Brooklyn Today: UPS demolishes Red Hook Factory

May 28, 2019 Brooklyn Today

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THE LEDE: Good morning! Red Hook residents were outraged Friday when UPS started bulldozing the 1880s Lidgerwood Building, backing down on a promise to consider a proposal from preservationists to repurpose part of the structure. Just hours before, a spokesperson for the package-delivery giant told the Brooklyn Eagle that it was taking into consideration the community’s desire for the facade of the venerable factory to be preserved.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ NEW TASK FORCE ANNOUNCED TO SMOOTH ROLLOUT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM: The new unit is designed to assess and coordinate the needs of district attorneys in all five boroughs and the special narcotics prosecutor.

~ WILL CUOMO DECRIMINALIZE ‘GRAVITY KNIVES’ IN NEW YORK THIS TIME AROUND?: A bill to decriminalize folding knives has passed the New York State Senate and Assembly for the third time, and now is headed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk, but he’s vetoed similar legislation twice in the past.

~ DEMOLISHED! UPS IGNORES PRESERVATIONISTS’ PLEA, BEGINS BULLDOZING RED HOOK FACTORY: Delivery giant UPS bought the red-painted factory at 202 Coffey St. last year, and local residents said earlier this week that the company’s plan to knock it down would be a terrible blow to the neighborhood.

~ PUSH TO MEMORIALIZE CONEY ISLAND FIREFIGHTER BEATEN TO DEATH ON BELT PARKWAY: CB 13 voted to support an application to co-name the corner of West Eighth Street and Surf Avenue, just outside Engine 245, “Firefighter Faizal Coto Way.” Faizal Coto, then 33, was beaten to death on the Belt Parkway in December, following a road-rage dispute.

~ CONEY ISLAND EXHIBIT SHOWS HOW FRESH AIR SAVED THOUSANDS OF IMMIGRANT LIVES: From the 1870s to the 1920s, immigrant women and children would come to live in nonprofit summer homes to escape disease-filled tenement houses. The immigrants, many of whom were sick, would come to Coney Island for its fresh air and would see their health improve immediately.

~ WILL GREEN-WOOD’S NEW CATACOMB CONCERTS DRIVE YOU TO DRINK?: Bottoms up, classical music aficionados: The Angel’s Share concert series returned to Green-Wood Cemetery on Saturday. The next event is June 4.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ There goes the neighborhood: A big-box retail store could soon be coming to Williamsburg. (New York Post)

~ A swastika is drawn on the front door of a Clinton Hill Jewish community center. (Brooklyn Paper)

~ A Brooklyn McDonald’s employee is hospitalized after a woman throws hot coffee on her. (NBC New York)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: When Mark Olmsted contracted HIV in the ’80s, he assumed he would die soon, so he embarked on a crime spree, not worrying about the consequences. He stole credit cards and even faked his own death, but there’s one problem: He’s still alive. (GQ)

~ DRINK: Here are the 22 best rooftop bars in New York City, including five in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ LAUGH: To impeach or not to impeach. (The Week)

~ LIVE: “No, night owls aren’t doomed to die early” (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:30PM — Greenwich Village: The LGBTQ Community Finds a Haven at New-York Historical Society. Details.

6:45PM — NYRR Open Run at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Details.

7:00PM – 9:00PM — Astronomy Live: Under the Southern Cross at the American Museum of Natural History. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1900, the Eagle reported, “Rear Admiral J.W. Philip, commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, this morning brought to a successful completion his pet scheme of erecting an official flagstaff at the largest, oldest and most important navy yard in the country.”

IMPRINT
Australian actress Margot Robbie graces the latest cover of Gala Croisette.

ROYAL WATCH
The royal family made a very awkward typo in a Twitter post. (Daily Mail)

SPORTS
New Jersey high school standout Rob Higgins will begin his collegiate playing career at SFC Brooklyn in 2019 after signing a National Letter of Intent to play for the diminutive but historic Brooklyn Heights school.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Francois-Henri Pinault, Michael Oher, Jake Johnson, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Rudy Giuliani, Alexandre Lacazette and Jessica Rothe.

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