Brooklyn Today: ‘Mommy, be strong.’

October 15, 2019 Brooklyn Today

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Kaywonda Banks sits in a van parked near Barclays Center, two full bags of food and house supplies between her legs and her 8-year-old son in the seat next to her. This is the starting point for her four-hour, roughly 100-mile trip into the mountains of New York, where her husband, Javon, is incarcerated at the Otisville Correctional Facility.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ MANDATORY HEAT PROVISION PERIOD BEGINS, AND SO DO THE COMPLAINTS: Over the first nine days of the month, as temperatures ranged from as low as 29 degrees to as high as 81 degrees, a total of 2,808 heat complaints were filed across the city. Two days in particular, Oct. 5 and Oct. 8, accounted for 1,547 of those complaints alone.

~ THEY MET AS CHILDREN. NOW MARRIED, SHE’S BEEN VISITING HIM IN PRISON FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS.: Loved ones of the incarcerated could benefit from a program that makes family visits easier and reduces recidivism — if lawmakers pass it.

~ BEETLEMANIA ENDS! INVASIVE ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE BANISHED FROM CITY: The insect that threatened to wipe out tens of thousands of the city’s trees has been squashed. State, city and federal agencies announced on Thursday that the Asian longhorned beetle has finally been eradicated in Brooklyn and Queens, the last two holdouts in the city.

~ MAN SHOT TO DEATH IN FLATBUSH AVENUE BODEGA NEAR PROSPECT PARK: A man was fatally shot after an argument broke out inside a Prospect Lefferts Gardens bodega Thursday night, just one block away from Prospect Park.

~ NYC GIVES FIRST GLIMPSE OF HOW MANY UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS COULD APPLY FOR TUITION HELP: About 47,000 city residents could apply for college financial assistance under a new law designed to help undocumented or temporarily legal immigrant New Yorkers, according to a new city report released Thursday. (Chalkbeat)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ A lawyer died in a “freak accident” after sliding down a railing at the Brooklyn Museum. (Daily News)

~ Property prices and transactions across Brooklyn fell during the third quarter. (Mansion Global)

~ “The party of gentrifiers is moving into Brooklyn” (City & State)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “Is Amazon unstoppable?” (The New Yorker)

~ DRINK: Here are the 19 best speakeasy-style bars in New York City, including five spots in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ CARTOON: Trick-or-treating at the White House. (The Week)

~ DRESS: Here’s how to clean those filthy white sneakers. (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:30PM — Daniel Libeskind: “Edge of Order” at Pratt Institute. Details.

6:30PM — The Impact of Slavery and the Myth of the Free North at Brooklyn Historical Society. Details.

8:00PM — Sean Brock presents “South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations” at The Bell House. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1860, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “There was another great rush to the ferries on Saturday night, for the purpose of witnessing the display in honor of the Prince of Wales. Many thousands crossed in the early part of the evening, and the jam on the return, from ten o’clock to midnight, was tremendous.”

📔 IMPRINT
Actress Maisie Williams graces the latest cover of Metal.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
The Queen returned to royal duties after her summer break. (HELLO!)

🏀 SPORTS
The story behind the Nets’ new jerseys

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Paige Davis, Tito Jackson, Sarah Ferguson, Linda Lavin, Victor Banerjee, Kay Ivey and Jim Palmer!