SUNSET PARK’S GAME OF THRONES

Also: Followups on Jane Doe, offshore wind, last-mile warehouses, cyclist killed, straphanger struck, street festivals, and more!

There is no dedicated news coverage of Sunset Park — but Sunset Park makes news. This FREE weekly(ish) digest curates all the headlines from all the sources that touch our neighborhood, which is one of the most vibrant in Brooklyn.

In this issue

• Inside the HQ of New York’s biggest throne retailer

• As New York’s offshore wind work begins, an environmental justice community awaits the benefits

• Don’t keep on truckin’: City to limit last-mile warehouses

• Pickup truck driver kills cyclist in Sunset Park and is not charged

• Man struck by R train in Sunset Park

• Followups on Sunset Park’s Jane Doe cold case

• The ultimate guide to street fairs and festivals

• Opinion | Fixing the Brooklyn Marine Terminal

• Opinion | Reduce wrapping, reduce waste: Cut plastic to save money and the environment

Inside the HQ of New York’s biggest throne retailer

By ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST: The scene unfurls like a mirage. I’m inside a photo studio, which is inside a 30,000-square-foot showroom—with overhead strip lights and chandeliers—seated opposite the furniture dealer Allen Kraiem, the kind of guy that could persuade me to buy a ShamWow at 3 a.m. My torso is dwarfed by the monumental throne I’m ensconced in, and Allen, also atop a throne (his, glossy and white; mine, the dusky sheen of a prize-winning mule) tells me, with a conspiratorial nod, that these thrones are bestsellers. Just beyond us lies a fantastical tableau: a vast, triumphant sea of 1,500 reproduction royal thrones, royal loveseats, and royal lounges, most of them with tags attached and ready to be shipped around the world. If I squint, their mass of gilded edges melts together at my periphery, as though the sea of seats has been squeezed inside a lavish frame. The only image that could compare, I decide, would involve some other uncanny immensity, say, 1,500 mall Santas or 1,500 kings. It just so happens that both of those groups—Santas-for-hire and actual sovereign rulers—are returning customers at Throne Kingdom, the global throne retailer whose headquarters I’m visiting. Open to the public six days a week, Throne Kingdom HQ is located within Sunset Park’s Brooklyn Army Terminal, a beige business park that also hosts a waffle cone manufacturing plant, a chocolatier, and a medical devices company. I’m greeted at the entrance by Allen’s son, Sol—an eager throne dealer and heir to his father’s mass-market empire—and together we walk through aisles of towering seats, while Allen ricochets from call to call, doling out delivery rates. … READ MORE

As New York’s offshore wind work begins, an environmental justice community awaits the benefits

By GRIST: On a pair of aging piers jutting into New York Harbor, contractors in hard hats and neon yellow safety vests have begun work on one of the region’s most anticipated industrial projects. Within a few years, this expanse of broken blacktop should be replaced by a smooth surface and covered with neat stacks of giant wind turbine blades and towers ready for assembly. The site will be home to one of the nation’s first ports dedicated to supporting the growing offshore wind industry. It is the culmination of years of work by an unlikely alliance including community advocates, unions, oil companies, and politicians, which hope the operations can help New York meet its climate goals while creating thousands of high-quality jobs and helping improve conditions in Sunset Park, a polluted neighborhood that is 40 percent Hispanic. With construction finally underway, it seems that some of those hopes are coming true. Last month, Equinor, the Norwegian oil company that is building the port, signed an agreement with New York labor unions covering wages and conditions for what should be more than 1,000 construction jobs. The Biden administration has been promoting offshore wind development as a key piece of its climate agenda, with a goal of reaching 30,000 megawatts of capacity by 2030, enough to power more than 10 million homes, according to the White House. New York has positioned itself as a leader, setting its own goal of 9,000 megawatts installed by 2035. … READ MORE

Don’t keep on truckin’: City to limit last-mile warehouses

By THE REAL DEAL: With the mayor needing its approval to remove regulations that shackle real estate, the City Council seized the opportunity to add a new one. Developers aiming to build last-mile delivery warehouses may soon be told “no,” a surprise outcome from the Council’s review of Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes for Economic Opportunity. Sometime next year, development of such facilities — which has proliferated to meet consumer demand for quick delivery of e-commerce packages — will need approval from the City Council in the form of a special permit. Until now, construction of distribution centers was allowed as-of-right, meaning without politicians’ say-so, in industrial areas. … Supporters hailed the reform. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso called it a step toward “environmental justice for the working-class,” and City Councilmember Alexa Avilés deemed it “desperately needed relief” from asthma, vehicle congestion, and air and noise pollution. Avilés, who represents Sunset Park and part of Brooklyn’s western shoreline down to Red Hook, tried to implement a permit requirement for last-mile facilities in 2022, when more than 2 million square feet of industrial space was completed and leased in the outer boroughs by Amazon alone, according to a CBRE report. … READ MORE

Pickup truck driver kills cyclist in Sunset Park and is not charged

BY STREETS BLOG: A driver of a large pickup truck slammed into and killed a cyclist on Fourth Avenue and 53rd Street in Sunset Park in a left-turn maneuver that violated the cyclist's right of way, cops said. According to the NYPD, the cyclist, whose name has not been released pending family notification, was heading southbound in the protected bike lane on Fourth Avenue at around 9:10 a.m. when the driver of a northbound Chevy Silverado turned left from Fourth onto 53rd Street, striking the cyclist and causing head and body trauma. Cops arrived to find the 49-year-old cyclist unconscious and unresponsive. He was taken to NYU Langone, where he died. The 40-year-old driver remained on the scene and was not charged, police said, despite the fact that the official narrative clearly indicates that the pickup driver turned into the cyclist. One witness, however, cast doubt on the NYPD narrative, saying that the Silverado had been traveling westbound on 53rd Street the entire time and had not turned from Fourth Avenue. Police declined to provide further information. "All I heard was 'Boom' and we all ran outside to see it," said a worker at a bodega on the corner, who declined to give his name because he's not the owner. … READ MORE

