Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, April 5, 2022
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON WINS SUPPORT OF 2 MORE SENATORS: Two more Republican Senators have declared that they will vote to confirm Supreme Court candidate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, all but assuring that she will become the first Black female jurist in the nation’s highest court. Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, who announced their decisions on Monday ahead of a procedural vote to advance the nomination, joined Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who made her decision public last week.
Said Sen. Romney of Brown Jackson, “She more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity.”
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GODSQUAD COMFORTS AND SUPPORTS FAMILY OF SLAIN CHILD: The GodSquad/67th Precinct Clergy Council stood with the family of a 12-year-old who was shot and killed at the intersection of Linden Blvd and East 56th Street while eating in a parked car. The child, who has since been identified as Kade Lewin, was with his cousins, ages 20 and 8 respectively, when he and the adult were shot. The family of Kade Lewin held a candlelight vigil on Sunday evening at the corner of Linden Blvd. & East 56th Street, with GodSquad Interim President, Pastor Hinds, holding up photos of the slain child to remember. Our clergy team is present to offer healing during this tragedy.
The GodSquad offers healing during such tragedies. Moreover, the family is receiving the necessary support and services from the faith community and the New York City Mayor’s Office.
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ARCHITECTURAL AWARD FOR NYCHA GREEN SPACES: The American Society of Landscape Architects recently honored NYCHA’s Open Space Masterplan partner, Grain Collective, with a Merit Award in the Analysis and Planning Category, for its work in reimagining the outdoor spaces at 133 New York City Housing Authority developments, including some in Brooklyn. Grain Collective, a minority- and women-led landscape architecture and planning firm, worked with the Authority to convene resident input and conceive open space designs for encouraging active and passive recreation across all age groups, while leveraging existing NYCHA landscape features to better connect residents to surrounding community amenities.
Among the Brooklyn open space designs are those for the Tompkins Houses, the Brownsville Houses and the Sumner Houses.
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NEW DEAN WILL SERVE EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL AND SEMINARY: The Very Rev. Dr. Michael Sniffen, Dean of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island’s Cathedral of the Incarnation, has been unanimously elected to become the next dean of the Mercer School of Theology. Dr. Sniffen will serve concurrently as dean of both the Cathedral and the School, which are on the same campus in Garden City.
Dean Sniffen is a founding member of the Racial Justice Advisory Council of the Brooklyn Community Foundation, from when he was the rector of St. Luke & St. Matthew parish in Clinton Hill. During his ministry at that parish, he led what became an internationally-recognized clearinghouse and meal ministry, providing relief to the victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
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URGES OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVES TO HELP AMERICANS AT THE PUMP: Fossil fuel executives at ExxonMobil, BP America, Chevron, and Shell Oil Company will have received a letter from members of Congress urging them to use their record-breaking profits to help Americans facing pain at the gas pump instead of enriching investors with stock buybacks and dividends. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, (D-12/Northern Brooklyn), chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Ro Khanna, chair of the Subcommittee on Environment, urged Big Oil to utilize their windfall profit to finally invest in renewable energy projects to reduce the fossil fuel dependency that has empowered dangerous autocrats like Vladimir Putin.
The committee’s analysis found that despite lofty public pledges to invest in cleaner fuels, fossil fuel companies’ investments in clean or renewable energy comprised only a fraction of their annual capital expenditures. For each company, planned 2022 stock buybacks substantially outpace pledged investments in low-emission energy sources.
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‘CANNABIS CONVERSATIONS’ LAUNCHED: Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced “Cannabis Conversations,” New York State’s first public health education campaign on cannabis to inform the public on the state’s Cannabis Law, including who can consume, where to consume, and how to consume safely. This wide-reaching campaign will provide parents and caregivers with tools to protect youth, remind New Yorkers of the risks of driving while impaired by cannabis, and other messages to help keep New Yorkers safe and healthy as the new industry develops.
Public service advertisements for the “Cannabis Conversations” campaign, in English and Spanish, started on Monday, April 4, and will run for approximately three months.
