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Brooklyn Today January 5: Cuomo Vows to Fix NYC Subway

January 5, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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THE LEDE: Happy Friday, Brooklyn! Gov. Cuomo promises to fix the subway,Carroll Gardens is a mess, and all 471 subway stations across the city now have countdown clocks. Plus, a 9.4-ton Chinese space station could crash into America in March, fewer American teens are having sex, and we tell you what a “Bomb Cyclone really is. Finally, Iceland becomes the first country to make equal pay a law, the Royal Family’s private harpist is accused of sexually harassing a teenage boy, and for the first time in 25 years, a polar bear cub is born in the U.K.     
 
IMPRINT: New York City’s derelict subway system appears on the most recentcover of The New York Times Magazine.

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The Rundown
 

~MTA INSTALLS COUNTDOWN CLOCKS AT EVERY SUBWAY STATION ACROSS CITY: Commuters using the New York City subway system will now know exactly when their train is expected to arrive — or rather just how long it’s delayed. MTA successfully met its deadline to install countdown clocks in all 471 stations across the city by the end of 2017. It took more than a decade to complete the project, but straphangers will likely feel relief knowing precisely how long they have to wait on their morning commutes. The final 22 stations to receive the countdown clocks were on the No. 7 line, according to the Daily News. Brooklyn’s Franklin Ave. shuttle was the last in the borough to receive the digital train timers. While the countdown clocks may relieve anxiety for some commuters, the digital timers are already experiencing problems, according to a New York Post article. The Post notes that arrival times on the F line in Brooklyn are frequently off by three to five minutes, and the clocks are often placed in hard-to-read locations like behind exit signs or only at one end of the platform. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~CUOMO VOWS TO FIX NYC SUBWAY: Brooklyn residents who endure long waits for trains and then ride in subways cars that are as crowded as cattle cars might have some good news to look forward to if Gov. Andrew Cuomofollows through on a promise he made in his annual State of the State address in Albany on Wednesday. Among the highlights of Cuomo’s speech to the state Legislature in the Empire State Convention Center was a vow by the governor to fix New York City’s deteriorating subway system. “We must improve the New York City subway system. We’ve failed to maintain an engineering marvel that was a gift from our forefathers,” Cuomo said. “Our 100-year-old system needs an overhaul. We have 40-year-old subway cars and 80-year-old electric signals.” The problem won’t be solved unless the state is willing to provide both short-term and long-term funding solutions, according to Cuomo. “We know how to fix the system. It’s a question of funding,” Cuomo said. “We need short-term funding this year to do emergency repairs and to install the new technology for a long-term solution. We also need long-term funding that is fair to all and also addresses the growing traffic and population problems.” (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~NYC’S THORNY ISSUE: MORE PRISONS, FEWER PRISONERS: Mayor Bill de Blasio made a major announcement this week that will impact the future of Brooklyn — the city has taken the first steps to close Rikers Island with the first of nine facilities to be closed by the summer. “Every day we are making New York City’s jail system smaller and safer,” de Blasio said. “This announcement is an important step in our plan to close Rikers Island and create more community-based facilities to better serve people in custody and our hardworking correctional staff.” The reason for closing Rikers Island is simple. The entire facility is a disaster and its desolate location causes headaches for attorneys, prison guards, social workers and the families of the inmates. To close the facility, two things will need to happen: The population of Rikers Island needs to be decreased and borough-based facilities need to beexpanded or created. In Brooklyn, this means more inmates will be housed at the Brooklyn House of Detention located on Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street. The Brooklyn facility can currently house 815 inmates, which means that capacity will have to be expanded. One member of the commission to close Rikers Island told the us that existing facilities are capable of housing inmates after Rikers closes, but there are many skeptics who believe additional facilities will have to be built in the borough. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~CARROLL GARDENS IS LITERALLY A MESS: A few months ago, Carroll Gardens parents became furious over an infestation of rats at Carroll Park. Now, community members are fed up with increased amounts of litter on neighborhood streets. Carroll Gardener Theresa Bartenope wrote a letter and sent pictures to an area blog, Pardon Me For Asking, to bring awareness to the issue. “I see so much litter it actually breaks my heart!” the lifelong resident wrote. “I wonder every day, when did it become okay for Carroll Gardens to look like this?” The writer of the blog, Katia Kelly, admitted it felt embarrassing to bring out-of-town friends to the neighborhood with garbage scattered everywhere. Kelly called for community members to make an effort to keep the streets clean rather than waiting for the city to do it for them. (via Pardon Me For Asking)
 
