DEVIL'S WORK

The Devil is busy at work on the corner of 4th and Ovington.

My daughter and I walked past the Green Church today to see that demolition of the Methodist Church is nigh. Workers have started removing the 211 bodies that were interred at the church in 1901.

Pastor Robert Emerick once said “We are a competent religious organization and we know how to handle human remains.”

And look at how they're handling it. They put up a garbage bag wall so no one can see how well they're handling the human remains. I climbed a ladder to see this: a back-ho and some guy looking in a hole. Very very holy. Remind me not to have them handle my remains.

On the other side of the church was a man, who I think said he was a retired head of the NY Cemetery Regulation. He was there to make sure the bodies "found a final resting spot. They deserve that." Um -- this is the 3rd time they've been moved. How many times does a dead body have to be moved before it reaches its final resting spot?

But this guy didn't just make sure everything went smoothly. He also got into a shouting match with Dorcas Kimball's mother about who said what at a CB 1o meeting. I don't know who was right but this guy didn't know how to talk to a woman. "Jerk" does not begin to describe this guy.












So here's my guess as to what is going to happen, and remember, you heard it here first:

• The congregation will tear down the church (it's their contractual responsibility).
• Betesh (the new owner) will sell the property (he already has it on the market, and his company is a management company, not a developer)
• The new owner will not build a church on the property
• Betesh and Emerick will shrug and say they have no legal ground to force the new owner to build a church
• A butt-ugly condo will be built and the new owner will hire Betesh to manage it
• Gentile will say he did all he could do, even though the church hired lobbyist James F. Capalino and Associates and lobbyist George Fontas, who happened to run Gentile's 2003 election.
• Emerick, who is not planning on building the congregation, will miraculously be offered another job at another church with a congregation in double digits.
  

So you better get a good last look at the church. The way things are going, the bulldozers will come in under dark of night to tear down the church, just like some of Bay Ridge's other beautiful buildings have been torn down.

And when it's all said and done, Bay Ridge will be the sucker.

IT'S BACK!!

Just when you thought it was safe to praise Jesus in peace, the Green Church controversy raises its serpentine head again.

As you well know, the church was purchased by Abe Betash a scant few months ago. But last week an ad was found on Craig's List, listing the church property for sale for $11.5 million.

Craig's List? An $11.5 million property for sale on Craig's List!? Why don't you just write on some construction paper and tape it to a telephone pole? I mean, who sells something for $11.5 million on Craig's List!?

Dakota Realty.

“Property ID 76-Commercial, Land, Land-Residential (land), for Sale in Bay Ridge, address: Ovington Ave. and 4th Ave. — Property Description: Huge corner property in great location! Total Buildable sq. ft. 87,742. Asking $11,500,000.”

The listing was also on the Dakota Realty website, but was quickly taken off when Dakota realized they had stepped into a tempestuous storm.

“We don’t want to get involved with this. We don’t want to be involved in selling the property. We’re getting too many questions about this. It was an open listing. The buyer is still selling it. We just removed the list off our web site.”

According to the Brooklyn Eagle

"Betesh Monday denied that he is seeking a new buyer, but plans are moving ahead for development."

So Betash says he's not selling, but a realty company, who said Betash was the seller, listed the property for sale.

And Betash is

"looking for an 'educational component' at the site."

So he plans to knock down a church and a school so he can build a church and a school.

I can't wait to see how this plays out.

PROTEST AT THE GREEN CHURCH

This morning saw a band of mighty preservationists (sans pro-Green Church Vincent Gentile and Janele Hyer-Spencer) protesting the sale and possible future demolition of the Ridge's infamous Green Church.

As we all know by now, the church is being sold to Abe "who needs heat?" Betesh of Abecoe Management. Local preservationists would like to see the church's life spared and used for another use. The church's congregation wants to go through with the sale, tear down the church, build a a new, smaller church (for the 20 or so congregants), and let Abe build 50 or so condos.

Complicating matters is how to move the 211 people who were reinterred from the original church. Maybe they won't move them and the condos will be built on a cemetery. Oooo, and we all know how that turns out.

So how did the protest go? Well, the Green Church is still standing so I say chalk one up for the preservationists.


Picture may not depict actual protest.