Brooklyn Today: ‘I felt like everybody gave up on me.’

December 23, 2019 Brooklyn Today

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is one of the fine sights you’ll see on Shore Road Promenade. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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The next Brooklyn Today newsletter will be sent on Friday.

THE LEDE: Good morning! These are the stories of three New Yorkers — either on parole or recently off it — and the work they are doing now in criminal justice.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ 22 BROOKLYN BARS SERVING ALCOHOL ALL NIGHT LONG FOR NEW YEAR’S: On New Year’s Eve, bars, clubs and restaurants can request all night permits from the State Liquor Authority. In Brooklyn, 22 venues have been approved.

~ THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH NEW YORK’S PAROLE SYSTEM. THAT’S WHY THEY WANT TO CHANGE IT.: At the forefront of the battle to reform the parole system are formerly incarcerated men and women who have themselves experienced being denied parole after going before the board. Now out of prison, they want to change what they call a punitive system, which weighs the original crime over an individual’s transformation.

~ CITY IN PROCESS OF SHUTTING DOWN BROOKLYN DETENTION COMPLEX: Brooklyn’s city jail is in the process of being shut down — with detainees transferred to other facilities across the city, the city’s Department of Correction confirmed.

~ BROOKLYN’S BIGGEST MENORAH LIT SUNDAY FOR HANUKKAH: Brooklyn’s biggest menorah had its shining moment this past weekend, as the borough came together to mark the start of another Hanukkah season.

~ BRICK SQUAD GANG, ALLEGEDLY RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO MURDERS, TAKEN DOWN: A Brooklyn gang allegedly responsible for two murders and numerous non-fatal shootings in the borough was taken down after a long-term investigation, the Brooklyn district attorney announced Friday.

~ ‘INVEST IN US, INVEST IN THE BUS’: CHILDREN OF THE INCARCERATED CALL FOR RETURN OF PRISON VISITATION PROGRAM: Children of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated parents joined with advocates and local officials on the steps of Borough Hall Thursday to call for the passage of a trio of bills that they say would make it easier for families to visit their loved ones in upstate prisons.

~ IN A BLOW TO ICE, JUDGE GREENLIGHTS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING ARRESTS AT NY COURTS: A New York judge denied the U.S. government’s request Thursday to toss out a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in New York courthouses. (AP)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ “High Rises In Bushwick? City’s Rezoning Scheme Ignores Previous Community Plans” (The Indypendent)

~ Meet the chicken who was found roaming the streets of Park Slope. (HuffPost)

~ The delicious brisket and pastrami of David’s Brisket House in Bed-Stuy is now being offered in Williamsburg. (Eater)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “Oceans Apart: A neglected migration crisis off the African coast” (Harper’s Magazine)

~ EAT: Here are the 21 best dishes in New York City that Eater’s editors ate in 2019, including six in Brooklyn. (Eater)

~ CARTOON: Mount Rushmore weighs in on President Trump’s impeachment. (The Week)

~ LIVE: Here are some tips on how to get out of a conversation with someone who talks too much. (NYT)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

7:00PM — Stay Awake: Sagittarius Eurythmy Circle at Anthroposophy NYC. Details.

7:30PM — Yo La Tengo at Bowery Ballroom. Details.

8:00PM — Jeff Rosenstock at Trans Pecos. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1925, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “Another giant skyscraper, to be the largest in Brooklyn by fully 10 stories, is to come to the Boro Hall section. Plans [were filed today] for a 35-story fairylike tower office building for the southwest corner of Court and Montague sts.” Completed in 1927, 16 Court St. today is the home of the modern version of the Eagle.

📔 IMPRINT
Mariah Carey graces the latest cover of Billboard Magazine.

👑 ROYAL WATCH
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry implemented a “no-kissing rule” for all of their wedding pictures. (Cosmopolitan)

🏀 SPORTS
“Where do the Nets go after David Nwaba’s season-ending injury?” (The Athletic)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Donna Tartt, Akihito, Carol Ann Duffy, Susan Lucci, Scott Gomez, Robert Bly, Hanley Ramírez and Jim Harbaugh!