‘JUST MAKE IT HOME’
Also: Inferno! Library fundraiser, gourmet groceries, war in Iran, Chinese coffee shops, plays, raves and more!
There is no dedicated news coverage of Sunset Park — but Sunset Park makes news. This FREE biweekly(ish) digest curates and summarizes all the headlines from all the news sources that touch our neighborhood, which is one of the most vibrant in Brooklyn.
‘JUST MAKE IT HOME’: SUNSET PARK FAMILY GRIEVES AFTER TEEN SHOT AND KILLED
A Brooklyn family is heartbroken after 14-year-old Johary Cantave was shot and killed in Sunset Park. Police say the teen was struck in the head while sitting in a car, leaving loved ones searching for answers and struggling to understand how such a tragedy could happen. “I can’t believe this,” Johary’s older brother told PIX11 News, describing his sibling as kind-hearted and always looking out for everyone. “He liked playing basketball, he liked playing games. He was looking to be a mechanic.” According to investigators, Johary was in the passenger seat of a car near 46th Street and Ninth Avenue, talking with a friend on a scooter when three people wearing ski masks approached. … Hours before the shooting, Johary’s brother said he spoke with him for the last time, a memory that now weighs heavily. “I told him, ‘Safety, bro. Just make it home, don’t stay out too long.’” … — PIX11
Sunset Park community remembers 14-year-old boy fatally shot in the head
Transit crimes, shootings increased in Brooklyn in February, though overall crime declined
CREWS BATTLE MASSIVE FIRE IN SUNSET PARK
An industrial building in Brooklyn was destroyed after responders extinguished a five-alarm fire. The FDNY said they got reports of the blaze on 53rd Street and First Avenue in Sunset Park. Officials said the building, which houses Universal Food Distributors, Inc., was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived. At one point, flames were seen shooting out from the roof as firefighters worked from the street and ladder trucks to put it out. Resident Zack Laine said he was on his rooftop and watched the scene unfold. “The whole sky just lit up in this orange mist, you can say, and then I heard a big boom, and then I heard debris was falling,” he said. … — CBS News
SOUNDS OF SUNSET PARK: A LIBRARY FUNDRAISER
Saturday, March 14, from 5-7 p.m. at Sunset Stoop, 4114 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Sunset Stoop is owned and operated by Roberto Beltre, an artist born and raised in the neighborhood. Please join us for an evening of live music and community-building, featuring performances by local Sunset Park musicians. This event is hosted by the Friends of Sunset Park Library to raise funds for community programming at our local public library branch. We’ll have merch for sale, and 15% of all drink sales will go towards our fundraising efforts as well. Entry fee is a suggested donation of $10-20. Please RSVP.
Performers: Local Musicians
1. Chika&Tatsuya are a Japanese jazz duo based in Brooklyn, New York, performing vocal and guitar arrangements of jazz standards and Japanese songs.
2. Keren Abreu’s music is a multilingual blend of folk lyricism, pop melodies, and powerhouse vocals. Her writing explores and celebrates queerness, afro-latinidad, spirituality, and the people and places she calls home.
3. David Chorowski is a multi-instrumentalist Oud player from New York specializing in folk and classical music from, but not limited to, the Eastern Mediterranean, MENA, and Medieval Europe.
BROOKLYN RESIDENTS REACT WITH DISCONTENT OVER U.S. ATTACK ON IRAN
Many Brooklyn residents said they were not surprised by the U.S.- Israeli attack on Iran, but some felt anxiety over possible retaliation on U.S. soil, while others were critical of Washington’s focus on foreign policy when U.S. citizens were facing an affordability crisis. … Larissa Rodriguez, a mother of two in Sunset Park, said it was hard for her to focus on what the U.S. is doing overseas. “I know many people may celebrate a regime change, but there are a lot of problems right here in the U.S.,” said Rodriguez, 37. “Everything happening in Washington is distracting.” Rodriguez, who said half of her family immigrated from Puerto Rico, said there are a lot of problems in the U.S. territory, as well as in Brooklyn. “We are all dealing with a lot,” she said. “High electric bills, food prices, housing. It’s hard to get into what’s happening in the Middle East when everyday problems eat up your mind.” … BK READER
GRANDFATHER FATALLY STRUCK BY BROOKLYN HIT-RUN DRIVER HAD OVERCOME ADDICTION TO BECOME DRUG COUNSELOR
A Brooklyn grandfather fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver had overcome addiction to become a drug counselor who devoted his life to helping others in their struggles with substance abuse, the victim’s family told the Daily News. The driver of the white sedan who cops say struck social worker Douglas Bradley, 64, in Sunset Park back on Dec. 21 was tracked down and arrested. Medics rushed Bradley to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he clung to life for nearly two weeks before his family made the heartbreaking decision to take him off life support. “He wouldn’t be able to eat, drink, talk, pee on his own,” the victim’s daughter, 27-year-old Nia Bradley, told The News. “We didn’t think it was any way for him to continue living. That’s not what he would have wanted.” … — NY DAILY NEWS
MY FAMILY DIDN’T WANT ME TO KNOW WHO MY GRANDPA WAS. AT 13, I FINALLY FOUND OUT WHY.
