Brooklyn Today: BQE panel mulls “more modest repairs”

July 10, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Good morning! The expert panel appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in April to study options for the $4 billion reconstruction of 1.5 miles of the BQE says it is “headed towards the end” of its work and won’t be reviewing any more concepts. There will be one more community meeting to discuss the panel’s findings, and the final report will likely be issued in the early fall.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT CALLS FOR SMALLER BOERUM HILL JAIL — WITH YOGA FOR THOSE INCARCERATED: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams wants the city to slash the size and number of inmates to be housed in the proposed expanded Brooklyn Detention Complex, according to the recommendation his office shared exclusively with the Brooklyn Eagleon Monday.

~ IN BQE REHAB, DOT CONSIDERS ‘MORE MODEST REPAIRS’ TO SPARE PROMENADE, PANEL SAYS: The options the panel is examining range from visionary transformations of the triple cantilever underpinning the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to modest repairs that might eliminate the need for a temporary BQE bypass altogether, leaving the landmarked promenade intact.

~ OPINION: WHEN DEVELOPERS CALL UPZONING A PUBLIC BENEFIT, CHECK THEIR BOTTOM LINE: The real estate company Rabsky Development, in partnership with the consultancy group Totem, has very big plans for a 1.73-acre lot in Downtown Brooklyn: a hybrid office/apartment building far bulkier, if not taller than the Chrysler Building.

~ THE BROOKLYN SANCTUARY WHERE NUNS HELP WOMEN TRANSITION FROM RIKERS: Founded in 1979, Providence House initially housed 14 state parolees alongside three Catholic sisters. For the past few years, though, the program has shifted its focus to women who have spent time at Rikers.

~ THE MOVEMENT TO SAVE THE DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN HOUSE OF TWO ABOLITIONISTS: Advocates are making a last-ditch effort to stop the demolition of a Downtown Brooklyn house where prominent abolitionistsThomas and Harriet Truesdell once lived.

~ RESIDENTS SOUND OFF ABOUT UPS’ PLANS FOR THE HISTORIC RED HOOK BUILDING: Delivery giant UPS came to town Tuesday to meet with the Red Hook community about the fate of the Lidgerwood Building — which UPS stopped tearing down thanks to U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Laura Lane, the company’s president of global public affairs.

~ BROOKLYN DA INDICTS 21 ALLEGED GANG MEMBERS WITH SUSPECTED CONNECTION TO 2017 MURDERS: The Brooklyn district attorney announced on Tuesday the indictment of 21 alleged Flatbush gang members who he says are responsible for numerous shootings, including two 2017 homicides — just one day after top NYPD brass accused the DA of going soft on gun charges.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ The city failed to remove kids from lead-poisoned Red Hook apartments.(New York Post)

~ Greenpoint’s Vinnie’s Pizzeria is closing. (Greenpointers)

~ Three women fled Venezuela’s unrest. Now, they’re thriving at Smorgasburg.(NYT)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “The California coast is disappearing under the rising sea. Our choices are grim.” (LA Times)

~ EAT: Here are the 39 best places to eat during Restaurant Week, including two spots in Brooklyn. (Thrillist)

~ CARTOON: Jeff reveals a deep dark secret. (The New Yorker)

~ SMOKE: “What they have in that vial could kill all of us.” Inside the fight to save California’s marijuana from a deadly pesticide. (Playboy)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

2:30PM — How to Make a Plant Love You: Summer Rayne Oakes at The New York Botanical Garden. Details.

7:00PM — A Proust Party: Marcelle Clements, Eric Karpeles, Andre Aciman, Caroline Weber at McNally Jackson Williamsburg. Details.

7:30PM — Richard Panek: “The Trouble with Gravity” with Corey S. Powellat Books Are Magic. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1936, the Eagle reported, “The great experiment of frying an egg on the steps of Borough Hall was tried yesterday by an Eagle reporter … At 2:50 p.m., when New York’s all-time heat record was exploding, he arrived at Borough Hall, juggling one egg, one saltshaker and one pepper shaker.”

IMPRINT
Ariana Grande poses with a puppy at the beach on the August cover ofVogue.

ROYAL WATCH
Step aside! Queen Elizabeth II refuses help while planting a tree. (Daily Express)

SPORTS
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has traded in some of his showmanship for patience over the past several seasons, helping the franchise grow in ways that some considered impossible when he first assumed command.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Karen Russell, Jessica Simpson, Virginia Wade, Arlo Guthrie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Adrian Grenier, Sue Lyon, Alice Munro, Sofía Vergara, Jerry Herman and Andre Dawson!

Brooklyn Today’s editor is Scott Enman. Contact him at[email protected].