Around Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum to present outdoor videos

September 18, 2020 Editorial Staff

Here lies Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

Henry Bergh, the founder of the ASPCA, is buried here at The Green-Wood Cemetery. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Brooklyn Museum to present outdoor videos

This fall, the Brooklyn Museum is presenting “Art on the Stoop: Sunset Screenings,” an outdoor exhibition of video art, Wednesday evenings through Sunday evenings. The two-hour-long screenings will continue through Nov. 8 and explore a variety of themes. Some of the videos were commissioned by the museum itself, such as Tournaline’s “Salacia” (2019), which explores the life of Mary Jones, a Black transgender woman of the early 19th century; Rashaad Newsome’s “KNOT” (2014), which examines ballroom culture and vogue dancing; and Marilyn Minter’s “Smash” (also 2014), which “evokes the power of feminism in shattering proverbial glass ceilings.”

Nadler speaks in support of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) recently spoke on the House of Representatives floor in support of H.R. 2694, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was first introduced 2012. The bill would guarantee workplace protection to pregnant workers. “Pregnancy is not a disability, but sometimes pregnant workers need an easy fix such as a stool or an extra bathroom break to stay on the job,” he said. “These accommodations are short in duration and typically cost very little to provide, but they can mean the difference between keeping your job or putting your pregnancy at risk.”

Brooklyn behind other boroughs in census responses

With only two weeks left in the census count, Brooklyn still lags behind New York City’s response rate in the once-every-10-years survey, census officials say. Official data shows that Kings County is in last place, with 56.8 percent. Staten Island is in first place with 64.8 percent. Mayor Bill de Blasio went door-to-door through Canarsie himself to encourage Brooklynites to complete the survey, which could have an effect on city funding for the borough for the next 10 years, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Patient dies when firetruck, ambulance crash

An ambulance racing a patient to the hospital collided with a firetruck responding to a fire in Bedford-Stuyvesant early Thursday morning, leaving the patient dead and a family member injured. The fire truck, Ladder 102, T-boned the ambulance at Myrtle and Throop avenues around 12:45 a.m. The patient, Jamil Almansouri, known informally as Mike, was being rushed to Woodhull Hospital at the time of the crash. His brother told Eyewitness News that he owned a small grocery store not far from the crash scene. Eight firefighters and EMS personnel were also injured.

Colton slams de Blasio’s administration

Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend-Bensonhurst-Bath Beach) recently said that under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, New York has become a “lost city.” “My office received a complaint that Seth Low Park in Brooklyn is in horrible condition. The playground is filthy, and an enormous amount of garbage is all over the park. I was also told that the park is infested with vermin, and that is a health hazard for everyone, especially children,” he said. Colton also attacked the mayor for defunding the NYPD, cutting back the litter-box removal schedule, and threatening to lay off 22,000 city workers.

Rose helps to pass anti-bullying legislation

U.S. Rep. Max Rose (D-Southern Brooklyn-Staten Island) recently helped to pass the bipartisan Danny’s Law to address bullying in schools. The legislation is named in honor of Daniel Fitzpatrick, a 13-year-old boy from Staten Island who took his own life after being bullied at school in 2016. “In times like this, when our country is growing ever more divided, we need to be teaching our children not the art of division, but how to one another, respect each other, work with each other,” Rose said in a speech on the House floor prior to passage.

DUMBO Drop combines virtual, real-life events

The DUMBO Business Improvement District’s annual fundraising spectacle, the DUMBO Drop, which supports the neighborhood’s Title 1 schools, will be a three-day-long celebration this year, kicking off with a virtual event, “DUMBO Drop 2020, the Great Pivot,” on Friday, Oct. 16. This year’s DUMBO Drop event will feature a contest with a grand prize of a $2,000 neighborhood shopping spree. Individuals can enter the DUMBO Drop contest online by visiting https://dumbo.is/dropping-elephants. Funds raised will benefit P.S. 307 and the Dock Street Middle School.

Family of slain trans woman demands answers

A transgender woman from Chicago was found dead in Brooklyn on the morning of Sept. 7, but the circumstances surrounding her death remain in question, and the victim’s sister suspects she may have been killed. Police responded to a call at 8:30 that morning regarding an unconscious individual at 9720 Kings Highway in Brownsville, and when they arrived they found her unconscious and unresponsive. EMS workers pronounced her dead at the scene. Police later identified her as Gianna Lofton of Chicago, 21, but her sister, Stantasia Jones, said her sibling was known as Isabella Mia Lofton. Although detectives told her that the results of an autopsy said she had been intoxicated and using drugs, Jones isn’t convinced that her sister’s death was accidental, according to amNewYork.

Couple assaults man who asked them to wear mask

A man was assaulted by a man and woman in a Brooklyn subway station after he asked them to wear a mask. Police said he was standing on the Union Street station M and R lines platform around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when he got into an argument with the attackers. It soon escalated into a physical confrontation. The man and woman began hitting the victim in the head and body. The male attacker then grabbed the victim’s cellphone and threw it to the ground, while the female attacker sprayed him with what might have been pepper spray, according to PIX11.

Haitian community seeks to save church school

A group of Haitian immigrants, parents and ministers on Sept. 16 launched a campaign to build rent-stabilized housing in Crown Heights that would also fund the restoration of a historic school building. The 40-year-old Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Bilingual School will be the beneficiary of a collaboration with Hope Street Capital to build more than 180 units of affordable housing. “This project will protect our past and ensure our future by raising needed funds to restore our school building while providing rent-stabilized housing for the Crown Heights community,” said Dr. Daniel Honore, the Haitian-born president of the Northeastern Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

‘The Willoughby’ tops off near LIU

Last month, RXR Realty celebrated the topping off of The Willoughby, a 145-story tower at 196 Willoughby St. near LIU-Brooklyn. The building contains apartments, office space, a rooftop athletic field nearby, and parking for 564 vehicles (at the LIU building adjacent). Of the 476 apartments, 143 are set at an affordable rate. The building was designed by Perkins Eastman. “Today’s topping off represents empirical evidence that we are bringing New York back to life,” said Kichael Maturo, president of RXR Realty.

Taxi driver shot during attempted robbery

A taxi driver was shot in the neck during an attempted robbery in Williamsburg early Friday. A passenger in the back seat of a green cab fired a gun at the 62-year-old driver at Bogart and Grattan streets just after midnight, according to police. The gunman had tried to rob the driver but was unsuccessful. He then ran off and had not been arrested as of Friday, according to the New York Post. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.

Man set on fire in Crown Heights

A man was critically injured when he was set on fire in Crown Heights. Just after 9:30 p.m., police officers found the man, 46, surrounded by flames on the corner of Schenectady Avenue and Rutland Road. Cops used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and EMS crews took the man to a local hospital in critical condition, according to PIX 11.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.