By Ciaran Short | Most people sign their names on forms, emails and notes without giving it a second thought, but every time I write my name or introduce myself, there’s a twinge of hesitation. Last week, I stood in a small art gallery in the East Village and stared at a list of names spelled out in black vinyl letters and affixed to a wall near the entrance. As people moved through the space looking at the actual artwork, I stood with my eyes locked on my own name, slowly analyzing each letter. I was simultaneously proud and disgusted because I couldn’t shake the fact that my accomplishments are linked to the name of a man who assaulted my grandmother, refused to acknowledge my father’s birth and doesn’t even know I exist. … In the latter years of World War II, as part of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) program, my grandmother Josephine Jovino, born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was shipped out to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, where she worked as an aviation mechanic. … — HUFFPOST
THE 16 GOURMET GROCERS TO KNOW IN NEW YORK CITY
From 100-year-old stalwarts to Tribeca’s TikTok-famous emporium, these are the gourmet grocers that earn the markup. … — OBSERVER
This multigenerational Middle Eastern grocery spans three storefronts in one of Brooklyn’s oldest immigrant neighborhoods. The legendary bulk section is not self-serve: take a ticket, wait your turn, let staff weigh your dried fruits, nuts and spices with the efficiency of people who’ve been doing this since before you were born. The spice selection is absurd in the best sense. Prepared foods counter, excellent. An Industry City outpost added a restaurant and event space, but Atlantic Avenue remains the soul.
34 THINGS TO DO IN NEW YORK CITY IN MARCH
This month offers St. Patrick’s Day and the Oscars, vampires and Mapplethorpe, as well as free ice skating and a final bow from Jonathan Groff. … Who said you can’t combine drinking and learning? On March 14, Green-Wood Cemetery in Sunset Park and Fort Hamilton Distillery partner for “Revolutionary Spirits,” a discussion of Brooklyn’s boozy history that includes a trolley tour of the cemetery and whiskey tastings. … — THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE FIRST GREEN-HOUSE PROGRAMS ARE HERE
Bird migration courses, trolley tours, hands-on workshops, toddler takeover mornings, and so much more! We can’t wait for you to experience our inaugural series of programs at The Green-House at Green-Wood once we open our doors on April 18th. Explore the Cemetery’s historic landscape and stories of permanent residents in ways you haven’t before! Reserve your spot before they fill up.
CHINESE COFFEE CHAINS ARE CHANGING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ASIAN DRINK SHOP
… Today’s options have bigger footprints than the mom-and-pop shops of my youth. We are in the heyday of boba coffee shops opening in Chinatowns across New York City, ventures combining two vibrant drink cultures under one roof. They’re often established Chinese chains, such as Cotti, Luckin, and Mixue. These shops have eliminated the need to choose between sitting down at a cafe or a grab-and-go boba shop. These chains market themselves not on cultural authenticity or boba’s Taiwanese roots, but on scale — how many people they can reach and how efficiently they can reach them. As these shops establish themselves in NYC Chinatowns, offering caffeine and sugar on a budget, here are some of the highlights. … EATER
Cotti Coffee, 804 56th Street, at Eighth Avenue, Brooklyn
In May 2025, Cotti Coffee opened its first NYC storefront in Sunset Park, a neighborhood with a strong working-class Chinese presence. It has since opened more storefronts in Bensonhurst, Chinatown, Chelsea, and Williamsburg. Cotti Coffee comes from former Luckin workers and also originated in China. The brand is now among the three biggest coffee shops in the world, with 18,000 stores in 28 countries. Cotti Coffee on Eighth Avenue is a hole-in-the-wall shop.
DIALOGUE WITH THREE CHORDS LAUNCHES SPRING SEASON WITH NEW PLAY
Indie theater company Dialogue with Three Chords (D3C) opens their Spring 2026 season on March 26 with The Intolerable Condition of Being Loved, written by Stephen Gracia and directed by Michael LoPorto. The show starts at 8pm, at the Tom Kane Theatre at Brooklyn’s Industry City. presented by brooklynONE Productions (bkONE). … — BROADWAY WORLD
SAMMY VIRJI BRINGS UK GARAGE TO SUNSET PARK
New York City has seen plenty of big nights, but this summer, Brooklyn is getting two of them back to back. EMW Presents and The Bowery Presents have announced that Sammy Virji — the man most responsible for bringing UK Garage roaring back into the global conversation — will headline a two-night open-air event at the Brooklyn Army Terminal on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, 2026. It’s a cornerstone moment in his North America Tour 2026 Part 1, and by every measure, it looks set to be something genuinely special. … — EDM LIFE
CALENDAR
Saturday, March 14: Sounds of Sunset Park: A Library Fundraiser
Saturday, March 14: “Revolutionary Spirits”
Thursday, March 26: The Intolerable Condition of Being Loved
Friday, July 31 & Aug. 1: Sammy Virji Brings UK Garage to Sunset Park
Ongoing at Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Library & Industry City