Brooklyn Today: BQE panel offers first report

May 17, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

THE LEDE: Happy Friday! Less than a month after plastic bags were banned in New York, another pollutant is getting attention: plastic bottles. In addition to being environmental hazards, the containers also pose health risks, according to John Lipscomb of Riverkeeper, who said humans inadvertently ingest plastic when the bottles disintegrate into thousands of micro plastic particles. In Newtown Creek, for example, tests revealed that 60,000 to 80,000 micro plastic particles were found in every liter of water.

Think there’s something we should cover? Let us know. Also, if you like what we’re doing, tell a friend, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

THE RUNDOWN

~ BQE PANEL OFFERS FIRST PROGRESS REPORT: Panel Chairperson Carlo Scissura said in a release on Wednesday that the group has begun weekly meetings, and has done “some critical background work — becoming familiar with the various proposals on the table, site conditions, structural analysis and traffic data.”

~ AFTER PLASTIC BAG BAN, ACTIVISTS TURN ATTENTION TO BOTTLES: “We’re poisoning the water and the organisms that live in the water,” John Lipscomb of Riverkeeper said. “So when you’re having your nice oysters or clams, you’re eating plastics.”

~ CYCLIST DEATHS CONTINUE TO RISE IN BROOKLYN: Three cyclists killed in Brooklyn in the past week have brought the number of cyclist fatalities in the city so far this year to 10 — the same number the city saw in all of 2018. Eight of the 10 deaths have been in Brooklyn.

~ BUSHWICK REZONING OPPONENTS SKEPTICAL OF CITY’S OUTLINE: The Department of City Planning presented their outline for Bushwick’srezoning to a packed Community Board 4 Wednesday, drawing comments from concerned residents and board members alike who are skeptical of the details.

~ CRITICS SAY DA’S CONVICTION REVIEW UNIT IS ‘NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL’: Activists and defense lawyers rallied outside the BrooklynDistrict Attorney’s office on Thursday to criticize the process through which old convictions are reviewed and sometimes overturned — a process they say has lost steam since 2017.

~ THIS WEEKEND: 14 ‘SACRED SITES’ OPEN THEIR DOORS TO HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE BUFFS: Fourteen Brooklyn houses of worship will participate in the ninth annual New York Landmarks Conservancy’s “Sacred Sites Open House” this weekend. The event offers religion, history and architecture buffs the opportunity to explore many of New York’s world-class houses of worship.

~ GET A PEEK INSIDE ARTIST STUDIOS IN INDUSTRY CITY THIS WEEKEND: This year’s list of participants features a diverse range of artists, according to organizers. Among them will be painters, sculptors, photographers, performance artists, textile designers and more.

~ CADMAN PLAZA WEST IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS PARTIALLY CLOSED THIS WEEKEND: The southbound side of Cadman Plaza West between Tillary Street and Johnson Street will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Sunday to facilitate crane operation at the former site of the Brooklyn Heights Library.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ The media company behind Brooklyn Magazine and the Northside Festival may have folded due to financial troubles. (Gothamist)

~ A new Nigerian restaurant opens in Bushwick. (NYT)

~ The Mill Basin Public Library opens a bike repair station. (Brooklyn Paper)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: Swedish prime minister Olof Palme was shot dead on one of Stockholm’s busiest streets 33 years ago. The gunman was never caught, but new evidence could help solve the murder. (The Guardian)

~ EXPLORE: From the Brooklyn Historical Society’s “Waterfront” installation to the Statue of Liberty’s original torch, here are six pop-up exhibits you don’t want to miss out on. (Thrillist)

~ CARTOON: Alabama gets a new slogan and time zone. (The Week)

~ COOK: “5 cheap(ish) things to make the perfect pie” (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

7:00PM — “Crashing Cathedrals: Edmund White by the Book” at McNally Jackson Williamsburg. Details.

7:00PM — The Oleg Butman & Natalia Smirnova Trio at Jazz at The Lighthouse. Details.

8:00PM – 11:59PM — Night at the Museum: Springtoberfest at MoMA PS1. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1918, the Eagle reported, “The fine display made by the women in the police parade on Saturday … favorably impressed most of the police officials. Now Commissioner Enright is preparing to enroll an army of 10,000 as a women’s police reserve.”

IMPRINT
American actress Tessa Thompson is named one of the “next generation leaders” on the May cover of Time.

ROYAL WATCH
“Meghan Markle more influential than ever, has powerful sway over Prince Harry: ‘She holds all the cards actually'” (Newsweek)

SPORTS
The LIU-Brooklyn and Post campuses have combined their athletic departments, and on Wednesday they came up with a new nickname: Instead of Blackbirds or Pioneers, the LIU teams will now be called Sharks.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Craig Ferguson, Mia Hamm, Derek Hough, Christian Lacroix, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tony Parker, Bill Paxton, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Nikki Reed, Trent Reznor, Bob Saget and Debra Winger!

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