Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, July 8, 2022

July 8, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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FIRE DEPARTMENT BLOCK PARTY IN BUSHWICK: The New York City Fire Department is reviving its series of block party community events at firehouses in all five borough starting — this weekend — in Brooklyn. The first block party will take place tomorrow Saturday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Engine 277 / Ladder 112, 582 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. During each event, FDNY members will hold interactive demonstrations, offer free fire and life safety education, and conduct tours of FDNY apparatus. Children will meet the FDNY Fire and Life Safety Mascots, Hot Dog and Siren.

Made possible with generous support from the FDNY Foundation, the summer block parties provide an important opportunity to teach people of all ages critical fire and life safety tips, as well as afford young people a chance to explore rewarding careers with our Department,” said Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh

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BOLD PROPOSAL FOR SUBWAY: POLICE AT TURNSTILES, METAL DETECTORS: Police should be stationed at every subway turnstile set, and new, artificial intelligence-driven metal detectors installed in New York City subways, Samuel Estreicher and Zachary Garrett boldly propose in a New York Law Journal commentary published yesterday. Attributing the 54 percent rise in subway crime since last year and a 39 percent spike in the last month alone to a lack of deterring police presence, Estreicher and Garrett weigh what many could consider an insurmountable price tag, given the $150K annual salary of police officers, against the “brute necessity —even basic human right”— of safeguarding commuters’ lives.

Moreover, the commentary’s authors posit that “The Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen should have no implications for the legality of our proposal. As Justice Kavanaugh noted in his concurrence, the states and the federal government may still permissibly put into place reasonable restrictions on the carrying of firearms in ‘sensitive places.’”

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AFTER INTERVENTION, SECURITY DEPOSITS RETURNED TO TENANTS: Attorney General Letitia James has recovered nearly $300,000 of illegally withheld security deposits for Brooklyn tenants, after reaching an agreement with New York City landlord SGW Properties, LLC and their related LLCs for failing to return approximately $296,272 in security deposits to New Yorkers following new changes to security deposit laws. SGW, which owns properties throughout Brooklyn, failed to comply with the 2019 changes to the state’s rental laws when they did not return security deposits to 129 tenants within 14 days of the tenant vacating the apartment or providing a written itemized list of their reasons for keeping the deposit.

The terms of the agreement stipulate that SGW must return all improperly retained security deposits to these tenants, train all staff in compliance with the updated security deposit law, and pay a $10,000 penalty.

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INDICTMENT ON TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION SCHEME: A grand jury returned an indictment in federal court in Brooklyn charging five defendants with various crimes pertaining to a transnational repression scheme that was orchestrated on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China. The case is assigned to the United States District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall and the defendants will be arraigned at a later date. Three of the defendants —Fan “Frank” Liu, Matthew Ziburis, and Qiang “Jason” Sun — allegedly perpetrated in the transnational repression scheme to target U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government, such as advocating for democracy in the PRC.

Two new defendants charged in the scheme work for the federal government: Craig Miller, a 15-year employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently assigned as a Deportation Officer to DHS’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Minneapolis, and Derrick Taylor, a retired DHS law enforcement agent who presently works as a private investigator in Irvine, California.

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Suspect in vehicle robbery
Photo credit: NYPD

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SUSPECT?: The NYPD is asking for the public’s assistance in ascertaining the whereabouts of the unidentified individual depicted in the attached surveillance video and photographs being sought in connection with a robbery that occurred within the 84th Precinct on Monday, June 27. The man stole the female victim’s 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicle after pushing an older female victim from the passenger side, causing a head injury. The vehicle was recovered on Bergen St., in the 78th Precinct, the next day.

