Brooklyn Today: Should kids get mental health days?
THE LEDE: Happy Friday the 13th! A new bill — introduced in the New York State Senate at the start of the new school year and at the onset of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — would “establish mental or behavioral health issues as permitted reasons for a student’s absence,” according to its sponsor, State Sen. Brad Hoylman.
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THE RUNDOWN
~ THE JAIL PLAN WILL LIKELY PASS. AND THE TOWERS ARE GETTING SMALLER.: With just weeks left until the full-council vote on the unprecedented four-site jail plan, the Brooklyn Eagle reached out to all 51 councilmembers to get their preliminary stances on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiative.
~ ATTORNEY GENERAL WARNS MAKERS OF DIY RAPE KIT NOT TO SELL IN NEW YORK STATE: Attorney General Letitia James is the most recent lawmaker to weigh in on the controversy surrounding at-home rape kits. James issued a warning to the makers of the self-administered kits not to sell the product in her state.
~ SHOULD STUDENTS GET MENTAL HEALTH DAYS? ONE LAWMAKER SAYS YES: While it is unclear whether there would be a limit on the number of mental health days students would be permitted — or what documentation, if any, they would be required to provide, the idea has already garnered support.
~ ON BROOKLYN HEIGHTS PROMENADE, INTERFAITH CEREMONY REMEMBERS 9/11: Members of various faiths overlooked New York Harbor and lower Manhattan on Wednesday night, tears in their eyes, as they memorialized the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
~ ‘AS LONG AS I’M BREATHING … THERE WILL BE A MEMORIAL’: SHEEPSHEAD’S GRASSROOTS 9/11 VIGIL: There has been a memorial service on every 9/11 anniversary at the handball court on the corner of Avenue X and Bedford Avenue. The organizers are local residents who formed the Brooklyn/Bedford Park 9/11 Memorial Committee.
~ OCEAN VIEWS AND NORDIC FOOD: 10 THINGS TO DO IN BROOKLYN THIS WEEKEND: There are lots of great events happening in all corners of the borough this weekend, including live music in Williamsburg, a curated tour in Red Hook, and a film festival in Coney Island.
~ BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW: The holidays are still a few months off, but when they arrive and you find yourself dazzled by glittering lights strung along the light poles of a bustling commercial strip, there’s a good chance a small organization of business boosters is responsible. That group is known as a BID: Here’s what that is.
~ OPINION: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS STRIPPING HEALTH CARE RIGHTS FROM NY IMMIGRANTS: “Undocumented, legal and native New Yorkers of Caribbean and African descent are pinned between a rock and a hard place,” writes two columnists. “The rock is shaped in the form of racism, xenophobia and ICE.”
~ FOUR HUMAN CASES OF WEST NILE VIRUS DETECTED IN NEW YORK: Four human cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus have been detected in New York City, with one of the patients in Brooklyn, according to Health Department officials.
~ SAFETY ADVOCATES TO LEAD MARCH FROM SITE OF CRASH THAT KILLED 10-YEAR-OLD: Transportation Alternatives hosted “Brooklyn Weeps: A March for Safer Streets” on Thursday, starting at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Avenue L, where 10-year-old Enzo Farachio was struck and killed on his way home from school on Tuesday.
~ PARK IN THE DARK: POLS AND STORES WANT SCAFFOLDING OUT OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK: The “temporary” scaffolding that has cast the northern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park into shadow for a year and a half has been up for way too long, say Brooklyn officials and DUMBO businesses.
MORE BROOKLYN NEWS
~ The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new stamp on Thursday honoring poet and former Eagle editor Walt Whitman. (Newsday)
~ “East Williamsburg ‘hipster dorms’ owner owes $278K for illegal hotel violations” (Commercial Observer)
~ A man jumped into the Gowanus Canal last weekend. (Brooklyn Paper)
STAFF PICKS
~ READ: Shuck off: Here’s a look inside competitive oyster shucking in China. (Deadspin)
~ EAT: “24 glorious, food-filled hours in Greenpoint” (Eater)
~ CARTOON: A lot of authors are coming out of the White House. (The New Yorker)
~ LIVE: Here are 15 tips for spending less time on your phone. (Medium)
WHAT’S HAPPENING
5:00PM — The DUMBO Pizza Party at the Archway. Details.
6:30PM — Japanese Craft Beer: Lecture & Tasting 2019 at Japan Society. Details.
7:00PM — Pianist Lara Downes Celebrates Women in Music at National Sawdust. Details.
THE WRAP
⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1940, the Eagle reported, “London — German warplanes bombed Buckingham Palace and Downing Street today in unprecedented daylight attacks that for the first time almost paralyzed London life and aroused British fears of a deliberate offensive to drive the King and government from the capital.”
📔 IMPRINT
Michelle Williams receives her close-up on the October cover of Harper’s Bazaar Germany.
👑 ROYAL WATCH
“The royal family is scrambling over Prince Andrew’s Jeffrey Epstein connections” (Vice)
⚾ SPORTS
At long last, Cyclones grab NY-Penn crown
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to Niall Horan, Jacqueline Bisset, Fiona Apple, Bernie Williams, Jean Smart, Lili Reinhart, Stella McCartney, Judith Martin, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Peter Cetera and Michael Johnson!