CREAM OF THE CROP: 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
BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
DRX9000TM
RELIEVES BACK PAIN
Surgeons perform an estimated 300,000 to 400,000
back surgeries every year. Annually, neurosurgeons
perform at least 100,000 operations for lumbar disc
disease alone, and orthopedic surgeons perform a
similar number. It is estimated that between 20% and
40% of these operations are unsuccessful.
That is why doctors from all over the country
are racing to acquire and get trained to operate the
DRX9000TM, an FDA approved device that is saving
thousands of Americans suffering from chronic back
pain from going under the knife.
Dr. Melinda Keller, who treats serious back
pain without surgery explains how the DRX9000TM
works... “Over 10 years ago, NASA began to notice
an unexpected result of space travel: Astronauts that
left with back pain would come back without it. After
investigated this now phenomenon here’s what they
found: During the anti-gravity state of the mission there
were decompressive forces on the intervertebral discs
and back pain was relieved. How? When you travel
through space, the effects of gravity are removed
and you are in a weightless state. All the pressure is
taken off your spine and discs. Even better — and
this is the key — a negative pressure is created. This
negative pressure actually sucks the herniated material
back into the disc and allows it to heal. Thanks to the
4 COURIER LIFE, MAY 24–30, 2019 PS
DRX9000TM, disc herniation sufferers finally have a
non-surgical solution.”
The main conditions the DRX9000TM has documented
success with are back pain, sciatica, herniated
and/or bulging discs (single or multiple), degenerative
disc disease, facet syndromes and a relapse or failure
following back surgery.
Anyone wishing to learn more about this new
FDA approved solution to back pain or to set up an
appointment for a free consultation call Dr. Keller’s
office at 718 234-6212 or visit Brooklyn Spine
Center, 5911 16th Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11204.
Brooklynspinecenter.com.
S f i d 3
Local doctor treats herniated and bulging discs,
sciatica, and serious lower back pain
WITHOUT BACK SURGERY
BY COLIN MIXSON
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 on May 21 after previously
ghosting his tenant for
months, and then demanding
he pack up and leave earlier
this month, and the property
owner confi rmed 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 Bernstein
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-profi t 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 fi ght 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
dairy-free 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.”
Charles cautioned that,
while the email that both she
and Fongyit got from Bernstein
Tuesday was the most
contact either of them have
had with the landlord — ever
— that it’s still too early to celebrate,
and the pair haven’t
received any written commitment
from the landlord to call
off the vacate order.
“I’m happy, I’m excited, but
I’m still on hold until I can get
something in writing,” she
said.
Second chance for Scoops
Community petitions to keep vegan ice cream shop in PLG
/Brooklynspinecenter.com