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What’s News Breaking: Monday, August 2, 2021

August 2, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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CO-NAMING HOSPITAL FOR LATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE GINSBURG: A new health care complex that NYC Health + Hospitals is building will also receive a new name. Currently known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island (and nicknamed as Coney Island Hospital), the redeveloped health care complex, expected to open next year, will be renamed NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health to reflect the comprehensive inpatient, surgical, outpatient and specialty services available on the campus and its essential role as the closest hospital to nearly 875,000 New Yorkers in that part of the borough. The new 11-story hospital building and the existing Tower building within the renovated campus will be jointly named after United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a figure who espoused truth, equality and justice. 

The redevelopment, which will include an elevated Emergency Department, state-of-the-art operating rooms including robotic surgery, is part of a $922.7 million hospital campus renovation funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to demolish, replace and repair flood-damaged buildings from Superstorm Sandy.

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CALLING ON TEXAS EDUCATORS TO DEFUND PREDATORY LANDLORD: Brooklyn tenants living in a Park Slope building were among those set to receive a visit this weekend from Texas elected officials as part of City Council Member Brad Lander’s call to divest from a predatory corporate landlord.  Texas State Board of Education Member Aicha Davis and Dallas City Council Member Casey Thomas will join Council Member Brad Lander to visit tenants in Park Slope facing eviction by Greenbrook Partners, in which the Texas Permanent School Fund (controlled by the Texas State Board of Education) invests. NW1/Greenbrook Partners, a predatory equity partnership that is accused of harassing, displacing, and neglecting tenants in dozens of multi-family buildings in Brooklyn, structures that are also under investigation by New York City’s housing and building departments for multiple violations.

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The group will tour the physical conditions of the buildings and listen to the stories of tenants who have faced eviction from their homes of many years, with the goal of convincing the Texas educators to divest from Greenbrook.

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URGE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR MTA:  A coalition of elected officials, transit workers, riders and advocates will gather Tuesday, August 3 in Bay Ridge to urge commuters to support federal transit operations funding (H.R.3744) in transportation and infrastructure legislation currently being negotiated in Congress. The rally gathering point is at the SW corner of 86th Street and 4th Avenue between the R train subway entrances. The coalition will distribute postcards to commuters, urging them and the area’s Congressional representatives to vote for federal funding that would enable the MTA to add, rather than slash service when pandemic aid expires.

Among the rally leaders will be State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus, Council Member Justin Brannan, members and leaders of the Riders Alliance, Straphangers Campaign, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

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CATCH ALL THOSE TRAINS YOU MISSED: The New York Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn, with its vintage train cars and exhibits, reopens its Court St. station for visitors on Saturday, August 14, after more than a year of closure due to the pandemic. The largest in the United States devoted to urban public transportation history and one of the premier institutions of its kind in the world, the New York Transit Museum’s initial reopening hours will be Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4pm. Advance-purchased tickets (https://www.nytransitmuseum.org) and mask-wearing are required for admission, as new health-and-safety procedures are in place.

Museum members can enjoy early access with an exclusive Member Preview Day on Friday, August 13 Additional membership benefits include year-round free admission, a 10 percent discount on all New York Transit Museum Store purchases, and free or discounted tickets to programs in person and online.

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NEW YORK’S NEW OFFICIAL SPORT: Baseball is the official sport of the State of New York, now that Governor Cuomo on Friday signed legislation making this official. A Cooperstown Elementary School 4th grade class proposed the bill, significant because Cooperstown, NY is the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and is believed to be the birthplace of the sport. Not only is New York home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown where Abner Doubleday is said to have created the sport, it has been home to four of the most popular franchises in the sport.

New York is also the state with the most World Series championships that the New York Yankees, New York Mets, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers clinched—including the Dodgers’ 1955 win against the Yankees. 

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COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR POP-UP PANTRY: St. Ann’s Pop-up Pantry, a ministry of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church and Pro-Cathedral, has experienced an increase in fresh produce — both donated and purchased. The Pop-Up Pantry, which operates on Tuesdays from 10:30 am to noon, served 293 last week who benefited from the pantry offerings. Neighbors and local businesses wishing to contribute food to the pantry may drop it off at the parish hall at 157 Montague 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; and a wish list is also available through Amazon.

Donations thus far have come in from local merchants from Perelandra Natural Foods and Amy’s Bread. 

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VACCINATION AND FOOD GIVEAWAY: Food giveaways and vaccines are also available through the week at several Brookdale Family Care Center locations. One Brooklyn Health coordinates the COVID Vaccination Clinics, where the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available for those ages 12 and over. The food giveaways take place weekly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at each BFCC site. These are: BFCC-1110 Pennsylvania Ave. (Mondays); BFCC-465 New Lots Ave. (Wednesdays); BFCC-1885 Eastern Parkway (Thursdays); and BFCC-1235 Linden Blvd. and 2554  Linden Blvd., on Fridays. 

Readers should call the BFCC of their choice to schedule appointments. Sponsors include Food Bank for NYC and The Links, Incorporated.

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CALLING ALL YOUNG BROOKLYN PHOTOGRAPHERS! The Brooklyn Public Library’s flagship podcast, Borrowed, is developing a mini-series about five communities that made Brooklyn into the vibrant, diverse borough it is today, and is running a contest for present-day pictures from aspiring young photographers ages 14-25, to be used in episodes of Building Brooklyn. Each episode tells a story about specific Brooklyn neighborhoods: Gowanus & Boerum Hill, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Sunset Park and Canarsie. The library is looking for documentary-style photography or video of these neighborhoods. Email [email protected] before the Monday, August 16 deadline with any questions, and get more information from https://www.bklynlibrary.org/borrowed/contest

Winning photographers will receive a $50 gift card to BPL’s shop and a chance to be featured on the BPL website and in various press outlets.


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