We Got Helicopters: Manhunt on St. John's Place!

20050501-8364 NYPD Helicopter.jpg4:52 PM: Anybody in the neighborhood right now can hear them circling around. There’s one stationary over about Washington Ave. and another that’s in a repeated circle. What’s the deal? Just heard a siren on the street as well.

UPDATE: Anonymous guest writes: “I was going in my building on the corner of St. John’s and Underhill just as 5 or 6 police cars (some unmarked) were pulling away from the corner. I asked a guy who was standing around and he said some guy took off up St. John’s (towards Washington) with many police in pursuit (not sure if it was on foot, or by vehicle). Have a feeling they have him cornered or something…”

UPDATE 5:13 PM, mc writes: “According to the police officer I spoke to: “They’re looking for one of the guys in that building (on St. Johns between Washington & Underhill, closer to Washington.)” He didn’t know if said guy was still inside or not. Another man asked him, “It’s not one of them terrorist is it?” He shook his head no.
There are 50 million police vehicles there and still more arriving. What fun! I’m gonna check to see if the “guy” is in the backyard.”

UPDATE 524PM: Photos from Carnivore:

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kellyjelly writes: “A cop staked at the top of St. John’s said that a man they are looking for parked his car on the block … they suspect he’s still on the block, or at least in the area. I asked if I should be wary of walking the streets at the moment, and he said ‘I don’t know, we don’t know what kind of man he is until we find him.’

UPDATE 539PM: mc is back from the scene: “The cops aren’t giving up any info. They’re looking for some guy who did something. … Some “eyewitnesses” said they saw some guy take off. … There is a double-parked car that has the bejesus scrapped off of it. Could have been done by an emergencey vehicle or maybe the guy took off in a car and scraped it. … I assume this ‘guy’ is still on the loose cause there are still tons of police around.”

CARNIVORE: “One of the girls at the corner of Sterling and Underhill said a bunch of cops were charging up the stairs of her building with their guns drawn.”

MUTEFLUTE: “According to one fellow there, the police had earlier been charging down into basements with their rifles drawn.”

UPDATE: Some Guy Who Did Something, On the Loose on St. John’s Place??
Get updates here.

FINALLY! New SNAIL VENOM Films at Flatbush Pavilion!

Sarah from the Slope sent in this shot of the which has been “improved” by local movie buffs: “This was sent to me from my husband’s cell phone, and I’m forwarding it to you because I love your site (even though I actually live in the North Slope). I guess some artist-poets-vandals finally got tired of wondering when “Man on Fire” and “Van Helsing” would actually close… though I think the poet-vandals must have added some letters of their own, right? Or am I mis-remembering the movies that were on there before?”

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Discuss: Van Helsing Vandals Strike! [dailyslope/dailyheights message boards]

What's Marty Up To Now?

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Ben points out this quote from Brooklyn Papers: “Borough President Marty Markowitz has urged that developer Bruce Ratner downsize his Atlantic Yards mega-development, a project vigorously supported by Markowitz since 2003.”

Is Bruce Ratner’s biggest cheerleader putting down his pom-poms? Is this some calculated political move? Ben’s take: “…I wonder if he’s been planning it all along…”

Read More:

I'm really Rosie (Perez)


Im’ really Rosie

Originally uploaded by trevorbrklyn.

Welcome to Trevor Day on Daily Heights…

trevorbrklyn writes: “Rosie Perez showed up and out at a screening of Do The Right Thing @ The Brooklyn Academy of Music. She kept it very real with the audience answering questions for an hour. I was very impressed with how gracious, articulate and intelligent she was. She humbly stood outside of BAM and answered everyone’s question and signed autographs for everyone, and was the last one to leave I was amazed by that graciousness.”

Check Out: Fort Greene Message Boards

ALERT: Mugging Attempt Today at Eastern Parkway 2/3 Stop


eastern parkway

Originally uploaded by trevorbrklyn.

