The Bloom Is Off The Berg

I buy it.

The Three Words That Best Describe You Are, And I Quote: “Stink. Stank. Stunk.”

Christmas Eve is a great day to bury bad news (e.g., murders up 5 percent from last year) or even if you just want to be a dick:

Developer Joe Sitt showed little holiday spirit today as he infuriated business operators along the fabled boardwalk by having locks clipped and replaced — and their storefronts flooded with “For Rent” signs.

“He’s literally kicking us out Christmas Eve by not even trying to negotiate new leases with us,” said activist Dianna Carlin, who owns Lola Staar Souvenir Boutique on the Boardwalk.

. . .

Sitt owns almost 11 acres of prime beachfront real estate, including fabled Astroland Park and nearly the rest of the entire amusement zone — which he is in the process of trying to sell to the city. Astroland’s lease is up at the end of January, but the other business leases are up at the end of this month.

While some business owners allege Sitt is essentially booting them off the boardwalk by informally offering new leases with jacked up rents he knows they can’t afford, others like Carlin haven’t even received an offer.

Location Scout: Coney Island Amusement Core.

“Pop” A Tax On Their Ass!

The best thing about the soda tax (and probably fishing, too) is that it makes people that much more enthusiastic about the prospect of soaking the rich. Bwahahaha:

New York State voters oppose the so-called “obesity tax” on nondiet soft drinks by a resounding margin of 60 percent to 37 percent, but support, by an even more overwhelming margin of 84 percent to 13 percent, raising the state income tax on people who make more than $1 million per year, according to results of a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.

Even those who prefer diet sodas — which would be exempt from the proposed 18 percent sales tax — said they opposed the measure (58 percent to 39 percent), while drinkers of regular sodas opposed the idea by an even stronger margin (64 percent to 31 percent). Majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents surveyed all opposed the proposed tax, though by varying margins.

(In an amusing aside, the Quinnipiac poll noted, “Independent voters are the most weight conscious on the political spectrum as 37 percent prefer diet soft drinks, compared to 27 percent of Republicans and 30 percent of Democrats.”)

Meanwhile, support for the so-called “millionaires’ tax” extended even to Republicans, who favored the measure, by a margin of 72 percent to 27 percent. Gov. David A. Paterson has expressed opposition to raising taxes on wealthy voters, but has suggested that there might be no other option if the state budget crisis continues to fester.

My Mouse Soldiers — They Move

The one thing you want to avoid saying is “we want the attention,” and that could be either because you aren’t worthy of the attention and it looks lame to say you “want” it or because what you have is really actually pretty great and then once you finally get the attention you probably won’t want hundreds of gawkers clogging your street each December. But that said, we should definitely check this out:

Dyker Heights, where elaborate Christmas decorations have become as much a holiday tradition as a trip to Mona Lisa bakery, has a new rival in the borough.

Tired of playing second fiddle, a growing group of Bensonhurst residents are making a run on tinsel in a bid to be crowned the new kings of Christmas.

“We got the nutcrackers, we got the soldiers on the pedestal, the carousel, the Wonder Wheel and the musical Christmas tree,” said 82nd St. resident Debra Schempp, all in one breath. “I got my elves with the reindeers, my mouse soldiers — they move — and I got my nutcrackers and I got those new lights that came out this year that go with music, and the ceramic pieces with the Santa on the sled.

“I mean, we got everything they got in Dyker Heights but none of the attention,” added Schempp, who said several other neighbors on her block have been decorating for more than a decade. “We want the attention.”

See also: Dyker Heights Christmas Lights.

[Thx, 8.]

Bernard Madoff Has Blood On His Hands

Actual blood, and not figurative blood:

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, a founder of the hedge fund Access International Advisors, was found dead Tuesday in his office in Manhattan. His fund reportedly lost as much as $1.4 billion that had been invested with Bernard L. Madoff, the money manager accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Mr. de la Villehuchet, 65, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning, and a New York City Police spokesman, Paul Browne, told DealBook that he had apparently committed suicide. He was found with wounds to his arms, with one leg propped up on the desk and a trash can nearby to catch blood.