Around Brooklyn: Myrie introduces anti-weapons legislation

August 19, 2020 Editorial Staff

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s magnolias were magnificent on the day of my visit. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s magnolias. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Myrie introduces anti-weapons legislation

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brownsville-Crown Heights-East Flatbush-Gowanus) has introduced legislation that would amend New York State’s criminal nuisance law to include the sale or manufacture of products that endanger people’s health or safety. “In the wake of a gun violence epidemic plaguing the city, state, and nation, we have a duty to hold all responsible parties accountable,” said Myrie. “While communities of color have died disproportionately from gun violence and COVID-19 over the past five months, gun manufacturers have seen their stocks and profits soar.” Myrie’s amendment would clarify that the state’s existing Criminal Nuisance law does, in fact, apply to the manufacture and sale of dangerous weapons.

Five bells and all is well

A new art installation featuring five giant bells within 14-foot-tall structures is slated to open this week in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The installation, known as Reverberation, is created by San Francisco-based artist Davina Semo and allows visitors to ring each bell. The exhibit, curated by the Public Art Fund, will be at the waterfront park from Aug. 20 through April 21, 2021. Each bell has a different pitch, and the bells have been painted orange, according to 6sqft.com.

10-story building planned for Crown Heights

Permits have been filed for a 10-story apartment building at 1499 Bedford Ave. in Crown Heights. The site, at the intersection of St. Johns Place and Bedford Avenue, is currently occupied by a one-story school building and is two blocks from the Franklin Avenue station on Eastern Parkway. Cheskie Weiss is listed as the owner, and Mohamed Mabrouk of MHM Engineering is listed as the architect of record. The building is slated to have 98 apartments, most likely rentals, as well as 49 enclosed parking spaces.

Catholic schools to have full-time classrooms

While the city’s public schools are seeking a mix of in-person and online learning, most of the 66 Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens will start the year with full-time classroom instruction. “We are pleased with the governor’s recent announcement regarding the reopening of schools,” said Thomas Chadzutko, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Brooklyn. “This is a great first step in the right direction to helping our children safely return to the classroom.” The Diocese said in a statement that the majority of schools wanted 100-percent-in-class instruction. The schools will enforce regular temperature checks, social distancing and wearing of masks, according to the New York Post.

More than one toke over the line

The NYPD confiscated 400 pounds of Marijuana on Monday afternoon at a warehouse in East Williamsburg, police said. Four men were trying to pick up packages at a warehouse at 500 Gardiner Ave. around 4:30 p.m. when a manager asked what they were doing. The men fled without the packages, so the manager opened them. He called police when he realized they contained a large amount of marijuana. More details weren’t immediately available, according to the New York Post.

Colton calls for safety plan for schools

Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend-Bensonhurst-Bath Beach-Dyker Heights) is calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza to come up with a detailed safety plan that ensures that the safety of parents, students, and staff is adequately provided for amid the reopening NYC Public Schools. “Schools have been closed since March 2020 due to COVID-19. Now when we are one month away from the new school year to begin, controversies have started about schools reopening. Why did no one bother to think about or discuss safety plans in advance, so that the new school year can begin safely?” he asked.

Brooklyn Arts Council has new artists’ aid project

The Brooklyn Arts Council has established a new collaboration known as artists X-change, a collective of artists who have joined forces to provide mutual aid to artists in need and those impacted by COVID-19. The group’s first initiative is the BoX Project. BoX provides art lovers a way to donate to an artist and receive a unique piece of art in return. Brooklyn Arts Council will be the recipient of all funds raised through the project. BoX Project Edition 1 will be made available starting Sept. 15 as part of the finale to Brooklyn Arts Council’s 2020 Mutual Aid Art Sale.

Riders Alliance comments on return of bus fare collection

On the occasion of the return of bus fare collection, Riders Alliance Organizing Manager Stephanie Burgos-Veras said, “As bus fare collection resumes, Governor Cuomo and MTA leaders must also implement all-door boarding on every local bus by year’s end as promised. Post-COVID, all-door boarding is more important to riders than ever. All-door boarding both helps riders maintain social distance and speeds up buses with the latest fare-payment technology. With fare collection returning, Governor Cuomo shouldn’t waste riders’ money on more MTA policing. Instead, the governor should make our transit system both fairer and safer by adding more frequent bus service to routinely overcrowded routes through New York’s most heavily transit-dependent neighborhoods.”

Dems add trans members to committee

One week after Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, the chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, appointed a 12-member task force to examine the party’s gender parity requirements for election to the Count Committee, she announced the appointment of four members, including transgender activist T.S. Candii and non-binary AIDS community organizer Jason L. Walker. The original group did not include any non-binary or trans members. Decades-old rules require each Assembly district to hold elections for both a male and a female representative. As Bichotte noted, women now make up more than a majority of grassroots party activists in Brooklyn, so the old requirement actually limits women’s participation, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Brooklynites still clap for frontline workers

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, New Yorkers took to their stoops and balconies every night at 7 p.m. to make as much noise as possible to honor frontline workers. As the crisis abated, the custom began to die out. However, one group was still out across from the Cobble Hill Health Center on Henry Street, banging on cowbells, tambourines, plastic barrels and other objects, according to NY1 News.

Man killed in drive-by shooting

A man was killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night in East Flatbush that police think may be gang-related. The victim, age 26, was standing on the corner of East 92nd Street and Kings Highway around 7:20 p.m. when two men in a dark sedan pulled up. One of them opened fire, hitting the man in the head. EMS crews took the victim to Brookdale Hospital, but he didn’t survive, according to the Daily News. A large pool of blood remained at the scene.

Rats infest Sunset Park street

Rats are running around the area of 50th Street in Sunset Park in broad daylight, local residents say. Local residents say the problem started in 2017, when the reopening of the renovated 53rd and 59th Street subway stations drove the rodents to their block. Some residents say the rats have been chewing through concrete, brownstone and plaster, trying to get into the houses. Reduced trash pickup during the coronavirus pandemic and trash left by illegal food vendors also makes the situation worse. “They hop house to house looking for open trash bins,” a resident told the Brooklyn Paper.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.