley said that while she represented different neighborhoods back in the council, she pushed for policies that benefit New Yorkers across the board.
Crowley pushed against firehouse closures, fought to close Rikers, and advocated for increased greenway and transit options during her time on the city council. She lost re-election against Councilman Robert Holden in 2020.
“Most of them [inmates] have some level of anxiety, depression and a significant amount of the population as a serious mental health diagnosis, such as schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. And many of them have no family and no support system,” Crowley said of her decision to support bail reform, even though she noted that the legislation went too far in offering bail to alleged violent offenders.”So either way, they’re going to cycle in and out, in and out.”
Crowley said that affordability issues, child care, and education would be among her top issues if elected. In order to tackle the affordability issue, she says that New York needs to build a massive amount of affordable housing with transit to support the development.
“I have constituents in this district, over $3 million houses, in Greenpoint, pay less than property tax, then a modest, 1,000 square-foot homeowner in the district – or even, let’s say, a homeowner in southeast Queens. It’s a city-wide issue that needs to be addressed,” Crowley said, highlighting her desire for broad-based property tax reform. Earlier this year, a group of bipartisan legislators from Albany to the city council called for the issue to be addressed in the next legislative session.
While Crowley said that she wasn’t a fan of 421(a), the city’s now expired affordable housing tax break that critics said didn’t invest enough in actually affordable units, she said there still is a role for the government to subsidize construction.
She also said that she would explore options to reduce construction by “working with unions and project labor agreements to bring down wages, or to get some guarantees or give back to them for the cost of the project.” Crowley has received the most amount of support from labor unions thus far in the race.
The other candidates in the race are Kristen Gonzalez, Mike Corbett, and Nomiki Konst. The election is on Aug. 23, with early voting occurring from Aug. 13 to the 21st.
St. Augustine Church in Park Slope was robbed of their tabernacle late Thursday night.
A tabernacle is an ornate encasing that holds the consecrated eucharist, which in the Catholic religion represents the literal body of christ.
The church along 6th Avenue was broken into on Friday evening according to police. The surrounding architecture was destroyed as well. The angels surrounding the tabernacle were decapitated and the eucharist was strewn across the room.
Cops say the 18 karat gold tabernacle decorated with jewels is approximately worth $2 million. But to the parishioners, a lot more was stolen.
Diane Montemarano, 68, has attended the parish for 39 years. Her father, born in 1918, was an altar boy at the church in his youth.
“I always loved coming here because, you know, he was an altar boy, and he grew up in this parish. So, personally, it’s like, a relic of my dad was taken,” Montemarano said in an interview.
The stolen tabernacle dates back to the 1890s, from when the church was built, and is described as irreplaceable by the church due to its historical and artistic significance. Burglars cut through a steel encasing with power tools. Father Tumino said that when he walked in Saturday morning he saw the door was ajar. After he walked in and saw the destruction, he could still smell the metal shavings from the tools used to break through.
Tumino also stated that the DVR that recorded the security footage within the church was stolen as well. The Father said that the parish is working with police to see if neighboring schools or businesses caught any footage of the suspects.
Tumino also speculated that due to the construction in the neighborhood, the burglars were able to break through the steel encasing without raising suspicion.
Tumino shot down the idea of an inside job at a Sunday morning press conference.
“I know it’s easy for people to say it was an inside job. But the reality is, these are also very public buildings. And so even online, there’s a history of this church,” Tumino said. “And even the history of the church does say that there is a tabernacle and that information is accessible. And because churches are available for weddings and funerals and for mass, people do come in and out.”
“This was a place where you come to gather yourself things are going wrong. You can come here and calm down and sort of get a second boost so to speak,” Michael Okebey, 58, who has been attending services at St. Augustine’s for 35 years, said. “I feel like somebody has interrupted my relationship with God in some way.
After being asked about how he felt about the crime, knowing that the approximate value of the tabernacle is $2 million, Okebey got more stern.
“Now i’m really angry,” he said, explaining that the church is currently raising funds for other projects and that this would put them further behind.
Black Veterans for Social Justice, founded in 1979, is a veterans service and community-based nonprofit organization headquartered in Bed-Stuy. Every year veterans can be seen marching along the little stretch of pavement between Throop Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard on Willoughby Avenue in honor of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
The annual parade, now in its 11th year, has the usual fanfare: a hot sizzling grill pumping out burgers and hot dogs, the big banners and an even bigger line of marchers, as well as refreshments to stay cool in the first sweat of summer.
Attendees at Black Veterans for Social Justice Memorial Day rally in Bed-Stuy.
“This traditionally is the start of summer. And I’ve had so many people text me saying Happy Memorial Day. And although I say thank you, or sometimes I just give a thumbs up emoji. But Memorial Day is to commemorate those who have fallen, primarily on active duty, but we want to remember those who are soldiers for life, and who did not get a chance to enjoy the fruits of their retirement,” Walter Gist, a veterans outreach coordinator with the Services for the Underserved, said.
Gist is manning one of the many different types of services tables Black Veterans for Social Justice hosts to connect veterans with different kinds of support services ranging from job training and interview preparation to helping people apply for social services like ERAP funding, a pandemic-era rent relief program.
