Sunset Park’s Pandemic Hero

Also: Drug smuggling, the best Chinatown snacks, rat sightings, plays for spring and more!

Mar 13, 2025

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 news sources that touch our neighborhood, which is one of the most vibrant in Brooklyn.

In this issue

The ordinary New Yorkers who became pandemic heroes
Court filings show how hip-hop podcaster Taxstone smuggled drugs, contraband into MDC Brooklyn jail
The best snacks in Sunset Park's Chinatown
Cop-biting NYC Councilwoman Susan Zhuang sinks teeth into comptroller’s race with endorsement
City Hall joins council fight to reduce ‘last mile’ truck use
A neighborhood ‘Haven’: How an old-school Irish pub became a Sunset Park icon — and St. Patrick’s Day staple
Climbing gym brings big adventure to Industry City
Dialogue With Three Chords continues deluxe reissue series of plays for spring 2025 season
Wind power projects slam into Trump permit pause
Senior center faces closure due to rent increase
Rat sightings up by 119% in this NYC nabe – as vermin-hating locals claim ‘every house has rats’

The ordinary New Yorkers who became pandemic heroes

BY THE NEW YORK TIMES: During New York City’s darkest days, some residents found purpose and meaning in helping their neighbors stay safe and even find a bit of joy.

Whitney Hu fed hundreds of people in Sunset Park
Whitney Hu loves Sunset Park, a Brooklyn neighborhood of Asian and Latino immigrant families. When her neighbors there found themselves out of work and stuck home during the pandemic, she knew they would need assistance. She had no idea how much. Ms. Hu, who works in civic engagement, and a few neighbors quickly created a Google spreadsheet of contacts and let people know they would try to help. “We thought it was going to be very much like: ‘Hey, I need help. If somebody can go grab me a carton of milk, I’ll reimburse you,’” she said. “Quickly, it became so much bigger.” She said one mother called and asked if she could set up a payment plan for groceries. “That’s when my brain broke,” Ms. Hu, now 33, said. She found it upsetting to know that one of her neighbors was in such need. She pooled money with other neighbors so that the woman could feed her children. That was the beginning of South Brooklyn Mutual Aid, and it soon blossomed into more. “We went from doing individual grocery deliveries to moving to what we call our mass distribution,” Ms. Hu said. … READ MORE

Court filings show how hip-hop podcaster Taxstone smuggled drugs, contraband into MDC Brooklyn jail

BY NY DAILY NEWS: Court filings from several recent arrests at MDC Brooklyn in Sunset Park show the creative ways inmates sneak drugs and other contraband into the troubled federal jail — including one elaborate scheme devised by hip-hop podcaster Taxstone involving a 50-foot rope used to “fish” goods through an open window with the help of an outside accomplice. Taxstone — who’s serving federal and state sentences for fatally shooting rival rapper Troy Ave.’s bodyguard — orchestrated the smuggling attempt using a contraband cell phone, federal prosecutors allege. Taxstone, real name Daryl Campbell, 39, got his hands on the phone in April 2024 and started scheming to bring pot and cigarettes into the jail, according to voice recordings found on the phone detailing how an outside accomplice should get a 50-foot rope and “hook” it to a line dangling from the window of a fourth-floor recreation area, according to a criminal complaint. “We gonna throw the line out from that gate so you just run right in the gate and you hook it to the line cause there’s a hook on the end of the line we got right now. You just going to hook it and just dip back out. Sturdy,” Campbell said in an April 19 recording, according to the feds. Campbell explained how to tape sandwich bags filled with drugs and other items to the rope, even telling his accomplice that he’d go on FaceTime to provide more details, “so I don’t gotta baby you.” “I don’t wanna make no mistakes because this run that we do is gonna be a run that put me right back where I need to be to pay these white people off, and I’ll be able to bust the moves that we really bust, because this is really like light money moves to us,” he said. “You smell me?” … READ MORE

The best snacks in Sunset Park's Chinatown

BY ROBERT SIETSEMA’S NEW YORK: It had been almost a year since I’d visited Sunset Park’s Chinatown, I realized as I jumped off the N train at the Eighth Avenue station. At the top of the stairs, I found this Chinatown much transformed. A giant skyscraper was being constructed just south of the station and shoppers filled the sidewalks jammed with prepared food carts. Eighth Avenue remains lined with vegetable and fish markets, and there are more restaurants and cafes than ever before — most in a Taiwanese, Hong Kong, or Fujianese vein. This is a working Chinatown perhaps more exciting than those in Lower Manhattan and Flushing. Sunset Park’s Chinatown reinforces what’s happening all over the New York area, with the city’s Chinese restaurant scene growing at a breakneck pace in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Hell’s Kitchen, and Midtown; Long Island City; as well as Jersey City’s Newport and Downtown, populating retail spaces with inexpensive noodle shops and formal restaurants focusing on regional fare. … READ MORE

Cop-biting NYC Councilwoman Susan Zhuang sinks teeth into comptroller’s race with endorsement