Heads up! daveb writes: “I had 5 young guys try and rob me in the stairwell of the Eastern Parkway 2/3 station at about 10 AM this morning. No one was around and they tried blocking me, but I took off out of the station and onto the street where there were people around and walking to the station, so they booked it out of there. I’m in no mood for mugging #2.”

10 AM? On a weekday??
Get the details here.

NYT Profiles Prospect Heights Restaurants

Laura B writes: “The Times published an item about Prospect Heights restaurants over the weekend. Probably not a surprising list for readers of this board, but it’s a nice little compendium and good to see the hood getting the attention it deserves.”

From NYT:

“A new basketball arena for the Nets in Brooklyn came closer to reality this month as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to sell development rights to the railyard at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. One way or another, these little gems nearby in Prospect Heights may feel the impact.

BEAST; (718) 399-6855; 638 Bergen Street (Vanderbilt Avenue)
FRANNY’S; (718) 230-0221; 295 Flatbush Avenue (Prospect Place)
GARDEN CAFE; (718) 857-8863; 620 Vanderbilt Avenue (Prospect Place)
THE ISLANDS; (718) 398-3575; 803 Washington Avenue (Eastern Parkway)
KOMBIT; (718) 399-2000; 279 Flatbush Avenue (Prospect Place)
RESTAURANT SORREL; (718) 622-1190; 605 Carlton Avenue (St. Marks Avenue)

READ REVIEWS: Ahead of the Bounce [New York Times link in the Prospect Heights Message Boards]

Tavern on Dean: Branching Out to Bed-Stuy?

Eating for Brooklyn rumor-mongers: “Word on the street is that Tavern on Dean of Prospect Heights is opening a restaurant on Stuyvesant Avenue (on the corner of Macon) in Bedford Stuyvesant where the McDonald’s Stuyvesant Heights Cafe used to be (no, not the fast food chain)… I haven’t been able to confirm the rumor, but it would most certainly be welcome news.”

Comments: Prospect Heights Message Boards

Prospect Heights Resident Working Phones in Louisana

malik_rahim.jpgWe were in touch with DailyHeights.com regular SterlingGuy, who’s working as a crisis counselor in Louisiana for the United Way. He’s not ready to talk about specifics, but gave us permission to post the following:

“I have one day left here … It has been one of the most difficult jobs of my life.”

“I am working at a call-in center trying to get people into shelters and to food distribution sites … I am beyond my limit and have heard too much suffering to really go into it.”

“There are still ways to volunteer … I would advise calling Lifenet (1-800-543-3638) and ask them for referrals to the Red Cross and other volunteer centers.”

“Overall, I will say this: the resilience and good spirit of folks in Louisiana are a testimony to the power of human survival. I have been consistently amazed at folks who have lost everything, but are able to remain calm and kind and even share a joke. I wish I had come here before these hurricanes.”

Look for SterlingGuy at the DH cigar meetup (coming soon): “As soon as I return, I am sure I will need a big fat stogie to dry me out after all this rain.”

Pictured: Malik Rahim, New Orleans Green Party activist, sometime after the hurricane Katrina. Huge photos of the New Orleans aftermath by Jacob Applebaum at archive.org.

MORE: SterlingGuy in [Prospect Heights Message Board]

UPDATE! Backstory on Lucky the Ghetto Poodle

Guest writes in the Prospect Heights Message Boards: “i live right up the street from Lucky and Sampson (the bigger dog that ‘hangs out’ with Lucky) …”

“Lucky’s owner is named Allen, and he told me the whole story of how lucky went blind, so Allen got him surgery, and then a month later Lucky broke his back jumping up into a pick-up truck.”

“Some $6k later, the dog is still alive and constantly trying to get into the wrestling matches between Sampson and my great dane. Allen yells at him to get out of it before he gets hurt, and that all of his investments have been in Lucky, so he has to live to be very old.”

More: Lucky the Ghetto Poodle [Prospect Heights Message Boards]