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Good Morning, Brooklyn: Monday, February 28, 2022

February 28, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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FUNDING TO CLEAN UP NEWTOWN CREEK:  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has secured $3.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to expedite the cleanup of contaminated sites across the country, including Newtown Creek, according to an announcement that he made Friday morning. Joining him was City Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who represents northern Brooklyn, in a celebration of the federal government’s unprecedented investment in Superfund cleanups and called on the EPA and responsible parties to expedite cleanups.

While Newtown Creek is considered one of the most polluted waterways in the country and was designated a Superfund site over 12 years ago, environmental advocates charge that negligible progress has been made to clean up this area.

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LIBRARY RESOURCES ON THE UKRAINE: The Brooklyn Public Library has released a resource list on the Ukraine and the decades of history surrounding the conflict which erupted anew on Thursday. As many seek answers, the Brooklyn Public Library compiled Books to Understand the Russia-Ukraine Crisis, a list of key texts, which includes the titles, “In wartime: stories from Ukraine”; “Putin’s people: how the KGB took back Russia and then took on the West” and “The gates of Europe: a history of Ukraine,” among several others.

As of press time, holds had been placed for some of these books.

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ANTICIPATING NEXT BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL: The 2022 Brooklyn Book Festival will be a nine-day celebration of authors, ideas and all things literary, featuring in-person and virtual events, and will launch with a Virtual Festival Day, Sept. 25. The festival launches and culminates with the flagship in-person Festival Day & Literary Marketplace on Oct. 2 in Downtown Brooklyn that will feature award-winning, bestselling and up-and-coming authors appearing in a full-day of readings and panel discussions.

Throughout the week, Literary “Bookend” Events will take place in locations in all five boroughs, including in parks, on ferries, in coffee shops, bars and bookstores.

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CITY SCHOOLS: OUTDOOR MASKS NOW OPTIONAL:  Starting today, masks or face coverings are no longer required for students in outdoor school grounds, Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announced on Friday. Inside school buildings, however, masks will still be required for all students, staff and visitors. The Department of Education continues to maintain stringent COVID protocols, including increased ventilation, and distancing when possible.

A daily screener is also on hand to make sure those with symptoms do not come to school and the distribution of test kits — all designed to identify persons with COVID rapidly for isolation and reduce possible transmission of COVID in schools.

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NAVY YARD STUDENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS: The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp’s Summer Internship Program, which will run in two overlapping sessions from June 6 through Aug. 19, connects college students and high school seniors to a wide range of paid internship opportunities with businesses within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. During the course of an eight-week session, students will be connected to Yard-based businesses and departments according to their future career interests, skillsets and educational background.

Applicants must be: a Brooklyn resident or attend a Brooklyn-based college, a first-time or once-returning participant in the BNY Internship Program or a current college attending student or a high school senior planning to attend college in Fall 2022.  Link to application site: https://airtable.com/shrLv2iWdbV6NrdCP.

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DATE CHANGE FOR CB7’S PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING: A date change was announced on Friday for the Community Board 7’s Public Safety Committee from March 9 to Tuesday, March 22. The meeting, which will still be held via Zoom, with links accessible via the Community Board 7 YouTube Channel and webpage, will tackle resident concerns over a drug infestation on 4th Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets, a spike in crime within the 72nd Precinct sectors and the plans to address this increase, and 72nd Precinct data and response to complaints about illegal parking/traffic/driver misconduct that are submitted to 311.

The meeting will also address residents’ concerns on illegal parking and abandoned vehicles under the Gowanus Expressway from 18th to 36th Street, 56th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, and 4th Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets.

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COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETING AND HEARING: The New York City Commission On Human Rights will present an update to Brooklyn Community Board 1 (Greenpoint/Williamsburg) at a combined virtually-held full board meeting and public hearing on Tuesday, March 8. The update, with presenter Francisca Leopold, Associate Human Rights Specialist Community Relations Bureau, NYC Commission on Human Rights, includes but is not limited to clarification on the NYC Human Rights Law Harassment and Discrimination regarding COVID 19 in Housing, Employment, Public Accommodation, and Health Services. Also on the agenda is a time for public comment on the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal 2023. (Comments must be submitted in advance, using the link: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb1/meetings/speaker-request-form.page).

Presentations will also be made regarding several new businesses serving wine, liquor and food, as well as on renewal applications.

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IPS NEWS: ‘NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW’: Following media reports that Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump would appeal a decision that they must all appear for sworn testimony in compliance with subpoenas, New York State Attorney General Letitia James stated, “Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump were ordered by the court to comply with our lawful investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. While they have the right to seek a delay, they cannot deter us from following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Make no mistake: My office will continue to pursue this case without fear or favor because no one is above the law.”

Last week, Hon. Arthur Engoron of the New York County State Supreme Court ruled that Donald J. Trump and his children must all appear for sworn testimony, and Donald J. Trump must produce additional documents in compliance with subpoenas from OAG.

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GOP Paul Rodriguez, GOP candidate for NY State Comptroller
Photo courtesy of NYS Republican Committee

IPS NEWS:  GOP CANDIDATE FOR STATE COMPTROLLER: Brooklynite and global financial expert Paul Rodriguez has announced his candidacy on the Republican line for the Office of NY State Comptroller, making him the first Hispanic New Yorker to do so on the GOP ticket. Rodriguez, who has several decades’ experience in funding, financing and investing money at some of the world’s most widely recognized financial institutions, will be officially nominated at the Republican and Conservative Party conventions in the coming days.

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife of 17 years (Rocio) and two of his three daughters, Natalia and Sofia.  His oldest daughter Gabriela (age 26) lives in Puerto Rico.

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TISH JAMES BACKS BIDEN SCOTUS NOMINEE: Attorney General Letitia James, herself a pioneer of “firsts,” applauded President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court: “Today is an important, historic day for all Americans, but especially for every little Black girl who, for the first time, will soon see herself represented in the highest court of the land.” Attorney General James is herself New York’s first Black attorney general the first woman elected attorney general in New York, and the first Black woman elected statewide in New York.

See story, pages 1-2 of this edition.

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