The Beginning of the End?

The Beginning of the End?

Yesterday June 28 a minute fraction of Sunset Park voted. Nothing will change for at least the next two years except that things in our neighborhood will likely get worse. The total turnout of Democratic voters for the entire AD 51 was a little over 5,000 voters. About one in ten of the registered voters of the district with early voting showed up at the polls and exercised their civic responsibility. Voting isn’t just a right we can chose to put into practice, but a responsibility, a duty and obligation in a democratically elected republic in which  we are called with our fellow citizens to act not only in our own self interest but that of the community at large and for our progeny of future generations to whom we bequeath our legacy and transfer to them the world we leave them by electing representatives who will enact responsibly their duties to preserve and protect that which we have accomplished and they will inherit.

 Yesterday we failed on all counts.   
Our failure wasn’t just as Democrats and republicans but as the custodians of the legacy of prior generations who passed that responsibility to us. I wish I could blame my neighbors in the nabe alone, but this was a city and state wide failure of civic responsibility. But alas the damage has already been done. We have effectively returned to office the same corrupt politicians responsible for the policies which created  Morass in which this neighborhood finds itself. We will continue to see the private interests of the corrupt corporate oligarchy which is literally turning our neighborhood and our city into a shithole. Without rezoning of the waterfront we will see  more industrialized ghetto with cheap hotels which will be subsidized by the city to bring in homeless other neighborhoods refuse to take in. Fourth avenue will see more condos and expensive apartments marketed as ”affordable housing” which only higher end income earners will afford. 

Stealth gentrification will occur while our politicians will have the audacity while they wear their expensive suits and dresses to tell us how much they love the poor in our community. It will reek with the stench of hypocrisy for which they have mastered the art. Equinor will build its propeller factory on 72 acres of OUR land while the corporate rapists laugh in our faces as they collude to raise our electric rates to “save our planet”. They will continue to push for “social workers” instead of law enforcement to handle the rising crime rates in our neighborhood. They will claim that habitual criminals who prey in our streets deserve our compassion while they are released into our streets so as not to keep them incarcerated. They will release these individuals without bail into our streets while they raise the rates on the parking meters being installed on all the main thoroughfares to make up for the lost revenue every time a family is being driven out of the city because they can no longer stand to live here.

All of this will drive down the value of homes so their corporate masters can get better prices as you desperately seek a buyer for your houses you can get the hell out of the nabe. For some of us our houses will become our jails as we will avoid to venture out of them due to the increasing crime rates in our streets. Our schools will increasingly become centers not of academic achievement or learning but of social indoctrination while our politicians oppose funding alternative venues so our parents can choose where to educate their children.

If I am painting a bleak picture it is because I see the storm clouds on the horizon headed our way. As most immigrants we have seen this movie before and we know the script. I hope my neighbors take some time to do some simple research and Google “Curley effect” and “Cloward-Piven”. The battle is far from over, it’s just beginning. We must wake up our neighbors and fight back or the “good old days” of Gunset Park will come roaring back with a vengeance. It’s time to organize, protest and influence. Resistance is not futile, we don’t live in the land of the Borg yet. 

The Return of Gunset Park?

Next Tuesday on June 28 Sunset Park will hold one of the most important elections in its recent history. We will be voting in our next state assembly representative. Yes, its only the Democratic primary, but in a district where there are 40,000 registered democrats versus slightly over 2,000 of other parties it might as well be the general election because the democrat nominee is guaranteed to win in November no matter what. In the last year alone, crime in the 72 precinct has gone up an incredible 30%+ according to the statistics published in the NYPD website. A recent poll published by the New York Post shows that 7 out of 10 New Yorkers fear being the victims of a crime. The headlines in the papers are reminiscent of Chicago. Murders are up citywide and crime is up everywhere. Studies have shown that the primary cause of this upward shift is the bail reform laws passed by our state legislature by "progressive" representatives. 

