What’s News, Breaking: Tuesday, May 7, 2024

SEN. GOUNARDES INTRODUCES BILL TO REQUIRE
‘SPEED LIMITERS’ FOR REPEAT-OFFENDER DRIVERS

ALBANY — AS PART OF ADVOCACY FOR A BILL he is sponsoring, State Senator Andrew Gounardes joined street safety advocates and other lawmakers on Tuesday, May 7, to test drive a car with cutting-edge intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology that limits the maximum speed a vehicle can travel. Also known as “speed limiters” or “governors,” these devices are already standard issue in new vehicles sold in Europe. The federal National Safety Transportation Board has recommended the same in the U.S. Senator Gounardes’ legislation (S.7621/A7979) would require the installation of ISA technology on the vehicles of repeatedly reckless drivers that accumulate 11 or more points on their license in an 18-month period, or that receive six-speed camera or red-light camera tickets in a year. The devices would prevent drivers from traveling more than 5 mph over the local speed limit.

The State Assembly’s version of the bill, currently in committee, has support from Brooklyn Assemblymembers Jo Anne Simon (D-52) and Emily Gallagher (D-50).

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STARBUCKS TO CLOSE UNIONIZED WILLIAMSBURG STORE

WILLIAMSBURG — COFFEE CHAIN STARBUCKS IS SET TO CLOSE ITS NORTH 7th Street location in Williamsburg at the end of June, reports Greenpointers, citing poor store performance. The branch in 2022 became the fifth Starbucks store in NYC to unionize. Starbucks, in a press statement, said it was reaching out to the Workers United union to discuss next steps for the 14 workers at the closing location, including possible transfers to other stores.

Starbucks has been previously accused of purposefully shuttering unionized locations in order to disrupt labor organization efforts, including in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint last year. The Supreme Court in April began hearing arguments over the firing of seven unionizing Tennessee Starbucks workers that the NLRB ruled retaliatory.

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ABOLITIONIST PARK OPENS IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE LONG-AWAITED PARK AT ABOLITIONIST PLACE opened to the public on Monday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, reports Brownstoner, marking the culmination of a decades-long effort. The new park offers rolling lawns to relax on, as well as a fountain, a small dog run and a children’s playground. Art installations celebrating the location’s historical ties to the Underground Railroad are in the works, including tributes to Brooklyn abolitionists and a large dome-shaped sculpture memorializing enslaved Black people as points of light in the night sky. 

The park is the result of years of community activism to bring green space to the neighborhood while paying tribute to the past. The art installation was delayed following a late change in the artist chosen for the project.

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LAWSUIT OVER RIGHTS TO ‘BROOKLYN HALF MARATHON’ NAME

BROOKLYN — THE NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS HAVE FILED A LAWSUIT against the NYCRuns running club, reports the Brooklyn Paper, seeking to stop NYCRuns from using the name “Brooklyn Half Marathon” for its annual April race — an event that the Road Runners say misleads consumers and degrades the value of its longer-running annual May Brooklyn Half race. The two half-marathon events are frequently confused with each other, according to court filings, and the similar names have resulted in volunteers and racers mistakenly signing up for the wrong races. NYRR, which also hosts the exclusive New York City Marathon, has policies that grant preferential admission to race volunteers. 

NYRR reportedly trademarked the “Brooklyn Half Marathon” name in the 1980s. NYCRuns began hosting its Brooklyn Marathon in 2011 and its Brooklyn Half Marathon in 2018.

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EDC TO PRESENT PLANS FOR SUNSET PARK’S
PIER 6 REDEVELOPMENT

SUNSET PARK — NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP. will give a presentation about the planned redevelopment of Pier 6 in Sunset Park at Community Board 7’s Economic Development & Small Businesses Committee on Tuesday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m. The redevelopment of Pier 6 “is crucial to support the public space and operations of the adjacent Bush Terminal Piers Park and the upcoming Made in NY Campus at Bush Terminal,” EDC says on their website. The redesign plans to stabilize the pier while honoring the site’s rich history and creating a resilient and sustainable waterfront.

