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THE LEDE: Good morning! A Brooklynite has designed NYC’s first state-commissioned LGBTQ monument. The state Legislature said “nope” to the city’s use of “design-build” to expedite the BQE’s makeover, and the president of the Brooklyn Heights Association is not pleased. Brooklynites weigh in onPlus POOL, and whether to name a park after Biggie Smalls. Our review of “Measure for Measure” at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center reveals an electric and contemporary performance, and finally, to round out Pride Month, we present a map of Brooklyn’s most historic LGBTQ sites. Today’s Staff Picks includes a video of Sen. Chuck Schumer cuttin’ a rug (yes, really) and a visual survey of how Congress tweets.
      
IMPRINT: Naturally, a photography magazine called Shutterbug would have such a striking image on its cover.

 
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The Rundown
 

~AN LGBTQ MONUMENT COMES TO NYC, SHAPED BY A BROOKLYNITE:Both the NYC and Brooklyn Pride parades may be done and dusted for this year, but now, the first state-commissioned monument to LGBTQ people is coming to the city–and it was designed by Brooklyn-based artist Anthony Goicolea. He is a mixed-media artist in his mid-40s who was born in Georgia to parents who fled Cuba. The design incorporates boulders bisected by glass that casts a subtle rainbow. “It feels like there are certain shapes and patterns that are encoded in our DNA as humans that transcend any particular culture and speak to how we are unified in the larger scheme,” said Goicolea. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the NYT) 
 
~“IT’S A DISGRACE”: That’s what Peter Bray, executive director of theBrooklyn Heights Association, had to say about how the state Legislature ended its session last week having failed to authorize the city’s use of the “design-build” bidding process to expedite the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s (BQE) long-overdue $1.9 billion rehabilitation. That wasn’t all he had to say–Bray went on to note that the failure was “so emblematic of the dysfunction in Albany and the dysfunctional relationship between the mayor and the governor,” and that “The residents of Brooklyn Heights are being held hostage to this test of political wills.” (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)    
 
~HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT +-SHAPED FLOATING POOL IN THE EAST RIVER?: Heineken has pledged to fork over $100,000 to bring Plus POOL – a high-tech, floating pool with a built-in river-cleaning filtration system – one step closer to reality…if the project can collect 100,000 signatures. Even with the Heineken funds, though, the pool still has a way to go before it covers the estimated $20 million cost. (via DNAinfo) 
 
~ALSO, HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT NAMING A PARK AFTER THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G.?: Councilman Robert Cornegy of Bed-Stuy wants to name the courts at Crispus Attucks Playground for Christopher Wallace, or the Notorious B.I.G.…but not everyone is on board. Some Clinton Hillresidents are opposed to naming the park after the late, Brooklyn-born rapper who died in a drive-by shooting at 24, and whose lyrics were often characterized as misogynistic and violent. Proponents say that plenty of other musical genres can be characterized that way, and Wallace was a musical genius who posthumously helped many kids through the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation. (via Brooklyn Paper) 
 
~REVIEW//JUSTICE, MERCY, HYPOCRISY AND A HOT NUN: Yep, you read that right. There’s a lot going on in William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure,” including people in positions of power behaving badly–now there’s a timely theme. The play, likely written in 1604, feels very contemporary in the just-opened Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) production at Polonsky Shakespeare Center in the Brooklyn Cultural District. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle) 
 
~BROOKLYN BRINGS HOME THE BACON: Kings County made its foodie residents proud at the Eater Young Guns awards last week. The publication singled out Kim LeVine of Cobble Hill’s tapas joint La Vara, as well as Trigg Brown and Josh Ku of Williamsburg’s Win Son, a Taiwanese-American fusion spot. (via Brooklyn Paper) 
 