Our current assembly person Marcela Mitaynes is on record in an interview on WPIX 11 as being an avid supporter of these "progressive" policies. She is also on record as supporting defund the Police policies. She believes that crime should be handled by "social workers" rather than trained law enforcement. A recent story in the NY POST highlighted that record numbers of police officers are resigning and leaving the NYPD as a result of these policies.  There are also a wide number of other issues which most constituents of our nabe may not be aware. There are plans to pass a new slew of bills that will raise Real Estate taxes on current homeowners thus indirectly leading to a spike in rents as well.   

Rezoning of the waterfront to build affordable housing for our constituents in keeping with the low income standards of our neighborhood are opposed by both Alexa Aviles and Marcela Mitaynes. The 5th Avenue Committee which is colluding with developers to build Apartment complexes throughout our neighborhood is pushing for "affordable Housing" whose income criteria puts most of these units out of reach of our working class neighbors and effectively gentrifying the area. Literally the opposite of our politicians claim they oppose. 

As if that weren't enough, our local politicians have by stealth colluded with the NYC Development Corporation to hand over 72 acres (the size of two Sunset parks) of our prime real estate to an international conglomerate to build a propeller factory for green energy. Con Edison will be forced to buy the electricity produced which will drive up our electric bills through the roof. The excuse they used was that it was to create jobs. In reality most of the jobs that will be created will be out of reach of our local residents. Millions of dollars exchanged hands in the deal, none of which benefit our local residents. 

Then there is the issue of education and our schools. Looking at the rankings of the schools in our neighborhood paints a disturbing picture. According to the US news and World Report school ranking most of our schools including Sunset Park High school are ranked in the lower 50% of all schools in the city. In the meantime our elected officials oppose either vouchers for our residents or building any charter schools in our neighborhood. As many of you may be aware, the teachers unions are big contributors to the campaigns of our local politicians. 

A recent investigative essay click here delves into these complex corrupt relationships which I urge those reading this post to read. We cannot afford to continue on our current direction. We must fight back or we will return back to the old days when Sunset Park earned the moniker of "Gunset Park". As an immigrant and resident of Sunset Park since 1970 I fear we are returning to the conditions that made Sunset Park an unpleasant and dangerous place to live in. Of course, you could stay home this coming Tuesday  and hope for the best However, I implore you that staying home is NOT an option, You MUST show up and vote in the primary. For the sake of our neighborhood, the Democratic party and the future of our children The only choice on the ballot to reverse course and begin to implement sane, moderate and rational policies to help our Sunset Park is Erik Frankel. His family has been in the neighborhood since 1890. He has a stake on seeing it survive.

StatOil Invades Sunset Park

By Erik Frankel (guest columnist)

Board of directors of StatOil

It has come to my attention that a plan to develop Sunset Park South Brooklyn Marine Port has gained some favor, a plan that, once again, will benefit the few at the expense of the many. Under this plan, a foreign company called Equinor will build a wind turbine assembly facility on land that is desperately needed for low-income housing, parks, public markets, and trade schools.

At first glance, such a plan might sound pretty good. Who, after all, is not in favor of alternative energy development? Any proposal to bring in jobs, not matter how sketchy, is often welcomed instinctively. Unfortunately, a number of our city's politicians and community leaders have climbed aboard this bandwagon without examining it in detail, and certainly without looking, I might even say without caring, about whether it makes sense, and surely without looking into the people behind it, players who I believe do not have our community's best interests at heart.

 

Unfortunately, NYC has a long history of falling for big promises that turn into dust, revealed as little more than con jobs of some quick buck artist. Our trust in city leaders to protect us has often been abused, our expectations disappointed. The company behind the South Brooklyn Marine Port proposal is a foreign oil and gas company that has lobbied furiously, spending many millions of dollars in an effort to influence our City, State, and National governments. Does anyone believe that this big bucks lobbying effort is for our own benefit?

