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Good Morning, Brooklyn: Wednesday, November 17, 2021

November 17, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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IPS NEWS: JUMAANE FOR GOVERNOR — Following a seven-week exploratory phase, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams on Tuesday announced his candidacy for governor of New York State. Williams released a video in which he spoke about his time growing up in Brooklyn, persevering through Tourette Syndrome and ADHD, and his ability to incorporate his time as an organizer, into a decade of service as an elected official.

Serving since 2019 as Public Advocate, the second-highest ranking elected official in New York City, Jumaane Williams has reportedly passed more legislation than any of his predecessors throughout their tenure, from protecting affordable housing, promoting racial equity in development to codifying the right to record police activity.

Previously, Williams served over nine years in the New York City Council, where he passed 68 bills into law, including legislation to curb the abuses of stop and frisk.

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REVIEW BOARD WELCOMES YOUTHS’ INPUT: The Citizen Complaint Review Board has opened the application process for its Youth Advisory Council, a group of young New Yorkers who counsel the CCRB and have found innovative ways to bring their peers into the conversation about civilian oversight of the NYPD. Application packets, which are open to New Yorkers ages 10-18 years old, incorporate video and audio statements and can be submitted via link in the application’s “Please describe why you would be an ideal member of the CCRB Youth Advisory Council” section.

Youths and their parents wishing to learn more about the Council can visit nyc.gov/ccrbyouthcouncil.

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IPS NEWS: NEW PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CUNY AND HIGH SCHOOL IN GRAVESEND: A brand new middle school will be located next to the John Dewey High School campus in Gravesend and will expand and offer Career and Technical Education Teaching & Learning Academy at both educational centers, thanks to Councilmember Mark Treyger’s advocacy in a partnership with this school and the City University of New York (CUNY). The partnership, which aims to remedy the shortage of teaching staff available for remote learning and in-person instruction that developed during the pandemic, will have a four-year program that will enable students to take classes on pedagogy and on social-emotional supports for teaching children. In the process, the John Dewey students will earn college credits while taking classes through the college’s Education Department.

The City Council passed legislation to locate future school sites and identified a new 550 seat middle school that, in about three or four years, will be built on the John Dewey High School campus, which will feed into the teaching academy.

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BOARD 18 TO CONSIDER HOME FOR DISABLED PERSONS: Community Board 18 announces that during its monthly board meeting tonight, Nov. 17, an application will be discussed to convert an existing house into a family-setting style home for people with cognitive disabilities. Community Options, Inc., 161 Woodruff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11226, under the auspices of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to Section 41.34 of the Mental Hygiene Law, seeks to establish a community Individualized Residential Alternative for four persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities. They will occupy the existing two-family home at 1366 East 59th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11234, which has a main floor with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, living, dining and kitchen areas, as well as a one-bedroom apartment with full bath on the bottom level.

This Statutory Public Hearing has been duly advertised in the City Record.

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IPS NEWS: CONGRESSIONAL CYBERSECURITY HEARING— Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, held a hearing on Tuesday in which the nation’s top cybersecurity experts testified on the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent efforts to tackle ransomware. The hearing also address ways in which Congress can improve public-private sector coordination to address this damaging problem. Testimony from Chris Inglis, National Cyber Director; Brandon Wales, Executive Director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and Bryan Vorndran, Assistant Director, Cyber Division for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, highlighted the dangers of paying ransom to cyber criminals and underscored the need to implement a “whole-of-government” strategy to better share information between private and public entities.

Ahead of the hearing, Chairperson Maloney had released a new staff memo showing preliminary findings of the Committee’s investigation into the ransomware attacks on CNA Financial, Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods, examining how these ransomware attacks unfolded and how legislation and policies may be developed to counter the threat of ransomware.

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IPS NEWS: TEACHING CONSERVATION TO CHILDREN —Assemblymember Jaime Williams, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service hosted the scholars of PS 272 for the 59th Assembly District’s 6th Annual Bluefish Festival, which celebrates the local wildlife and marine environment and recognizes the need for the preservation and protection of the natural marine biomes of Canarsie Pier and Jamaica Bay. The volunteers and young scholars collected over 500 lbs. of debris from the shoreline, participated in an educational scavenger hunt and learned about the aquatic animals that live in the waterways of the 59th Assembly District.

