Bridging Brooklyn: Your Weekly Roundup of Big Stories

Prospect Heights

Driver faces charges for fatal hit and run

A woman who killed a cyclist near the notoriously sketchy intersection of Washington and Atlantic avenues in September was charged with leaving the scene of the accident on Thursday. The Staten Island woman who was charged allegedly opened her door into the path of the cyclist, knocking her in front of an MTA bus, which ran her over. A lawyer for the accused said that his client left the scene in a panic and quickly returned with her mother.

Driver Charged in Connection with Death of 23-Year-Old Bicyclist

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Gentrification watch on Franklin Avenue

“The influence of Clinton Hill is moving east,” writes an observer on Bed-Stuy Patch. Indeed, the wave of gentrification is creeping further and further from its roots closer to Flatbush Avenue and Fort Greene Park. Indeed, a survey of some of the new stores opening up on the strip confirms that businesses are catering to a quickly changing clientele.

The New Franklin Avenue

Carroll Gardens

LICH Still in Jeopardy

Long Island College Hospital is still at risk of closing down despite recent news of a merger with SUNY Downstate. Continuum Health Partners, which runs the financially flatlining hospital, announced that state grants meant to fund the merger may not come through, meaning they may have to shut down LICH entirely. This is only latest sign of trouble for the institution, which has been beset with fiscal woes for many years.

Long Island College Hospital Threatens Closure

Park Slope

Pavilion Due for a Facelift

The Pavilion movie theater at Bartel Pritchard Square has become notorious for dirty theaters, sticky floors and maybe, just maybe, a home for bedbugs. (Though this has never been confirmed.) Now, after a solid year of negative talk on local blogs, the theater has announced it will undergo renovations. New paint, seats and carpet are reportedly on the way.

Upgrades Coming to The Pavilion