 

The company behind this latest land grab, Equinor, is currently facing lawsuits in the State of Texas for efforts to defraud investors. It has already been fined many millions of dollars for financial, anti-competitive, govt. contracting, and environmental offenses. They have been accused of violating the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This is not a company we do NOT want to do business with.

https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/equinor

 

I believe that we can, and must, do better. Our people depend on it. As your elected representative, I will leave no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored, in order to improve our lives, and the lives of our children, grandchildren, and future generations.

 

I have come to the realization now within the few short months of running for office, Truth is a luxury very few politicians can afford.    Although my family immigrated to sunset Park in the 1880s, I spent half my life living and working in developing countries; Vietnam, Myanmar, China. 

When I heard a small nonprofit organizations and community Leaders in Sunset Park. stood up to protect the community from the wealthy developers (Industry City) it made me feel glad to be a New Yorker.    For years well funded developers were known to be a driving force for displacing poor communities and replacing them with more wealthy residents,  known as gentrification.  The reason why developers had been so successful in the past, they were not competing for land with an foreign Oil Fracking Gas Lobbying company with a history of bribery, fraud, & team of Lobbyists.  #159th listed on the fortune 500 index StailOil, now known as Equinor.

Sunset PArk South Brooklyn Marine Port Equinor

During a time when our politicians were telling us to wear a mask and stay home, they announced the 78 acres of Land that the developer wanted to build on would be given to Equinor ( to assemble wind turbine engines.   

Politicians were praising activists, activists were praising politicians  Journalists were praising both activists and politicians.

The story was portrayed as David vs Goliath.    But I think we got the hero and villain reversed.   If the world knew that our elected government officials and activists were not fighting against the wealthy Developers Industry City, but they were actually fighting for Equinor a company owned by the Norwegian Government) which is a Fracking, Oil & Gas company that had lobbied millions of dollars to many branches of the US Government from the US Coast Guard, EPA, DOT to the House of Representatives the list goes on.    

That brings me to the next observation.   Why was there no opposition to Equinor.

 

The opposition to Industry City was ferocious , Besides using social media, pamphlets  & Newspapers, & TV, protesters would carry out out inside outside Industry City and even in local schools.  Yes inside schools.   According to students who attended local schools, they were told their families would be “kicked out of their homes” and replaced by white people if Rezoning the waterfront had taken place..  Who would protest a job fair?When Industry City tried to have a job fair community outreach program the school Community activists had protested and were met with resistance. 

No demonstrations, no protesting on facebook, instagram. twitter..

Community activists are praising the politicians, and the politicians praised the community activists.   Yor read positive stories about the outcome all over the internet.  

Affordable housing is still an issue, this project claims to only 

There should be an investigation launched to investigate 

Inviting a Norwegian company to build a factory in an area filled with undocumted workers who can’t get citizenship shows our worst.   Do you think all the Norwegians who are going to work for this company will risk being deported?   Where do you think they are going to live?  If they want to live close to the factory, what do you think will happen to the price of rentals?  

What the community needs most, is home ownership / affordable housing, small businesses, citizenship for undocumented workers, less pollution & congestion.  

Look at the board of Equinor do you think it reflects the community?   They look like the original cast of Star Wars, without Lando.    The 78 acres plot would have been great for first time home owners, small business owners. This Project is a representation of the failure of our government & media.

I am confident that the staff coming over from Norway will have no problems getting visas and work permits, while many people in the community of Sunset Park live with the fear of being deported. The issue of Visa’s from non wealthy oil rich countries is a topic that is close to my heart since My son’s mother who was denied a visa and I have to raise a 2 year old by myself for the past year.

Do you think the fact this company lobbied the ?

