May 24–30, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 11
A vision to thwart rise of
cyclist fatalities, injuries
Community petitions to save Flatbush Avenue shop
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With the number of cyclists
killed in New
York City on the rise
in 2019, it’s clear something
must be done to prevent further
tragedy.
Brooklyn’s streets are proving
to be treacherous for cyclists.
There have been 10 cyclist
fatalities so far in 2019
— the same number the city
saw in all of 2018, according
to Vision Zero data — eight of
which have occurred in Brooklyn,
including three in a fourday
span last week.
Activists have laid blame
on city officials for the lack of
dedicated bike lanes throughout
much of Southern Brooklyn,
where five of the 10 fatalities
have occurred.
In addition to the 10 fatalities,
Vision Zero data reveals
that there have been 993 cyclist
injuries across the five boroughs
as of April 30.
This paper obtained video
from the victim of a hit-andrun
incident in Clinton Hill last
week where a driver struck a
cyclist and fled the scene. We
published the video and sent
the clip to the NYPD’s 88th
Precinct, which reopened the
investigation.
We urge victims of similar
incidents to share their stories
with their local newspapers and
media outlets. Let us tell your
stories so we can help spread
the word and help prevent further
tragedy. Every publicized
Getty Images
There have been 10 cyclist fatalities so far in 2019, the same number the city
saw in all of 2018, according to Vision Zero data
incident will put pressure on
lawmakers to protect their cycling
constituents.
The City Council is hoping
to improve road safety
with its “Vision Zero Streets
Design Standard” bill, which
would formalize a set of
safety measures for the Department
of Transportation
to consider when renovating
the city’s streets. Proponents
of the bill believe it would encourage
construction of bike
lanes and other traffic calming
measures in car-dense neighborhoods.
The street in Clinton Hill
where the biker was struck
did not have a dedicated bike
lane. The city had removed
“sharrows,” shared lane markings
which indicate that while
there’s no dedicated bike lane
on the street, drivers and bicyclists
have to share the space.
Sharrows aren’t perfect —
they do not offer an explicit
lane and keep cyclists at risk
of being struck — but perhaps
one may have prevented the
cyclist from being struck in
Clinton Hill.
Council Speaker Corey
Johnson recently announced
a May 30 deadline to vote on
the measure, which is co-sponsored
by 14 of the body’s 15
Brooklyn lawmakers. The only
Kings County councilmember
not sponsoring the bill is
Kalman Yeger (D–Borough
Park), who represents the location
where a teen was killed
on May 14.
Yeger should sponsor the
bill, too. Doing so would show
a united front that among the
Kings County councilmembers;
it would show constituents
that Brooklyn will take
action and not wait for the next
tragedy to strike.
Bike lanes may not be the
perfect solution, but they will
help keep cyclists alive.
PLG screams for vegan ice cream
By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Paper
The owner of a Prospect
Lefferts Gardens vegan ice
cream parlor may not get
booted from his Flatbush Avenue
storefront of 34-years,
after more than 1,400 fans of
the eatery’s non-dairy delicacies
signed a petition demanding
the restaurant be allowed
to stay.
“We cannot lose the place
that introduced us to cleaner
eating and educating us on
who we are as a people,” wrote
one woman, who signed the
petition as Saronda G.
Landlord Lawrence Bernstein
made contact with
Scoops and Plates Eatery
Owner Tony Fongyit Tuesday
morning after previously
ghosting his tenant for
months, and then demanding
he pack up and leave earlier
this month, and the property
owner confirmed via email
that he’s now willing to negotiate
a lease extension.
“Agents for the owners have
reached out to... the tenant to
have discussions regarding a
possible lease renewal,” Bernstein
wrote.
Fongyit, who opened
Scoops and Plates Eatery in
1985, had been struggling to
get in contact with Bernstein
— who purchased the property
near Chester Court where
Scoops is located in 2015 —
after his long-term lease expired
in November.
Since then, the ecofriendly
ice cream purveyor
says he’s paid his rent faithfully,
while claiming Bern-
Tony Fongyit faces losing the longtime Flatbush Avenue
storefront of his vegan ice cream parlor, but
local fans have rallied to support him.
Photo by Dale Charles
stein has deliberately ignored
his repeated petitions
to renew their agreement.
The matter turned desperate
earlier this month, when
Fongyit received notice that
his landlord wanted him out
within 30 days, giving him
until June 1 to pack up and
leave — and still without any
explanation why he was getting
the boot.
“I just want a reason,” said
Fongyit earlier this week. “It’s
very disrespectful. I’m hurting
from my head to my toes
right now.”
In a last chance bid to keep
his longtime storefront, the
restaurateur enlisted the aid
of both the Parkside Empire
Flatbush Avenue Merchants
Association and non-profit advocacy
group Impacct Brooklyn,
which dispatched lawyers
demanding Bernstein give his
tenant a fair shake, according
to one Impacct member.
“If it’s a rent increase let
him know to see if he can afford
it, but he’s giving him no
reason after 34 years,” said
Dale Charles, director of economic
development and commercial
leasing at Impacct
Brooklyn. “I know they don’t
have to give a reason, but that’s
not good enough.”
The Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Neighborhood Association
joined the fight to save
Scoops by creating the petition
that quickly generated hundreds
of signatures from longtime
fans of the eatery, many
of whom can’t remember a
time without Fongyit’s dairyfree
creams.
“I’ve been going to Scoops
all my life for ice cream,”
wrote Kareem B. “It’s also
one of the best places to get
my favorite vegan food.”
EDITORIAL
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