Brooklyn Hoods - Prospect Lefferts Gardens

Phat Eyesore
	C'mon Albert, Show a Little Respect! As a homeowner I know the pain of shelling out money to make repairs. But when a window breaks, or the roof starts to leak, I bite the bullet and replace the windows (with glass, not plywood) and I get the roof fixed (instead of putting up tarps over my kids' heads). If the owner of Phat Alberts (who does not live in PLG) would show respect for our neighborhood by taking better care of his high visibility building, and by ending his toilet seat sales on the sidewalk, he would be a welcomed presence here.
Instead, he has let this potentially beautiful building and clock tower at PLG's front door slowly rot. If you are making money off the people in the neighborhood, show them and PLG as a whole some respect by keeping your store in good shape! DON'T BE SHY PLG! 1) Call Phat Albert's Broadway store (718-388-9526) and ask for Albert Srour (he's usually there in the morning after 10:30) 2) Ask when he intends to make repairs to his building on Flatbush Ave. 3) If you don't plan to shop there anymore let him know, and tell him that people in the community are angry and demand that he take action UPDATE - 4/17/06: I spoke with the owner of Phat Albert's today. He says he does not "want an argument" with local residents and is willing to listen to our concerns and make some changes. He asked that I contact him in 2 weeks to arrange a meeting. It's promising, but the Planet wants results.

The MTA
	We deserve better from the MTA! "Post-apocalyptic", "abandoned", "urban blight", "negligence", "let them eat cake" - these are just some of the words and phrases that pop into mind when looking at the Q stop on Parkside Avenue. Is there an equivalent of eminent domain for citizens? The MTA seems to have completely abandoned this stop years ago. I can't imagine this ever happening in Brooklyn Heights - clearly the MTA feels that there's no downside for them to allow this to continue. The workers in the booth told me that they have been complaining almost daily, but nothing gets done. One told me that the MTA only listens to citizen complaints.
DON'T BE SHY PLG! Please pick up the phone right now and call the MTA: Division of Station Operations Brooklyn, New York Phone: (718) 243-3222 We (and others) called about the Lincoln Road stop's broken doors almost everyday for several weeks. They eventually sent a repair crew. Let's see if we can get the Parkside stop brought back from the dead! UPDATE: Following the News 12 piece the MTA backed-off its "no work until 2010" statement and has now agreed to fix the facade of the station. We continue to call and check in to make sure they don't lose this project in the shuffle. We will be posting updates here periodically.

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