~MAN DIES ON JAY STREET–METROTECH TRAIN TRACKS AFTER TEEN PUNCHES HIM: The 65-year-old Jacinto Suarez was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a mentally ill teen off his medication pushed him onto the R-line tracks at Jay St.-Metrotech, killing him. Edward Cordero, 18, ofBrownsville, was mumbling about God and the devil when he randomly punched the father of 10, causing him to have a heart attack. Bystanders burst into screams before the cops took Cordero to a transit police station. “Everybody was screaming and we started to run,” said Jai Epperson, a passerby. “It could have been me.” Cordero’s sister said her brother ran out of medicine and refused to get more. Police brought the man to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric exam. Cordero was later charged with manslaughter and assault.  (via NYDN and BKLYNER)

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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: “The Case for the Subway:” For New York City to survive, its derelict subway system needs to be rebuilt. (via NYT Magazine)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: “The Biggest Secret: My Life as a New York Times Reporter in the Shadow of the War on Terror” (via The Intercept)
 
CARTOON: Winter Storm Grayson hits the northeast, causing many to be late for work. (via The New Yorker)   
 
PODCAST: New Yorker staff writer Ben Taub speak about jihadism, war crimes and the war in Syria. (via Longform)

 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: Find out what a “Bomb Cyclone” really is…A 9.4-ton Chinese space station could crash into America in March…And fewer American teens are having sex. (via NYT, USA Today and WaPo)   
 
FOREIGN FLASH: Iceland becomes the first country to make equal pay a law…For the first time in 25 years, a polar bear cub is born in the U.K….And in Norway, people are buying more electric and hybrid cars than vehicles that run on fossil fuels. (via USA Today, The Guardian and NYT)  

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 ROYAL WATCH: A famous harpist who played privately for the Royal Family is accused of sexually harassing a teenage boy. (via Independent)  

 
BROOKLYN TONIGHT   
 

10:00AM – 12:30PM — The Artistic Genius of Michelangelo: An Intensive Seminar in NYC at SUNY Global Center – Tiered Classroom. Details.
 
10:00AM – 4:00PM — Bringing Back the City: Mass Transit Responds to Crises at New York Transit Museum. Details.
 
1:00PM – 6:00PM — Watermelon Punch at STUDIO10. Details.
 
6:00PM – 8:00PM — “Beyoncé Vs. Rihanna” Edition of First Fridays at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Details.
 
6:30PM – 9:00PM — The Harvard Krokodiloes Brooklyn Benefit Concert at Heights Casino. Details.
 
6:30PM – 9:00PM — Family Shabbat & Dinner at Bay Ridge Jewish Center.Details.
 
7:00PM – 10:00PM — Rituals for the New Year: Beginning the Year with Clarity, Intention and Inspiration at New York Open Center. Details.
 
8:00PM — Who’s Bad at Brooklyn Bowl. Details.
 
8:00PM — A Hanky and a T-T-T-Top Hat at Coney Island USA. Details.
 
11:45PM — Blade II at Nitehawk Cinema. Details.

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 EAGLE SPORTS: Unbeaten in the new year and unwilling to go gently into NBA irrelevance for a third consecutive season, the resilient Nets dug deeper than the snow plows scrambling throughout our fair borough to pull out a big win Wednesday night at Downtown Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Spencer Dinwiddie hit a high, floating jumper from the left wing with just a little more than 10 seconds remaining in regulation to give Brooklyn a hope-inspiring 98-97 victory over previously red-hot Minnesota in front of 16,215 fans on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. Dinwiddie, who finished with a career high-tying 26 points and handed out a game-best nine assists, helped the Nets improve to 2-0 in 2018, and led them to their third victory in the past four games since a stretch of seven losses in eight games threatened to derail their campaign. “He hit some big shots. I mean tough shots,” Nets head coachKenny Atkinson said of Dinwiddie, who has shown a penchant for making game-deciding jumpers this season. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Bradley Cooper, Warrick Dunn, Robert Duvall, Carrie Ann Inaba, January Jones, Diane Keaton, Pamela Sue Martin, Walter Mondale and Charlie Rose!


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