~MARK YOUR CALENDARS, SUNSET PARK: “Broken windows,” a crime-fighting theory practiced by the NYPD for decades, holds that putting an emphasis on fighting quality of life crimes such as public drinking and turnstile-jumping helps create an atmosphere of order and prevents more serious crimes. But several community watchdog groups in Brooklyn, like El Grito de Sunset Park, argue that the policy allows police to abuse their authority. (Side note: data shows that 89 percent of those busted for turnstile jumpingare black and/or Latino). That’s why El Grito de Sunset Park and the Coalition to End Broken Windows will host a town hall event this week to discuss the practice. NYC Public Advocate Letitia James and Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez are among those invited. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and DNAinfo)
 
~MAP OF THE DAY: Not ready for Pride Month to be over quite yet? Take a tour of six historic LGBTQ spots in Brooklyn. (via Brownstoner)

 
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Staff Picks:
 

READ:  “Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Send Cash”: a critique of Western Union in the age of refugees. (via Bloomberg Businessweek) 
 
LOOK: “How Congress Tweets, Visualized: a collection of images tweeted by Congress over the past 24 hours.” (via WaPo)  
 
QUICK WATCH: Sen. Chuck Schumer boogies down in Prospect Park.(via DNAinfo) 
 
INTERVIEW: Sherman Alexie has been pissed off for 50 years. (via Buzzfeed News)           

 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: A new study reveals that teenagers, who theoretically should be stretching into their physical peak, are as sedentary as 60-year-olds by the time they hit 19…”America’s toughest sheriff,” Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, finds himself heading to court…As high school graduates across the country empty out of their rural hometowns, chances are they won’t come back…Prince’s vault containing a trove of unreleased materialmay remain tightly sealed, thanks to disputes over his estate…And Barack Obama has a new job: “Vacation-Dad-in-Chief.” (via WaPo, NPR, the WSJ, the NYT and NY Mag) 
 
FOREIGN FLASH: A Canadian wildfire affects an ice sheet in Greenland…In London, 75 out of 75 high-rise buildings fail fire safety tests conducted after the Grenfell Tower blaze…An Australian nurse takes it upon herself to care for the baby kangaroos who are left alive in their mothers’ pouches after their mothers are hit by a car…Saudi Arabia destroys centuries-old homes in a Shiite village…And, in Jordan, crowdfunding saves a beloved ‘pay what you wish’ bookstore. (via WaPo, the NYT and the AP) 
 
 
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 ROYAL WATCH: “Will Arnett and Prince Harry Are Apparently Texting Buddies.” (via People)

 
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BROOKLYN TONIGHT  
 

6:00pm – Freedom of Expression: A Conversation with Norman Finkelstein at Jefferson Market Library. Details.
 
6:00pm – Michael Rubens and Samantha Bee: Emily and the Spellstone at Books of Wonder. Details.
 
7:00pm – NYRR Open Run at Pier 6. Details.
 
7:00pm – The Battle of Brooklyn Redux at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6.Details.
 
7:00pm – TimesTalks: Covering Trump at Symphony Space. Details.
 
7:30pm – Measure for Measure at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. Details.
 
8:00pm – New Kids on the Block Total Package Tour at Barclay’s Center.Details.  
 
8:00pm – Palehound at Baby’s All Right. Details.
 
8:00pm – Ophira and Adam’s Scar Tissue at Union Hall. Details.  
 
8:00pm – Uptown Showdown: Nature vs. Nurture at Symphony Space. Details.
 
 
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 ON THE PITCH: The Cosmos traveled to South Florida on Saturday for a must-win game that would determine their season against first-place Miami FC. Despite the Cosmos scoring first on a goal from Emmanuel Ledesma, New York fell to Miami 2-1 in a well-fought battle. “We did things the right way and had possession, but were unlucky to find the second goal,” said Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese. “We tried to win the match, but Miami defended themselves well with 10 men. We will continue to work hard until the end of the Spring Season.” (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

 
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MILESTONES
Happy birthday to J.J. Abrams, Isabelle Adjani, Kelly Ayotte, Julia Duffy, Shirley-Anne Field, Norma Kamali, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Tobey Maguire, Jason Patric, H. Ross Perot, Chuck Connors Person, Chandler Riggs and Ed Westwick!

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