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Brooklyn Today: ‘We cannot stand by this conviction.’

October 4, 2019 Brooklyn Today
Seen beside the Coney Island Boardwalk: Here Comes The Sun(flower). Eagle photo by Lore Croghan
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THE LEDE: Happy Friday! A Brooklyn man imprisoned for murder since 1993 was exonerated Thursday by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit after a lengthy investigation into the decades-old case against him. “For 26 years, Carlos Weeks fought to have this wrongful conviction overturned. Today, he walks out of court a free man,” said Elizabeth Felber, head of the new unit.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ WOMAN ALLEGEDLY RAPED AS A CHILD AT BROOKLYN FRIENDS SUES SCHOOL: A woman is suing Brooklyn Friends School over allegations that she was raped repeatedly by a janitor at the school as a third-grade student in the 1980s — and that the school failed to protect her from the abuse.

~ AFTER SERVING 26 YEARS ON A MURDER CHARGE, BROOKLYN MAN EXONERATED: “An extensive investigation into this old case revealed that the two witnesses who identified Mr. Weeks as the shooter were not credible,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. “Accordingly, we cannot stand by this conviction and will release the defendant, who spent 26 years behind bars.”

~ ‘DYKER LIGHTS’ VENDORS CAUSING POLLUTION, TRAFFIC AND TRASH, NEIGHBORS SAY: The City Council’s Consumer Affairs Committee heard testimony on Thursday about the notorious Dyker Lights holiday display and a bill that would ban vendors from clogging up the annual end-of-year affair.

~ OKTOBERFEST AND ODD COUPLINGS: 10 THINGS TO DO IN BROOKLYN THIS WEEKEND: Once again, there is a surplus of festivals this weekend. Who knew October had so many? We didn’t. There are two film festivals, a pizza festival, a music festival, an arts festival and Oktoberfest.

~ LIGHTS, CAMERA, CLIMATE ACTION: HOW EARTH ANGEL IS TRYING TO FIX THE FILM INDUSTRY: Using strategies ranging from customized waste allocation, eco-education of crew members and carbon tracking, Earth Angel has been leading the charge in reducing the environmental footprint of production sets since its founding in 2013.

~ MAN FATALLY SHOT IN EAST FLATBUSH: A 39-year-old man was shot and killed early Thursday morning in East Flatbush. Police officers responded to a 911 call reporting an assault around 1:45 a.m. near Clarendon Road and East 54th Street.

~ BROOKLYN CONGRESSMAN NOW SAYS HE FAVORS IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: U.S. Rep. Max Rose, who had not backed the impeachment inquiry against Republican President Donald Trump, said Wednesday that he now supports the inquiry. (AP)

~ NEW YORK CITY TO CREATE 40 NEW AND RESTRUCTURED SCHOOLS WITH $16M FROM XQ AND ROBIN HOOD: In his latest effort to bolster his education track record in his last two years in office, Mayor Bill de Blasio has teamed up with Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, and the Robin Hood foundation, to create 20 new schools and restructure 20 existing public schools. (THE CITY)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ “Brooklyn landlord beat tenant with a cane, used racial epithet while telling her, ‘You don’t belong here’: prosecutors” (Daily News)

~ New York City public schools ban processed meat. (VegNews)

~ “119-year-old Bamonte’s Italian-American fare holds up to the old-school fantasy” (Eater)

STAFF PICKS

READ: “How ICE picks its targets in the surveillance age” (NYT)

DINE: Here are the 13 hottest restaurants in Brooklyn this month. (Eater)
CARTOON: Trump’s aides converse with aliens. (The New Yorker)

EAT: Here are the 101 best pizzas in America, including more than 10 in Brooklyn. At No. 2 is Lucali in Carroll Gardens(The Daily Meal)

WHAT’S HAPPENING 

5:00PM — Oktoberfest at the DUMBO Archway. Details.

6:00PM — The Future of Ethics for an AI, Data-Driven Media Industry at The New School. Details.

7:00PM — Peter Brook\NY with Paul AusterRobert Langdon Lloyd and Jeffrey Horowitz at The Center for Fiction. Details.

THE WRAP

 ON THIS DAY
In 1910, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “Alarming rumors that Colonel Theodore Roosevelt had met with a serious accident while on his way to the Firemen’s Fair at Freeport, L.I., this afternoon, turned out to be untrue.”

📔 IMPRINT
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe appear in black-and-white on the latest cover of Esquire U.K.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein are reportedly being investigated by the FBI” (Town & Country)

🏀 SPORTS
The Nets released their new jerseys. (NBA)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Dakota Johnson, Abraham Benrubi, Anita DeFrantz, Melissa Benoist, Rachael Leigh Cook, Armand Assante, Anne Rice, Derrick Rose, Susan Sarandon, Jimy Williams, Alicia Silverstone, Tony La Russa, Jr. and Vicky Krieps!

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