Good Morning, Brooklyn: Wednesday, September 29, 2021

September 29, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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MURAL’S DESTRUCTION OUTRAGES COMMUNITY: The DOE’s destruction of a publicly-funded diversity-centered mural at P.S. 295 is the focus of a virtual Town Hall meeting taking place tonight (registration via http://tinyurl.com/PS295Mural) at 6 p.m. P.S. 295 fifth graders and community arts organization Groundswell had spent the summer designing images of multi-racial hands clasped together and Black girls wearing crowns alongside messages like “Black Trans Lives Matter” and a quote from feminist author Audre Lorde warning “Your Silence Will Not Protect You.”

Councilmember Carlos Menchaca c will join parents, students, and community members in the Town Hall, which is meant to “meant to bring accountability and transparency to an internal process that has been marked by closed doors on the part of the school administrators and Department of Education.”

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Bishop Robert J. Brennan. Photo courtesy of Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

NEW BISHOP NAMED FOR BROOKLYN: Pope Francis has named the Most Rev. Robert J. Brennan as eighth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. He will succeed Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who has led Brooklyn’s Catholics for the past 18 years.

Upon reaching age 75 two years ago, Bishop DiMarzio had submitted his resignation on that date in accordance with canon law. Pope Francis finally accepted DiMarzio’s resignation today.

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FORMALLY WELCOMING BISHOP BRENNAN: Brooklyn’s newly-named bishop, the Most Rev. Robert J. Brennan, is already having a busy day in the diocese. Following an 8 a.m. Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Bishop Brennan will lead a prayer service later this morning and meet with Diocesan staff in the Chapel of the Chancery Office. Bishop DiMarzio will formally introduce Bishop Brennan to students of St. Saviour Catholic Academy and St. Saviour High School in Park Slope this afternoon,

Bishop Brennan is already familiar with the diocese, having received his degrees in mathematics and computer science from St. John’s University in Queens. Originally from the Bronx, he has led the Diocese of Columbus, OH since 2019.

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JEOPARDY! CONTESTANT FROM BROOKLYN: “JEOPARDY!” fans in Brooklyn can watch one of their own compete on the Emmy-Award winning game show tonight. Daniel Pecoraro, an education program manager from Brooklyn will be one of the contestants on the program. Check local listings.

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AWARDED FUNDS FOR COVID FIGHT: Nine Brooklyn health centers were among more than 60 in New York State to receive American Rescue Plan funding to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $54,013 to expand their primary health care infrastructure in medically underserved communities. The Brooklyn facilities were Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center, Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, Brownsville Community Development Corporation, Community Health Initiatives Inc., Ezra Medical Center, HealthCare Choices NY, Inc., Housing Works Health Services, Oda Primary Health Care Center Inc. and Sunset Park Health Council, Inc.

Health centers will use this funding for COVID-19-related capital needs, constructing new facilities, renovating and expanding existing facilities to enhance response to pandemics, and purchasing new state-of-the-art equipment, including telehealth technology, mobile medical vans, and freezers to store vaccines.

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MURAL CHRONICLES ACTS OF MUTUAL CARE: “We Are At a Moment That Will Be Remembered…” a monumentally scaled mural at the newly renamed Lena Horne Bandshell at Prospect Park, opens to the public this Friday, Oct. 1. The installation features Emily Oliveira’s vividly colored 19 x 28 foot mural that explores forms of collective action that have taken place over the past year: the breaking down of walls that divide people, as well as rebirth through joy and mutual care.

Oliveira, a longtime collaborator of BRIC, and a 2018 BRIClab resident, exhibited in the organization’s Project Room earlier this year with “I Saw God and She Wasn’t Made of Money.”

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CONSTITUENT OUTREACH ON THE SUBWAYS: Assemblymember William Colton, the Democratic legislator, who serves Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, is back on the subway to meet and greet his constituents. Colton explained that his public transit commutes are key to understanding better his constituents’ issues or views.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our lives were put on hold and I couldn’t do my routine visits on the subways to meet my constituents,” he said, adding that his district office sees some 4,000 walk-ins every year.

