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Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, July 19, 2022

July 19, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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POLICE ID VICTIM IN GREENPOINT SHOOTING: Police have released the identity of a 31-year-old victim gunned down early this morning as he was reportedly securing a Law & Order production set, in Greenpoint. Officers responding to the scene around 5:15 a.m. on July 19, found the man, now identified as Johnny Pizarro, of Queens, in front of 229 North Henry Street within the 94th Precinct, unresponsive and unconscious, with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and neck. EMS responded and transported the victim to NYC Health + Hospitals / Woodhull, where he was pronounced deceased.

No arrests had been made as of press time. The incident, which several news media reported as having taken place before a scheduled filming of Law & Order episodes, is under investigation.

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PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD BEGINS ON TRANSPORTATION DRAFT: The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council has prepared a draft Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the federal fiscal years of 2023 (starting next July 1) to 2027, for which a thirty-day public comment period for the draft will begin this Wednesday, July 20 through August 18. The draft TIP lists the federally funded transportation improvement projects proposed for the NYMTC planning area over the four-year period, and which cover various transportation modes and facilities, including roadways and bridges, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, transit equipment and services, safety improvements and demand management programs.

More information is available via at www.nymtc.org/REQUIRED-PLANNING-PRODUCTS/TIP1at the start of the comment period.

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LAWSUIT PROTESTS SCHOOL BUDGET CUT: Four NYC parents and teachers filed a lawsuit today in NY State Supreme Court, demanding a temporary restraining order to halt what they call severe budget cuts to their public schools planned for next year that would negate gains made in reducing class size and augmenting special programs. Their lawsuit points out that New York State Education Law clearly specifies a mandated process by which the NYC Board of Education (also known as the Panel for Educational Policy) must vote to approve the education budget prior to the City Council vote, but that the votes took place in reverse order. The lawsuit asks for a revote of the City Council in order to ensure the legally-required process occurs, and that the Council has the opportunity to reconsider its vote based on the testimony of nearly 70 parents and teachers who spoke out at the Board of Education meeting, detailing the profoundly damaging impact of these cuts on their schools.

The lawsuit also accuses the Schools Chancellor of needlessly issuing an “Emergency Declaration,” in order to circumvent a board vote, instead of following the legally mandated procedure outlined in state law.

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COLTON FIGHTS BUDGET CUTS: Likewise, Assemblymember William Colton (D-47), who represents Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights, has circulated a petition to oppose NYC public school budget cuts for the 2022-23 school year. Colton accuses Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor of being quick to oppose a bill that would have required the NYC Department of Education to study and implement class size reductions in its schools over the next four years, and instead pushing through a city budget with cuts of $215 million in funding on the claim that enrollment has dropped during the pandemic, “even as the state was given a historic $600 million increase in aid to NYC schools.”

Colton, who said that he personally was distributing the petitions at subway stations within his district, urges all those who are interested in signing or distributing them to do so at his office at 155 Kings Highway.

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IRONDALE PRESENTS TEEN ENSEMBLE WHO SURVIVED WAR THROUGH ACTING: Nine teens who have dealt with the war in Ukraine creatively through dramatics will be bringing their production to Irondale, Brooklyn’s leading theatrical and artistically ambitious think-tank theater ensemble. The students, from Ukraine’s The School of Open-Minded Kids Studio Theater in Lviv, will present the United States’ premiere of Mom on Skype, (August 13-14, at 7:30 p.m.), a play that features a range of stories about family separation as told from the perspective of children.

The piece, Mama Po Skaipu, written collaboratively by a dozen Ukrainian writers and previously directed by an active-duty Ukrainian solider, was performed by a cast of nine children, ages 10-14 who were sheltering in a warehouse while bombs fell around them. The cast and creative team will host a Q+A discussion following the performance, for which tickets will go on sale later this month.

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FLATBUSH STORE SELLS WINNING LOTTERY TICKET: A store in Flatbush sold the most recent winning CASH4LIFE Ticket Worth $1000 A Week For Life. The New York Lottery on July 18 announced one second-prize ticket was sold for the July 16 CASH4LIFE drawing. At Josming Discount Inc., 967 Flatbush Ave.

