Good Morning, Brooklyn: Wednesday, September 15, 2021

September 15, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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‘SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’ IN PANDEMIC RELIEF: New York State has made what Gov. Kathy Hochul calls “significant progress” in providing pandemic relief to impacted New Yorkers. Beginning today, Wednesday, September 15, middle-income renters previously ineligible for assistance can begin applying for $125 million in state funding through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Additionally, while some is undergoing final verification, Governor Hochul announced that over $1.05 billion in Excluded Workers Program funds have been approved for distribution.

The state has paid out nearly $400 million through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and the Excluded Workers Program and is now ranked first nationally in payments made or obligated.

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PREMIERE CELEBRATES BROOKLYN AS TRIBAL LAND: The Brooklyn Music School presents the world premiere of composer Alon Nechustan’s work, Mestizo, taking place at the Brooklyn Music School Theater (126 St. Felix St.) in Fort Greene next Friday, September 24 at 7 p.m. Mestizo, a groundbreaking work that explores bonds between Native American melodies and the Brooklyn that is a tribal land of the Lenni-Lenape Mantaukett, Mohegan, Algonquin and other First Nations people, tells a multilayered story through a series of fourteen vignettes.

“Mestizo” means a person of mixed indigenous heritage, but the term did not have a fixed meaning in the colonial period.

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AFTERNOON OF AFRICAN DANCE: Cumbe: Center for African & Diaspora Dance is bringing African and African Diaspora dance back to Bedford-Stuyvesant for an afternoon-long event at Restoration Plaza this Saturday, September 18. Reminding the community of dance as an act of liberation, Cumbe will offer classes, performances, demonstrations and giveaways starting at 12:30 p.m. running through the afternoon, and culminating with Dancing In These Streets.

Cumbe is an art institution-in-residence at RestorationART. The event takes place at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St. near Nostrand Ave., in Bed-Stuy.

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NEW BIKE LANE ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE: The de Blasio administration on Tuesday cut the ribbon on a two-way protected bike lane along the Brooklyn Bridge. Work that had begun in June and finished ahead of schedule included the installation of barrier segments, creation of a new connecting bike path in Manhattan, new traffic signal construction, protective fencing and the implementation of traffic changes and dedicated space on the bridge’s promenade for pedestrians.

The bike lane, as originally proposed in the mayor’s State of the City address this year, repurposes one lane of vehicular traffic to accommodate the more environmentally-friendly cycling boom.

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MEETINGS ON CONGESTION PRICING: A series of 13 public meetings on the proposed congestion pricing program, formally known as Central Business District Tolling, will launch on Thursday, Sept. 23. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York State Department of Transportation and New York City DOT hold these virtual meetings to allow the public to learn more about the initiative and offer comments, with the very first meeting, Sept. 23, (10 a.m. to noon) focusing on Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.

Three Environmental Justice Outreach Meetings will also be offered with a special focus on individuals and stakeholder groups in identified Environmental Justice communities on potential impacts to minority or low-income populations.

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PSYCHOLOGIST AND JOURNALIST DISCUSS XENOPHOBIA: “A History of Xenophobia” is the focus of a virtual presentation with the Center for Brooklyn History. The program, on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m., brings into conversation psychologist and historian George Makari, author of the new book, Of Fear of Strangers: A History of Xenophobia, and New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv for a conversation about the meaning and causes of hatred of the “other.”

The guest speakers will discuss xenophobia against the backdrop of growing nationalism and far-right movements.

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INTERACTIVE MAPPING FOR GREENPOINT: A second workshop to discuss safety improvements along McGuinness Blvd. in Greenpoint will take place on Wednesday, September 29. Assemblymember Emily Gallagher NYC DOT and are hosting this workshop, which includes a short presentation on the plan affecting McGuinness Blvd., from Meeker Ave. to Ash St. Registration code for the 6:30 p.m. meeting: bit.ly/McGuinness0929 .

Then community members will break out into virtual rooms with NYC DOT facilitators providing prompts and recording comments on an interactive map that will be kept open for additional commenting after the workshop ends. An August 4 workshop had similar content.

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CHOBANI FEEDS HURRICANE VICTIMS AND REFUGEES: New York State-based food maker Chobani is helping families affected by Hurricane Ida and evacuees from Afghanistan, housed on U.S. military bases, by donating and delivering nearly 300,000 products, including New York yogurt. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, and to assist the troops who are caring for refugees evacuated from Afghanistan, Chobani is dispatching trucks full of food from the company’s upstate New York plant to the New York City area, Louisiana, and New Jersey.

The USO, now in its 80th year has also partnered with Chobani to send a truckload, nearly 100,000 cups of product, including yogurt from its plant in Central New York to Fort Lee in Virginia and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, where Afghan evacuees are being housed and supported by US servicemembers.

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FOOD DELIVERY WORKERS—LOW-WAGES, HIGH-HAZARD: New York City’s roughly 65,000 food delivery workers earn an average of $7.87 an hour before tips — well below New York’s $15 minimum wage, a survey of more than 500 app-based workers found. THE CITY reported that more than 85 percent of respondents said that app-based delivery work was their main and only job, challenging the portrayal of so-called “gig” work by tech companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats.

THE CITY reports also that safety is an issue for many food delivery workers. So far this year, nine couriers have died in the five boroughs, and nearly half of the respondents said they’ve been in a crash while doing a delivery.

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BIRD WALKS ON CANARSIE BEACH: New York City Audubon will conduct free bird watching walks in Canarsie Beach Park this fall as part of its strategic plan to involve more citywide communities in birding and appreciating nature. Three free walks, open to anyone and birders of all levels, take place on September 18, and October 2 and 9.