• VIDEO: 49-year-old man riding e-bike dies after colliding with car in Sunset Park

• Locals demand action on Fourth Avenue bike lane after cyclist killed

Man struck by R train in Sunset Park

By PIX11:  A person was struck by a subway train in Brooklyn, resulting in part of the R line being suspended, according to the MTA. The individual was struck at 53rd Street in Sunset Park at around 2:02 p.m., according to the NYPD. Witnesses say the man was running on the tracks. … READ MORE

Followups on Sunset Park’s Jane Doe cold case

By BROOKLYN REPORTER: The NYPD Cold Case Squad announced last month that skeletal remains found in a Manhattan building in 2003 are those of a missing Sunset Park teen. Det. Ryan Glas told NBC 4 News that through advanced forensics it was determined that the once-labeled Midtown Jane Doe is Patricia Kathleen McGlone, who disappeared in 1969 at age 16. McGlone’s remains were found wrapped in carpet at the site of the former Hell’s Kitchen club The Scene, which was notable for historic performances by The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, among many others. Cops also found a 1969 dime, a plastic toy soldier, a watch and a ring bearing the initials “PMCG.” The NYPD created a facial composite of McGlone using DNA and skeletal structure. … READ MORE

• Mystery of 'Midtown Jane Doe' solved after 55 years as NYC cops ID teen murder victim

• ‘Midtown Jane Doe’ finally ID’d — thanks partly to eerie twist — 20 years after remains found in cement at former NYC hot spot

• A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later.

The ultimate guide to street fairs and festivals

By BROOKLYN PAPER: Picture it. It’s summertime, and the smell of sausage and peppers sizzles through the air from a mobile food truck. The sound of live music can be heard from block-to-block, and you’re deciding between a sweet corn arepa or a paper bag full of deep fried sandwich cookies. It’s a good old-fashion Brooklyn street festival — one of the many events that make the borough so fun in the summer. … READ MORE

Puerto Rican Parade & Festival

Join El Grito for The 8th Annual Sunset Park Puerto Rican Parade & Festival on Sunday, June 9. The parade kicks off at 5 p.m., followed by the festival at 6:30 p.m. near the entrance to Sunset Park on 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue. Under the theme “Las Calles y Las Playas son del Pueblo,” locals will celebrate Puerto Rican resilience amidst displacement, affirming our global presence and cultural vitality. This year’s event highlights shared issues between Puerto Rican communities in both New York and the archipelago, fostering solidarity and empowerment.

Opinion | Fixing the Brooklyn Marine Terminal

By NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: For decades, the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park has languished, and with it the promise of a robust, modern waterfront in Brooklyn. And for decades, the Red Hook community has had no say in the future of this critical asset, yet has been forced to bear the brunt of its failures, including lost jobs and increased pollution. We now have the best opportunity in a generation to solve both problems. The state, the city, and the Port Authority, with our support, have now approved a deal that paves the way to finally realize the port’s full potential. The old disjointed ownership structure — a tri-party agreement between the city, state, and Port Authority — that has governed the Brooklyn Marine Terminal for the last 50 years has prevented unity around a forward-thinking reinvigoration of the Terminal. Instead, the port has steadily deteriorated and port operations have decreased due to lack of investment — to the detriment of our communities and the New York Harbor. … READ MORE

Opinion | Reduce wrapping, reduce waste: Cut plastic to save money and the environment

By NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: For a decade now, the metal, glass and plastic that New Yorkers put in blue recycling bins at their homes for pickup by the Sanitation Department has been taken by truck or barge to the privately-run plant in Brooklyn on the Sunset Park waterfront operated by Sims on a long-term contract with the city. The facility is open for tours and it is a fascinating process to watch, with the only smell being a slight sweet odor. The automated plant sorts and separates the refuse by smashing glass, using magnets to pull out ferrous metals and sorts the different densities, compositions and colors of hard plastics (look on the bottom of a container to see the various designations) with lasers and precisely aimed blasts of air. The recovered metal, glass and plastic is then sent to its next stop on the way to be reused. The main waste product of the Sims plant are bales of filmy, thin plastics, like dry cleaner bags. It can’t be recycled and is designated for expensive landfills to be buried forever. That is bad for the city’s budget and bad for the environment. With the welcome citywide expansion of organic collection (brown bins) joining with paper (green bins) and metal, glass and plastic (blue bins), the remaining black bag garbage will be made of nonrecyclable items like those same thin plastics that Sims rejects that are used for wrapping or bags. There’s a bill in Albany to encourage manufacturers to curb their use of this plastic packaging material and it should pass. … READ MORE

CALENDAR

• Thursday, May 30: A Brooklyn Arcanum at Tom Kane Theatre

• Sunday, June 9: Puerto Rican Parade & Festival 

• Begins Tuesday, June 11: Bar Convent Brooklyn 2024

• Tuesday, June 18: Free bilingual Shakespeare performance in Sunset Park

• Thursday, July 11: Rooftop Films Summer Series presents “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted”

• Until Aug. 23: Rooftop Films Summer Series full schedule

• Thursday, Oct. 17-20: Food Network’s NYC Wine & Food Festival 

• Ongoing at Green-Wood Cemetery