Brooklyn Today: ‘Keep your towers off our flowers.’

September 10, 2019 Brooklyn Today

You can see the Dykes Lumber Building from the esplanade behind the Gowanus Whole Foods Market. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

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THE LEDE: Good morning! A lawsuit against Crown Heights high-rise developments that activists say would cast damaging shadows on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden can move forward, a Brooklyn judge ruled on Monday. The case has broad implications: It’s a test of whether citizens can successfully challenge already approved city zoning.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ DESPITE LOCAL TOURISM, CONEY ISLAND CORRIDOR STRUGGLES WITH STOREFRONT VACANCY: Despite the neighborhood’s vibrant population and reputation as a summer destination, a Coney Island shopping corridor has one of the highest rates of storefront vacancies in the borough.

~ COPS HAVE KILLED 19 PEOPLE IN BROOKLYN SINCE ERIC GARNER’S DEATH. HERE’S WHERE THOSE CASES STAND.: Police-involved killings are among the highest-profile incidents in criminal justice. The Brooklyn Eagle compiled a list of the people in Brooklyn killed by police since Eric Garner’s July 2014 death — and where those cases stand when known.

~ COURT RULING GIVES SECOND WIND TO LAWSUIT AGAINST FRANKLIN AVENUE DEVELOPMENTS: The case was brought by neighborhood activist Alicia Boyd and Crown Heights residents LaShaun Ellis and Michael Hollingsworth.

~ HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN ABOUT THE PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE NYC CHARTER: On Nov. 5, New York City residents will vote to change the New York City Charter for the first time in 30 years. An informational session explaining the five proposals that will be on the back of the ballot will be held tonight at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

~ HAIR TODAY: SCENES FROM THE CONEY ISLAND BEARD AND MOUSTACHE COMPETITION: The competition was fierce Saturday as unshorn Brooklynites gathered on the Coney Island Boardwalk for the 12th Annual Coney Island Beard and Moustache Competition. Here are photos from the hairy gathering.

~ IMAGINING A NEW YORK WHERE THE STREETS ARE NAMED FOR WOMEN: What would it be like to live in a city where everything was named for notable women instead? That’s the question posed by the City of Women map, currently on display at the Transit Museum’s “Navigating New York” exhibit.

~ BROOKLYN’S TINIEST AIR FORCE: INSIDE A REMOTE-CONTROL HELICOPTER CLUB: “It’s nice to have a piece of technology in your hand that you built, you adjusted and you learned to fly,” said Glen Byrd, a member of Seaview Rotary Wings, a group that promotes remote-control flying (also called RC flying) in Calvert Vaux Park.

~ TENANTS OUSTED BY BROOKLYN BLAZE FIGHT FOR ANSWERS AND ACTION: On the afternoon of April 3, an unattended candle ignited an inferno that devastated a Brooklyn apartment building — leaving scores of displaced residents scrambling to reconstruct their homes and lives. (THE CITY)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Chef John DeLucie is opening an italian restaurant inside a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Williamsburg. (New York Post)

~ Is Teresa’s in Brooklyn Heights closing? (Brooklyn Heights Blog)

~ A social club for people of color is coming to East Williamsburg. (am New York)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “The Heir: Ivanka was always Trump’s favorite. But Don Jr. is emerging as his natural successor.” (The Atlantic)

~ EAT: Here are the 12 hottest lunch restaurants in New York City right now, including two in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ CARTOON: A closer look at Trump’s employment statistics. (The New Yorker)

~ LIVE: Want to spruce up your garden? Here are some tips. (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:30PM — Death Café at Green-Wood Cemetery. Details.

6:30PM – 8:30PM — Feminist Freethinkers: Fireside Chat with Kate Kirkpatrick at New York Society for Ethical Culture. Details.

8:00PM — Malcolm Gladwell Presents “Talking to Strangers” at Kings Theatre. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1951, the Eagle reported, “Minus the wild publicity that served as background music for his flop in the spring, 20-year-old Mickey Mantle may be making good on his second attempt to be a New York Yankee.”

📔 IMPRINT
Zoë Kravitz graces the latest cover of i-D Magazine.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
“Royal insiders dish on Prince Harry and Meghan’s ‘summer of hell‘” (Page Six)

🏀 SPORTS
Is it possible for Kevin Durant to return from his Achilles injury this season? (FanSided)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Misty Copeland, Judy Geeson, Colin Firth, Randy Johnson, Joe Nieuwendyk, Amy Irving, José Feliciano and Clark Johnson!