Around Brooklyn: Brooklyn Public Library brings reading rooms outdoors

March 12, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The Brooklyn Public Library’s Bushwick Branch opened in 1908. Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

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Brooklyn Public Library brings reading rooms outdoors

The Brooklyn Public Library is planning on taking its reading rooms outdoors during the next few weeks. Officials said the system would allow patrons to read books or other materials or use the system’s free Wi-Fi connection at 22 of its 60 branches, beginning of April. The system has ordered $55,0000 worth of outdoor furniture and will also provide laptops for outdoor use, according to the Wall Street Journal. Officials from the New York Public Library and Queens Public Library systems are reportedly considering similar moves.
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Joan Millman endorses Simon

Former Assemblymember Joan Millman has endorsed her successor, Jo Anne Simon, for borough president. Millman called Simon, a disability rights lawyer, “a champion for people who have been marginalized.” She also praised Simon’s record as an assemblymember, saying, “she’s passed legislation on campaign finance reform, gender equity, gun law reform and helped codify Roe v. Wade into state law.” Millman added that “As a civic activist, she’s led the charge for responsible, community-driven development that includes affordable housing and is environmentally sound.”

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Queens man busted in Brooklyn shooting

A Queens man was arrested and accused in a weekend shooting that killed a woman and wounded another man outside a party venue in Cypress Hills, police said. Jose Ortiz, 26, of Ridgewood, was arrested Monday in connection to the early Sunday shooting outside the Celebration Events and Party Hall on Atlantic Avenue. He was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. Investigators are still probing whether he fired the fatal shot at Stephanite Munoz, 28, who was blasted in the stomach. The other victim was taken to Woodhull Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the New York Post.
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Family cops with teen’s mysterious death

A Brooklyn family is investigating the growing mystery surrounding the death of their youngest son. Reon Cambridge left his mother’s house and turned up in an emergency room critically injured 10 hours later. The driver of a car with no license plate dumped Cambridge, 19, at Brookdale University Hospital just before 2:20 a.m. and sped off, police said. “No one knows where he was,” his mother, Janice Cambridge, told the Daily News. Family members described him as a fun-loving, family-oriented kid who didn’t have problems with anyone. He was set to graduate from Frontiers High School this year. Reports said he played football and loved to cook dishes from his native Guyana, such as roti and pepperpot.

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Designer-illustrator decorates Brooklyn basketball court

Designer, illustrator and muralist Timothy Goodman’s latest project has been painting an entire basketball court for students at P.S. 315 in Brooklyn. His project is a partnership with the Kevin Durant Foundation, which refurbishes basketball courts and playground in underprivileged neighborhoods across America. “The foundation’s goal is to enrich the lives of at-risk youth from low-income backgrounds through educational, athletic and social programs,” according to Creative Boom, an arts website. Goodman is also the author of “Sharpie Art Workshops” and co-creator of the blog “40 Days of Dating” and the website “People of Craft.”

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Brooklyn group offers maternity center

Two Brooklyn women, Adrienne Nickerson and Elaine Purcell, wondered why pregnant Brooklyn women were often using the services of Manhattan doctors for pre-birth services. They founded Oula, a Brooklyn-based maternity center that combines obstetrics, midwifery, bloodwork, tele-heath and doula services. Last week, Oula’s first clinic in Brooklyn opened, at 109 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights. “In building Oula, we wanted to give pregnant people access to convenient care in Brooklyn, but with the option for their labor and delivery to be in a Manhattan-based hospital, something that is hard to come by with a lot of Brooklyn-based practices,” Nickerson said.

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Cobble Hill townhouse tops real estate deals

The first week of March saw a surge in high-priced townhouses going into contract in Brooklyn, according to The Real Deal. Deals for 19 properties asking $2 million or more were finalized last week. The combined volume of these deals was $60 million, an increase over the previous week’s total volume of $46.2 million. The median asking price was $2.7 million, up slightly from $2.6 million the week before. The most expensive home to go into contract was a $6.4 million townhouse at 92 Amity St. in Cobble Hill, part of the Polhemus Townhouses complex on the old LICH site. The second priciest contract was for a townhouse at 873 President St. in Park Slope.
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Brooklyn bagels step up to the plate

A recent article in The New York Times purporting that California has the best bagels provoked another article in Bklyner about the best bagels in Brooklyn. Among their favorites are Bagel Boy at 8002 Third Ave. in Bay Ridge; Bagel Hole at 400 Seventh Ave. in Park Slope; Baker’s Dozen Bagels on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint; Bergen Bagels at 473 Bergen St. in Boerum Hill; and Dyker Park Gabels at 713 86th Street in Dyker Heights.

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More apartment leases signed in Brooklyn

While rents have been falling all over Brooklyn, most leases are being signed. For example, 701 new leases for one-bedroom apartments were signed last month, an increase of 133.7 percent over the 300 leases signed in February 2020. The number of leases signed for one-bedroom apartments increased by 127 over those signed for the previous month. The trend is most pronounced for smaller units. There are also signs that rents are edging back up, according to published reports.

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Man shot dead outside an escape room

A 24-year-old man was shot dead outside an escape room in Midwood early Thursday, police said. The victim was shot in the chest outside the Peddlers and Parchments Escape Room, billed as “the first Jewish escape room in America,” on Avenue M near East 19th Street around 12:30 a.m. The man was rushed to New York Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the New York Post.
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Man shot at Kings Plaza dies

An 18-year-old man shot in the head during an argument at Kings Plaza Shopping Center died three days later, police said. Jalil Stewart was shot at the shopping center, around the corner from his home, around 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 26. Stewart was rushed to Kings County Hospital, then transferred to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died on March 1. He had no criminal history, according to the Daily News.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.