News Brooklyn Boro

Brooklyn Today August 7: Dead Baby Found Floating in East River Under Brooklyn Bridge

August 7, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
good-morning.png
good-morning.png
Share this:

Weather, Brooklyn (NWS): Day 91°, Night 76°, Mostly Sunny then Chance of T-storms


Send tips to [email protected]. Click here to signup.


Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 

Subscribe to our newsletters

THE LEDE: Happy Tuesday! We have news about the Watchtower sign, Mayorde Blasio cracks down on Airbnb hosts, and a dead baby is found under the Brooklyn Bridge. Plus, police officers arrest a man who tried to set a gas station on fire, a bus driver is charged with DWI, and Greenpoint andWilliamsburg have 25 percent of the city’s contaminated sites. Finally, a Bay Ridge artist creates a new version of the “Life” board game, we recommend the best raw bars in the city, and Jason Mraz and Brett Dennen perform in Prospect Park tonight.  
 
IMPRINT: Beyoncé wears a floral headdress on the September cover ofVogue US.

 
____________________________    
 
The Rundown
 

~MAYOR SIGNS BILL AFFECTING THOUSANDS OF NYC AIRBNB RENTALS: From Montague Street to Columbia Heights, the Airbnb apartment-share website lists dozens of places to stay in Brooklyn Heights, and at prices cheaper than the nearby chain hotels. These options may change in six months, however, as on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill requiring Airbnb and other online rental platforms to disclose the names and addresses of their hosts. The purpose of the bill is to ferret out landlords and tenants who illegally rent out their apartments to tourists. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

~TUESDAY HEARING ABOUT REPLACING THE WATCHTOWER SIGN: There’s been a void in the scenery on the Brooklyn waterfront since the new owner of the old Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters took down the iconic Watchtower sign in December. If a city Buildings Department determination is allowed to stand, there won’t be another sign to replace it. Columbia Heights Associates, which now owns the building, is appealing a decision by the Buildings Department to disapprove the replacement of the famous old sign. The city Board of Standards and Appeals will hold a public hearing today during which law firm Fried Frank LLP will lay out the property owner’s arguments for allowing a new sign to be erected. (via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~POLICE SEEK INFORMATION AFTER TOURISTS FIND DEAD BABY FLOATING IN EAST RIVER: Police are looking for answers in the death of a baby found floating in the East River in an area popular with tourists near the Brooklyn Bridge and South Street Seaport. Officials want to know: How long was the boy in the water before an Oklahoma family spotted him Sundayafternoon? Why was he wearing only a diaper? Where are the adult or adults who were supposed to be caring for him? A medical examiner will determine how the boy, about 8 months old, died. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~MTA BUS DRIVER CHARGED WITH DWI AFTER BROOKLYN CRASH: A New York City bus driver who passengers say was driving erratically before he hit something is facing charges including driving while intoxicated. Authorities say the 24-year-old driver had nine passengers on the bus earlySunday in Brooklyn. Police say the passengers called authorities after the bus came in contact with something that brought it to a stop. No one on the bus was injured. Police say officers found the driver displaying signs of intoxication and tested his blood alcohol level, finding it above legal limits for driving. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~POLICE ARREST BROOKLYN MAN SUSPECTED OF SETTING STATEN ISLAND GAS STATION ON FIRE: Police say they’ve tracked down a man suspected of setting a fire that seriously injured a man at a New York City gas station. Fakrol Islam, 26, was arrested Friday in Buffalo in connection withMonday’s blaze at a 7-Eleven on Staten Island. He’s charged with arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Video showed a man pulling into the station around 2 a.m., filling up a gas can and spraying fuel around a pump. The video then showed him setting a piece of paper aflame and using it to ignite the fuel. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~GREENPOINT AND WILLIAMSBURG HAVE A QUARTER OF NYC’S CONTAMINATED SITES: Greenpoint and Williamsburg together make up a quarter of the contaminated development sites that have participated in the city’s Voluntary Cleanup Program, according to a new report. This is followed by Chelsea (8 percent), Astoria (8 percent) and two more Brooklyn neighborhoods – Bed-Stuy (7 percent) and Fort Greene–Brooklyn Heights(6 percent). More than 85 percent of the remediated sites were located in neighborhoods that were rezoned from 2002 to 2016, and the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront fits into this category. (Commercial Observer via Brooklyn Eagle)
 
