Around Brooklyn: Watch out for that tree!

August 12, 2020 Editorial Staff

This office and retail complex is called DUMBO Heights. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Watch out for that tree!

Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bath Beach), chair of the Committee on Resiliency and Waterfronts, have asked for infrastructure changes and policy reforms to address the challenges faced by southern Brooklyn in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias. The storm downed thousands of trees and left thousands of Con Ed customers without power. Adams and Brannan called for burying overhead power lines, allowing homeowners to hire private contractors to prune trees, and having the city loosen restrictions governing tree pruning.

Brooklyn RE prices hit the roof

A new report by Property Shark shows that in real estate, Brooklyn is closing in on Manhattan as far as pricey neighborhoods are concerned. While the three most expensive neighborhoods are all in Manhattan, they are followed by DUMBO, at number 4, and Carroll Gardens, at number 5. Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood is number 8, and Prospect Heights is number 10. In addition, Gowanus led with sales activities, up 230 percent year over year. On the “other end of things,” Inwood in Northern Manhattan took the title as the “most affordable neighborhood in New York City,” at least as far as condos and co-ops are concerned, according to Time Out New York.

Jay Street busway coming next month

The MTA plans to install the long-awaited busway along Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, which has been covered in the Eagle, next month, closing off a stretch of the busy street to most cars. The five-block-long busway was supposed to be introduced this month, but MTA officials pushed it a month forward to make the plan more workable. The plan was revealed to local community groups in July. Local access will still be available via Willoughby Street and MetroTech from the east, and Johnson Street from the west. The project follows a successful busway on 14th Street in Manhattan, according to amNewYork.

Gillibrand calls for more funding for seniors

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) led Senate colleagues in calling for the inclusion of $1.1 billion in funding for Older Americans Act programs, including $750 million in the next coronavirus relief package. The funding would help support the delivery of nutritious meals for older adults throughout the country. Even before the pandemic, she said, more than 5 million older adults experienced food insecurity and more than 17.4 million lived alone.

Virtual program to explore old-time Brighton Beach

On Saturday, Aug. 22, architectural historian Melanie Macchio will lead a virtual tour of the “Lost Seaside Resorts of Brighton Beach” for the Municipal Art Society. The neighborhood was once a seaside resort with casinos, racetracks, and theaters. Macchio will be telling stories of people who made and lost their fortunes there. For more information, check out the Municipal Art Society’s webpage, according to Brownstoner.

Brooklyn man visiting NC wins $750K in lottery

A Brooklyn man on vacation in Raleigh, North Carolina, won a $750,000 lottery prize in Brunswick County. Officials said Yong Chen bought the winning $10 Jumbo Bucks ticket at a Harris Teeter store. Chen claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After federal and state taxes were deducted, he took $530,628 home, according to WECT in Raleigh.

Open Restaurants to return next summer

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that the city’s Open Restaurants program, which allows restaurants to serve diners on sidewalks and in curb lanes, will return next summer. More than 9,000 restaurants have signed up for the program, which has helped save an estimated 80,000 jobs since June. “In just two months, Open Restaurants has helped re-imagine our public spaces — bringing New Yorkers together to safely enjoy outdoor dining and helping to rescue a critical industry at the same time,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

Virgin islands are out, Alaska is in

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that people from Hawaii, South Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands will now be required to quarantine for 14 days when arriving here. However, Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio and Rhode Island have been removed from the list. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from an area with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average. In New York State itself, the number of intubations and the number of ICU patients are at their lowest since mid-March, according to Gov. Cuomo’s office.

Pop-up mimics 1950s deli

Paulie Gee’s, a well-known pizza chain with outlets from Brooklyn to Chicago, will open a pop-up restaurant known as Edith’s, which pays homage to the classic Jewish deli of the 1950s. The pop-up’s founder is using the Greenpoint location to resurrect her Great Aunt Edith’s deli, which was open in Brooklyn during the 1950s. The menu will include bacon, egg and cheese latkes, pizza bagels, and a pizza bagel with prosciutto, none of which would have been included in a real 1950s Jewish deli. The pop-up will be open from Thursday to Sunday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the original Paulie Gee’s, 60 Greenpoint Ave.

New census deadline could impact Orthodox community

The new deadline for the Census of Sept. 30 will likely mean that the city’s Orthodox and Hasidic neighborhoods will be undercounted, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. In Borough Park, for example, only 49 percent of all residents filled out the census in 2010. The Sept. 30 deadline will be right in the middle of the fall holiday season, between Rosh Hashanah and Simchat Torah. In general, officials in these neighborhoods also have to make extra efforts regarding the census because most ads urging census participation were run on television and through digital advertising, and most Hasidic Jews don’t own TVs or use computers at home.

Detention Center death ruled suicide

The cause of death for Kenneth Houck Jr., who was found hanging at the Metropolitan Detention Center in May, has been ruled a suicide, according to the city’s chief medical examiner. Houck was a child pornography suspect and an MDC inmate. Conditions at the Sunset Park federal facility have been investigated many times in recent years, most recently following a power outage in January that left inmates trapped freezing in their cells, according to Patch. One judge described conditions there as “third world.”

12-year-old raped in cab

A 12-year-old girl was raped in the back seat of a livery cab in Brooklyn on Monday, and the cab driver was arrested, police said. The girl was put into the cab by her parents in Fort Greene around 5 p.m., to be driven to her grandparents’ home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Then, police said, the driver got into the back seat and raped her. He later drove her back to the place she had started and let her out. Rafael Martinez, 32, was arrested Tuesday and charged with rape, criminal sex act, endangering the welfare of a child and more. The girl was taken to Woodhull Hospital, according to PIX11.

Brooklyn tech students win tech prize

Two Brooklyn Tech students, Emily Anghad and Nafisa Azizi, recently won second place in the Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition. The competition asks high school students to create a project based on their independent research. Anghad and Azizi designed a device to separate microplastics from water. “High school research isn’t that common, I would say. And having this footing, this ground work that we have now and if we decide to pursue in undergrad would be really helpful,” Anghad told NY1. The students won $7,000.

Brooklyn baker goes gluten-free

When baker Lani Halliday, a graduate of a French pastry school, developed a wheat allergy, she didn’t stop baking. Instead, she launched a gluten-free bakery, Brutus Bakeshop, named after a childhood friend. While Brutus Bakeshop has no brick-and-mortar store, Halliday has held pop-ups across the city and has an online bakeshop. She has just finished a pop-up at Prospect Heights restaurant Maison Yaki, according to BK Reader.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.