Around Brooklyn: Citi Bike to install innovative bike stations

September 1, 2020 Editorial Staff

This is Coney Island’s Shrine Church of Our Lady of Solace. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Citi Bike to install innovative bike stations

Beginning this month, Lyft, the owner of Citi Bike, and the city Department of Transportation plan to install a new type of bicycle dock that will be located on both the roadbed and on the sidewalk. Lyft and DOT currently use such “bridging” to accommodate such fixtures as utilities and tree pits. The “3D bridging” pilot allows stations that are on the roadbed to extend onto the sidewalk, and vice versa. Among the locations for these bridging docks will be Clinton and Johnson streets, Duffield and Willoughby streets, Willoughby Avenue and Hall Street, and Emerson Place and Myrtle Avenue, according to Brooklyn Community Board 2.

Rose wants museum to remove Sackler name

U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island) wants the Metropolitan Museum of Art to remove the Sackler family name from its halls. The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, which introduced Oxycodone and which has been criticized for its direct marketing to physicians. The family and Purdue Pharma are being sued by the State of New York and 23 other states, but the lawsuit has been on hold as the company goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “The Sackler family name is tainted by the blood of hundreds of thousands who have died from the opioid epidemic,” Rose said.

Community boards rebuff mayor’s call for layoffs

In the midst of this year’s budget shortfalls, Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking the city’s community boards to voluntarily lay off some of their paid staff workers, but several Brooklyn boards have rejected the call. Theresa Scavo, chair of Community Board 15 in Sheepshead Bay, said, “Absolutely not, we have a very small staff to begin with [and] for us to voluntarily get rid of another staff member is out of the question.” The Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget asked city planning board chairs during a teleconference on Aug. 19 to consider cutting back their staff, which is usually about three people per board, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Gang member linked to shooting of Cuomo aide

A Brooklyn gang member was arrested for possessing weapons and ammunition that was used in a shooting that resulted in the stray-bullet killing of an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015. Stanley Elianor, 29, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition while having previously been convicted of another crime. According to the new charges, in the early hours of Sept. 7, 2015, Elianor allegedly attended the J’ouvert festival with fellow Folk Nation gang members, then engaged in a shootout with the Crips gang outside the Ebbets Field Houses in Crown Heights, according to amNewYork. In the shootout, Carey Gabay, an aide to Cuomo, was struck in the head by a stray bullet, and he later died.

Hot 97 fires man linked to Hawkins death

Hip-hop-oriented radio station Hot 97 recently fired employee Pasquale Raucci, who has been linked to the death of Black teenager Yusuf Hawkins in 1989. Raucci worked for the station for more than two decades, but his role in the slaying came to light in the recent TV documentary, “Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn.” While Joe Fama was eventually convicted as the man who pulled the trigger, at age 19 Raucci faced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, rioting, assault and more. Raucci, who was working at the station under the name of “Paddy Duke,” was acquitted of the felony counts in 1991, but admitted that he was one of the mob of about 20 youths who chased Hawkins and three friends through the streets of Bensonhurst with baseball bats, according to Caribbean Life.

Colton slams city’s handling of garbage

Assemblymember William Colton(Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) is criticizing the city administration for its mismanagement of garbage. “Monday morning, a constituent came to my office with a complaint about a significant amount of garbage, like soiled clothes, black garbage bags, cardboard boxes, and so on, at West 7 Street and Avenue T in Brooklyn.” When his office contacted Sanitation by e-mail, the only response was that it would dispatch an officer to investigate, “once resources become available.” Colton also pointed out that Mayor Bill de Blasio “reduced the budget for litter baskets by 63 percent compared to last year.”

MTA completes work on segment of track

The MTA on Monday announced that major switch replacement work on the 4, 5 and 6 lines has been completed. Crews began the repairs on Aug. 10, focusing on the removal and reinstallation of track and track beds, as well as the component parts that make the switches work more reliably. The work required overnight and weekend suspension of these train lines in Brooklyn and in Manhattan south of 42nd Street. Replacing track switches at Union Square, for example, will allow the 4, 5 and 6 lines to move safely between the local and express tracks at that location.

Shellfish cages dunked into water off BBP

Scientists with the Billion Oyster Project submerged 30 new shellfish cages in the waterway off Brooklyn Bridge Park on Friday, part of a long-term project to bring oysters to Brooklyn’s shorelines. The cages contained oyster larvae and shells, which will hopefully develop into a community of adult oysters. While in the water, the oyster larvae will grow, filter river water and serve as an educational tool for school groups. Oysters were once plentiful in the waters surrounding New York before they were wiped out by overharvesting and pollution. One adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, according to amNewYork. The Billion Oyster Project is located on Governors Island.

Church caretaker shot to death

Edward James, a 62-year-old church caretaker, was shot to death in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Monday. Just after 5 p.m., James, who lived on Jefferson Street, was chased by an unidentified man into the Glorious Church of God in Christ on Halsey Street, where he was shot in the back. He was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. James, who was known as Swayne, reportedly had a family, but members of the church took him in after he became homeless. Deacon Ronald Porter said James was dedicated to the church, according to amNewYork.

Whole Foods opens first online-only store

Whole Foods has opened its first permanent online-only store in Brooklyn to fulfill orders for delivery. Like other retailers’ online-only stores, this store will not be open to the public. Demand for online grocery delivery and curbside pickup has grown in popularity since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the new store was already being developed before COVID-19, Nicole Wescoe, Whole Foods president for the Northeast, told USA Today.

Woman shot while standing on porch

A 59-year-old woman was shot while standing on a neighbor’s front porch in Brownsville early Sunday morning. Sharon Hasty was hit in the leg on Riverdale Avenue and was taken by ambulance to Brookdale Hospital, where she was reported in stable condition. It is unclear whether she was the intended target. Her daughter, Tempest Leggard, told the New York Post that she had survived breast cancer and two knee replacements.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.