Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, April 29, 2022

April 29, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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KINGSBOROUGH MAKES SEMIFINALS FOR ASPEN PRIZE: Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn’s Manhattan Beach neighborhood is among three CUNY community colleges chosen as semifinalists for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The biennial prize, which comes with a $1 million award, is considered the highest recognition for community college achievement, likened by former President Obama to the “Oscars for great community colleges.”

During the first round of competition that concluded last fall, six CUNY community colleges were chosen from over 1,000 institutions nationwide to vie for the prize, representing 86 percent of CUNY’s community colleges, the highest percentage of schools from any university or state system in the Aspen Prize’s 11-year history.

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LAWSUIT ACCUSES POSTAL SERVICE OF SKIPPING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: A multi-state coalition, with New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leading the way, is suing the United States Postal Service (USPS) for failing to consider the environmental impact of its new fleet of mail trucks. The allege that the USPS’ purchase of new fleet of vehicles is a violation of National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) most basic requirements, because the postal agency skipped the mandatory environmental review, failed to consider and evaluate fleets that included electric vehicles, and instead opted to replace up to 165,000 of its delivery vehicles with 90 percent gas-powered vehicles.

The coalition seeks a court order to block USPS from moving ahead with the purchase until it fully complies with NEPA.

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TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched T.H.R.I.V.E. (Train, Hope, Rise, Innovate, Venture, Elevate), a reimagined training program for small business leaders, formerly known as Emerging Leaders. T.H.R.I.V.E. provides complimentary, intensive entrepreneurship education and training for executives of high-performing small businesses, over a six-month period, that includes in-person coaching, self-paced instruction, mentoring, and classroom time.

The program allows participants to work with a network of experienced subject matter experts in core business topics like accounting, business strategy, marketing, and human resources customized for the unique needs of small business owners.

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CONEY ISLAND IS HIRING: The world-famous Coney Island business community aims to fill more than 400 positions ahead of its busy summer season. A two-day employment event will take place at the Coney Island Amphitheater on Monday, May 9 and Tuesday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with employers from local businesses including the Coney Island Brewery, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Live Nation, Luna Park in Coney Island, and local non-profit organization Brooklyn Community Services. Job seekers (bring two copies of one’s resume) will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a Workforce 1 manager for a pre-screening and interview guidance before meeting directly and in person with the employers.

Now in its 12th year, this collaboration among community partners, the Alliance for Coney Island, Small Business Services Workforce 1, and the newly appointed Councilmember Ari Kagan, the Workforce1 recruitment event has been able to connect over 5,000 job seekers with employment opportunities across the amusement district.

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VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ON DOING BUSINESS WITH GOVERNMENT: The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Borough President Antonio Reynoso mark National Small Business Week with a virtual program this Wednesday, May 4th, introducing the basics of Government Contracting and how to prepare to conduct business with the government. This free event is co-hosted with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso who will discuss his dedication to advocating for bold, progressive legislation citywide that improves the lives of his family, friends, neighbors, and constituents.

Presenters include the LaGuardia Procurement Assistance Center, through which the registration for this virtual program is available: https://lagptac.ecenterdirect.com/events/signup/4691

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SAHADI’S OWNER AS GUEST SPEAKER AT BREAKFAST: Christine Sahadi Whelan, the culinary director of Sahadi’s and a fourth-generation co-owner here in Brooklyn, is a speaker at TD-Bank sponsored 2022 Breakfast for Success Series. Food is the topic of this in-person Breakfast for Success, on Thursday, May 12^th (register via https://bccbfs.eventbrite.com). Ms. Whelan is author of Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients.

Another featured speaker is the author of Andrew Cotto is an award-winning author and regular contributor to The New York Times, La Cucina Italiana, Brooklyn Magazine, The Good Men Project, and Rachael Ray In Season.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURES BROOKLYN AUTHOR OF JAZZ IN CHINA: International Jazz Day, this Saturday, April 30, has a Brooklyn flavor. A 60-minute documentary by Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D., a Concord Village resident, titled “Jazz in China” will be available for streaming free-of-charge only on International Jazz Day, until 11:59 p.m. EDT, via UNESCO’s International Jazz Day web site. “Jazz in China” covers 100 years of jazz in that Asian nation, from the early 1920s to the present.

Dr. Marlow is the author of the acclaimed book, Jazz in China: From Dance Hall Music to Individual Freedom of Expression (University Press of Mississippi 2018), and producer of the documentary based on this volume.

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FLOODING THE COMMUNITY WITH BOOKS: Free children’s books will flood the Brownsville community at the Brooklyn Book Flood by 1001DiverseBooks on May 21. Participants will have the opportunity to listen to author Sheetal Sheeth do a reading from her books, Always Anjali and Bravo Anjali, at the afternoon event taking place at the Greg Jackson Center on Rockaway Avenue.

1001DiverseBooks, Brooklyn Book Bodega and United for Brownsville will be donating roughly 800 books, allowing each child to select 5-10 books.

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CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL: One of the most anticipated spring events in New York City, the famous ‘Kanzan’ has arrived: The cherry blossoms on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Esplanade are in full bloom. Brooklyn Botanic Garden presents Art in the Garden: Weekends in Bloom on April 30 and May 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the full schedule for April 30 available via bbg.org/art.

Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn and open year-round, the Garden is home to over 12,000 kinds of plants and more than 30 specialty gardens.

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TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS WALK-A-THON™: Teens, parents, and community members from across the five boroughs are marching across the Brooklyn Bridge this Saturday to take a stand against teen dating violence and sexual assault, during the 10th annual NYC Teen Dating Violence Awareness Walk-a-thon™. The only march of its kind in the entire country, The Walk, organized by The Healing Center, will begin with a rally at Cadman Plaza and Tillary Street in downtown Brooklyn, with registration running from 10-11 a.m., followed by a noon march across the Brooklyn Bridge and

The NYC Teen Dating Violence Walk co-sponsors include the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, DayOne, CONNECT, Womankind, and Girls For Gender Equity.

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LEGALIZING BASEMENT APARTMENTS: Senator Brian Kavanagh, chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development unveiled legislation to pave the way for the enactment of local laws legalizing basement apartments. The bill, which has the support of Mayor Eric Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander and a coalition of several neighborhood groups, (S8783/A9802) allows for the establishment of a program to address the legalization of specified accessory dwelling units in a city with a population of one million or more, and would authorize the City to provide relief to homeowners facing penalties for illegal apartments as well as unprotected tenants under terms it creates through its own legislative process.

Thousands of New Yorkers in basement apartments stand to gain strong protections afforded to tenants in legal apartments.

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE EXHIBIT AT NYU-TANDON: The NYU Tandon School of Engineering will showcase over 40 innovative and future-forward research projects by faculty and students, along with interactive, family-friendly tech activities, at its 2022 Research Excellence Exhibit, taking place today. The event will spotlight technology with real-world applications for health and biomedical fields, cybersecurity, sustainability, urban life, robotics, emerging media, telecommunications, and much more from Tandon’s labs and prototyping facilities like the NYU MakerSpace.

The annual expo, in its ninth year, runs from 1-4 p.m. 4:00 p.m. at Brooklyn Commons at NYU Tandon’s MetroTech campus in Downtown Brooklyn, and is free and open to the public.