Brooklyn Boro

Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, January 21, 2022

January 21, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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REZONING FOR GROUND-FLOOR COMMERCIAL USE: A proposal to rezone a block along Cropsey Avenue in Bath Beach for a supermarket goes before Community Board 11’s Planning and Zoning Committee next Tuesday, January 25. The applicant is seeking a zoning map amendment to rezone blocks and lots on a parcel of land addressed 2300 Cropsey Avenue from R6 to R6/C2-4. R6 is a residential zoning district with small multifamily apartment buildings and single- or two-family homes, whereas a C2-4 zoning district is primarily residential with commercial uses on the street level.

The proposed rezoning would permit ground-floor commercial use (a supermarket).

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LANDMARK PARISH JOINS MLK DAY OF SERVICE:  St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church hosted and participated in Repair the World NYC’s service project honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. during the holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader’s birthday. More than 120 volunteers from the community gathered in the Parish Hall on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 16-17, to package 1,600 hygiene care kits for Brooklyn Community Services, which provides access to essentials and comprehensive support for neighbors in need.

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This project was intergenerational, as the parish’s Sunday School families were busy participants.

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NYCHA ACTIVATES EMERGENCY OPS CENTER FOR FRIGID WEATHER: The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) wants its residents to know that the virtual Emergency Operations Center will be activated for the third time this heating season from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 22, to centralize efforts and respond to projected extreme low temperatures in the teens, with wind chills lowering the “real feel” to single digits citywide. NYCHA’s Office of Emergency Management manages the virtual Emergency Operations Center, which provides heating response teams in addition to the 24/7 heat desk.

Residents are encouraged to immediately submit work order requests for concerns or problems with heat or hot water, for NYCHA staff to quickly identify developments that may be experiencing heat issues, by using MyNYCHA or calling the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771.

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NYCHA TEAMS WITH DESIGNER PHILLIP LIM: The Brooklyn Nets will commemorate the Chinese New Year on Tuesday, Jan. 25 when the team hosts the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center, with Panda Express® presenting the celebration. Marking the first time he has worked with a sports team, global fashion designer Phillip Lim has collaborated with the Nets on an exclusive merchandise line, with his design being a nod to 2022 as the year of the Tiger.

The Chinese New Year game is part of the Nets Unite platform which seeks to build unity, celebrate culture, and foster equity by amplifying the rich traditions of our diverse community.

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NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College (CLSJ) has appointed distinguished racial justice attorney and advocate Lurie Daniel Favors, Esq. as its Executive Director. Ms. Daniel Favors, who previously served as Interim Executive Director and General Counsel will, in her new role, lead CLSJ’s strategic direction, building on a strong, 36-year-old foundation to address racial justice issues by providing quality legal advocacy, conducting community education campaigns, facilitating research, and building organizing capacity on behalf of New Yorkers of African descent and the disenfranchised. (See story, page 17.)

She has also served as a federal court law clerk in the chambers of the Honorable Sterling Johnson, Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. And she was appointed as a commissioner to the NYC Racial Justice Commission, a body that former Mayor Bill de Blasio created during his administration.

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IPS NEWS: COMPTROLLER SLAMS PROPOSED ABATEMENT REFORMS: City Comptroller has denounced Governor Hochul’s Proposed 421-a real estate tax abatement reforms. “The 421-a program is an obscene tax giveaway for market rate housing in the name of affordability, and slightly altering its numbers and letters won’t change that,” said the comptroller.

Lander instead suggests that the property tax system be reformed to create parity between rentals and condo developments, and that affordable-housing tax benefits be scaled to match the actual affordability provided.

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IPS NEWS: PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING: New Yorkers are invited to become involved with their Community Districts’ Participatory Budgeting, a process which allows residents to make decisions about projects that their respective City Councilmembers will fund. Today, Jan. 21, City Council District 38 is holding two Zoom meetings, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., with City Councilmember Alexa Avilés, according to an announcement from Community Board 7 (Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park). Registration via Zoom: bit.ly/PB2022D38

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INTERBOROUGH EXPRESS DEEMED FEASIBLE: A yearlong study assessing feasibility of the Interborough Express, unveiled on Thursday, revealed that the project is doable. Governor Kathy Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber unveiled the results of this major transit project which would connect communities in Brooklyn and Queens to as many as 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road, and significantly reduce travel times within and between the two boroughs. (See story, page 1).

The study’s results indicate that it is indeed physically feasible to accommodate passenger traffic alongside the existing freight rail traffic, that there is significant demand, and that Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail, and conventional Heavy Rail are all options in terms of the possible modes of transit.

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IPS NEWS:  TAPPED FOR KEY FINANCE COMMITTEE: Bay Ridge City Councilmember Justin Brannan has been tapped to serve as chair of the Council’s Committee on Finance, which is recognized as the most prestigious committee in the City Council, second only to the City Council Speaker. The Finance Committee chair plays a lead role in negotiating the annual city budget with the mayor. Councilmember Brannan was appointed to the City Council’s new Senior Leadership Team charged with mentoring new members and working in partnership with the Speaker Adrienne Adams to advance the interests and priorities of the Council.

Speaker Adrienne Adams’ appointment of Brennan marks the first time in over a decade that a Councilmember from Brooklyn will chair the influential Finance Committee.

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FERRY SERVICE EXPANDS WITH NEW BROOKLYN STOP: A new stop between Red Hook and Sunset Park is part of an expansion of the NYC Ferry Service to and from Governor’s Island, the New York City Economic Development Corp. announced on Thursday. The new, daily, year-round service, which begins Monday, January 24, will serve Governors Island’s Yankee Pier via the South Brooklyn Route, adding a stop between Red Hook and Sunset Park, thus directly connecting New Yorkers to the island from the Lower East Side and the Brooklyn waterfront.

The service is expected to significantly expand access to Governors Island for visitors and a growing number of tenants.


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