Brooklyn Boro

Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, December 3, 2021

December 3, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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SECOND BROOKLYN WOMAN VIES FOR NYS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Maria Vullo, a native Brooklynite from Dyker Heights, a former executive in the NY State Attorney General’s office and the chief regulator and law enforcer for the state’s banking and insurance industries, yesterday launched her campaign for Attorney General. Vullo has built a career in public service law in both the private and public sectors, with significant achievements in protecting reproductive freedom, providing equitable access to affordable health care, and leading and championing cybersecurity standards nationwide, her experience and track record are unmatched in the history of the Attorney General’s office. If she wins, she will succeed current Attorney General Letitia James, also from Brooklyn, who recently announced her own gubernatorial run.

Vullo, the granddaughter of immigrants, grew up in Brooklyn as the youngest of five children who became the first lawyer in her family, working her way through college and law school. She lives in Manhattan with her two adopted children and their dog, Buddy.

Maria Vullo, a Democrat from Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights neighborhood, has announced her run for NY State Attorney General.
Photo courtesy campaign of Maria Vullo for Attorney General

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URGES RELOCATION OF DOG RUN: When Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee and Youth, Education & Cultural Affairs Committee reports to the full board at its Monday, Dec. 8 virtual meeting, it will recommend the relocation of a dog run at Abolitionist Place on Duffield St. A Nov. 16 letter that community member Raul Rothblatt sent to Community Board 2 urges the board “to delay any approval or groundbreaking on Abolitionist Place (formerly Willoughby Square Park) until the EDC [NYC Economic Development Corp.] creates a new design that puts the dog run in any other location than next to 227 Abolitionist Place and on top of the passageway that once connected it to the former 223 and 225 Duffield Street.”

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Rothblatt in his letter points out, “Regardless of the original design requirements, it is profoundly disrespectful for this public space to let dogs do their business at exactly this location. Brooklyn must reject this as an affront to the Abolitionists who fought for freedom of all Americans and who lived on the block when NYC supported slavery.

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MEDICAL SCHOOL RECOGNIZED AS LEADER IN DIVERSITY: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University will receive the 2022 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award at the ACGME’s Annual Educational Conference. The award recognizes SUNY Downstate as a leader in driving diversity in medical education, and its work to create inclusive workplaces that foster humane, civil, and equitable environments.

The newly-renamed Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award honors the most innovative and exemplary initiatives that drive diversity in graduate medical education, including innovation and excellence to identify and guide pre-resident learners into the field of medicine and biomedical research.

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MAYOR ADDRESSES NY TRACING OF OMICRON VARIANT: Mayor Bill de Blasio, addressing the Omicron Variant’s case tracing in New York, has stated, “We are aware of a case of the Omicron variant identified in Minnesota that is associated with travel to a conference in New York City, and we should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city. We are working closely with the State and the CDC, as well as the Javits Center’s event organizers, and our Test and Trace Corps will be contacting conference attendees.”

Pointing out that the Javits Center conference required masks and complied with the Key2NYC requirement to mandate vaccination, de Blasio said, “Anyone who attended the AnimeNYC conference, especially anyone experiencing symptoms, should get tested immediately and take additional precautions, including social distancing.”

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OVERDOSE PREVENTION CENTERS OPEN: The first publicly recognized Overdose Prevention Center (OPC) services in the nation have commenced in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Health Department announced on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Overdose Prevention Centers are clinical, safe, hygienic spaces where people can use drugs under supervision of trained professionals to prevent deaths and get connected to care. They are co-located in existing syringe service programs and encompass wraparound education, social, medical, and harm reduction services.

Mayor de Blasio assures New Yorkers that OPCs will be in communities based on health need and depth of program experience. A host of city agencies will run joint operations focused on addressing street conditions across the city, and we will include an increased focus on the areas surrounding the OPCs as they open.

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IPS NEWS: MUNICIPAL VOTING RIGHTS BILL SCHEDULED FOR ITS OWN VOTE: The Municipal Voting Rights Bill was aged last night and is now ready to be voted on Dec. 9, announced City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez alongside Theodore Moore, Senior Policy Director at the New York Immigration Coalition on Thursday. The Municipal Voting Rights Bill would allow immigrant New Yorkers who have a green card or working authorization to vote in municipal elections even though they aren’t yet U.S. citizens.

Bills that have aged means the deadline has been met of placing the final forms of the particular legislation on the desks of Council Members at least seven calendar days —not including Sundays—before the bill is voted on and passed.

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IPS NEWS: OPPOSING MUNICIPAL VOTING RIGHTS BILL: New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy and NYC Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli held a press conference Thursday on the steps of City Hall ahead of next week’s vote by Council Democrats to give voting rights to 800,000 New Yorkers whom Langworthy and Borelli assert are non-citizens. Calling the legislation by the name of the organization that supports it— “Our City, Our Vote” Langworthy and Borelli pledged to take action against the legislation to prevent the bill (Intro 1867) from becoming law.

Supporters of allowing noncitizens to vote argue that prohibiting them from doing so is unjust because barriers to naturalization, particularly financial obstacles that prohibit them from voting encourage discriminatory public policy. They point out that, “during the height of the pandemic, it was immigrant New Yorkers that kept the city running when everyone else worked from home. This is about living up to the words of no taxation without representation,” said the bill’s main sponsor, Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez.

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IPS NEWS: SMALL BUSINESSES RECEIVE HELP FROM NEWLY-SIGNED LAWS: A new package of legislation that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Thursday increases state agency support of small businesses in New York. One component will create a small business liaison with the Departments of Agriculture and Markets, Environmental Conservation, Labor, Transportation, and Taxation and Finance.

Other components include amending existing New York law to require the Secretary of State to confirm receipt after receiving a statement of filing.

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SPECIAL LEAF COLLECTION FOR MOST COMMUNITY BOARDS: The New York City Department of Sanitation will collect leaves in Brooklyn Community Boards 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.  Brooklynites in those districts are instructed to set out leaves curbside in paper lawn and leaf bags or unlined bins after 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 18, 2021 for collection beginning Sunday, December 19. Leaves in plastic bags will not be accepted.

The collected leaves will be turned into compost and added to soil to nourish street trees, soil and parks.

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GUGGENHEIM TOUR INSPIRES WINTRY ART: The Brooklyn Public Library encourages youngsters to embrace the cold weather with Winter Wander with Guggenheim. The Library’s Culture Pass program presents this 45-minute online tour for children 12 and under, to enjoy exploring artwork from the Guggenheim’s collection. The Winter Wander takes place Thursday, December 9, at 4 p.m. RSVP for the link. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/culture-pass-presents-virtual-20211209   

Participants will then gather ideas for their own cold-weather-inspired work of art.

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LIFEGUARD SEARCH BEGINS NOW: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is already thinking ahead to next summer, as it begins the search for new qualified candidates to participate in its free lifeguard training program for the upcoming 2022 season. The qualifying test is being offered starting now in December and continuing through early January at select pools citywide. A list of testing locations and additional information can be found on the Parks Dept. website: website: nyc.gov/parks/lifeguards.

Prerequisites include being at least 16 years old, demonstrating the ability to swim 50 yards in 35 seconds with proper form; having at least 20/30 vision in one eye and at least 20/40 in the other, and proof of vaccination against COVID-19.


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