Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, May 27, 2022

May 27, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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ANOTHER THEFT RING TAKEN DOWN: A massive retail theft operation in New York City that stole and resold millions of dollars in goods has been taken out of commission, announced New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Following a three-year investigation, law enforcement seized more than $3.8 million worth of stolen retail items from the enterprise’s alleged boss, Roni Rubinov; more than 550 stolen gift and cash cards; and more than $300,000 in cash.

In all, 41 people were charged for their roles in this crime ring that stole luxury clothing and goods and thousands of items from drug stores that were then resold on eBay.

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NYPD ASKS HELP IN IDENTIFYING PERPETRATOR: The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the individual depicted below in connection to a robbery that occurred Tuesday on the platform for the southbound R train at the Pacific St. and 4th Ave. subway station, within the confines of the 84 Precinct. The unidentified assailant, coming from behind, punched his victim, a male in his 30s, in the face and stole his mobile phone, valued at $499. The unidentified individual is described as a male with dark skin complexion, approximately 20-years of age, 6’0″ tall, 195 lbs.; thin build and last seen wearing a black jacket, white shirt, brown pants and white face mask under his chin.

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Anyone with information in regard to this incident should call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

Surveillance photos depicting the unidentified assailant at a subway station within the 84th Precinct.
Photo courtesy NYPD

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HOLOCAUST EDUCATION BILL PASSES STATE LEGISLATURE: New York state lawmakers have passed the Holocaust Education Bill that would ensure that schools across New York are teaching students about the Holocaust, as required by law, reported the Jewish News Syndicate. This legislation authorizes the New York State Education Department to determine whether public schools are teaching students about the Holocaust appropriately at each grade level, and will examine whether a school district is meeting learning standards about the Holocaust.

The legislation now goes to Gov. Kathy Hochul for consideration.

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RECOMMENDATION FOR MTA BOARD: Brooklynite Midori Valdivia is one of three New Yorkers whom Mayor Eric Adams has recommended for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board. Gov. Kathy Hochul then made the nominations of Mayor Adams’ choices, which are next subject to confirmation by the New York State Senate.

A transportation, operations, and urban planning professional committed to expanding mobility options for New Yorkers, Midori Valdivia is the inaugural chief operating officer for Coro New York Leadership Center, the city’s premier civic leadership training organization.

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NYU TANDON RESEARCHERS EXAMINE AI AND ETHICS: NYU Tandon School of Engineering Assistant Professor Julia Stoyanovich has been conducting research on incorporating ethics and legal compliance into data-driven algorithmic systems, an aspect of artificial intelligence that has been attracting significant attention from the computing research community. She and her research team, including professors from Michigan and Washington State in the U.S., and from the Netherlands and France, determined that while algorithms can, in theory, handle some of the duties of legal compliance, accountability for such decisions always rests with a human being.

One example the research team provided dealt with automated hiring systems and pre-existing bias.

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FESTIVALS ON 5TH AVE. IN SLOPE: Park Slope’s 5th Avenue is the spot for two fun events next Saturday, June 4: the first-ever Tastes of Park Slope Food & Drink Crawl (part of the Tastes of Brooklyn program), and the Brooklyn Pop-Up Artisans Fair on #Open Streets, featuring items of fashion, jewelry, beauty, vino, home, and more. Tastes of Park Slope, running from 2-6 p.m. (https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ej7aahif7345ad99&oseq=&c=&ch=) will explore culinary gems of the neighborhood including local faves such as Negril, Bar Crudo, Winemak’Her and Bonnie’s!

Proceeds from Tastes of Park Slope go to the organization Seeds in the Middle, which fights food inequality in Brooklyn.

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KINGSBOROUGH STUDENT FROM CHINA WINS AWARD: Brooklynite Jiahua Wu, attending Kingsborough Community College, is among seven high-achieving CUNY community college students selected to receive the competitive Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, forming the largest group ever to earn this prestigious recognition at CUNY in a single award cycle. One of the highest-paying private scholarships in the country for community college transfer students, the award grants up to $55,000 a year to exceptional associate degree students with financial need, along with the benefit of ongoing advisement.

Jiahua Wu, a first-generation college student who immigrated to New York City from Gaoxin, Shandong province, in eastern China three years ago, is a chemistry major, who has also been inspired to study psychiatry through a beloved aunt’s traumatic experience as a victim of abuse.

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IPS NEWS: MALLIOTAKIS REBUKES WATER RATE HIKE

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-11) today was set to give testimony to the New York City Water Board, opposing the utility’s proposal to raise water rates by 4.9 percent — marking the largest increase in nearly a decade. “This proposal could not come at a worse time,” Malliotakis wrote. “New Yorkers are struggling with record high prices at the pump, skyrocketing utility bills, higher priced groceries, and burdensome costs of living.”

Malliotakis added: “Water is a necessity, not a luxury. Like oxygen, it is a most basic element needed for survival. Our city‘s leadership, in good conscience, cannot, and should not, raise the cost of this life necessity.”

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IPS NEWS: JOURNALIST CRAIG R. WHITNEY TO SPEAK ON RUSSIA/UKRAINE CRISIS: Acclaimed former reporter, foreign correspondent, and editor of the New York Times, Craig R. Whitney, will present a talk next Sunday, June 5, titled Ukraine and Russia: A History of Sorrows.” His presentation, which is free and open to the public, and being held in the sanctuary of Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, on Hicks St., at 12:30 p.m. that day, following worship, will give a historical perspective of the present war in Ukraine describing the fraught history between Ukraine and Russia from the Bolsheviks through the Nazis, and will examine Putin’s long-held desire to reunite the Soviet Union.

A free-will donation to Episcopal Relief and Development’s Ukraine Relief Fund will be accepted.


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