The unidentified perpetrator is described as a male, medium skin complexion, approximately 20 to 25 years of age, 5’10” tall, 140 pounds and last seen wearing a white T-shirt, black hoodie sweater, blue pants, white sneakers, black hat and possibly wearing a cast on left arm. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

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DECLINE IN SHOOTINGS, OTHER CRIME CATEGORIES INCREASE: New York City saw an overall decline in shooting incidents during June 2022, compared to the same period last year, the NYPD announced yesterday. Citywide shooting incidents decreased by 24.2 percent (125 v. 165), marked by declines in every patrol borough except northern Queens. Additionally, the number of murders declined for the month by 31.6 percent (26 v. 38) compared to the same period last year, as did overall hate crimes, which declined by 8 percent (59 v. 64) compared to June 2021.

However, offsetting this progress was a spike in the overall crime index for the city, which increased by 31.1% in June 2022 compared with June 2021 (11,073 v. 8,448). Six of the seven major index-crime categories saw increases: grand larceny by more than 40 percent; in robbery (direct theft from a person by force or fear) and in burglary (property break-ins).

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IPS NEWS: GOVERNOR URGED TO SIGN CLASS SIZE BILL: Assemblymember William Colton (D – 47), acting on behalf of the thousands of parents who have contacted his office regarding decreasing class sizes has sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to sign the public schools bill A10498. Colton, who represents Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights, pointed out that “on June 2 an extension on NYC mayoral control was passed together with bill A10498 which requires the NYC Department of Education to study and implement class size reductions in its schools, and that bill A10498 was passed to limit the number of students per classroom in New York City public schools by the year 2027.”

Lamenting Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks’ opposition to the bill, Colon, who is a former educator, said, “Parents are concerned about the quality education of their children in NYC’s public schools. As a former educator, I understand how much the class size impacts the ability of teachers to meet the academic needs of their students.”

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IPS NEWS: $150K ALLOCATED TO VIOLENCE INTERRUPTION PROGRAMS: State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-25^th District), who represents a large portion of western and central parts of the borough announced his allocation of $150k in discretionary state budget funding to violence interruption programs in the Brooklyn – where violence typically spikes during the summer. Five programs have received the funding: the Red Hook Initiative, Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI), Both Sides of the Violence, Save Our Streets (SOS) via Neighbors In Action, and The Brothers Redefining Opportunities Experience (the BRO Experience).

Violence interruption programs provide rapid de-escalation and mediation in the immediate aftermath of a conflict as well as a range of other services designed to prevent violence from spreading within a community.

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IPS NEWS: YASSKY DECLARED A ‘GUN SENSE CANDIDATE’: David Yassky, a former City Councilmember who is now a candidate for the New York State Senate, has been designated a “Gun Sense Candidate” by Moms Demand Action, a national grassroots organization of real Americans fighting for gun safety. Yassky pointed out that, “Before last week, Congress hadn’t passed gun safety laws since the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Ban – nearly thirty years ago.”

Yassky helped craft and pass gun safety laws during his time serving as counsel to Chuck Schumer, and points out that such laws take “years of organizing, pressure and advocacy. Most important, they were sound policy ideas backed by evidence and logic.”

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IPS NEWS: REFUNDS FOR DELAYED COVID TEST RESULTS: The Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has recovered more than $122,000 for more than 690 consumers in New York City who paid for expedited COVID-19 tests but received their results later than the promised 24-hour timeframe. After the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued a warning letter to Clear 19 Rapid Testing LLC (Clear 19) to stop misrepresenting turnaround times for COVID-19 results, Clear 19 refunded hundreds of consumers who received their results more than two hours after the promised time.

The company also amended their advertising to accurately describe turnaround times.

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IPS NEWS: ASKS GUN MANUFACTURERS TO ATTEND HEARING ON VIOLENCE: U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-12/northern Brooklyn) chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent letters to the CEOs of gun manufacturers Daniel Defense, LLC, Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., requesting their appearance at a committee hearing on Wednesday, July 20, on the urgent issue of gun violence. The hearing follows the Committee’s June 8 hearing where witnesses shared their personal experiences with gun violence, including the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

The Committee is continuing to gather financial and marketing information from these companies regarding their sale of weapons of war in the United States —including the assault weapons used in the recent mass murders in Highland Park and Uvalde.