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Brooklyn Today April 17: Schumer, Cuomo Blast Plan to Remove Bomb-Sniffing Dogs From NYC Airports, Trains

April 17, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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THE LEDE: Happy Tuesday, Brooklyn! A lawyer burns himself to death in Prospect Park, a shoplifter dies in Flatbush, and New York City is losing some of its bomb-sniffing dogs. Plus, a new seafood restaurant is coming to Cobble Hill, a prison brawl in South Carolina leaves seven inmates dead, and Desiree Linden becomes the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. Finally, a hedgehog covered in blue paint is rescued in England, we share a full list of the Pulitzer Prize winners, and Syria and Russia block a watchdog agency from accessing an alleged chemical attack site.                
 
IMPRINT: Actress Elizabeth Olsen poses on a diving board on the latest cover of The Sunday Times Style.  

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The Rundown
 

~SCHUMER, CUOMO BLAST PLAN TO REMOVE BOMB-SNIFFING DOGS FROM NYC AIRPORTS, TRAINS: Bomb-sniffing dogs have become a familiar sight at New York City’s airports, train stations, ferries, sites like Barclays Center and at events like the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the NYC Marathon. Now, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are sounding the alarm as a new plan from the Transportation Security Administration proposes to axe the canine teams. “Without critical canine security teams backed by feds, safety at local train stations, airports and large-scale events in New York City will simply go to the dogs,” Schumer said. “We are talking about preserving the most basic charge of the TSA: to keep America safe.” Cuomo added his criticism of the plan, calling it unacceptable. “New York will always be a unique target, both as the economic and cultural center of the nation and because we stand for the values of freedom and democracy,” Cuomo said. TSA chief David Pekoske said he wanted to eliminate the agency’s use of canine teams and turn the responsibility — and costs — over to state and local governments. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~IN PROTEST, LAWYER BURNS HIMSELF TO DEATH IN PROSPECT PARK: The community was shocked to learn that a civil rights lawyer set himself on fire in Prospect Park over the weekend in protest about people protecting the environment. David Buckel sent his apprentice an email before committing suicide. “I apologize for leaving this world early and leaving you with some big challenges to tackle. But I have to at least try to make this planet a better place for having lived on it,” Buckel wrote. Buckel was a nationally known civil rights attorney and a master composter at the Red Hook Community Farm. His family and friends said he had become distraught over the rollbacks in environmental protection with the Trump administration. “He was very much someone who felt like he always wanted to make sure that while he was alive that he was doing more to make the world a better place,” Buckel’s partner Terry Kaelber said. Living his message, Buckel reportedly took showers with minimal water and walked an hour to work and back from his home near Prospect Park. (via The New York Times)
 
~SHOPLIFTER DIES AFTER STORE EMPLOYEES SIT ON HIM: After suspected shoplifter Ralph Nimmons was caught shoving items into a cake box inside a Brooklyn Stop & Shop, onlookers witnessed an action scene that left the 51-year-old dead. Three workers of the store on Flatbush and Tilden avenues dragged Nimmons to the floor and restrained him. In a fate similar to Eric Garner, who was killed by a police chokehold, spectators said Nimmons protested he had a bad heart and couldn’t breathe before he died. “They were on top of him,” said customer Antwaune Savage. “Literally standing on top of him. Stepping on him to hold him down.” Nimmons was unresponsive when police arrived and was rushed to Kings County Hospital but could not be saved. Police are investigating whether the workers committed a crime. (via New York Post)
 
~SHOULD THE CONEY ISLAND BOARDWALK BE LANDMARKED?: Should the Coney Island Boardwalk be landmarked? Here’s your chance to make your voice heard on this matter. This morning, the city Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing about granting protected status to the iconic walkway that’s an essential element of Brooklyn’s famed seaside playground. The meeting will be held at LPC’s Lower Manhattan headquarters in the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street. The hearing room is on the ninth floor of the building. You must pass through a metal detector to gain admittance, so get there early. The hearing begins at9:30 a.m. Testimony time is limited to three minutes per person. It’s a good idea to prepare a speech of that length and also hand a longer, typed version of your testimony to commissioners. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~ON HIGH-TECH LINKNYC KIOSKS, POEMS FROM THE UNHEARD & UNSEEN: To celebrate National Poetry Month, the city’s 1,500 high-tech LinkNYC kiosks are displaying poems by New Yorkers who are often unheard and unseen — those affected by HIV/AIDS and other chronic health conditions, substance abusers and public school children. The poems, which pop up in between weather and train announcements, bring a bit of unexpected magic to the sidewalk kiosks. For example, Samaria, an eighth grader at I.S. 392 in Brooklyn, writes, “Unicorns are real / They are everywhere / You should pay more attention”.  The city and LinkNYC are collaborating with nonprofits The Alliance for Positive Change and Brooklyn-based Teachers & Writers Collaborative on the displays. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

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Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: A cherry factory in Red Hook hid a deep, dark secret in its basement. It was eventually exposed thanks to some red bees. (Yes, you read that correctly.) (via The New Yorker)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: Essayist Patricia Lockwood explains what it’s like to write in the age of Trump. (via Tin House)
 
INTERACTIVE: Four years after being kidnapped by Boko Haram, more than 100 women have been freed. Here’s what they’re like now. (via NYT)
 
EAT: The owners of La Vara, a Michelin-starred Spanish restaurant in Cobble Hill, are opening a seafood restaurant next door. (via Eater)

 
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NATIONAL BULLETIN: A prison brawl in South Carolina leaves seven inmates dead…Desiree Linden becomes the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985…And here’s a full list of the Pulitzer Prize winners. (via USA Today, Time and The Pulitzer Prizes)
 
FOREIGN FLASH: Syria and Russia block a watchdog agency from accessing an alleged chemical attack site…A hedgehog covered in blue paint is rescued in England…And Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces increasing pressure to step down. (via CBS News, SomsersetLive and WaPo)                                  
 
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 ROYAL WATCH: “Meghan Markle’s Family Doesn’t Know If Her Dad Is Walking Her Down the Aisle” (via Harper’s Bazaar)

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BROOKLYN TONIGHT   
 

10:00AM — Dream Machine: An Immersive Playground at 93 N. Ninth Street. Details.
 
10:00AM – 4:00PM — Bringing Back the City: Mass Transit Responds to Crises at New York Transit Museum. Details.
 
10:00AM – 6:00PM — Bordering the Imaginary: Art From the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Their Diasporas at BRIC House. Details.
 
11:00AM – 6:00PM — Forgiveness & Conflict at United Photo Industries Gallery. Details.  
 
6:00PM — Eat, Drink & Be Literary: Kevin Young at BAMCafe Live. Details.
 
6:00PM — NATO’s Gen. Mercier on Defense and Warfare in the Modern World at Fraunces Tavern Museum. Details.
 
6:30PM — Thinking Out Loud: Radical Feminism and LGBTQ History at New York Public Library—Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Details.
 
7:00PM — The Astonishing Truth About Exercise and The Brain at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Details.  
 
7:30PM — King Lear at BAM Harvey Theater. Details.
 
8:00PM – 11:00PM — Comedy Benefit for Gun Safety at Littlefield. Details.   
 
 
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EAGLE SPORTS: “D’Angelo Russell buys into Nets, praises coach, culture” (via NetsDaily)

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MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Sean Bean, Victoria Beckham, Boomer Esiason, Jennifer Garner, Nick Hornby, Olivia Hussey, Avi Kaplan, Rooney Mara, Cynthia Ozick, Liz Phair, Redman and Lela Rochon!
 
Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at [email protected].


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