House of Representatives,

 U.S. Senate,

 DOE (Department of energy)

(FERC), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

(CFTC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

 State - Dept of (DOS),

(EPA) Environmental Protection Agency 

(NSC), Natl Security Council 

(OMB),Office of Management & Budget 

(NEC), Natl Economic Council 

(USTR), U.S. Trade Representative 

(DOD) Department of Defense,

*USCG)  U.S. Coast Guard 

U.S. Customs & Border Protection, 

(DOC) Department of Commerce -

 Treasury 

 Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP)

 Interior - Dept of (DOI) Department of Interior

 DOT Transportation - Dept of Transportation

Minerals Management Service, 

My name is Erik Frankel, my family immigrated to Sunset Park Brooklyn in the 1800s and opened a small shoe store Frankel’s which has been in our family all these years.   Through our store I got to know the community.    Even though most of the people in my community don't look like me and come from different places I consider them Family.     

I don’t think a Norwegian OIL FRACKING company wants to move to Brooklyn build wind turbines to get 

-Americans less dependant of fossil fuels, give American’s jobs, lower the cost of housing or prevent gentrification.

Fraud https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equinor-faces-additional-lawsuits-over-eagle-ford-shale-royalty-fraud-300987664.html?fbclid=IwAR04ziIaaJQlBIJVzNCWkdlE9X49wDUkZxsEXDSsqsjgNP99BNBhrqhNnjQ

Electing the right people for Sunset Park

CRIME

I have been a resident of Sunset Park since 1970. Things are not well in our community. Crime statisrics for the 72 precinct are inching up. Meanwhile, candidate Alexa Aviles supports defunding the police at this crucial time. As a matter of fact crime was inching up as far back as 2016. The recent tenure by Carlos Menchaca has brought little or no change to our neighborhood nor any improvement.

EDUCATION

Our high school Sunset Park High school is ranked in the lower 20% of school rankings in the nation and on the bottom 50% of city high schools. The rest of our public schools aren't much better. Alexa Aviles backed by the UFT opposes both charter schools and vouchers so our children could get a better education. That is our money that could be better spent to give our children a better education.

PORN SHOPS

We've had porn shops lining 3rd avenue since the Giuliani administration. Politician after politician have promised to do something about the problem. Some of them are located not to far from our schools. Nothing was done during Menchaaca's tenure. I know of no other neighborhood with such a high concentration of porn shops. Alexa Aviles has not even addressed the issue. This a major example of our neighborhood acting as a dumping ground for things other neighborhoods reject.

Hotels Crime and Prostitution

There is a loophole in the zoning laws that particularly effect our neighborhood. The commercial zoning laws do not allow for residential construction. They do however, allow for the construction of hotels and homeless shelters. The result is that our neighborhood has one of the greatest concentrations of hotels that because of lucrative city contracts are being turned into homeless shelters. Unscrupulous developers have taken advantage of the situation and are turning our neighborhood into a haven of hotel cobstruction. A loophole in the law also allows hotels to rent rooms in an hourly basis giving rise to their use by prostitutes and other criminals for their activities. Alexa Aviles hasn't even addressed the issue. We need to tighten the law and close the loopholes. Most of the homeless suffer from drug addiction and mental problems that need to be addressed. A program needs to be setup to help these people get back on their feet. Our political class has not even touched on the necessary solutions. Instead they have been dumping the problem without putting forth any solutions into our neighborhood (while other neighborhoods reject shelters and hotels).

REZONING THE WATERFRONT

The latest hairbrained scheme that our politicians and local activists have come up with is to give 75 acres of city property (our property) to a transnational firm (Norwegian Stat Oil) to build propelers for windmills that are to be placed in the New York bay. That is aproximately 20 square blocks of land which could be better utilized to build housing for our community. Stat Oil has spent millions of dollars to influence our politicians and community organizations to get backing for the project without any partcipations from the residents of our community. We were promised that land was goig to be used for a greenway and parks along the coast. Our community activists facilitated this by pushing for the project. Any jobs created by the project will likely be specialized union jobs that will not go to any residents of our community. If built that 20 acre lot will be there foe many years to come and will not be utilized for much needed housing.