William Lugo has been attending the Black Veterans for Social Justice parade since its inception. It’s the easiest for him to get to at 73-years-old, as a local resident of Bed-Stuy. Lugo said the parade has helped him in the past get connected with all his benefits.
“Remember the men and women died defending this country,” Lugo said in an interview. “That’s why there will always be a Memorial Day.”
While thanking a veteran for their service may seem customary in today’s America, Vietnam Veteran Errol Vanmooden said that Americans have still failed to recognize the service of his fellow Vietnam service members.
“I remember my fallen brother in Vietnam. I remember the good times and the bad. I remember the holidays. Christmas, Birthdays. I remember the disrespectful welcome that I received back from Vietnam. I remember one person saying ‘are you part of the baby killers?’,” Vanmooden said.
While Vanmooden says he wants the day to be about celebrating the contributions of fallen soldiers, he couldn’t shake the bad memories that come with the day.
He remembers when he was injured on the battlefield, his buddies coming to help him. He was the only Black member of his unit, but that didn’t matter. Army green was the only color that mattered, he said.
He remembers his 22nd birthday. He was awoken by a barrage of heavy artillery fire early one morning in the jungles of Vietnam. Rockets would land and get stuck in the thick mud. He was sure he was going to die.
“I remember my brothers were always there for me,” Vanmooden said solemnly.
Kellogg’s, the famous 24-hour Williamsburg Diner, was added to the Historic Business Preservation Registry on Saturday.
The Historic Business Preservation Registry was created with the goal of providing educational and promotional assistance to businesses that have been located in a neighborhood for over 50 years. The program, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, can receive nominations from local legislators and are decided on a rolling basis.
Elected officials and restaurant workers inside Kellogg’s Diner with the historical designation award.
Since around 1973, Kellogg’s has served Williamsburg residents morning, noon, and night. Despite the pressures the COVID-19 placed on local businesses, the Metropolitan Avenue-based eatery was able to continue serving families during the pandemic.
Navigating a business throughout a pandemic is difficult, but Irene Siderakis was able to pull it off – without any restaurant experience at all.
Before the pandemic, Irene was a stay-at-home mother for her four boys. She inherited the restaurant after her husband passed away unexpectedly in 2019.
“The worst things in life can hate you. But it doesn’t mean you can’t move forward in a positive direction, as long as you believe in yourself,” Siderakis said about what this moment meant to her. “As a woman I want to say that I’m proud of myself. I know I put my heart into it. I put all my strength into it. Just because my husband died there is the excuse to say we can’t. I’ve got four children in this world I’m responsible for. There is no can’t”.
Before her husband passed she didn’t know anything about the business—who the vendors were, how to handle payroll, or the day-to-day responsibilities. Now, she says she feels closer to him, knowing everything he did to help provide a life for her and her kids.
“It is just a fantastic, fantastic testimony to the community that this place holds that Kellogg’s fought through COVID and rose again, and reopened and kept their staff and kept everyone safe,” State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who nominated the business for the registry, said while presenting the award. “They closed for two months during COVID, during which the owner became very, very ill, but still made sure that she was feeding the community. And I just think this is a beautiful example of what small businesses can do for our city and our states.
Siderakis has an emotional moment after being presented with the award
The 15 or so patrons got excited by the unexpected announcement, taking out their phones to capture the moment they got to be a part of.
“One of my first memories in about 1950 was that this [referring to her booth] was a caboose you know, like real diners used to be like train cars,” longtime patron Lorraine Franzese Scorsone, 68, said.
And she’s kept the tradition alive for the latest generation, regularly taking her two grandchildren to Kellogg’s.
“Kellogs has always been probably one of the biggest staples of this community,” 13-year-old Dahlia Prettr said. She said that she can’t even remember the first time going as it’s always been a piece of her life.“ So this community, no matter how much it’s changed, it’s always still been like that. Not a close-knit family by any means. But it’s still a family.”
“If you’re born and raised here, you know everything about Kellogg’s. You know how important it is early in the morning or very, very late at night,” South Williamsburg native and Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso said to some laughs. “And I just want to thank you again for being here for 50 years, when no one wanted to be in Williamsburg 30 years ago, you were here 50 years ago, and you guys maintained it and stood strong.”
And while much was made about the history of Kellogg’s on Saturday, Siderakis is even more excited for the future.
Siderakis receives Historical Business Award
Siderakis recently held their first comedy show at the diner the previous week, where Brooklyn Magazine reported over 75 people attended. She’s also been looking at expanding their takeout options, working to supply the food for ghost kitchens. She’s even gotten a request for someone to hold their wedding reception there.
But some things are going to stay the same. The friendly service the staff at Kellogg’s are known for will continue. The menu will be just as long. And, of course, it will stay open 24 hours a day.
“They believed in me, which was the biggest thing for me,” Siderakis said about how none of this would be possible without her staff. ”I didn’t know nothing. But they believed in me. And they stuck by me. And we got it together and we made it happen. And we supported one another with the customers that believed in us. I’m so grateful for everyone that kept coming back.
