Happy Friday Greenpoint! As per usual, we’re at the top of the list. This time, the list in question is Patch’s “Best New Places to Eat in NYC.”Di An Di (68 Greenpoint Ave), the new Vietnamese eatery on Greenpoint Avenue, takes the top spot.
There was a gas leak caused by construction along Wythe Avenue last weekend, and businesses and residents were evacuated for at least four hours. Continue reading →
Yesterday afternoon, police blockaded the street near the intersection of Greenpoint Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard while they were dealing with a man who had barricaded himself in an apartment after shooting another man in the head. After a few hours, the suspect, Gene Barrett, surrendered to police and is now in custody. Barrett was a former NYPD police officer. The victim, Joseph Sapinski, is currently on life support.
This afternoon, we had a shooting in Greenpoint near Greenpoint Ave. and McGuinness Blvd. that reportedly resulted from a dispute between the boyfriend of a a landlord and a tenant; the boyfriend was shot in the head*. Hundreds of police were on the scene, and officials negotiated with the shooter for about an hour—eventually the suspect was captured by police. Photographer Johnny Cirillo was on the scene and snapped these striking images as the standoff was taking place.
Around 3am the morning of Tuesday, November 1st, a man was shot in the leg on Manhattan Avenue near Clay Street. This part of Greenpoint has been a sore spot for many locals, due to problems caused by residents of the nearby homeless shelter.
A green cab driver was shot in the leg early last Friday morning when he tried to speed away from two armed assailants attempting to rob him and his passenger. The incident happened at the intersection of North Eighth and Berry streets at 3:15am. Check out this article from DNAinfo for more details.
Newtown Creek will be swimmable by 2035! Actually, don’t quote me on that swimmable thing, but according to this piece from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, at last week’s Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting, the EPA announced plans for the remediation of Newtown Creek. Unfortunately, the plans wouldn’t even begin to show results until 2025 at the earliest.
According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, sculptor Barry X Ball will be moving his studio from Williamsburg to Greenpoint in the Spring. The space, at 193 Banker St., is currently being renovated specifically for him, and according to Mr. Ball, once it’s finished will be “the only comprehensive stone fabrication facility in the world.”
Local Greenpointer Kim Brown, who is the owner of Greenpoint Hill (100 Freeman St.) got some press this week in this lovely piece from Bedford + Bowery. Brown is a ceramicist herself and her gallery features work from mostly Greenpoint-based artists.
Greenpoint has been dubbed “the new home design capital of the world” according to this recent article from Vogue.
Some of last weekend’s Greenpoint Halloween festivities, including the Town Square Spooktacular and P.S. 110’s annual fall festival, were captured in this piece from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Some of the photos are especially great!
Guys dressed up as construction workers for Halloween will be preventing anyone from passing under the BQE this weekend. Actually, they are real construction workers, but seriously, traveling from one side of the BQE to the other will be difficult this weekend. Three out of six avenues that travel under the highway in Greenpoint will be closed. Check out this piece from The Williamsburg Patch for more info.
Was it a stabbing? Was it a shooting? Was it a robbery?
The violent incident involving a gun that took place yesterday afternoon on Norman Ave and Guernsey St. was very unclear until I spoke to Officer Truglio at the 94th Precinct this morning, who gave me a play by play:
A robber asked a man on the street for directions. The man said he wasn’t from around the area, so the robber asked him for change for a dollar. As the man went into his pocket for change the robber beat him with a gun and went through his pockets. He then ran off. Someone in the area called 911, the cops saw the robber take off and then caught him on Graham Ave and Meeker Ave, and also recovered the gun.
There was an incident involving a gun on Sunday August 11, 2013 on Norman Ave and Guernsey St, but whether it was a shooting is still unclear.
At 3:17pm yesterday I received an email from a reader that said:
I was just walking home and a man had been shot in broad daylight on the corner of Norman and Guernsey!! Two cops were on the scene, along with a number of people who saw the shooter, who I believe is still at large. I live on Guernsey and am scared to leave my apartment.
One from NY Scanner read “Brooklyn: Lorimer St & Norman Ave Crime scene being established in regards to a male shot, Aided in serious condition,” and another from Breaking911 that initially tweeted: “Brooklyn: *Shooting* Norman Ave & Guernsey St male shot on location. Crime scene being established,” followed by few neighbors who tweeted it was a robbery and pistol whipping and the suspect was caught, while another tweeted that someone heard gunshots.
The Newsmap from Gothamist was even more confusing – it showed a Stabbing at Norman Ave & Guernsey at 2:56 p.m. and a Shooting at the same location at 3:13pm.
I am waiting for a call back from the 94th Precinct.
Greenpointers is a big fan of the DIY venue Big Snow Buffalo Lodge (89 Varet St) and we were very saddened to hear of the unfortunate shooting of Yoni David one of the venues’ co-owners that occurred last Wednesday July 17th. He is currently recovering from his injuries at Bellevue Hospital. The shooting was unrelated to the venue but according to the Voice, “was one of at least two reported shootings in the neighborhood that evening … and one of about a half-dozen in the area since Yoni was hit.” Now the venue will be shut down for good. Yoni told the Voice, “I don’t think anybody can have the same affinity for that place now.” We wish him a quick recovery. Today is Y0ni’s 24th Birthday.