The annual Bluefish Festival celebrates and commemorates legislation which protects the natural biome and focuses on the wildlife preservation of Canarsie Pier and Jamaica Bay. Assemblymember Jaime Williams sits on the legislature’s Environmental Committee.

Students from P.S. 272 examine a tortoise and starfish during the Bluefish Festival at Canarsie Pier and Jamaica Bay.
Photo courtesy of the 59th Assembly District

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The students pictured with artwork displayed in their school are, from right to left, as follows: Amanda Fernandez, Mikayla Randle, Brennan Elder, Jazrah Lawal, and Michelle Ebesunun.
Photo courtesy Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

BLACK CATHOLIC HISTORY THROUGH ART: Salve Regina Catholic Academy in East New York is spotlighting its collection of Black Catholic artwork displayed throughout the school as part of Black Catholic History Month. Images on display include: “Madonna and Her Child” painted by local Haitian artist Patricia Brittle, painted images of Jesus, and additional artistic works featuring St. Mary, Mother of Jesus.

The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States, on July 24, 1990, designated November as Black Catholic History Month to celebrate the long history and proud heritage of Black Catholics.

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NEW SENIOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN WILLIAMSBURG: The Arker Companies have opened the new Debevoise Senior Housing building at 40 Debevoise St. in partnership with New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Jewish Association Serving the Aging. The 55,158-square-foot building in Williamsburg rises eight stories and houses 64 units specifically designated for seniors, as well as a super’s unit. The City of New York’s Voluntary Inclusionary Housing and Senior Affordable Rental Apartments programs financed this affordable housing project for families with at least one member who is 62 years of age or older

All 64 rental units will be set aside for seniors, and 20 will be set aside for formerly homeless seniors. All units are covered by a Project-Based Section 8 contract, with tenants paying 30% of their income toward rent.

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RIBBON-CUTTING FOR NEW HOUSING IN EAST NEW YORK:  The ribbon-cutting for the Blake Hendrix affordable housing project will take place next Monday, Nov. 22, with construction having been completed in September. Hosting the ribbon-cutting will be SRBuild LLC, Heritage V, Sun Shelter, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Community Preservation Corporation. The project brings 30 units of affordable homeownership and rental units, spread over 13 sites, to the East New York community.

This is the latest cluster of homes financed by HPD in order to transform formerly underutilized City-owned land into affordable homes for the workforce community. New York City Councilmember Inez D. Barron helped advocate for the project.

Affordable housing units at Blake Hendrix in East New York.

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IPS NEWS: REACTION TO REPORT ON CHILD SEPARATION POLICY — Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, chair of the House’s Committee on Oversight and Reform, has reacted to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General examining the Trump Administration’s child separation policy. Summarizing the report from the independent Inspector General, Maloney pointed out that “the average age of separated children who were referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement was just nine years old, and many were four years old or younger. The report also shows that only a small portion of the more than 1,000 separated children referred to ORR have been reunited with the parent from whom they were separated.”

Saying that she’s deeply troubled, Maloney declared, “It is imperative that we continue to work to reunify these families, seek accountability for those who perpetrated these abuses, and prevent such inhumane policies from ever happening again.”

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BROOKLYN PHOTOGRAPHER IS GUEST RESEARCH FELLOW: New York City Technical College’s Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center (BWRC) has selected Nathan Kensinger, a Brooklyn-based journalist, photographer and filmmaker as its 2021-2022 Guest Research Fellow. For the past 15 years, Kensinger has documented New York City’s changing waterfront, in an ongoing series of photo essays, documentary films, video installations and public arts projects, and has exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum as well as several other cultural institutions.

As a Guest Research Fellow, Kensinger will consult on a City Tech inter-disciplinary course on the Brooklyn waterfront, work with BWRC on several of its public events, and write the White Paper for the Center’s annual conference, expected to focus on the ways sea-level rise will be affecting the Brooklyn communities surrounding Jamaica Bay.

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