The body of a missing fashion designer bobbed up in the waters off a Sunset Park pier. A Dumbo restaurateur closed his popular gastropub and fled without warning, stranding staffers and bilking sweethearts out of deposits for their nuptials. And a pair of rookie councilmen battling the city to restore the Coney Island Boardwalk to its all-wood glory were a hit with our readers.
Month in Review recaps these and other top stories from May that headlined in our print and web editions.
Fatal fashion: The body of missing Bushwick fashion designer James “Jay” Ott was found floating in the East River near Pier 4 off Second Avenue and 58th Street in Sunset Park, ending a two month search. Ott, who designed for Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s label The Row, was seen for the last time on a security camera heading for the Williamsburg Bridge. Friends and family claimed he suffered from depression and anxiety, and authorities ruled out foul play. An initial autopsy report was inconclusive.
Whatta Dumbo: Jason Stevens, owner of Rebar on Front Street in Dumbo, suddenly shuttered his popular establishment and took off, stiffing employees and several couples planning their wedding receptions at the popular gastropub. He surrendered to the Brooklyn DA’s office after angry altar-bounds hit the roof and big-hearted Rebar staffers worked a wedding for free. Stevens was slapped with grand larceny and several fraud counts linked to nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes. He was released after posting $30,000 bail, but faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Wooden warriors: We received enough mail to fill up our “Sound Off to the Editor” pages for two weeks from readers rallying to the side of freshman Councilmen Chaim Deutsch (D–Brighton Beach) and Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island), who fired off a letter to the city demanding it toss out its plan to replace the Coney Island Boardwalk with concrete. The pair argued that Hurricane Sandy proved wood’s superiority.
Distinctive women: Courier Life Publications’ and Community Newspaper Group’s Brooklyn Women of Distinction magazine highlighted the accomplishments of 25 honorees, nominated by their peers and selected by an independent panel. The women, chosen for their efforts to improve their communities and advance Brooklyn, were formally lauded at an awards gala at the El Caribe Country Club in Mill Basin.
Simple pleasures: Coney Island made a big splash with a rollicking block party that put the fun back into the storm-battered neighborhood. Area groups and elected officials coordinated the day of simple pleasures and festivities marking the beginning of the planting season for the Surfside Community Garden, with mom, dad, and the kids rolling up their sleeves to pitch in.
Mob slog: The Brooklyn Public Library’s Bike the Branches cycling trek took riders on a 39-mile trip through the mysterious haunts of the borough’s one-time mafia kingpins, stopping at their childhood homes, the sites of their former speakeasies, and the scenes of their infamous crimes. The jittery jaunt began at the Park Slope branch — a cement-boot toss away from two childhood homes of Al Capone — and took in Grand Prospect Hall at Third and Prospect avenues, where “Scarface” allegedly fought the brawl that landed him his nickname.
Bug-a-bar: EeeeWOW! Ivy League vim-meister Gabi Lewis of Williamsburg and his business partner Greg Sewitz bugged out health nuts with their energy bars made from protein-packed crickets. The entrepreneurs raised $20,000 through Kickstarter, located a bug farmer in Louisiana, and hawked their first batch of the pep slabs in local gyms and speciality stores.
Buzzworthy Hornets: Midwood High School’s Hornets squad was in the running with the Public School Athletic League’s top baseball teams. The sluggers were on pace for their most league wins — 10–2 — since coach Charlie Barbieri took over seven years ago, sweeping two games against borough rival James Madison, splitting with 2013 city champion Grand Street, and tieing the 2012 title winner George Washington.
Fat ‘JCat’: Billionaire grocer and former Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis is set to make a killing on a prime-sirloin block once known as “Murder Avenue,” making his property dreams come true more than 30 years after snapping up land along Myrtle Avenue for a four-building project. The tycoon says now is the right time to break ground on the trendy corridor between Ashland and Fleet places, where boutiques, bars, and high-rises are boosting the area’s desirability.
Dylan-tologists: A Traveling Wilburys of Brooklyn rockers revisited “The Voice of a Generation” when the Zimmymen and the Wimmymen celebrated Bob Dylan’s 73rd birthday with a tribute show at the Way Station taproom in Prospect Heights. The crooners, whose name is a tweak on Dylan’s birth name Robert Zimmerman, performed songs from Zimbo’s 1965 album “Bringing It All Back Home” and plucked other hits from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s 52-year recording career.
Women’s football: The New York Sharks women’s pro tackle football team came home to devour the Washington Prodigy at Aviator Sports Complex. The 41–24 win put the Sharks (3–1) in a tie with the Montreal Blitz (3–1) for first place in the Independent Women’s Football League’s North Atlantic Division.
