Seen In Bay Ridge Weekender: Attractive Overpass

By on January 11, 2013  Seen In Photos
Jan 112013
 

Overpass Verrazano Gowanus Belt David Tan

When I first saw this photo – by the talented Mr. David Tan – and realized that it may be the single most attractive underside of a highway overpass ever seen, I imagined some rusticated voice chime in, “Best damn ramp in the state! Uh huh…”

I believe this little park/playground area, lying underneath the ramp connecting the Verrazano Bridge/Gowanus Expressway to the Belt Parkway, also made a brief cameo in the film Saturday Night Fever.

It was taken on December 15, 2012.

To gaze at more of David’s noteworthy negatives, please visit his blog at dtanlog.blogspot.com.

No-Nonsense Hurricane Sandy Aftermath Update, November 1 through November 4

By on November 1, 2012  Featured story, News
Nov 012012
 

This story was originally published at 10:00am on November 1. Updates throughout the the rest of the week are underlined.

Here is a rundown of the impact on our neighborhood:

School closings [UPDATED]: All NYC public schools are closed Thursday and Friday. They will reopen on Monday. Please note, they will close again on Tuesday for Election Day.

Electric Power [UPDATED]: As of Sunday morning, the number of customers in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights without power now number in the low hundreds (down from 1,000+ powerless customers in Dyker Heights as of Friday morning). Continue reading »

Seen In Bay Ridge Weekstarter: Verrazano Bridge At Sunset

By on October 22, 2012  Seen In Photos
Oct 222012
 

The above image, captured by Bob Jagendorf via Flickr, shows the Verrazano Bridge, some Shore Parkway trees, and Belt Parkway cars as the sun sets slowly in the west.

It was taken on Friday, October 19, 2012.

If you have a photo you’d like us to publish as part of the Seen In Bay Ridge photo series, please send it to info@bayridgeodyssey.com. Be sure to let us know where and when the picture was taken, as well as how to credit the image (i.e. by your real name, pen name, anonymously, etc.).

Vandals Strike Narrows Botanical Garden (Again)

By on July 25, 2012  Parks
Jul 252012
 

Image source: emilydickinsonridesabmx via Flickr.

The Narrows Botanical Garden has become the target of vandals for the second time in as many weeks.

Narrows Board of Trustees President Richard Haugland claims that a $200 magnolia tree recently had most of its branches broken off overnight. Then just a few days later, he says someone sheared the bark off a sapling.

Haugland called the damage, which occurred near the garden’s entrance and shares similarities with vandalism discovered last year, suspicious, as reported by Will Bredderman in a provocative piece for Brooklyn Daily.

An article from a few days earlier featured fellow gardener and CB10 board member Greg Ahl bemoaning the city’s refusal to build a wall as part of a pedestrian bridge project on the Belt Parkway – which abuts the community garden. Other than serving as a sound barrier, landscape designer Jimmy Johnson told Brooklyn Daily that the wall would help keep thieves and vandals out.

Sheepshead Bay Man’s Attempted Suicide Leap From Verrazano Thwarted By Police

By on July 24, 2012  Featured story, News
Jul 242012
 

Image source: joo0ey via Flickr

Officers from the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit prevented a “despondent” Brooklyn man from taking his own life by jumping off the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Monday.

A “marathon negotiation session” began at around 12 when Lin Huan Qiong, 46, from Sheepshead Bay was seen climbing one of the bridge’s metal “fingers,” writes John M. Annese as part of a thrilling rescue story for the Staten Island Advance. Continue reading »

Another Man Jumped Off The Verrazano

By on June 29, 2012  Featured story, News
Jun 292012
 

Image source: joo0ey via Flickr.

The Staten Island Advance is reporting that a disturbing string of suicides on the Verrazano Bridge which began in April continued yesterday, when a man in his 30s jumped from near the middle of the almost mile-long span at around 2:30 p.m. Continue reading »

Police Identify Friday’s Verrazano Bridge Jumper – Incident latest in series of suicide attempts on or near span

By on June 11, 2012  News
Jun 112012
 

Image source: joo0ey via Flickr

Police have classified last Friday’s suicide leap from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as a missing persons case. NYPD officials made the determination after search and rescue teams came up empty in the search for a body, writes Staten Island Advance.

Friday’s incident marks the fourth in a series of both successful and attempted suicides to take place on or near the bridge by different men since April. Continue reading »

Kick Off Fleet Week, Bay Ridge Style!

By on May 8, 2012  Events, Featured story
May 082012
 
Cannons salute as the USS Iwo Jima passes the Narrows during the Parade of Ships at the start of Fleet Week 2011. (Courtesy of David Tan)

 

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at around 8:30 a.m., the Parade of Ships will enter New York Harbor and proceed to the piers on the West Side of Manhattan, heralding the start of New York’s Fleet Week – as it has since 1984.

If you didn’t already know, the famous flotilla passes right under the Verrazano. Which means you won’t have to schlep all the way to Manhattan to get your fill of the tall sailing vessels of old, as well as WWII-era destroyers. Click Here To Find Out Where To View The Ships, As well As Why This Year Is So Special