The winning numbers for the CASH4LIFE game are drawn from a field of one to 60, with the Cash Ball drawn from a separate field of one to four.

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MENTAL HEALTH HELPLINE EXPANDS: New York City will expand its successful, free mental health helpline, NYC Well — strengthening the foundation for the federal 988 crisis line, Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Community Mental Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced yesterday. While the city already far exceeds the federal standards for 988, this expansion — funded by a $10.8 million investment from the New York State Office of Mental Health Hygiene — will provide more staff for increased access to crisis counseling, peer support, information, and referral to ongoing behavioral health services, allowing NYC Well counselors and peer support specialists, specifically, to answer up to 500,000 calls, texts and chats from New Yorkers between now and next June — a nearly 20 percent increase in capacity from the previous year.

Mayor Adams also urged the federal government to resolve geolocation issues with 988, so all people in New York City who dial or text 988 are automatically connected to New York City’s mental health helpline, NYC Well, and not to a counselor located in an area associated with the area code where their cell phone number is based.

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CONEY ISLAND SNAP CENTER IS MOVING: The Human Resources Administration’s Coney Island SNAP Center is relocating next month from 2857 West 8^th St. to 1912 Mermaid Avenue. The Coney Island SNAP Center (food assistance) administers SNAP-only benefits and assists clients with all aspects of application and recertification eligibility requirements for SNAP benefits, and collects required documentation to establish eligibility and assists clients with issues pertaining to case status, household composition, and benefit levels.

The current location at 2857 West 8th Street will close on August 12 at 5 p.m. Office operations will resume at the new location on Mermaid Ave. on the following Monday, August 15 at 8:30 a.m., at the new location.

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URGES PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TO EVALUATE RATE HIKES: Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-7/western Brooklyn) has led six of her Congressional colleagues, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-10/Sunset Park to Gravesend) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-12/northern Brooklyn) in urging the Public Service Commission to consider struggling New Yorkers in response to Con Edison’s proposed rate hikes and the utility giant’s continued investments in existing fossil fuel infrastructure. The letter encourages the Public Service Commission (PSC) “to consider a close evaluation of the proposed rate hikes and [we] believe that Con Edison should prioritize more of their investments in making the transition to renewable energy,” wrote the lawmakers.

The Congressmembers point out that “Although Con Edison has already agreed to pare down on its proposed increases and is willing to consider discontinuing the use of additional gas pipes, those actions are not adequate. Families cannot manage another rate hike and should not have to support Con Edison’s investments in the fossil fuel industry.”

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NEW CENTENARIAN RECEIVES PROCLAMATION: Francesco DaGuida, who reached his 100^th birthday on July 12, received a special Proclamation from Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) at a centennial birthday celebration held on July 17 at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island. “It was a great honor to present Francesco with a Proclamation from the state Assembly for his 100th Birthday, recognizing this family patriarch, family man, veteran, and civic person as a great person in NYC,” Colton said.

“Francesco DaGuida is a proud father of four children, 10 great-grandchildren, and a veteran who represents all the good values and traditions of the neighborhood. The American Dream for all of us,” Colton added.

Left to right: Assemblymember Colton stands with the new centenarian Francesco DaGuida and his son, Joseph (holding framed proclamation).
Photo courtesy of Assemblymember William Colton

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FAITH IN BROOKLYN: GODSQUAD PASTOR HONORED: The Rev. Edward-Hinds, interim pastor of the GodSquad/67^th Precinct Clergy Council, was recently honored with a Caribbean Life Impact Award 2022 for his work ministering to the victims and families of gun violence. GodSquad also has the mission of combatting and ending gun violence, including through job training and special youth and educational programs such as the Flatbush Leadership Academy.

Hinds accepted the interim leadership of the GodSquad when its founder, Pastor Gilford Monrose, was tapped as executive director of Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnership. Monrose served under a similar role when Adams was Brooklyn Borough President.