Brooklyn Today: ‘There is no respect.’

October 17, 2019 Brooklyn Today

This house stands on an 86th Street corner. Its address is 8524 Ridge Boulevard. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

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THE LEDE: Good morning! Roughly 100 community gardens on city-owned land are in danger of closing or relocating due to a new licensing agreement from the Parks Department that gardeners are calling unfair and overly onerous.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ MTA STUDIES PLAN TO RESURRECT PASSENGER TRAINS BETWEEN BAY RIDGE AND QUEENS: The MTA says it will begin studying a plan to bring passenger trains back to the Bay Ridge Branch, a stretch of Long Island Railroad-owned, above-ground tracks between Bay Ridge and Queens that’s been moving only freight for the past 95 years.

~ CITY COULD LOSE NEARLY 100 COMMUNITY GARDENS OVER CONTRACT DISPUTE: More than 350 of the 550 total community gardens in New York City are on GreenThumb land, and about 30 percent of them have refused to sign the new agreement.

~ GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY GETS $500,000 FOR NEW VISITOR CENTER: The borough’s most famous resting place for the dead is getting injected with some new life: $500,000 in funding toward a new education and welcome center for the hundreds of thousands of visitors Green-Wood Cemetery receives annually.

~ INTERNET SPEEDS PICK UP ACROSS CITY SCHOOLS: As of this school year, every New York City school building has gotten a broadband upgrade to at least 100 megabits per second, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced Wednesday from Amtiaz’s school auditorium in Bay Ridge.

~ A SOUTHERN BROOKLYN STROLL THAT ENDS IN L&B SQUARE SLICES: You can walk from the Bay Ridge shoreline to popular L&B Spumoni Gardens in Gravesend on a single road: 86th Street. On this approximately five-mile trek, you’ll see a slice of southern Brooklyn.

~ NYC’S ONLY BLACK-LED FOOD CO-OP SETS ITS SIGHTS ON A STOREFRONT: Central Brooklyn residents have launched an online fundraiser to open a community-owned grocery store catering to communities of color.

~ PHOTOS: RUNNERS HIT GREENPOINT STREETS FOR ANNUAL GET TO THE POINT 5K RACE: More than 200 people temporarily shut down Greenpoint streets on Sunday for the 26th annual Get to the Point 5K race, which turns a friendly competition into a party for the community.

~ OPINION: THE BENEFITS OF RANKED-CHOICE VOTING: “With no citywide offices on the ballot, the November election is likely to have low turnout. Nonetheless, it’s an important one. It is our chance as voters to raise our hands and say yes to transparency, accountability, and, especially, to the ability to rank candidates when we vote in primary and special elections,” writes our columnist.

~ FORT GREENE’S SOUGHT-AFTER ARTS & LETTERS SCHOOL MIGHT MOVE TO BED-STUY IN A MERGER: The Academy of Arts & Letters, a highly sought-after progressive elementary and middle school on the Fort Greene–Clinton Hill border, might have a new home next year in Bed-Stuy. (Chalkbeat)

PODCAST

~ LISTEN INTO THE FIGHT TO SAVE NYC’S COMMUNITY GARDENS: With many of New York City’s gardeners afraid of potentially being “locked out” of their green spaces due to a new contract, on this week’s episode, we take a look at how an Eagle reporter discovered a citywide issue from looking locally.

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ “Hot Brooklyn office market starting to cool” (WSJ)

~ Wegman’s at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will open on Oct. 27. Here’s everything you need to know about the new supermarket. (Grub Street)

~ Jimmy Kimmel is returning to BAM next week. (ABC)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “When medical debt collectors decide who gets arrested” (ProPublica)

~ DINE: Here are the 43 best brunch spots in New York City, including 11 restaurants in Brooklyn. (Thrillist)

~ CARTOON: Republicans have their own debate. (The New Yorker)

~ HALLOWEEN: All Hallows Eve isn’t just for humans. Here are two Halloween dog parades, including one in Fort Greene. (Gothamist)

BULLETIN BOARD

Don’t miss this week’s performers at Made in New York Jazz Cafe & Bar. Edsel Gomez’s Mambo Jambo will be performing tonight, with Gil Defay Quartet tomorrow evening. SPONSORED

WHAT’S HAPPENING

6:30PM — The Color of Healthcare: Mary Travis Bassett and Harriet Washington in Conversation at Brooklyn Historical Society. Details.

7:00PM — Linda Boström Knausgård in Conversation with Adam Dalva at Community Bookstore. Details.

7:30PM — Chris Ware at Murmrr. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1962, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “With $125,000 riding on every pitch, the whiplash right arm of handsome Ralph Terry fired a pulsating 1-0 four-hitter for the deciding victory which gave the New York Yankees their 20th World Series Championship.”

📔 IMPRINT
Timothée Chalamet poses on the November cover of L’Uomo Vogue.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
Baby Archie has red hair just like his father, Prince Harry. (Town & Country)

⚽ SPORTS
Terriers’ NEC title quest off to rough start

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Mae Jemison, Kerry James Marshall, Felicity Jones, Eminem, Michael McKean, Richard Roeper, George Wendt, Norm Macdonald, Martin Heinrich and Ernie Els!