The meeting will take place at 4201 4th Ave. (enter on 43rd Street & 4th Avenue) and virtually; register here.

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NYPD INVESTIGATES BOMB THREATS TO SYNAGOGUES AND THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM

CITYWIDE — AUTHORITIES ARE INVESTIGATING bomb threats emailed over the weekend to more than two dozen synagogues, Jewish institutions and nonprofits in the New York City area, including two synagogues and a museum in Brooklyn, news sources reported. “Hello, if you see this email just have notice of a bomb I have set inside of your building,” an email read, according to the New York Post. A similar threat was emailed to the New York Landmarks Conservancy. According to Pix11, a Remsen Street synagogue in Brooklyn Heights and the Brooklyn Museum were among those threatened. During Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security has further expanded capacity-building services to synagogues, community centers and Jewish day schools, among other actions.

President Biden spoke Tuesday at the commemoration hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, reaffirming the nation’s  commitment to the Jewish people following the Holocaust: “Never Again.”

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ADAMS: NYC READY TO JAIL TRUMP, IF IT COMES TO THAT

CITYWIDE — MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAID THAT NYC WILL BE PREPARED  to jail Donald Trump if he is again found in contempt of a gag order, Patch reported. Adams made the comment during his regular Tuesday open-topic news conference. “We have to adjust whatever comes our way, but we don’t want to deal with a hypothetical,” Adams said. “But they’re professionals. They be ready.” Trial Judge Juan Merchan this week found Trump in contempt of court for the tenth time for disparaging jurors; even as porn star Stormy Daniels took the stand in Manhattan on Tuesday in Trump’s hush-money trial.

Daniels testified that her sexual encounter with Trump was “brief” and awkward, and it ended with her shaken, Patch reported.

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THREE GREEN NYC ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE STATE GRANTS

CITYWIDE — THREE NYC ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS have received grants for projects that foster the environment and conserve open space, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday. The funding is awarded through the Conservation Partnership Program, which supports not-for-profit land trusts across the state. The Brooklyn Queens Land Trust will receive a Professional Development Grant of $100,000; Open Space Institute will receive a Catalyst Grant of $82,000; and GreenGuerillas will receive a Capacity Grant of $45,500.

“The Conservation Partnership Program grants are a critical component to preserving our State’s natural beauty and enhancing local communities,” Hochul said in a release.

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STUDY: MOST PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS IN NYC PUBLIC HOSPITALS DENIED ACCESS TO OUTDOORS 

CITYWIDE — DESPITE LAWS MANDATING THAT PATIENTS in psychiatric wards be allowed access to the outdoors, an investigation by mental health organizations found that the majority of public NYC Health and Hospitals “continuously deprive patients of all access to fresh air and the outdoors.” The study “Denial of Fresh Air Access for Psychiatric Patients: A Report on NYC H+H Hospitals,” released Monday by Mental Hygiene Legal Services and Disability Rights Advocates, documented the distress experienced by patients subjected to uninterrupted indoor confinement. One patient held at Bellevue for over a year told researchers, “I live here in this bed.” MHLS attorney Leonard Simmons said in a statement that people in prison receive more outdoor access.

While Bellevue allows no outdoor access at all, at Woodhull in Brooklyn, patients are allowed access to an outdoor courtyard two days a week during short therapeutic sessions. At Kings County, patients are allowed on outdoor terraces if they have “appropriate footwear.” At South Brooklyn Health, a new policy starting in Spring 2024 would allow patients to go onto an outdoor terrace two times a week.

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BREAKING NEWS:
BOY SCOUTS PROGRAM, NOW CO-ED TO THE TOP,
GETS NEW NAME

NATIONWIDE — THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is undergoing a name change for the first time since the organization’s founding on Feb. 8, 1910. The 114-year-old youth development program will become Scouting America as it re-brands itself after emerging from bankruptcy brought about by sexual abuse claim lawsuits. The Boy Scouts organization has also in recent years expanded its membership to welcome gay youth and girls, focusing more on inclusion, reports the Associated Press on Tuesday, May 7. The organization officially becomes Scouting America on its 115th birthday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Angelique Minett is the organization’s first woman chairperson. Brooklyn has several Boy Scout troops, many of them part of faith-based groups, such as Troop 23 at Our Lady of Angels Church in Bay Ridge.