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PRATT’S LEGENDS 2021 HONOREES: Pratt Institute is set to honor Sir David Adjaye OBE—architect, founder and principal of Adjaye Associates—and artist, author, educator, Deborah Willis (’79) at its Oct. 7 Legends 2021 virtual awards ceremony. A Ghanaian British architect, Adjaye has received international acclaim, with his largest project to date, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., which opened on the National Mall in 2016 and which The New York Times named Cultural Event of the Year.

Deborah Willis is professor and chair of the Department of Photography at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is the director of NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture/Institute for African American Affairs.

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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF BROOKLYN: What happened to indigenous peoples of the lands we now call Brooklyn? The Center for Brooklyn History presents a virtual talk, “From Land Acknowledgement to Land Back: The Path to Justice for Indigenous Peoples,” next Tuesday, October 5 at 6:30 p.m., in a program that that weaves together indigenous history and stories and shines a spotlight on today’s struggles to reclaim lost land, dismantle white supremacy and establish indigenous sovereignty. (Registration https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/cbh-talk-land-virtual-20211005.)

Oral Historian Sara Sinclair, of Cree-Ojibwa, German-Jewish and British descent, leads this conversation with Duwamish Tribal Council Member James Rasmussen, Corinne Rice-Grey Cloud of Lakota/Mohawk descent, and Delaware Nation member Brent Stonefish.

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EQUAL ACT GETS LARGE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT: Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY Congressional District 8 in Brooklyn) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) applauded the bipartisan passage of the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act in the House of Representatives 361 to 66. The legislation, of which Rep. Jeffries was the main sponsor, would eliminate the federal crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity and retroactively apply it to those already convicted or sentenced.

Rep. Jeffries, who has long advocated for restoring justice to America’s drug laws, has co-authored the bipartisan FIRST STEP Act, which retroactively applied the Fair Sentencing Act, limited the use of juvenile solitary confinement and reduced mandatory minimums, among other important improvements.

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KINGSBROOK OFFERS PFIZER BOOSTERS: Booster shots for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are now available at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center on Schenectady Ave. in East Flatbush, according to a flyer being circulated in Community District 13. Those who are already fully-vaccinated and who meet the criteria of being at least 65, residents of long-term care facilities, or people ages 18-64 with underlying medical conditions can call 718-604-5300 to make an appointment or inquire about eligibility.

Those eligible can receive the booster at Kingsbrook even if the initial doses were administered at a different site. ID and proof of vaccination are required.

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PUBLIC ADVOCATE PLANS GUBERNATORAL RUN: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams has launched an exploratory committee and filed paperwork with the Board of Elections to run for governor of New York in 2022. As part of the exploratory committee, the Public Advocate is convening an advisory council of elected officials, advocates and community leaders from across the state, who will advise on policy, politics, and strategy of a campaign and tour the city and state throughout October to hear directly from New Yorkers about the issues most important in their communities.

Prior to being elected public advocate, the second-highest ranking elected office in New York City, in 2019, Jumaane served over nine years in the New York City Council.

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HEALTH CARE WORKER VACCINATION RATES INCREASE: Health care staff COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to rise throughout New York State, according to the latest data reported by health care facilities to the Department of Health. This latest report, which arrives as the vaccination mandate for health care staff in hospitals and nursing homes takes effect, shows that the percentage of nursing home staff receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose increased to 92 percent as of September 27, up from 71 percent four weeks ago. The percentage of adult care facilities staff receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose increased to 89% during the same time period.

Considerable progress has been made since Governor Hochul was sworn in on August 24, and the vaccination rates among health care workers have continued to increase even in the last week leading up to the deadline.

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DIGITAL MEDIA AND ARCHITECTURE APPRENTICESHIPS: Youth Design Center; an innovation hub based in Brownsville and formerly known as Made in Brownsville, has opened a Creative Apprenticeship Program; Community Board 16 announced on Monday. Applications are now open for paid, 12-week apprenticeship hybrid programs in Digital Media and Architecture, in which young creatives will learn hard marketable skills varying from videography, photography, 3D design, and more.

Participants must be residents of Bed-Stuy, Brownsville or East New York and between the ages of 14 and 20. Apply via youthdesigncenter.org/cap