Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, July 6, 2021

July 6, 2021 By Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ALARMING REPORT ABOUT WATER IN DOE SCHOOLS: Comptroller Scott M. Stringer has released an audit uncovering weaknesses, inefficiencies, and delays in the New York City Department of Education’s (DOE’s) testing of lead levels in water and subsequent remediation of fixtures. The findings showed that, while the DOE ultimately did perform testing of all schools as required, none of them received the primary testing by the October 31, 2016 deadline set by the Lead Testing in School Drinking Water regulation of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The audit further found that water fixtures in Brooklyn schools were awaiting repairs for over three years, including 27 at one school located in Bushwick and 23 at another school located in East New York.

Comptroller Stringer outlined a comprehensive set of recommendations to improve the DOE’s handling and remediation of fixtures requiring lead testing in the city’s schools to ensure all students and staff are protected from dangerous lead.

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NEW CHURCH OPENS ON HISTORIC WILLIAMSBURG SITE: For the first time since 2008, a new church was opened in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, diocesan bishop, dedicated the new Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church and consecrated its altar at a special Mass on June 29, the patronal solemnity of the saints for whom the new church is named.

The church building has a 550-seat capacity, and is home to diocese’s new arts center The Emmaus Center, itself a freshly renovated 600-seat theater. It was originally the historic Williamsburg Opera House, and was built in 1897.

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COSMIC AMERICAN MUSIC: The Coolest Ranch Trio, which specializes in Cosmic American Music, will perform at the second annual Summer Concert Series of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church and Pro-Cathedral in Brooklyn Heights this Thursday, July 8. Balancing city sophistication and country comforts, The Coolest Ranch brings the best songs of the 20th century “into the 21st like crate diggers of the digital age,” with classic blues, country, and bits and pieces of the American songbook and folk repertoire jazzed up.

The 6 p.m. concert is a benefit for the landmark parish’s St. Ann’s Pop-Up Pantry on its first anniversary. Concertgoers
are asked to donate food items or make a financial donation to St. Ann’s Pop-Up Pantry, which was launched in June 2020 in response to the pandemic-related financial crisis.

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GODSQUAD MARKS 11 YEARS FIGHTING GUN VIOLENCE: The 67th Precinct Clergy Council’s GodSquad is celebrating its 11th anniversary this year. A benefit gala is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 14 to help GodSquad in its work of ending gun violence. Tickets can be purchased online at www.GodSquadNY.org. The 67th Precinct serves East Flatbush and Remsen Village.

Honorees include Mayor Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Assembly Member Latrice Walker (55th District).

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HOMETOWN HEROES: New York City’s “Hometown Heroes” parade and ceremony, which will depart from Manhattan’s Battery Park, begins at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7th. The parade, which will honor all the essential workers who brought New York City through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, will feature 14 different floats, making it one of the largest ticker tape parades in the city’s history. Queens nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the United States to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, will serve as the parade’s Grand Marshal.

The 14 floats represent 260 different groups of essential workers from several categories: Hospitals, healthcare, first responders, emergency food, advocacy organizations, utilities, education and childcare.