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GRADUATING STUDENTS FILL CO-CATHEDRAL FOR MASS IN THEIR HONOR

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — ABOUT 1,500 EIGHTH GRADERS from across the Diocese of Brooklyn filled the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph last week to celebrate their upcoming graduations and express thanks for their achievements as part of a Catholic education. Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes Queens, honored the 8th grade Class of 2024. “I wanted to be able to tell you how much I believe in you, and how happy I am for you, and how much I wish you the best as you now continue in high school,” said Bishop Brennan. Likewise, superintendent of schools, Deacon Kevin McCormack, told the students they must make the most of the Catholic education they have experienced. “We need you to take that into a world that is desperate for your hope, for your faith and for your love.”

Graduation ceremonies will take place in June for the Class of 2024 at the students’ respective schools and academies.

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BQE STATEN ISLAND-BOUND LANE CLOSURE EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 17

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — NYC DOT WILL CONTINUE to close one lane on the Staten Island-bound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s Triple Cantilever area, from the Vine Street entrance ramp to Atlantic Avenue, during the early morning hours until May 17. The Staten Island-bound single-lane closures are required for core extraction and testing along the BQE (I-278) and are in addition to the ongoing single-lane closures in the Queens-bound direction, DOT said in a release.

The lane will be closed from Monday to Friday from 1-5 a.m.; Saturday from 1-6 a.m.; and Sunday from 1-9 a.m.

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COLTON PRAISES EXPANDED TAX CREDIT FOR FAMILIES

BATH BEACH TO GRAVESEND  — ASSEMBLYMEMBER WILLIAM COLTON IS PRAISING an expanded tax credit targeted at New York families that was part of the state’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget, saying that it will benefit his constituents and other New Yorkers. Colton, a Democrat representing Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights in the 47th Assembly District said on Monday, May 6, that the state allocated a total of $350 million to create the Supplemental Empire State Child Credit, providing additional fiscal relief to a total of 1.8 million taxpayers who have children ages 17 and younger.

The additional credit is calculated based on the 2023 Empire State Child Credit. That credit is available to individuals meeting certain criteria or income limits. Married filers must have family incomes of $110,000 or less and single filers must have incomes of $75,000 or less.

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POLICE LOOKING FOR DRIVER WHO RAN DOWN MOM AND CHILD IN MIDWOOD

MIDWOOD — POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR THE DRIVER of a dark sedan who ran down a mother and one of her children on East 16th Street in Midwood, Brooklyn on April 28, and then drove away. Police said the 33-year-old mom was crossing the street with a boy and girl, both 8 years old, at roughly 4 p.m. As they were walking, a black sedan facing southbound on East 16 Street suddenly began to travel in reverse, striking both the mom and the little girl. The operator of the vehicle then fled the location and was last seen traveling southbound on East 16th Street toward Quentin Road. The girl suffered a fractured left arm and the mom suffered pain to the back and knee. EMS transported them both to Maimonides Hospital in stable condition.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or log onto Crime Stoppers online.

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BODY FOUND FLOATING IN RIVER NEAR BROOKLYN BRIDGE

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A MAN’S BODY WAS FOUND FLOATING in the East River off Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday afternoon around 3:42 p.m., according to the Citizen app and Pix11. Several boats from the NYPD Harbor Unit were pictured in a Citizen video recovering the body. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York will determine the cause of death, Pix11 said.

The man has yet to be identified.