BRINGING BACK INDUSTRY

One of the biggest myths that politicians like to peddle is the idea of bringing back industry to Sunset Park. The problem is that politicians don't understand why industry left Sunset Park in the first place. Modes of production changed from vertical to horizontal factories. That meant that factories needed land and open space to build their production facilities. The result is they left the constricted space of New York city for places like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and in many instances they shipped production abroad to third world countries and China. The land as I mentioned above is better utilized for housing for our community.

TIME FOR CHANGE

Electing the same cabal over and over has been a disaster for our neighborhood. We need to change the narrative and leave out the pandering rhetoric. We need someone who is only beholding to the community not the interests who are funded by outside sources who don't give a sh*t for the community. If we are to improve the quality of life in our communty we have to think outside the box and begin a push back against the organized interests who think Sunset Park is the perfect dumping ground for projects other communities reject. At the moment I see only one candidate who has a real interest in the neighborhood where his family has lived since 1870. With all due respect, someone who lives in Red Hook has no clue what goes on here. I urge you to take a serious look at Erik Frankel for city council. You can visit his website to learn more. As an immigrant from Latin America who escaped one of the many variants of socialism as a political exile I am rather worried that I am seeing another repetition of policies that end in ruin. Our vote is the only tool we have left to change course in our community.

STAYING HOME ON ELECTION DAY IS NOT AN OPTION VOTE TOMMORROW NOVEMBER 2 FOR ERIK FRANKEL FOR DISTRICT 38

VISIT ERIK'S WEBSITE HERE

Arnold's is now open again

 

Arnold's is back and open for business. Long a feature on 8th Avenue since he first opened in 1973 Arnold was the go to guy if you needed to get your bike fixed. Arnold closed his store due to the pandemic as a "non essential" business. Unknown to many of us he was also suffering from prostate cancer and passed away earlier this year from complications. He was my go to guy when I had problem's with my bikes for the last forty plus years. He went through a lot losing two of his sons but he kept on going. Now his surviving son has taken over and is trying to make a go of it. Drop by and say hello. Being good bike mechanics runs in the family. I hope Sunset Parkers appreciate this institution and patronize it to keep it going. You won't find a more reasonably priced bike place in the neighborhood and I dare say in Brooklyn. 

Closings: WORK BOOT WAREHOUSE

After a six year hiatus I decided it's time to start the blog again. The Work Boot Warehouse on 4th Avenue and 39th street will be closing in August. Owner Kal Long will be moving to Florida and retiring with his family. The place has been a sort of institution in Sunset Park for the last thirty or so years. Kal started selling boots out of his van near Costco when it first opened up in the neighborhood. In fact after a few years he was so successful that he went on to open a location not far from the Lutheran Hospital on 2nd Avenue after a few years he moved to the current location and has been there since.  He has been having a big sale on his inventory which will last until the end of the month. Sorry to see him go. Perhaps if you're reading this before he closes you can drop by and and bid him farewell and good luck and maybe buy something as well. 

 

Christmas in the Hood 2015

 

 Sunset Park may not be as fancy as Dyker Heights when it comes holiday displays or as elaborate as Shore Road in Bay Ridge, but we do have the holiday spirit. Here some random shots of the nabe signifying the holiday spirit..

 

A recent mural on 4th Avenue

 

Three brownstones all decked out...

 

Selling trees by Key Food on 5th..

 

Selling plastic trees on 5th..

