Brooklyn Today: How NY is fighting anti-Semitism

January 6, 2020 Brooklyn Today

Greenpoint. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane

Greenpoint. Paul Frangipane/Brooklyn Eagle

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THE LEDE: Amid a spike in attacks on Jewish New Yorkers citywide, lawmakers at every level are pledging to take action. Days after the mayor promised to beef up police patrol in Brooklyn’s Jewish communities, Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent New Year’s Day in Williamsburg, where he swore to boost the number of state police in all Orthodox communities across New York.

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THE RUNDOWN

~ IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM, LOCAL OFFICIALS TURN TO HIGH SCHOOLERS: The schools chancellor, borough president, the city’s first lady and other local officials gathered in a classroom at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Borough Park Friday morning to discuss anti-Semitism and hate crimes amid a spike in incidents across the city and country.

~ FROM THE FEDERAL TO THE LOCAL, HOW NEW YORK IS FIGHTING ANTI-SEMITISM: The city’s congressional caucus is increasing funds to related nonprofits and houses of worship, the City Council is asking for more transparency from police, and the borough president wants to break bread with Brooklynites of different backgrounds.

~ IN 2019, FEWER THAN 100 MURDERS IN BROOKLYN FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW: There were fewer than 100 murders in Brooklyn for the second year in a row in 2019, while the number of shooting incidents dropped 6.8 percent in the borough, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Friday.

~ A WINTER HIKE ON MARINE PARK’S NATURE TRAILS: Marine Park has a nature preserve whose hiking trails make you feel like you’re far, far away from Brooklyn. In truth, you’re on Avenue U, surrounded by a busy residential neighborhood.

~ THE NAVY YARD COMPANY THAT HELPS YOU GROW YOUR OWN FOOD: Farmshelf, a Brooklyn Navy Yard-based company, is taking food access to a whole new level, and hoping to help solve some of the planet’s growing environmental problems along the way.

~ SUNSET PARK MASS SHOOTING MAY HAVE BEEN WEED DEAL GONE BAD: POLICE SOURCE: A mass shooting off Sunset Park’s Third Avenue left three men and one woman wounded Thursday evening, and a police source said it may have been a drug deal gone awry.

~ THE MIDWOOD CHARTER SCHOOL DEBATE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM: OPINION: “Do not label this racism, nor rush to make judgement calls about people with whom you are not well acquainted, because it makes a sensationalistic opinion piece,” writes our guest columnist.

~ SPECIAL ED PRE-K TEACHERS EARN MUCH LESS THAN THEIR GENERAL EDUCATION CO-TEACHERS: In a quirk of the system, general education teachers at privately-run preschools like [Brooklyn’s HeartShare] Taranto are paid through city-funded contracts, while the special education preschool teachers they work alongside are paid mostly by the state. (Chalkbeat)

MORE BROOKLYN NEWS

~ Take a look inside Rhodora Wine Bar, Fort Greene’s zero waste restaurant. (NYT)

~ The Nevins Street subway raccoon was caught and released in Prospect Park. (Gothamist)

~ Meet Kyle Depew. He pays $475 a month to live inside a yurt in a Bed-Stuy backyard. (The Cut)

STAFF PICKS

~ READ: “The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer” (Texas Monthly)

~ EAT: From Sunset Park to Bushwick, here are the 13 hottest restaurants in Brooklyn this month. (Eater)

~ CARTOON: President Trump creates a distraction. (The Week)

~ DINE: The traditional American restaurant review, created in 1957, is undergoing a “midlife crisis,” according to one writer. (The Los Angeles Review of Books)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

7:00PM — Daniel Levitin: “Successful Aging” at The Strand. Details.

7:30PM — Chani Nicholas in Conversation with Paola Mendoza at 92nd Street Y. Details.

8:00PM — Oscar & Walt at The National Arts Club. Details.

THE WRAP

⌛ ON THIS DAY
In 1919, the Brooklyn Eagle reported, “Oyster Bay, L.I. — Colonel Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep early today at his home on Sagamore Hill in this village. The exact time of Colonel Roosevelt’s death was 4:15 a.m., as nearly as can be determined, for there was no person at his bedside at the moment he passed away.”

IMPRINT
Jennifer Lopez graces the latest cover of W Magazine.

ROYAL WATCH
“15 photos that show how meeting a royal has changed through the years” (INSIDER)

SPORTS
The Brooklyn Nets waived David Nwaba. (ESPN)

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to Kate McKinnon, Eddie Redmayne, Rowan Atkinson, Gilbert Arenas, Gabrielle Reece, Norman Reedus, Ndamukong Suh, Joey Lauren Adams, Lou Holtz, Howie Long and Jameis Winston!