Brooklyn Today: Can Trump decide the BQX’s future?

May 31, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Happy Friday! The future of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector streetcar relies on roughly $1.4 billion in federal funding — and the willingness of whoever sits in the White House in 2021 to sign off on it, according to officials. That figure is more than half of the entire cost of the $2.7 billion trolley, said Seth Myers of the Economic Development Corporation at the City Council’s first BQX Task Force hearing on Thursday.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ STATE TESTING REFUSALS VARY WILDLY ACROSS BROOKLYN: A Brooklyn school district saw more students opt out of state exams for the 2017-18 school year than any other district in the city, Department of Education data shows.

~ IT’S GONE: UPS TEARS DOWN MOST ICONIC SECTION OF RED HOOK FACTORY: A bulldozer scooped up giant mouthfuls of debris from a rubble-strewn parcel on Thursday at the corner of Coffey and Ferris streets — the final remains of a foundry constructed in the 1880s.

~ BROOKLYN DRIVERS MAY SOON GET A VERRAZZANO DISCOUNT: State Sen. Andrew Gounardes’ proposal to give Brooklyn motorists a big break on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge tolls is one step closer to becoming a reality after the State Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Gounardes sponsored by a vote of 55-2.

~ BQX STREETCAR’S FUTURE COULD BE IN PRESIDENT TRUMP’S HANDS: Even with the City Council’s approval, the streetcar project would still need to acquire federal funds, which Councilmember Jeff Van Bramer said would be a very daunting task given President Donald Trump’s fractious relationship with New York City.

~ AFTER 7-YEAR PUSH, ‘GRAVITY KNIVES’ ARE DECRIMINALIZED: The bill, unanimously passed three times by the state Legislature, legalizes the possession of folding knives of the type sold in hardware stores across the city. The vast majority of people arrested for carrying the common knives have been black and Latino men.

~ TRANSIT ‘MASTER PLAN’ WOULD BRING 250 MILES OF NEW PROTECTED BIKE LANES: The bill, spearheaded by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and co-sponsored by Brooklyn Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, would require DOT to “issue and implement” a strategy for the use of streets, sidewalks and pedestrian spaces every five years.

~ A NEW BILL WOULD FORCE THE CITY TO CONFRONT THE RACIAL IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT: The bill would demand that the Department of City Planning conduct “racial impact studies” as it considers rezonings.

~ LAWYERS REPRESENTING THE POOREST NEW YORKERS DEMAND BETTER PAY: About 40 New York City public defenders and legal staff members joined Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at City Hall Thursday to demand equal pay with other lawyers who work for the city.

~ CELEBRATE WALT WHITMAN’S 200TH BIRTHDAY IN BROOKLYN: Whether you’d rather celebrate by learning, performing, or growing a beard, we’ve rounded up what’s going on to celebrate the iconic poet’s birthday.

~ NEW YORK CHEFS GET CREATIVE TO FIGHT FOOD WASTE: Environmentally-conscious chefs, whose workplaces run the gamut from soup kitchens to Michelin star restaurants, gathered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard last week to show how creative cooking could make use of food scraps that are often tossed out.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Lena Dunham sells her Williamsburg apartment. (New York Post)

~ A truck hits a Q train overpass in Midwood. (PIX11)

~ Here’s why Amazon should have picked Brooklyn for its headquarters. (Real Estate Weekly)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “How many bones would you break to get laid?” (The Cut)

~ WATCH: Here are all of the outdoor movies playing in New York City this summer, including 11 in Brooklyn. (Thrillist)

~ OPINION: Robert De Niro writes a letter to Robert Mueller. (NYT)

~ LAUGH: Mr. Mueller teaches his pupils. (The New Yorker)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

3:30PM – 6:00PM — Walt Whitman at 200: A Reading of Crossing BrooklynFerry and Concert at Central Library. Details.

5:30PM – 8:30PM — Red Hook Fest at P.S. 15. Details.

8:00PM — Risky Business: The Evolution of Dangerous Behavior at NYU. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1910, the Eagle reported, “[Walt] Whitman lovers are bivouacking for a time today on the old camping grounds of the poet in West Hills, L.I., on this, the centenary of his birth. They are visiting the little gray house of the gray poet who sang of Nature, of man [and] of democracy.”

IMPRINT
Australian model Miranda Kerr poses in black on the June cover of InStyle Mexico.

ROYAL WATCH
Did Kate Middleton just commit the biggest royal faux pas with the Queen? (Cheat Sheet)

SPORTS
Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving could be headed to Brooklyn if the Nets can orchestrate a blockbuster swap for the New Orleans center before signing the Boston guard via free agency.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Waka Flocka Flame, Clint Eastwood, Marco Reus, Brooke Shields, Azealia Banks, Colin Farrell, Jordy Nelson and Nate Robinson!

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