Good Morning, Brooklyn: Monday, July 12, 2021

July 12, 2021 By Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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KINGSBORO PSYCH CENTER REVITALIZATION: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday announced the selection of the winning proposal to redevelop 7.2 acres of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center campus in East Flatbush, as part of the $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn Initiative, which was launched in 2017. The development will include 900 affordable homes, ample public green space, a full-sized basketball court, areas for urban farming, a greenhouse, and dedicated space for community empowerment programs. The more than $400 million project includes approximately 900 units of affordable and supportive housing, and senior housing; opportunities for homeownership; and two state-of-the-art homeless shelters, replacing the existing, aging shelters originally built in the 1930s.

The development will create 3,700 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs for area residents. The project proposal achieves 30 percent towards the New York State’s nation-leading certified MWBE (Minority and Women-Owned Businesses) goals.

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REP. MALONEY VISITS. NEW HOME OF BROOKLYN ANGELS: Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY 12^th District, Greenpoint) this week visited the North Brooklyn Angels’ new facility on Kent Street. The Congressperson who represents Greenpoint in the 12^th District, recently submitted a community project funding request for $676,000 to expand the North Brooklyn Angels’ preparation and distribution of free meals and produce to food-insecure individuals and to fund projects such as Operation Neighbors Feeding Seniors to provide thousands of meals to homebound seniors.

North Brooklyn Angels would provide funding to replace the organization’s mobile soup kitchen “Angelmobile,” as well as maintenance supplies necessary for mobile food distribution. The funding would also be used for the obtainment and distribution of bulk produce and food supplies, hot meals, and necessities for young children, and to form partnerships with social service professionals to provide resources for other needs, including housing.

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REIMBURSE UNIFORM LAUNDRY CHARGES: New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday announced an agreement with airline service company Eulen America (Eulen) for its failure to reimburse employees of American Airlines at JFK Airport, more than half a million dollars for the laundering costs of their required uniforms. New York Labor Law requires employers to reimburse minimum-wage workers who are required to wear uniforms for laundering costs at a fixed rate per week. Eulen’s failure to follow the law led to consistent minimum-wage violations from 2014 to 2020.

The agreement stipulates that, Eulen — which provides passenger services at JFK Airport as a subcontractor to American Airlines — will deliver $590,000 to approximately 1,500 workers who were forced to pay for laundry costs out of their minimum wage paychecks.

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GRADUATION GIFT FROM BROOKLYN NETS: The Brooklyn Nets, in partnership with Motorola and Verizon, surprised nearly 50 graduating high school seniors currently in New York City temporary housing with free, prepaid smartphones. Motorola, the official mobile handset partner of the Brooklyn Nets, provided the students with new moto x4 smartphones, and Verizon, the official 5G partner of the Nets and Barclays Center, is covering the cost of an unlimited data plan for two years.

The S.I.M.B.A. and A.S.E.T. students were surprised with the smartphones while attending a private tour of Barclays Center with Nets Legend Albert King. The students also received a $150 voucher to redeem in the Nets’ new retail store, Brooklyn Style. S.I.M.B.A. and A.S.E.T., two Department of Education programs geared toward helping New York City high school students living in temporary housing.

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SMALL BUSINESS RECOVERY GRANTS: The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is hosting workshops twice each week on the application process for the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program. Created to provide flexible grant assistance to currently viable small businesses, micro-businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations in the State of New York that have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program will award grants up to $50,000. Businesses must demonstrate at least 25% loss in annual gross receipts in a year-to-year gross receipt comparison as of Dec. 31, 2020 to the same period in 2019, and will need to provide tax return documentation.

The Brooklyn Chamber’s workshops are offered Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and Fridays at 9 a.m., with the next session taking place on Tuesday, July 13. To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/o/brooklyn-chamber-of-commerce-31409861647

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CENSUS PULSE ON SMALL BUSINESS: The U.S. Census Bureau’s weekly Pulse on Small Businesses reports that 17.4% of smaller companies report the need to identify new supply chain options in the next six months. For responses collected the previous week, June 21-27, this statistic was 18 percent. And a significant 64.6% of U.S. manufacturing small businesses experienced domestic supplier delays in the last week. In hiring, 22 percent of U.S. small businesses report current operating capacity to be affected by availability of employees in the last week.

The Census Bureau has launched a new tool — the COVID-19 Data Hub — designed to help guide the nation as it begins recovery efforts from the sweeping COVID-19 pandemic by providing economic and demographic data. Version 2.3 is now available.

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FREE SUMMER SPORTS TRAINING: City Parks Foundation kicked off its 2021 free summer sports programs for young people this coming week. The programs, running from July through August, include free instruction and use of equipment for New York City youth in tennis, golf, track & field, in more than more than 30 locations citywide, including McCarren Park, Marine Park, Prospect Park, Jackie Robinson Park and Lincoln Terrace Park. Registration for programs is still available in advance online at cityparksfoundation.org/play.

BNP Paribas is the presenting sponsor of CityParks Tennis. LACOSTE is a supporting sponsor of the program.

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BILLS AND FUNDING TO CONTINUE THE COVID-19 FIGHT: U.S. Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and John Katko (R-NY) introduced a bipartisan COVID-19 and Pandemic Response Centers of Excellence Act, a bill to designate academic medical centers as research and communication hubs that will improve the United States’ ability to swiftly respond to emerging public health threats. Academic medical centers have been at the forefront of the United States’ fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and have historically been used to establish infrastructure for advancing livesaving medical discoveries.

Along with this bill U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) sent a letter requesting Robust Appropriations funding Request For Emergency Preparedness. Accompanying legislation, the COVID-19 and Pandemic Response Centers of Excellence Act, would authorize $500,000,000 total for the program and would provide $10,000,000 to at least ten academic medical centers for real-time response efforts to COVID-19 and for future pandemic preparedness.