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By Courier Staff
Brooklyn Daily
A battle of the sexes threatened to bust balls at a bocce club. Tinseltown actor Samuel L. Jackson lent his sweet clout to a beekeeper. And a doomed dolphin chose the People’s Playground for its final romp.
Month in Review recaps these and other top reports from July that ignited our weeklies and our website, www.brooklyndaily.com.
Boccismo: The Marine Park Bocce Club belonged on the Walk of Shame for not rolling with the times and championing gender equality, claimed a presidential challenger. He said the 17 women listed on the club roster held court only at coffee socials, instead of calling the shots on the playing field.
Bee-lievers: Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson got cyber surfers buzzing about potentially lucrative investment opportunities in a so-called emerging “human pollination” market. But the Oscar nominee’s tweet — “Crazy s... happening out here! Check out BeABeeInc.com #savethebees — was actually part of Cobble Hill beekeeper Zeke Freeman’s sweet scheme to raise awareness about Colony Collapse Disorder. Curious cruisers looking to make a buck bumbled onto Freeman’s website, where they learned the scoop on the mystifying, global death of honeybees. Jackson was in on the act all along, said the creative apiarist.
Narwhal no more: Even Flipper is dying to visit Brooklyn. Borough residents shed a tear for yet another dead dolphin after one washed up on Coney Island Beach, making Kings County the final resting spot for four cadaverous cetaceans so far this year. Biologists said the marine mammal, which city workers forklifted from the beach, likely succumbed to a lung-worm infection. The good news? Wildlife experts will study the dolphin’s remains and use the information to rehabilitate seals, sea turtles, whales, and other stricken sea critters.
Ale-ing artwork: Michelangelo completed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in four years. But it took a Bay Ridge bar, the Wicked Monk, five times as long to finish its taproom’s signature ceiling art. Owner Michael Dorgan commissioned artist Igor Korotash to paint a 36-foot-long, overhead mural in 1993, then relocated his pub two avenues away, and enlisted three new business partners. Dorgan wanted their mugs included on the magnum opus, but had lost touch with Korotash. He finally tracked down the artist, who completed the eye-popper 20 years after he first started it.
Fonts of purity: The Prospect Park Alliance knows that quenching your thirst on a befouled public drinking fountain is about as desirable as slurping from a spittoon. Park-going germaphobes rejoice! The alliance replaced half a dozen of its public bubblers with no-fuss, eco-friendly ones, designed to replenish water bottles without fear of icky contact with man or beast.
Hospital on Meth: Slopers nervous about development destroying their historic neighborhood tried to inject some sense into officials at New York Methodist Hospital. Slope neighbors claimed that a proposed Methodist outpatient center would be a blot on their charming enclave. Methodist said the facility was critical to its patients, but opponents argued it would ruin the local landscape by attracting unnecessary traffic and clattering construction crews.
Dirty dozen: Southern Brooklyn spas were offering patrons more than a back rub, said cops, after raiding a dozen massage parlors in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst. Police arrested 19 people on a slew of charges, including prostitution, worker’s compensation violations, and practicing massage without a license. The alleged Dirty Dozen were operating in crumbling buildings that were dangerous to be inside, the city said.
RIP Buffy: Carroll Gardens bereaved the loss of a beloved grassroots gladiator, with the passing of Lydia “Buffy” Buffington. Buffington was the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation’s community liaison. She helped to beautify Court Street, pitched in with annual street fairs, directed seniors to affordable housing, and bought holiday gifts for the poor on her own dime. Buffington died peacefully in her sleep on July 3.
Going their way: There’s light at the end of the tunnel for weary G train riders, who railroaded the Metropolitan Transportation Authority into reviewing their G-gripes. The agency pledged to get on track with a more uniform schedule, better train access, and well-appointed platform furniture, among other modifications.
Pipeline protest: Earth lovers protested a natural gas pipeline that is planned to run along Flatbush Avenue on the same day that National Grid workers were laying down the pipes, raising concerns that the installation was a done deal. The protesters, a group of gardeners and environmentalists, claimed that the artery posed a hazard to area residents, motorists, and wildlife. The project is part of a 10,000 mile pipeline that stretches from Texas to New York state.
Holy rollers: The Jehovah’s Witnesses unloaded a parcel of prime real estate in DUMBO, including the iconic Watchtower building and several factory-style structures, for the ungodly price of $375 million. A Manhattan real estate firm snapped up the holdings, which are zoned for business or manufacturing use. The sale dismayed condo developers but thrilled entrepreneurs who envision a Silicon Valley in Brooklyn. The Witnesses, meanwhile, took their headquarters upstate.
Fowl play: Thumb-sized mockingbirds dive-bombed stunned visitors at Greenpoint’s Transmitter Park, in a scene right out of Hitchcock’s 1963 horror flick “The Birds.” The swooping sorties struck three people in one week, but no serious injuries were reported. Mockingbirds are known for fiercely protecting their young, and likely weren’t used to the increasing foot traffic at the newly opened park.