What’s News Breaking: Thursday, July 29, 2021

July 29, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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POP-UP: THE NYC MOBILE VAN WILL OFFER THE PFIZER VACCINE to people ages 12 and over, today, Thursday, July 29, until 6 p.m. in front of the Pakistani American Youth Organization Food Pantry, 1045 Coney Island Avenue, near Foster Ave., in Flatbush.

City Councilmember Farah N. Louis (D-45⁾ made the announcement, as the site is within her district.

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HALTING TRANSIT OF FRACKED GAS THROUGH NYC: A temporary restraining order has been issued to halt construction of Liquefied Fracked Gas Infrastructure that consumer advocacy groups say is illegal. National Grid has proposed a trucking route that would bring LNG trucks in through Westchester, the Bronx, and Queens onto the BQE and residential streets surrounding the Greenpoint facility, but the utility company has not as yet secured the necessary variances to truck fracked gas on NYC streets. State Supreme Court Justice Karen B. Rothenberg issued the order halting “all construction activities and other physical alterations contained in National Grid’s pending LNG Variance Petition,” including trucking and transportation activities, until a decision has been made on the merits of the case.

LNG is a highly explosive and volatile fossil fuel, and LNG trucking is currently illegal on New York City Streets due to the catastrophic dangers of a potential explosion or accident.

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END STOP-AND-FRISK ABUSE: A major new court filing will be announced at a noon press conference and rally to end stop-and-frisk abuses. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and NYC Council Members Inez Barron and Brad Lander, will join plaintiffs in stop-and-frisk class action cases to call for an end to NYPD enforcement practices that they say are racially discriminatory and unconstitutional.

A federal monitor had been appointed following a 2013 case, in Floyd v. the City of New York that found the NYPD’s practices of stop-and-frisk were unconstitutional. The new court case is calling for substantial changes to the federal monitorship policies.

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MANDATORY COVID TESTING IN COURT SYSTEM: Unified Court System judges and non-judicial employees who have not been vaccinated will be required to undergo regular testing for COVID-19, as part of a new policy being implemented in response to the recent increase in infection rates. This new program also strongly encourages judges and court employees who have not yet received their doses to get vaccinated, especially with the risks that the new COVID-19 variants pose.

The policy, that Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Chief Administrative Lawrence K. Marks announced Wednesday, will take effect in the coming weeks.

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UPGRADING CULINARY CLASSROOMS: Roy Campanella High School in Gravesend, named for the Brooklyn Dodgers legendary catcher, is the recipient of $1.5 million in City Council funding to refurbish and renovate three culinary classrooms at its main campus. Council Member Mark Treyger secured the major funding for this District 75 school, with multiple sites, which helps special-needs students in grades K-12 develop life skills. The three culinary classrooms contain a food preparation room, a student-led coffee shop, and a bakery for the students and staff.

P721K will work with the NYC School Construction Authority to renovate the current culinary rooms to meet the needs of 21st-century learning in hospitality and food science education.

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FAMILY PICNIC WITH NYPD: Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is inviting all members and residents of the Brooklyn Community Board 16 in eastern Brooklyn to an Anti-Gun Violence Family Day Picnic in Highland Park this Friday, July 30. Hosted in partnership with NYPD Community Affairs, the event runs from 1 to 6 p.m. and will feature food, a musical performance, a live DJ set, ball games, video games, a mobile vaccination van and much more.

A mobile vaccination van will also be available, as part of the city’s drive to get all New Yorkers protected against the COVID-19 virus and Delta variant.

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$100 PRIZES FOR FIRST VACCINE DOSE: Unvaccinated New Yorkers have a chance to get some cold hard cash if they go get their jabs. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the city will give $100 to New Yorkers who get their first coronavirus vaccine doses. Declaring that “voluntary phase” of vaccinations as over and done, he added that city officials still believe in incentives to entice New Yorkers to voluntarily get vaccinated, and that incentives and mandates can coexist.

The new incentive begins this Friday, July 30. Readers can find a list of city-run sites in their neighborhoods via https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/locations

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BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH BROOKLYN, National Action Network and the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau sponsor a block party today, July 29, from noon to 7 p.m. along Marcus Garvey Blvd., for the purposes of getting neighbors vaccinated. The Rev. Adolphus Lacey, Bethany Church’s pastor, has joined forces with VIP StarNetwork CEO Johonniuss Chemweno, whose team will be operating the COVID Vaccination Van, will emphasize that block parties and other local gatherings are key methods to help communities of color get vaccinated.

VIP StarNetwork provides crucial medical services—including COVID support—to film shoots and sporting events, including the Big East tournament and film/TV productions for major studios like Netflix, Amazon, and Warner Bros.

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DEMAND TO RESTORE GAS: (New York City Housing Authority) has been placed on notice with a deadline to restore gas to its tenants no later than Sunday, August 1. State Senator Zellnor Myrie will join tenant leaders from NYCHA’s Langston Hughes Apartments in Brownsville for a 12:30 p.m. rally today, July 29, at 315 Sutter Avenue, a 22-floor apartment building in Brownsville.

Since at least April 2021 and, according to some residents, as early as March 2020, tenants in the “B” apartment line at Langston Hughes Apartments have been without gas service, forcing them to subsist with hot plates and takeout food only. Despite calls from tenants, NYCHA has refused to take action to address this urgent need.