Kids uneducated become incarcerated: Adams
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island-Bensonhurst-Bath Beach) appeared with parents, education advocates and students in front of Department of Education headquarters in Manhattan to demand changes on behalf of students who have been left behind by the new blended and remote learning models. Representatives of the DOE recently revealed that 77,000 students still lacked learning devices such as tablets and computers. “The students we fail to educate today, we are more likely to incarcerate tomorrow. It is a disgrace that almost seven months into remote learning, there are still thousands of students waiting to get learning devices so they can participate in classes,” Adams said.
Why Brooklyn beats Manhattan in commercial real estate opportunities
Ofer Cohen, founder of Terra CRG and board chairman of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, writes in Commercial Observer, a real estate publication, about why he feels Brooklyn’s office real estate market is healthier than Manhattan’s. First, he says, “Brooklyn has office space options that allow for privacy, social distancing and outdoor space.” Second, Brooklyn is less dependent on tourism and daily commuters from the suburbs. Third, Brooklyn’s retail consists mainly of essential businesses that are more likely to last. Fourth, Brooklyn has good housing stock, where many office workers live; and fifth, Brooklyn is not seasonal (Manhattan has a higher percentage of second homeowners).
Hasidic leader who urged COVID compliance dies
A Hasidic leader who urged Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox community to follow coronavirus safety measures died of the disease on Friday. The leader was identified on Twitter as Satmar President and philanthropist Rabbi Mayer Zelig Ripsler. A funeral was held in Williamsburg the same day. “R’Mayer Zelig was a courageous and dedicated leader who will be missed by the worldwide Satmar community,” the Satmar religious sect tweeted, according to press reports.
Cuomo wants to re-draw borders of red zones
Because COVID-19 positivity rates and test results have been coming down, Gov. Andrew Cuomo now says the time has come to change the borders of the red zones. The combined positivity rate for Brooklyn and Queens has come down to about 3 percent, a sharp decrease from just a few weeks ago. “The numbers have come down, particularly in Queens, and we can adjust the zones. You can make them bigger or smaller because you have the numbers block by block,” said Cuomo.
Housing Court defaced by graffiti
A group of activists defaced the Brooklyn Housing Court with graffiti on Friday morning, using a baseball bat to smash the automatic door sensor, police said. Soon after, police discovered the words “Eviction = Violence” and “Eat the Landlords” on the outside of the court. A group posted a declaration on social media claiming that they were “evicting” the court from its location on Livingston Street. By Friday afternoon, the graffiti had been removed and the court continued its operations, according to press reports. “Clearly this was an orchestrated, well-thought-out premeditated crime, not unlike the other previous acts of vandalism and criminal mischief recently perpetrated on the city’s courthouses,” said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration.
Gunfire leaves one dead, three wounded
One man was killed and three were wounded in separate shootings in Brooklyn on Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to police. The killing occurred just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 18 in Brownsville, where a 28-year-old man was shot in the chest, arm and leg in front of the Allah School in Medina at the corner of Watkins and Livonia avenues. Spent shells were found at the scene. There were also two incidents of what police believe to be gang violence in East Flatbush. In the first incident, around 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 17, a 19-year-old man was shot in the chest in front of a deli at 874 Rutland Road. He was reported to be in serious but stable condition at Kings County Hospital. In the second shooting, a 42-year-old man was shot in the back during a dispute at the corner of Clarkson Avenue and East 95th Street. The third shooting took place around 3:45 on Sunday morning, when an innocent bystander was wounded while two parties shot at each other at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Bergen Street in Park Slope, according to NYPD press reports.
Rose wants accountability for Purdue Pharma
U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn, Staten Island) is urging the Department of Justice to hold Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family that owns it accountable for the abuse of opioids that the company manufactures. Rose’s push comes following reports that Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family are nearing a plea deal with the Department of Justice. The company is the manufacturer of Oxycodone.
Brooklyn group’s ‘Wall of Lies’ rebuilt in Manhattan
A vandalized public art project displaying more than 20,000 purported lies told by President Donald Trump is being rebuilt at the corner of Lafayette and Grand streets in Manhattan and will be on public view beginning on Oct. 24. The original Wall of Lies was a 50-by-10-foot outdoor mural that was first displayed in Bushwick on the weekend of Oct. 3. On Oct. 7, it was defaced with slogans such as “Stand Back and Stand By” and “Vote Trump or Die.”
De Blasio appoints Brooklynite as deputy mayor
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently appointed Melanie Hartzog as deputy mayor for health and human services. Hartzog most recently served as director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. Before joining City Hall, she served as executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund. Hartzog holds a master of science degree from the New School and a bachelor’s degree from Eckart College. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children.
New construction plans proceed in Prospect Heights
Plans have been filed for a six-story residential building at 684 Dean St. in Prospect Heights. The site, between Underhill and Vanderbilt avenues, is a few blocks north of the B and Q trains’ Seventh Avenue subway station and is currently occupied by a two-story building. The new building is slated to have six apartments, most likely condos, a mezzanine and a rear yard. Tahir Demirciouglu of BuiltD is listed as the architect of record and Sam Zima is named as the owner, according to New York YIMBY.
Police blotter reports: Accident and violent malfeasance
Authorities were called to the Coney Island Avenue after a construction worker fell into a hole on Monday morning, FDNY officials said. The incident happened around West Fifth Street and Neptune Avenue around 11:30 a.m. The construction worker was taken to the hospital and his condition wasn’t immediately known at press time.
A 29-year-old man was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon, according to police. The victim was found with several wounds lying on the sidewalk on East 18th Street near Church Avenue soon after 2:30 p.m. He was taken to a nearby hospital but could not be saved. Police are investigating the incident.
A 73-year-old woman was shoved onto the subway tracks and two other people were injured on Monday afternoon at the Clinton-Washington Avenue subway station in Clinton Hill. Police say the woman, her 82-year-old husband and their 30-year-old grandson were standing on the platform around 1:30 p.m. when a man approached them, smoking a cigarette. When the grandson asked the man not to smoke, the man attacked him and started punching him in the face. When the grandfather tried to intervene, he was also punched in the face. Then, the woman tried to stop the fight and was pushed onto the tracks. The three were all taken to New York Methodist Hospital. The woman and her grandson both had serious head injuries, while the grandfather only needed stitches.
Compiled by Raanan Geberer.
