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Dec. 14–20, 2018 including KINGS COURIER & FLATBUSH LIFE
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Met-y Christmas!
The New York Mets’ beloved mascot, Mr. Met, surprised students
Christine Dimatteo
at Gravesend’s IS 281 with a special appearance at the
school’s annual holiday party. For more, see page 14.
Coney locals move forward with
plan for business-boosting group
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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Police reportedly arrested the
man whom they suspect killed
an off-duty Coney Island fi refi
ghter during an apparent
bout of road rage that turned
deadly after his and the victim’s
cars collided on the Belt
Parkway on Dec 9.
Authorities with New
York’s Finest and United States
Marshalls cuffed the 29-yearold
at a New Jersey motel, according
to a Tuesday New
York Post report citing law-enforcement
sources, which a Police
Department rep could not
immediately confi rm.
The crash occurred before
sunrise, as the man driving
a 2006 Infi niti G35 sedan and
the victim merged their vehicles
onto the Gravesend-bound
side of the Belt Parkway via
the on ramp from Fourth Avenue,
according to authorities,
who later identifi ed the suspect
as the Infi tini’s registered
BY JULIANNE MCSHANE
A contingent of Coney Islanders
this month kicked off the
formal process to create a city
sanctioned business-boosting
group in the neighborhood,
which they say will stimulate
the local economy by beautifying
the area, providing support
to mom-and-pop shops
there, and attracting more
tourists.
Leaders of community
group Alliance for Coney Island
on Dec. 5 hosted two public
meetings to present their
plan for the so-called Business
Improvement District,
or bid, which a rep said will
go a long way to preserving
and promoting commerce
throughout the People’s Playground.
“We’re talking about how
to strengthen and communicate
the value of Coney Island
as a brand,” said Alexandra
Silversmith, the Alliance’s director.
An initial subcommittee of
between 20 and 25 Coney residents,
businesspeople, and
property owners determined
the general area served by the
proposed bid, which would include
properties along Mermaid
Avenue, others on parts
of Surf, Stillwell, and Neptune
avenues, and those along
the Reigelmann Boardwalk
between W. Fifth and W. 23rd
streets.
The subcommittee, whose
members Alliance reps would
not reveal at the meeting this
newspaper attended, also put
together the bid’s projected
annual budget of $1.2 million,
a fi gure that together with the
district’s boundaries the city
calls the “ district plan .”
Funds for that budget
would be raised through special
annual taxes — which the
city calls “assessments” —
on buildings and businesses
within the district, which
would go to pay for such services
as sidewalk cleaning,
new signage, and promotion
of shops there.
An elected, volunteer
board of directors consisting
of property owners, business
owners, and residents would
oversee the operations of the
bid, which would run independently
under the jurisdiction
of the city’s Department
of Small Business Services.
The board’s members
Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12
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