 

In the Christmas spirit near the park..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closings : Milan's Restaurant Brooklyn's only Slovak Eatery

Milan's Restaurant on 5th Avenue and 22nd street in the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park is closing after the holidays. It was the only Slovak Restaurant in Brooklyn serving home made Slovak, Czech and Polish fare on it's menu and served with imported Slovak and Czech beer. Owner Milan Franko opened it's doors in 1995 with his wife as the cook for a 20 year run. The place had an old world air and atmosphere but fell victim to the changing makeup of the neighborhood as well as economics. His lease expired and the landlord raised his rent making it difficult to keep the place open and make a living. e was one of the  first to occupy our cybermall on our website when we started it back in 1998. Milan said he might stay open a few more weeks after the new year. If you haven't been there I highly recommend a visit before it closes it's doors. Milan is planning on moving to Florida after this where his children currently live. It will be sad to see him go. If there is one constant in Sunset Park it is that change is a constant.

Homeless in Sunset Park

It appears the powers that be in our city are running roughshod over Sunset Park again. Just now a story has broken that  the above hotel is being converted into a homeless shelter that will house up to 150 homeless people. Councilman Menchaca made the announcement of his facebook page. The neighbors around the location have been concerned for some time over the developments  but their pleas apparently fall on deaf ears. This is reminiscent of the time when Giulianni and his administration dumped all the city porno shops in Sunset Park without consulting the neighborhood. 

At the same time it was announced that our esteemed Mayor De Blasio (AKA Kaiser Wilhelm) with the consent of the rest of the crew at our city government have decided that there will be no housing whatsoever built in the part of the neighborhood that has been designated an industrial zone. Apparently this will apply to all "industrial zones" throughout the city. It has been the dream of city administrations as far back as I can remember to bring back manufacturing to New York City. If politicians had any brains they would figure out why manufacturing left the city in the first place. Industrial manufacturing needed land, lots of land and cheap. When manufacturing efficiency  meant that the manufacturing process was transforming from vertical factories to horizontal ones the dye was cast. The idiots need to understand that manufacturing in general is NOT coming back to New York. Nobody I know of except government is in business to lose money. My advice is to give it up already. If we continue on this fantasy we will have empty warehouses and undeveloped areas. We should focus instead on businesses that make sense and small specialized manufacturing which is still viable in the city and open up the area to housing development as well. Whatever makes economic sense will occur. It's called a free market, but that is beyond the understanding of the primitive socialist progressives running our city. We keep electing the same cretins to office over and over and term limits does not seem to help. The professional political class on either side of the spectrum hasn't got a clue what they are doing. The last thing they seem to be doing is serving the interests of the residents of our communities..

Some Alternate Supermarkets to Steve's C Town on 8th.

With the closing of Steve's C Town on 8th Avenue and a year to go before it resurfaces on the Avenue again I decided to explore some alternatives to go food shopping while we wait with baited breath for the reopening of the new C Town. The first on my list of recommendations is Steve's other store located on 9th street just off 5th Avenue in Park Slope. You can get there either by train via fourth Avenue or by bus via 5th Avenue. the store has been recently renovated  and is state of the art to serve the more upscale clientele of that neighborhood.  Steve has promised to deliver to Sunset Park from that location to his customers in Sunset Park. You can view his sales flyer for that location here...

The second location I recommend for cleanliness is the renovated and more upscale C Town on 25th street and 4th Avenue in the Greenwood Heights section of Sunset Park. Comparable in size to Steve's on 8th it has the advantage of having a parking lot and is accessible by car. You can find their circular here...

The third store on my list is the newly refurbished and still undergoing upgrades City Fresh Market  which took over from Associated Markets and is located on 6th Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. The store is about 2/3 the size of Steve's but they pack a lot inside as the aisles are narrower. The meat department is currently undergoing an upgrade but the store is generally clean and includes a deli section and a small buffet section with fresh cooked food. They don't have an online circular but you can visit their page here.

The next store on my list is the Bravo Supermarket on 4th Avenue between 48th street and 49th streets. This store has also recently undergone some renovations. It is clean and well kept inside and is comparable in size to City Fresh Market above. You can visit their page  here as well as access their circular.

