Brooklyn Today: Brooklyn jail plan fails first test

May 10, 2019 Brooklyn Today

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THE LEDE: Happy Friday! In a decision that came down to a single vote, Brooklyn CB2 decided not to support a modified version of the city’s plan to expand the Brooklyn Detention Complex Wednesday, after a contentious meeting where the board’s chairman threatened to have rowdy community members escorted out by security. It was an important first test for the borough-based jail plan, which would see four new jails rise, including the one in Boerum Hill, to allow for the closure of Rikers Island.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ DIVESTING FROM FOSSIL FUELS WILL PAY OFF IN LONG RUN, NYC COMPTROLLER SAYS: NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer is disinvesting the city’s pension funds from fossil fuels and is “doubling down” on investments in the green economy, he said in an exclusive interview with the BrooklynEagle on Wednesday.

~ BOROUGH-BASED JAIL PLAN FAILS FIRST TEST AS COMMUNITY BOARD REJECTS RECOMMENDATION: “This sets a precedent for everyone else,” said CB2 board member Sam Johnson, who voted no on the recommendation. “The no means something.”

~ CROWN HEIGHTS MERCHANTS ARE DIVIDED ON PROPOSED SPICE FACTORY TOWERS: The proposal for 960 Franklin Ave. would see the construction of two new towers, each 39 stories tall, with a total of 1,578 apartments. Half would be affordable units.

~ PRESERVING WALT WHITMAN’S CLINTON HILL HOUSE: POET’S 200TH BIRTHDAY IMPROVES ODDS: Ahead of two important cultural milestones, preservationists are renewing a stalled effort to landmark the Clinton Hill home where famed Brooklyn poet Walt Whitman wrote “Leaves of Grass” — despite opposition from the property’s owner.

~ SATURDAY: KITE FESTIVAL POPS UP IN BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK: This year marks the second annual rendition of Lift Off: A Waterfront Kite Festival, the kickoff event of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s spring and summer season.

~ OPINION: BQX COULD BRING MORE LOCAL TOURISM TO RED HOOK: “The back-and-forth debate over the proposed BQX streetcar, a mass transit improvement that wouldn’t be developed by the MTA, reminds me somewhat of the Roosevelt Island Tram, which was likewise developed without the aid of the metro area’s transit authority,” our columnist writes.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Rats take over a Prospect Heights street. (Gothamist)

~ Brooklyn and Queens are hot spots for craft breweries. (Forbes)

~ A mapping tool was launched this week that tracks evictions across New York City. (Gothamist)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, says it’s time to break up the company. Mark Zuckerberg’s “influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government,” he wrote. (NYT)

~ DRINK: Here are the 14 best rooftop bars in New York City, including seven in Brooklyn. (Grub Street)

~ LAUGH: Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more twists at the Kentucky Derby. (The Week)

~ DEBATE: A New York Times article claiming the aperol spritz is “not a good drink” causes uproar on Twitter. (Grub Street)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:00PM — Panel: Does Truth Still Need Defending? at New York Live Arts. Details.

6:30PM — Sheila Heti and Elif Batuman in Conversation at BrooklynHistorical Society. Details.

7:00PM — Intimate Terrorism at SubCulture. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1936, the Eagle reported, “The ‘Lafayette Entrance’ is the name by which the entrance to Prospect Park at Prospect Park West and Ninth Street will be known hereafter. Park Commissioner Raymond V. Ingersoll today informed the Eagle that he was heartily in accord with the suggestion.”

IMPRINT
Taylor Swift shows off her pin collection on the May cover of Entertainment Weekly.

ROYAL WATCH
Prince Harry is thoroughly enjoying being a dad. (The Cut)

SPORTS
Nets’ Atkinson wants ‘more’ in season four

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Bono, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Jason Brooks, Missy Franklin, Dean Heller, Dave Mason, Salvador Perez and Kenan Thompson!

Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at scott@brooklyneagle.com.