Kingston Will Be ‘Frozen Zone’

By COLlive reporter

The Chosen will be frozen.

Jewish residents of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood can forget about shopping for the Shabbos on Friday afternoon, as the main thorough-way is being labeled “Frozen Zone.”

The New York Police Department is using that term to describe the planned closure of Kingston Avenue that will allow the motorcade of President Barack Obama to pass smoothly.

Obama’s helicopter is scheduled to land in Prospect Park a little after 2:30 pm and will continue by car some 20 blocks from there to the Pathways in Technology Early College High School on Albany Avenue.

The motorcade is estimated to cross Kingston between 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM. During that time only pedestrians will be allowed to stand on the sidewalk, but won’t be able to cross the street – from Empire Boulevard to Eastern Parkway.

With no cars allowed on that section of Kingston from midnight October 25, many stores already notified that they plan to close shop early, although Friday typically attracts a large Jewish clientele.

“We’re all very excited about the visit and will expect a quick trip down the route before the event,” Assistant Chief Owen J. Monaghan, commanding officer of NYPD Brooklyn South, said in an interview with COLlive.com.

“We will try to minimize the inconvenience and do everything we can so people can cross,” he said. “I would suggest that any shopping, errands and trips should be done as early as possible and that people walk rather than taking vehicles.”

Chief Monaghan said he was aware of the trouble locals will be experiencing. “I can’t speak for the White House, but I can say that of those factors were discussed. This route was selected because of logistical and security reasons. When the motorcade will be in route, it’s going to be frozen.”

Some residents are planning to use the opportunity to urge the president to pardon or get involved in what many see as the injustice done to Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, the imprisoned former manager of a kosher meat plant in Iowa.

In the past, the White House declined to comment on a petition calling for an investigation into allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in the Rubashkin case.

One resident even designed poster for the public to print out themselves (download 11 x 8.5, 11 x 17 or 24 x 36).

“I don’t have info on that,” Chief Monaghan commented about the planned protest, “but certainly people will be allowed to do it, according to constitutional rights.”

It wasn’t clear how the visit will affect the schedule of the subway line 3 and 4 which have a stop on Kingston Avenue and Eastern Parkway. A source in Community Board 9 said it will certainly be closed during the visit.

The visit will also create a challenge for the 850 Jewish students that will be spending the weekend at the annual Chabad on Campus Shabbaton in Crown Heights.

But Rabbi Moshe Chaim Dubrowski, one of the organizers, told the Jewish Week, it’s all good.

“Aside from minor detours in shuttling participants to and from programs on Friday, we expect the president’s visit to only enhance the excitement surrounding the Shabbaton for the participants from around the country,” he said.

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