The last store on my list is the Key Food on the corner of 44th and 5th Avenue. The store hasn't been modernized in some time but it is large and well kept. There are of course other supermarkets in the neighborhood. They are all in need of renovation and modernization and in many cases new management that at least would keep them clean. I really can't think of any that deserve honorable mention. But you are all welcome to post any suggestions in the comments section below...

Hollywood on Fourth

Fourth avenue turned into a little bit of Hollywood as a crew was filming a series for NBC called "Boss" on Fourth Avenue and 50th street By the Del Rio Funeral Home. Other locations in the neighborhood are being used as well so it seems that Sunset Park is a prime location for filming Movies and series TV productions. For those who might be interested in such things the filming was being done with an Arri Alexa 4K digital camera... Keep those film productions coming....

Some Good News! RE: C Town on 8th Ave.

I stopped by C Town earlier today and had a good conversation with Steve the owner. Steve, who grew up on 43rd street in Sunset Park  announced that he is working on a prospective location on 8th Avenue and that if all goes well he will reopen a better, newer and upgraded C Town on the avenue by the end of next year assuming all goes well. In the meantime he still has the store on 9th street and said he will deliver to the area from there. His circular and delivery information can be seen here at the C Town Website including contact numbers.   

Steve's 9th Street C Town store..

In the meantime, I am working on a piece to alternative stores nearby while Steve's relocates. All suggestions are welcome and you can drop me a note at FRANK413 AT AOL DOT COM and if it's somewhere I haven't visited or thought  about I will include it. 

In the meantime, this is the number one location alternative if you are determined to shop at a C Town and the closest nearby. (The other C Towns on 5th Avenue haven't been renovated since the stone age). Below is a picture of the relatively new upscale C Town located in The Green Wood Heights section of Sunset Park on the corner of 25th street and 4th Avenue. The store is less than 5 years old and caters to the slightly more upscale clientele of the area. It also has parking which is a plus. If you have access to a car it is definitely worth the visit. You can access their circular online HERE..

C TOWN on 25th street and 4th Avenue..

Steve's C Town on 8th Avenue Closing

 

I can confirm from reliable sources that Steve's C-Town Supermarket at 4511 8th Avenue will be closing it's doors within a month. The property which had been bought by a Chinese developer a year ago has allowed the lease for the Supermarket to run out. C-Town has been at that location for well over 40 years and was the last remaining American supermarket on 8th Avenue. What will replace it is unknown at this time. With the closing of C-Town the Avenue will almost exclusively become a haven of Chinese businesses with a few bodegas left on the Avenue. As the demographics of the neighborhood change we may very well see them gone as well.

CLOSINGS: Next Level Going to the Next Level

 

Next Level Arcade which moved into Sunset Park after relocating from Chinatown is soon to close. It's next relocation is said to be somewhere outside the neighborhood.  The arcade moved into Sunset Park in 2011 and lasted four years in the nabe. As with everything else the one constant is that the neighborhood is subject to change, constant change. During the period that it was open Film maker Calvin Theobald has been filming the goings on for a documentary. Below is the brief preview on Youtube.

Calvin Theobald is also responsible for the documentary "King of Chinatown" which follows the goings on of a gamer who frequented the previous incarnation of Next Level as the Gaming Parlor "Chinatown Fair". The documentary below is from YouTube.

Openings: Healthy Dumpling Cafe In Sunset Park

 

A new food place has opened up on 8th Avenue. Healthy Dumpling Cafe is more than a dumpling place or cafe. It offers a full fledged menu of Chinese food and they deliver too. While their specialty is dumplings, either boiled, steamed or fried, you will find a full fared menu on their brand new page on our website. It is also newly refurnished and the place is set up to be more welcoming than the other dumpling places in the neighborhood with a slightly more upscale clientele in mind.  The prices are quite competitive   and the quality of the food is high. What more could you ask of a new restaurant in the neighborhood? Visit their web page on our website and check out their menu and offerings..