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PRESENTATION ON BROOKLYN MARATHON: Brooklyn Community Board 2’s Parks & Recreation Committee Monthly Meeting will hear a presentation next Monday at its virtual meeting from the team behind the Brooklyn Marathon: Based in Brooklyn, NYCRUNS produces approximately two dozen running events for as many as 100,000 athletes, annually. The flagship race of NYCRUNS, the Brooklyn Marathon & Half Marathon, takes place this year. on Sunday, April 24, with a new course route starting in Williamsburg then winding south along the waterfront under the historic Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.
From there, the route heads up the grand concourses of Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue before passing through Grand Army Plaza and ending in Prospect Park.
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IN MEMORIAM: BROOKLYN-BORN, NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPION TOMMY DAVIS: Brooklyn-born Tommy Davis, a two-time National League batting champion who won three World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Sunday night, April 3, in Phoenix, at 83. The athletic standout at Boys High School in Brooklyn got a call from Jackie Robinson, urging him to sign with the Dodgers instead of the Yankees, around the time that the iconic Brooklyn team was moved across the continent to L.A.
Besides his eight years with the Dodgers, Davis played another 10 for the New York Mets among other teams. He had a career .294 average in 1,999 games with 153 home runs and 1,052 RBI’s before he retired in 1976.
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STEM SUMMER ENRICHMENT APPLICATIONS OPEN: New York City school students can apply now for STEM Summer Enrichment Programs. Choose from a wide range of programs, based on grade levels, offered at sites throughout the city. Spots are limited and the application deadline is Tuesday, April 19. Preference is given to students who attend Title I schools.: https://nycdoe.campintouch.com/ui/forms/application/camper/App
Programs are offered at the NYC Department of Education’s Genovesi Environmental Study Center and NYC Center for Aerospace and Applied Mathematics; Bronx Zoo; Central Park Zoo; Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum; Makerspace NYC; New York Aquarium; Pellettieri Stone Carvers’ Academy; Prospect Park Zoo; Queens Zoo; Rocking the Boat; Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden; Staten Island Museum; Staten Island Zoo; The Battery Conservancy; UrbanGlass and Wave Hill.
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RESOLUTION HONORS LUBAVITCHER REBBE ON 120th BIRTHDAY: New York State Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie (D-Central Brooklyn) saw his Resolution J2129, honoring the 120th anniversary of the birthday of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, passed and approved. The Resolution was presented to Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman, director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization.
“The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a pillar not just of the Jewish community, but of Crown Heights and New York City, revered by Jews and non-Jews alike,” said Senator Myrie. “The rebbe was known for building partnerships across communities, and inspiring good deeds, philanthropy and scholarly pursuits that reverberate to this day.”
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BIDEN PLANS LIFT OF TITLE 42 ON IMMIGRATION: U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration plans to lift a contentious border policy, known as Title 42 — initiated under the Trump administration, that prevents most asylum seekers from applying for protection in the United States, after calls to end “Title 42” have grown louder in recent weeks. U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-/Flatbush) released the following statement (excerpted here) after President Biden’s announcement, “As the daughter of immigrants and a lifelong advocate for their fair chance and access to the American dream, the Biden Administration’s decision to lift the harmful, malicious, and discriminatory policy that is Title 42 is a welcome blessing and one that I have long awaited.”
As of press time, several Republican-led states had already initiated lawsuits against the Biden administration to block the lifting of Title 42.
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INTERIM STAY ISSUED ON DISTRICT MAP TOSS-OUT: A state appeals court judge on Monday granted an “interim discretionary stay” of last week’s declaration that New York’s congressional and legislative district maps were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Democrats. (A stay is an action taken by a court to stop a legal proceeding or the actions of a party.) Justice Stephen Lindley of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, stayed in its entirety acting Steuben County Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister’s decision and order from March 31, in a lawsuit filed by a group of Republicans against Gov. Kathy Hochul, the New York Board of Elections and others.
Lindley’s temporary stay clarifies that candidate petitions can be filed with state and local Board of Elections by Thursday; he also slightly modified the deadlines for submissions on the stay applications, giving the petitioners until noon Tuesday to file opposition papers and a motion to vacate the stay, and the respondents until noon Wednesday to file reply papers, with oral arguments set for this Thursday afternoon.