Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, February 4, 2022

February 4, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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MORE ICY WEATHER APPROACHES: NYC Emergency Management has issued a travel advisory for today into Saturday, Feb. 5, as heavy rain and sleet are expected during the morning and evening commutes with dangerous icy conditions on the road. This is in response to the National Weather Service’s Winter Weather Advisory for New York City in effect from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, with the forecast showing a low-pressure system and its associated cold front that will bring freezing rain and sleet to the area beginning early Friday morning, before tapering off in the evening.

Alternate Side Parking Regulations are suspended through Feb. 5.

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VEGAN FRIDAYS IN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA: The New York City Schools are starting Vegan Fridays today, Feb. 4, to “accommodate the needs and wants of a growing vegetarian and vegan population and create exposure to the vegan options students may not see elsewhere,” according to a statement issued yesterday. This new policy, which Mayor Eric Adams has also endorsed, follows the success of Meatless Mondays and, starting last April, Meatless Fridays. Vegan Fridays, which have already been taste-tested and approved by small groups of students themselves, will feature vegetable-based main entrees, such as Vegan Veggie Tacos and seasoned broccoli, and also include options like peanut butter and jelly, hummus and pretzels

Non-vegan menu items will be available upon request, and milk will continue to be offered as required by law.

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WHAT DID THE BUTLER SEE? Find out when the Heights Players, Brooklyn’s longest-running sustaining theater opens its latest production, “What the Butler Saw,” a farce by Joe Orton, with performances running Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 4 & 5, 11-12, and Sunday 2 p.m. matinees on February 6 and 13. Visit heightsplayers.org for tickets and more information.

The Heights Players will also open auditions for its next production in the spring, “Dinner at Eight. Audition dates are Feb. 14 and 15, with call-backs on Feb. 16.

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TRAVEL THE ART WORLD AT BROOKLYN MUSEUM: The Brooklyn Museum’s suite of galleries dedicated to the Arts of Asia and the Islamic World will be complete in fall 2022, with a series of exhibits opening starting next month. The first of multiple openings, being celebrated after a multi-year renovation and reconfiguration, takes place on March 11, with an Arts of the Himalayas gallery. The final two spaces — two of the largest in the suite — will feature the Museum’s important collections of South Asian and Islamic art, set to open on September 30.

When the galleries are completed, almost 800 works will be on view, representing dozens of cultures and 5,000 years of history.

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IPS NEWS: WEBINAR OFFERED ON FIRE SAFETY: Assemblymember Stefani L. Zinerman and the Fire Department of New York want constituents to know what they can do to prevent fires from starting and spreading. Declaring the urgency of working together to “eliminate residential fire deaths in our own homes, neighborhoods, and throughout New York State, they are offering a Fire Safety Webinar tonight, Friday, February 4 at 6 p.m. Register via https://bit.ly/Firesafety56.

Assemblymember Zinerman expresses her vision for a better future for the 56th Assembly District and believes that everyone deserves access to the resources and training necessary to enjoy a safe and prosperous future.

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TANDON ENGINEERING PROFESSOR WINS HONORS: NYU Tandon School of Engineering faculty member Jef Boeke is the latest inductee into the National Academy of Inventors, in recognition of his pioneering work in genomics and synthetic biology. Boeke is Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tandon, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Langone, and Director of NYU’s Institute of System Genetics.

The Class of 2021 Fellows are scheduled to be inducted as NAI Fellows at the NAI Eleventh Annual Meeting on June 15 in Phoenix, Arizona.

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TANDON PROFESSOR WINS NSF CAREER AWARD: NYU Tandon School of Engineering Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Brendan Dolan-Gavitt, who is also part of the NYU Center for Cybersecurity, is the latest Tandon faculty member to secure an NSF CAREER Award, which will support his continued work to develop systems that will make software safer and cybersecurity education more accessible. Dolan-Gavitt’s research interests span many areas of cybersecurity, including program analysis, virtualization security, memory forensics, and embedded and cyber-physical systems.

His research focuses on developing techniques to ease or automate the understanding of large, real-world software systems in order to develop novel defenses against attacks, according to his faculty web page.

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CONGRESS KICKS BALL TO NFL ON HARASSMENT: U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney is taking on the National Football League and on Thursday, gave opening remarks at a Roundtable on “Examining the Washington Football Team’s Toxic Workplace Culture” One of the roundtable’s purposes was to hear from six employees on their experiences with an alleged grievance about the toxic work environment.

“That is why this [Congressional] Committee is exploring legislative solutions to rein in the use of non-disclosure agreements that prevent workers from speaking out about sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace,” said Rep. Maloney. “We are also examining ways to promote accountability and strengthen protections for all workers.”

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IPS NEWS: GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION: NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Thursday had the opportunity to share his public safety plan and perspectives with President Joe Biden during the latter’s visit to New York. Williams said, “I was glad to have the opportunity to briefly share my perspective and plan for public safety with him, one built on over a decade of community engagement and moving from proposals to pilots, to programs that have become an essential part of our city’s efforts and a model for the nation.

“It sends an important signal for the president to use this visit to meet not only with law enforcement, but with community organizations doing the work on the ground of preventing violence and saving lives. Now, we must go beyond the signal, and move quickly to structuralize these strategies and fully integrate these programs and philosophy into the work of redefining public safety.”

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IPS NEWS: SUPPORTS BIDEN ON USPS DELIVERY FLEET: Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, expresses support of President Biden’s efforts to prevent the Postal Service from replacing their delivery fleet with gasoline-powered delivery trucks instead of electric vehicles: “I believe the Postal Service needs to go back to the drawing board with its environmental impact study for electric vehicles. It is critical that the Postal Service purchase electric vehicles, rather than basing its future postal fleet on the fossil fuel technology of the past.

Maloney added that she has “championed additional funding for the Postal Service to purchase electric vehicles, which passed the House last year.”