BY NY POST: This pol’s endorsement could pack some bite. Brooklyn Councilwoman Susan Zhuang, who was charged with chomping on a cop at a raucous anti-homeless shelter rally in July, has announced she is endorsing Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine in the Democratic primary for city comptroller. Zhuang has begun raising money for Levine’s campaign in the Chinese American community. …Zhuang’s endorsement of Levine isn’t without controversy. “I wouldn’t seek or accept her endorsement,” said a Brooklyn Democrat, who requested anonymity to avoid getting in the middle of a party spat. But Zhuang, 39, brushed off any baggage tied to her criminal case. “I do stand up for people I care about. My influence is not only in my district but all over the city,” said Zhuang, 39. The pol is popular in her heavily Asian southern Brooklyn district that encompasses Bensonhurst, Sunset Park, Dyker Heights and a sliver of Borough Park. … READ MORE

City Hall joins council fight to reduce ‘last mile’ truck use

BY STREETSBLOG: "For a long time, neighborhoods like mine have suffered as the result of the poor air quality, inflicted on us by the massive influx of large trucks on our roads," said Sunset Park's Council member. … It’s about trucking time. The Adams administration announced last week that it supports a Council bill that would force the operators of large “last-mile” warehouses to utilize environmentally friendly freight solutions the administration has been piloting and studying for years. Intro 1130, which would require the city to regulate the largest warehouses, was introduced last year by Council Member Alexa Avilés, who represents Sunset Park and Red Hook, two neighborhoods that have been inundated with a rise of “last-mile” facilities from companies like Amazon, and the dangerous truck traffic that comes with them. The Department of Environmental Protection testified in support of the bill, part of a compromise reached during the Council’s approval of the mayor’s City of Yes for Economic Opportunity plan to do something about the uneven impacts of last-mile warehouses. … READ MORE

A neighborhood ‘Haven’: How an old-school Irish pub became a Sunset Park icon — and St. Patrick’s Day staple

BY BK PAPER: Nestled on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 58th Street in Sunset Park, the Irish Haven has been a neighborhood staple for over six decades. The no-frills, old-school Irish pub has not only stood the test of time but has flourished as a beloved community space, welcoming locals and visitors alike. The bar, which first opened its doors in 1964, was founded by the Lawler family. After a brief transition, Matt Hogan, along with his business partners, the Collins family, took over in 2011, keeping the bar’s traditions alive while expanding its role as a communal gathering place. “The bar has been here since 1964,” said Hogan. “We just had a big 60th anniversary last October, which was a huge program with bands, a lot of fun, food, and folks and fun, as they say. And it’s been a trip.” … READ MORE

Climbing gym brings big adventure to Industry City

BY NEWS 12: On this week’s Road Trip Close To Home, we take you to a new climbing gym in Sunset Park’s Industry City. … WATCH VIDEO

Dialogue With Three Chords continues deluxe reissue series of plays for spring 2025 season

BY BROADWAY WORLD: Dialogue with Three Chords will launch their Spring 2025 season with their Deluxe reissue series of plays. The first of these feature author H.P. Lovecraft and his time living in Brooklyn paired with a new play set in Providence, Rhode Island, where Lovecraft also lived. Written by Stephen Gracia and directed by Michael LoPorto, the show starts at 8pm on Thursday, March 27th at the Tom Kane Theatre in Sunset Park's Industry City at 51 35th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232. First floor of Building 5, next to St. Mark's Comics. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the box office or online: https://www.bkone.org/tix … READ MORE

Wind power projects slam into Trump permit pause

BY THE CITY: Offshore wind in New York once looked breezy but is now facing headwinds. Wind turbines soon to begin construction miles off the coast have the potential to deliver significant amounts of clean, electric power to the state, staving off blackouts in the future as the need for electricity increases and greening New York City’s grid, which relies mostly on dirty fossil fuels. But that future, including in Sunset Park, could be at risk. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order halting new federal leases and permits for offshore wind projects while federal agencies review their environmental and economic impacts. … READ MORE

Senior center faces closure due to rent increase

BY BK READER: The United Senior Center of Sunset Park at 475 53rd St. is facing potential closure due to rising rents. A rally was held Feb. 28 to raise awareness of the situation and stress how important the center has been to local seniors. Center Executive Director Grisel Amador told News 12 Brooklyn that the landlord is seeking a 70% increase from the NYC Department for the Aging, which funds the center. “[The Department for the Aging] agreed to pay additional rent, but not that amount because they don’t have the money,” she told News 12. … READ MORE

Rat sightings up by 119% in this NYC nabe – as vermin-hating locals claim ‘every house has rats’

BY NY POST: This neighborhood is totally rat-tled. Rat sightings are trending down citywide but some neighborhoods are seeing massive spikes — with one area in Queens hit with a 119% increase in 311 complaints about the vermin last year. “Every house has rats and nobody is doing anything about it,” said Shuvro Md, of Jamaica Hills, Queens. … Trailing behind Queens CB 8 on the list of districts with the highest rat report increases year-over-year are Bronx CB 10 in City Island / Throggs Neck area, which saw a 30.86% increase; and Brooklyn’s CB 7 (Sunset Park) and CB 14 (Flatbush), which saw rat reports up 35.46% and 57.04%, respectively. … READ MORE

CALENDAR

Sunday, March 16: Brooklyn SeltzerFest and National Egg Cream Invitational
Thursday, March 27: Ode to a Cemetery: Photographing Green-Wood w/ Bethany Jacobson
Thursday, March 27: Dialogue With Three Chords spring 2025 season begins
Ongoing at Green-Wood Cemetery & Industry City