~BAY RIDGE ARTIST CREATES ‘LIFE’ BOARD GAME BASED ON IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE: A Bay Ridge artist has created a new version of the classic board game “Life” that reflects the immigration experience.Isabell Garbani started working on “Life: Immigration Game” during the 2015 presidential campaign, when then-candidate Donald Trump made immigration a central focus of his platform. Garbani drew on her own experience as an immigrant from France and also interviewed more than 20 immigrants who shared their own stories. Lifelike scenarios in the game include waiting for your visa at the American Embassy and being afraid to report a robbery to the police. (PIX11 via Brooklyn Eagle)


____________________________    
  
Staff Picks:   
 

LONG READ: Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter of Steve Jobs, recountsgrowing up with a largely absent father. (via Vanity Fair)
 
ANOTHER LONG READ: Relieve this 1997 article on the final heist ofWilliam Guess, the “most prolific bank robber” in Texas history. (via Texas Monthly)
 
TRAVEL: Once considered a repulsive and polluted waterway, the Chicago River is experiencing a resurgence. (via NYT)
 
EAT: Here are the 15 best raw bars in New York City, including six in Brooklyn. (via Eater)

 
____________________________    
 

NATIONAL BULLETIN: An American Airlines passenger is removed from a plane for buying a seat for her cello…A Michigan man creates “Amish Uber”…And Boston swears in its first black police commissioner. (via USA Today, WWMT, Boston Globe)    
 
FOREIGN FLASH: A vintage plane crashes in the Swiss Alps, killing 20 people…An earthquake in Indonesia kills at least 98 people…And the ruins of a Roman library are discovered in Germany. (via CBS News, CNN and WaPo)
 

____________________________    
 
ROYAL WATCH: Take a look at how the royal family celebrated Meghan Markle’s 37th birthday on Saturday. (via Town & Country)


____________________________    
  
BROOKLYN TONIGHT     
 

10:00AM — Kids in the Kitchen: Creative Cookie Making with Angela Garbaczat Museum of Food and Drink. Details.
 
12:00PM — We Are Like Air at Open Source Gallery. Details.
 
5:30PM — Tuesday Night Zumba at MetroTech Commons. Details.
 
6:00PM — That’s Entertainment: Films at the Plaza at 300 Ashland. Details.
 
6:00PM – 8:00PM — Dialogue + Studio: Bioworlds Terrarium Workshop at American Folk Art Museum. Details.
 
7:00PM — Maeve Higgins & Jon Ronson at The Strand. Details.
 
7:00PM — Summer of Know: Jennifer Newsom and Stephanie Alvarado at Guggenheim Museum. Details.
 
7:00PM – 9:30PM — The Sacred and the Profane at Green-Wood Cemetery.Details.
 
7:30PM — Good Vibes With Jason Mraz & Brett Dennen at Prospect Park Bandshell. Details.    
 
8:00PM — The Story Collider: Attraction at Caveat. Details.
 
  

____________________________    
 
EAGLE SPORTS: “[Rondae Hollis-Jefferson] Leaves Jeremy Lin Charity Game With Injury” (via New York Post)


____________________________    
  
MILESTONES
 
Happy birthday to Sidney Crosby, David Duchovny, Garrison Keillor, Alberto Salazar, Michael Shannon, Charlize Theron and B.J. Thomas!
 
Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at[email protected]. 
 


Leave a Comment

Related Articles

Leave a Comment