Brooklyn Today: ‘You’re talking about 90% untrained riders.’

August 23, 2019 Brooklyn Today

This is what 1,000 mopeds look like. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

Revel mopeds. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Good Morning! The Brooklyn-based moped app Revel is close to logging half a million rides since its expansion in May and the company is expanding with 100 new two-wheelers. But critics of the company say the majority of riders are untrained and a danger on the road.

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THE RUNDOWN

~CRITICS BLAST COUNCIL FOR JAIL PLAN CALENDAR CONFLICT: Advocates and opponents of the city’s plan to close Rikers Island and build four new jails will pack City Hall for the City Council’s public hearing next month. The hearing falls on the first day of public school, however, which stakeholders say is a big obstacle.

~REVEL RIDES APPROACH 500,000 — BUT MOST RIDERS ARE STILL UNTRAINED: More than 400,000 rides were taken on Revel’s 1,000-strong fleet in northern Brooklyn and Queens in the past 2 ½ months. Each of the 1,000 mopeds is being used about seven times per day.

~SCRAP THE REGENTS EXAMS? ONE COUNCILMEMBER WANTS TO DO JUST THAT: Former educator and Councilmember Mark Treyger wants to do away with the statewide high school Regents exams, demanding alternatives he says will better measure student success.

~FORMER CANARSIE TEACHER GETS 4 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENT: A former teacher at Canarsie’s Lenox Academy Middle School has been given a four-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student on seven occasions.

~PUSH TO TURN BISHOP KEARNEY INTO SOUTHERN BROOKLYN’S FIRST SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL: State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Councilmember Justin Brannan are asking the city to open a new specialized high school in Bensonhurst, where a soon-to-be-closed all-girls Catholic high school now stands.

~CANINE COUTURE AND CRAFT BEER: 10 THINGS TO DO IN BROOKLYN THIS WEEKEND: The summer might be almost over, but your weekend is just beginning. Looking for something to do? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. There’s a doggy fashion show, DIY boat races in Red Hook, a craft beer festival and so much more.

~AFROPUNK IS BACK, WITH A NEW MESSAGE FOR ITS CRITICS: A year after controversy engulfed Brooklyn’s Afropunk, the annual music festival aimed at uniting the African diaspora and celebrating blackness is back with a new slogan: #AfropunkWeSeeYou.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Theo the dog was returned to his owner after being snatched in Williamsburg (New York Post)

~ “Dozens of childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed in Brooklyn this week” (Brooklyn Paper)

~ New waterfront parks in Greenpoint set to transform Newtown Creek (Curbed)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “The big business of scavenging in postindustrial America (The New York Times Magazine)

~ DRINK: Here’s the top 15 restaurants in the city where you can BYOB, including three in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ TECHNOLOGY: “Using facial recognition to keep cows healthy” (cnet)

~ HEALTH: Here’s what you can do for bad breath. (Medical News Today)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

7:00PM – 10:00PM — Jazzy Jazz Festival at Clinton Crawford. Details.

7:30PM – 10:00PM — Beyonce vs Jay Z at Dreamland Roller Disco at Lakeside Brooklyn. Details.

9:30PM – 10:00PM — Coney Island Friday Night Fireworks at Coney Island. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY

In 1944, the Eagle reported, “An angry army of French patriots rebelled against their Nazi conquerors and liberated their capital city of Paris today.”

📔 IMPRINT

Actor Stephan James and model Winnie Harlow pose together on the cover of Elle.

👑 ROYAL WATCH

“Would Prince Andrew speak with the police regarding Jeffrey Epstein?” (Town & Country)

🏒SPORTS

“Derick Brassard’s odyssey brings him to Islanders in New York return” (New York Post)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Rick Springfield, Kobe Bryant, Richard Sanders, Scott Caan, Mark Russell, Nelson DeMille, Antonia Novello, Jay Mohr, Barbara Eden, Bill Haslam, Patricia McBride, Vera Miles, Jeremy Lin, Julian Casablancas and Sonny Jurgensen!