Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, October 5, 2021

October 5, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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GREEN ROOFS ADDED TO NAVY YARD: Three green roofs have been added to Admiral’s Row in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, thanks to a joint effort with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Steiner NYC. More than 23,000 square feet of previously impermeable rooftop has now been covered with soil and planted with ornamental grasses, perennial wildflowers and sedum in order to absorb the rain that falls on it, or nearly 2.5 million gallons in a typical year.

By keeping the rainfall out of the local drainage system, the green roofs help to decrease flooding and reduce sewer overflows into the East River. The projects were made possible, in part, thanks to a nearly $700,000 grant provided through DEP’s Green Infrastructure Grant Program.

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PLANNED GAS UTILITY WORK: Bay Ridge residents and businesses might notice the smell of natural gas today, October 5, as National Grid begins planned work in the area of 4^th Avenue between Ovington Ave. and 73^rd St., Brooklyn Community Board 10 reports. The work is scheduled to take place between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

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UNVEILING OF NEW PLAQUE: A new Spanish Memorial Plaque is being unveiled in Fort Greene Park today. The new bronze tablet is set into a natural stone boulder at the eastern side of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument plaza. Spanish electrical company Iberdrola funded the project.

The original plaque was presented by King Juan Carlos of Spain, dedicated in 1976 to honor the country’s bicentennial and commemorate contributions to American freedom during the Revolution. The plaque was later removed from its horizontal granite plinth because of its compromised condition and is now on view in the park’s visitor center.

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NY STATE TOUR TO FIGHT OPIOID EPIDEMIC: New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday began her statewide ‘HealNY’ tour of New York state, where she will begin delivering the first of up to $1.5 billion to combat the opioid epidemic. The funds — which will be directed to all 10 regions of the state — come from different settlements that Attorney General James has negotiated following her March 2019 lawsuit against the various manufacturers and distributors responsible for the opioid crisis.

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FIGHTING FOR INMATES’ MEDICAL AID: Brooklyn Defender Services has joined The Legal Aid Society and Milbank LLP in filing a class action lawsuit this morning against the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) over its failure to provide incarcerated New Yorkers access to medical care in the City jails. The lawsuit, filed in Bronx Supreme Court and which comes amidst widespread acknowledgment of a total breakdown in City jail operations, seeks an order compelling DOC to comply with its basic legal obligations in state local law to provide all individuals in its custody access to medical care without delay.

The petitioners will ask the court to release a group of incarcerated people facing particularly grave medical consequences in order to address the threat to their health and lives.

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Bishop DiMarzio and fellow priests stand with the statue of Mother Cabrini. At left front is Msgr. Guy Massie, pastor of Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen’s Church.
Photo by Peter Arcese

CELEBRATING PATRON SAINT OF IMMIGRANTS: More than 600 members of the Italian Ministry of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio returned to Sacred Hearts – St. Stephen Parish and the Streets of Carroll Gardens to celebrate Mother Frances X. Cabrini. The return was to mark the first time the group was able to gather in large numbers following their 2019 March protesting the fact that the city would not establish a statue for the Patron Saint of Immigrants, even after receiving more nominations than anyone else in their “She Built NYC” campaign. Since 2019 the state established a statue in Battery Park and the Diocese established one in Brooklyn in the parish where Mother Cabrini Ministered.

This was the last time Bishop DiMarzio would lead this group as the Bishop of Brooklyn following his retirement and the new appointment of the Bishop of Brooklyn who takes possession of the diocese at the end of November.

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Ribbon-cutting for The Fountains, in East New York.
Photo by Gerri Hernandez

RIBBON-CUTTING FOR NEW HOUSING COMPLEX: Arker Companies opened The Fountains, a 1,163 unit affordable housing complex in East New York on Monday with Borough President Eric Adams, State Senator Persaud, Empire State Development, Homes and Community Renewal, and HPD joining in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This $425 million transformative project, on the site of NY State’s former Brooklyn Developmental Center is a six-acre complex that includes homes across several buildings, nearly 22,000 square-feet of commercial space and a new public plaza.

Of these apartments, 192 are set aside as supportive homes for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.