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BILL BEING REVIVED TO ADDRESS CITY’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS

CITYWIDE — NYC’S HIGH COST OF LIVING and a new bill to help rectify it is the focus of a joint press conference that Brooklyn Congressmember Yvette D. Clarke (D-09) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are holding on Monday, May 6, at the senator’s district office in Manhattan. Gillibrand and Clarke will re-introduce their bicameral Affordable Housing and Area Median Income Fairness Act, legislation that takes a multipronged approach to address some of the core challenges that have led to a severe lack of affordable housing in our nation’s urban areas and aims to ensure that families of all income levels have access to safe and affordable housing.

According to a recent report from the United Way and Fund for the City of New York, more than one-third of households spend at least half of their incomes on rent, and one-half of households can’t afford basic necessities due to the high cost of living in NYC. In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached its highest levels since the Great Depression.

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ADAMS SCOFFS AT RESTLER’S COMPLAINT ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL MEETING FORM

CITY HALL — MAYOR ERIC ADAMS BLEW OFF Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s (D-Greenpoint, Brooklyn Heights) complaint made during a Council hearing on Wednesday about the mayor’s new “engagement request form,” which requires elected representatives to complete a form — and then wait — in order to meet with top administration officials or agency staff. “Clearly you saw a Council person that interacted with a manner of not professionalism, but a temper tantrum,” Adams told host Pat Kiernan on NY1’s “Mornings at 1” on Thursday. More than 60 elected officials have called on the mayor to dump the forms, Politico tweeted.

During the hearing, Restler said that councilmembers’ requests for the city to address unsafe conditions like lead levels in a park, illegal dumping, a cannabis store near an elementary school or other issues were all met with the same response: “Fill out a form and wait. This is the opposite of efficiency. This is the opposite of Get Stuff Done. This is how nothing gets done.”

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POLICE CATCH INTERNATIONAL JEWEL THIEF

MANHATTAN — A REAL-LIFE HERCULE FLAMBEAU who deftly stole two diamond rings at the iconic Cartier and Tiffany stores in Manhattan was arrested on Friday, May 3, prosecutors announced on Sunday, according to the Daily News. Yaorong Wan, 49, who also went by an assumed name, is an alleged international jewel thief on Interpol’s radar. Wan used sleight-of-hand to lift a diamond ring worth more than $250,000 from the Tiffany & Co. store at Rockefeller Center. A week later, he struck the Cartier store in the Hudson Yards, stealing a diamond ring worth about $25,000. Prosecutors told the Daily News that Wan is the prime suspect in a series of Cartier store thefts in other parts of New York and the U.S., and had a Red Notice from Interpol for high-end jewelry store heists in South Korea. He is reportedly being held on $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond.

Hercule Flambeau, a fictional character in British author G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries, is also an international thief of jewelry, artwork and other valuables.

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DEPT. OF CORRECTION PULLS BODY CAMS AFTER ONE IGNITES, INJURING A CAPTAIN

RIKERS ISLAND — THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION had to pull all of its almost 3,500 body cameras over the weekend after one unexpectedly ignited, injuring the captain wearing it. According to several news sources, on Friday an unnamed captain was on correction duty in the George R. Vierno Center, a Rikers Island facility, when her Reveal Media D5 camera ignited without warning. The captain suffered burns and smoke inhalation, according to DOC Press Secretary Annais Morales, who told reporters for 1010 WINS and the Daily News that the DOC has contacted the manufacturer, Reveal, to investigate the cause of the fire. Reveal’s website defines the company as a global market leader in body-worn cameras that services retail, prisons, government and private security.

The DOC has utilized Bodycams since 2015, and all uniformed staff are assigned cameras. Handheld cameras will be used during the investigation, which is expected to last about two weeks.

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CANCELS MAIN GRADUATION; INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS WILL HOLD SEPARATE CEREMONIES

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HAS CANCELED ITS university-wide commencement ceremony amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, but will hold ceremonies for the individual schools over the next couple of weeks, the Associated Press reports. University officials, in making the announcement on Monday, pointed out that they had received feedback from students who found their respective class days and school-division graduation ceremonies more meaningful because these rites enable the graduates to be honored alongside their peers in specialties such as law, journalism or architecture. Most of the ceremonies had been scheduled for May 15 on the south lawn of the main campus, where encampments were dismantled last week. Columbia has 20 schools, four of them for undergraduate specialties and 16 graduate schools.

