Around Brooklyn: Vandalism in Prospect Park

April 22, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Trash is scattered everywhere. Photo courtesy of Prospect Park Alliance

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Vandalism in Prospect Park

On Tuesday night, in a massive act of vandalism, dozens of trash cans were overturned and piles of litter were strewn around Prospect Park, according to the Prospect Park Alliance. On Wednesday morning, park workers, volunteers and community members mobilized with incredible speed and, by late afternoon, the damage had been cleared up. “To see our community mobilize so quickly for the park was truly a silver lining,” Prospect Park’s Facebook page said.

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Ex guns down girlfriend’s father

The ex-boyfriend of a Brooklyn woman gunned down his former girlfriend’s father after they fought outside the killer’s home, police said. The one-time couple, who have a child together, argued earlier at a nightclub on Tuesday. The, the woman went to her ex’s Brownsville home and the quarrel continued in their front yard. Vernon Kelly, 49, heard the arguing and rushed to the scene from his Flatlands home with his fiancée. When Kelly defended his daughter, the 31-year-old ex-boyfriend pulled out a gun and shot him in the head and chest, according to the Daily News. The ex got into a car and fled the scene. EMS crews rushed Kelly, well known as the super of his building, to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died about a half hour later. Kelly also played music at local parties and was known as DJ Backstreet.

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Caribbeans rally for St. Vincent

Vincentians and other Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn recently rallied around St. Vincent and the Grenadines in its plea for urgent aid amid continuing eruptions of its La Soufriere volcano. Hundreds of people brought relief supplies and packed boxes, barrels and crates on Saturday and Sunday at Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center. Verna Arthur, head of the relief drive, told Caribbean Life, “It’s expected that Vincentians would respond to our country’s clarion call, because that’s what we do without hesitation, but the outpouring of support of our Caribbean brothers and sisters, and other countries, is astounding.”

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Driver accused of attack on Hasidim

New York police have arrested the driver responsible for a deliberate hit-and-run attack Saturday on five Brooklyn Hasidim. The minivan driver was caught on camera intentionally backing up into five pedestrians in Williamsburg, New York, striking the victims twice and initially lingering on the scene before ultimately speeding away. The NYPD reportedly nabbed the suspect — Shokhobiddin Bakhritdinovon, 26 — on Sunday, after his car was spotted by members of Shomrim, according to the Algemeiner Journal, an Orthodox Jewish publication.

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Online tipsters led feds to suspect

A Brooklyn man charged Tuesday for attending the riots at the U.S. Capitol was found based on a tip from a Facebook group, court documents show. Dovid Schwartzberg, 19, turned himself into the FBI on Tuesday after admitting to investigators that he was the person in photos showing people leaving the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors said. His arrest comes three months after a person who saw the photos in a Facebook group sent them, and a Twitter video of Schwartzberg, to the FBI, according to the court documents. The FBI later confirmed with DMV photos, surveillance video, and eventually Schwartzberg himself, that it was him in the photos and video, according to Patch.

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Climbing gym to open in Greenpoint

VITAL Brooklyn, a new 24-hour climbing gym, will open in a former warehouse in Greenpoint this May. Founders David Sacher and Nam Phan are dedicated to climbing and bouldering, but they also want to create a community for fitness-minded folks by casting a wider net. That’s why the gym is so much more than rock walls. There’s a fully decked-out cycling studio with a great sound system, fitness classes, weight machines, full programs with instructors for those who want to do yoga, aerial silks or other types of exercise, according to Time Out New York.

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Clarke applauds Chauvin conviction

U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke said, on the subject of the Derek Chauvin conviction: “Derek Chauvin was given the due process he denied George Floyd, and he must serve his sentence. He was convicted and found guilty on all three counts. While this verdict will not bring George Floyd back, this is also a proud day for America. This verdict is a start — and the sentencing must match the egregious nature of the crime — but it does not absolve Congress and the federal government of our responsibility to reform policing across the country.”

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Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce praises Chauvin verdict

“Today’s verdict brings an element of comfort and assurance that justice was served following the murder of George Floyd,” said Randy Peers, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday. “This is a step in the right direction to address the long history of racism and violence in this country as we seek to truly embrace systemic change and ensure fairness under the law applies to all.”

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Union boss accused of bribe-taking

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused the boss of the Brooklyn chapter of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of taking bribes from hundreds of workers. Salvatore Tagliaferro, president of Local 926 of the union, faces a two-week trial in Manhattan Federal Court for the alleged admissions-bribery scheme between 2017 and 2019 “ The bribes allegedly began as payments in the hundreds of dollars. By the end, Tagliaferro was pocketing as much as $2,000 per bribe from people seeking membership in the union, prosecutors say. His attorney insisted that Tagliaferro was merely the “dupe” of John DeFalco, vice president of the union’s Manhattan chapter, according to the Daily News.

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Brooklyn woman nabbed for anti-Asian attack

Police on Tuesday arrested a Brooklyn woman who allegedly berated and slapped a woman in Chinatown while yelling anti-Asian statements. Cheyenne Taylor, 29, of Freeport Loop was charged on April 20 with aggravated assault as a hate crime for the April 7 incident on Grand Street in Manhattan. Cops say Taylor approached the victim, a young woman who was sitting with a friend at a sidewalk café, let loose with hate statements and slapped the victim’s face, according to published reports.

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Turnstile jumper kicks, bites cops

A turnstile jumper fought with police at a Brooklyn subway station, biting, kicking and spitting on police officers who were planning to let him go with a warning. The incident began when NYPD Transit Bureau cops saw Darion Harrington, 26, jumping a turnstile at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station. When cops approached him, a friend swiped him through. However, when Harrington spit on a sergeant’s boot, cops tried to arrest him and he fought back, screaming and allegedly biting the finger of an officer trying to put a face mask on him. He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital for a psych evaluation, according to the New York Post.

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Leasing begins at Greenpoint building

Caspi Development has begun leasing at The West, a new apartment community near the East River waterfront in Greenpoint. The 22-unit apartment community includes seven apartments that are part of the Affordable New York program, The property was developed by Caspi, Barone Management and Matt Development. Corcoran New Development is the exclusive leasing agent. The West offers features and finishes including herringbone wood floors, Bosch cooktops and microwaves and Kohler fixtures, according to Multifamily Housing News.

Compiled by Raanan Geberer.