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Dec. 21–27, 2018
Including Brooklyn Courier, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Courier, Brooklyn Heights Courier, & Williamsburg Courier
ALSO SERVING PROSPECT HEIGHTS, WINDSOR TERRACE, KENSINGTON, AND GOWANUS
RACCOONS ON THE RUN!
Apparently sick critters taking to streets following distemper outbreak in P’Park
BY COLIN MIXSON
Addled raccoons possibly infected with
the dog-killing distemper virus are
wandering out of Prospect Park and
onto the streets of surrounding neighborhoods,
according to residents who
reported no less than three sightings,
including one Kensington woman who
claimed the masked bandits are literally
falling from the sky.
Local Phyllis Klein said a “huge”
raccoon fell — either from a tree, or
off the side of a building — feet from
her head during a midday Dec. 11
stroll along E. Seventh Street between
Church and Caton avenues, before the
beast limped off in a daze.
“I wish I could un-see it,” she said.
“It still gives me chills.”
Klein’s encounter with the seemingly
sick raccoon mirrored others’
daytime run-ins with the typically
nocturnal animals, which this fall began
spreading the distemper virus in
Prospect Park , after an earlier outbreak
plagued raccoons in Manhattan’s
Central Park over the summer.
Distemper — which is spread by
contact with infected animals’ saliva,
or fl uids in their coughs and sneezes
— doesn’t affect humans, but the virus
can prove deadly to pups, which,
like raccoons, will suffer brain and
nervous-system damage resulting in
severe confusion and death if left untreated.
Following confi rmation of the distemper
outbreak among area raccoons,
Department of Parks and Recreation
offi cials instituted a still in effect advisory
to locals, warning them to leash
their dogs, avoid wildlife, and seek
immediate treatment if they or their
mutts are scratched or bitten by a feral
critter in Brooklyn’s Backyard.
Agency workers to date collected
some 87 Prospect Park raccoons —
dead and alive — to be tested for the
virus, of which, only seven tested positive,
with the most recent positive case
dating back to Oct. 23, according to
Parks spokeswoman Meghan Lalor.
But some Brooklynites, like Klein,
claimed to spot sick raccoons in Kensington
and Windsor Terrace long after
the last animal from the park tested
positive for distemper, suggesting the
borough’s masked bandits may be unwittingly
transporting the virus beyond
the park while searching for
food.
Dog walker Randi Lass said she
Market watch
Slopers ponder Fifth Avenue Key Food’s fate after
months of silence from builder redeveloping site
BY COLIN MIXSON
They want to know what’s in store!
Park Slopers are scratching their
heads after months of silence from the
developer that last year fi led plans to
replace the Fifth Avenue Key Food
with a two-building, mixed-use complex
that will contain a similarly inexpensive
grocery store.
Bigwigs at builder Avery Hall in
October 2017 submitted plans for its
two-tower project, which includes a
73-foot-tall structure at the corner of
Baltic Street, a smaller 44-unit building
near Sterling Place atop what is
now Key Food’s parking lot, and a public
courtyard between the two.
And now, some locals are wondering
when construction will begin and
Key Food’s days at the site will end.
KEY DETAIL: Locals want to know when
their beloved inexpensive grocer will close
for redevelopment.
“We were expecting a groundbreaking
in 2018,” said Ayana Muhammad,
a local real-estate broker who
served on the group that negotiated
Continued on page 18
STAY AWAY: Dog walker Randi Lass spotted
this sickly raccoon in Windsor Terrace on
Nov. 25. Randi Lass
Continued on page 18
Lights, camera, action!
Nitehawk Cinema’s new Park Slope location, dubbed Nitehawk Prospect Park, opened
inside the landmarked Pavilion Theater on Wednesday, following roughly two years
of renovations to the movie house. For more, see 24-7. Photo by Trey Pentecost
Vol. 38 No. 51 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT BROOKLYNDAILY.COM
File photo by Louise Wateridge