For example, Columbia Law School’s commencement speaker will be alumna Kristen Clarke, Class of 2000, now assistant attorney general in the Biden administration and head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. She was raised in Brooklyn’s East New York section.

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LAWSUIT OVER ‘ABORTION PILL REVERSAL TREATMENT’ ALLEGES FRAUDULENT ADVERTISING

STATEWIDE — A CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER (abortion alternative) in Brooklyn Heights and the anti-abortion organization Heartbeat International are being sued for what the State Attorney General alleges are false and misleading statements to advertise an unproven treatment they call “Abortion Pill Reversal.” New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday sued anti-abortion group Heartbeat and 11 self-professed “pro-life pregnancy organizations” — also called crisis pregnancy centers — one of which is reportedly operating from 44 Court St. These groups advertise “Abortion Pill Reversal” (APR) as a safe and effective treatment that, they claim, can “reverse” medication abortions. Major medical associations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), have cautioned that APR lacks scientific backing and does not meet clinical standards. Attorney General James alleges that making false and misleading claims about APR to convince pregnant people to get the treatment constitutes fraud, deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York law.

Attorney General James seeks to halt the anti-abortion centers from marketing APR and wants them to pay civil penalties for violating the law.

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FDA: AVOID UNPASTEURIZED DAIRY PRODUCTS IN LIGHT OF AVIAN FLU OUTBREAK

NATIONWIDE — RAW (UNPASTEURIZED) MILK AND DAIRY products should be avoided, warn health experts, in the wake of an avian influenza outbreak that has affected an increased number of poultry and dairy cows, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and CBS News. The FDA recently conducted its national commercial milk sampling study (with 297 total retail dairy samples), coordinating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tests found that pasteurization effectively kills Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), a disease that is contagious and often deadly in poultry. The tests were conducted on dairy samples including cottage cheese and sour cream, in addition to fluid milk. Moreover, preliminary results, released late last week on an initial set of 96 retail milk samples, reaffirmed the FDA’s assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe.

HPAI viruses can be transmitted by wild birds to domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Although bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans, sporadic human infections have been found.

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RECALL ISSUED ON RAW BEEF PRODUCTS SOLD AT WALMART

NATIONWIDE — MORE THAN 16,000 POUNDS OF RAW GROUND BEEF have been recalled due to possible E. coli contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced. Cargill Meat Solutions, a Hazleton, PA, establishment, is recalling approximately 16,243 pounds of raw ground beef products, packaged in varying quantities and sold in Walmart stores nationwide, including “Prime Rib Beef Steak Burger Patties” that are “80% Lean 20% Fat All Natural Ground Beef Chuck.” More information on the affected meats can be found on the USDA website. The recalled products, which were produced on April 26-27, 2024, and shipped to Walmart retail locations nationwide, all bear the USDA mark of inspection on the front of the product label, and the establishment number “EST. 86P” printed on the back of the product label.

The establishment reported the issue to FSIS after discovering that the previously segregated product had been inadvertently utilized in the production of ground beef.

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PLANTERS NUTS LATEST FOOD BEING RECALLED, DUE TO POSSIBLE LISTERIA THREAT

NATIONWIDE — TWO PLANTERS NUTS PRODUCTS have been recalled amid concerns that they have been contaminated with Listeria, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced on Monday afternoon, May 6. Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts in 4 oz. packages, and Planters Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts in 8.75 cans, are potentially contaminated with listeria. Although these products were shipped primarily to Publix and Dollar Tree stores in the Southeast, Brooklynites who may have recently traveled to the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida or Alabama and bought nuts there should check their containers for matching UPC codes: Honey Roasted Peanuts (UPC: 2900002097) and Mixed Nuts (UPC: 2900001621).

No other sizes, varieties, or other packaging configurations of Planters products were included in the recall. There have been no reports of illness related to this recall as of Monday.