Late last week a construction shed went up outside of the long shutterd BR Stars bar at 93rd Street and 4th Avenue.
Long time readers might remember this location as being the first stop on the Bay Ridge Gore Tour for it was here that one bartender brutally killed his coworker in November 2004 by shooting him four times.
While I’m not sure what is going in the location, the whole scenario got me thinking about how that murder caused the demise of the long time drug operation out of the Bay Ridge Crack House.
Had that murder not taken place BR Stars most likely would have remained open to this day, and if BR Stars had remained open the 93rd Street crack house would most likely still be in business this very day.
Here’s why:
- The brothers, junkies and skells that caused the large scenes in and around the crack house down the block used to hang out at BR Stars for a large chunk of their daily time – this was while the crack house down the block was already a fairly well known location to score drugs at, I learned in 1996 of this drug location and didn’t believe it for at least a year.
- In November 2004, the bartender murder happens and BR Stars is eventually closed for good.
- Some of the brothers, junkies and skells that would waste their days away inside BR Stars then migrated down the block to the home of the brothers which made it extremely obvious to any resident who had been living on the block with blinders on that they really were living with a drug house on the block.
- People from the neighborhood began complaining on BayRidgeTalk.com about the obvious drug house and eventually formed a group that became vocal to police.
- In June 2008, the NYPD finally closed the crack house down with a RICO case.
- Residents were overcome with joy that their three year ordeal with the crack house is finally behind them – yes, “THREE YEAR ORDEAL.”
While murder, selling drugs and drug abuse really isn’t something to laugh at, the universe sure does have a funny way of working itself out.