Good Morning, Brooklyn: Tuesday, August 16, 2022

August 16, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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PUBLIC OUTREACH ON FAIR FARES NYC: The Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) and the Department of Social Services (DSS) celebrate an outreach day of action at Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn, and across subway stations citywide to promote the Fair Fares NYC program, following two weeks of targeted outreach to eligible New Yorkers via text and phone. Fair Fares NYC is a City program created to help New Yorkers with low incomes manage their transportation costs, with eligible New York City residents receiving a 50 percent discount on subway and eligible bus fares or MTA Access-A-Ride paratransit trips.

The event was held in partnership with NYC Small Business Services and featured tabling with city agencies, including PEU, HRA Fair Fares, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and IDNYC.

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BIPARTISAN FIGHT AGAINST CONGESTION PRICING PLAN: Fighting back against New York City’s Congestion Pricing Program, U.S. Congressmembers Nicole Malliotakis (R-11) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) yesterday announced bipartisan steps they are taking at the federal level, including new legislation that would require the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conduct a full audit of the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) on what they say is billions in federal assistance over the past five years. Reps. Malliotakis and Gottheimer have already taken several steps to fight New York’s congestion tax, including the Economic Impact of Tolling Act, legislation that would prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from implementing congestion pricing until a thorough economic impact analysis is completed and publicized.

The city’s plan may force commuters to pay an additional $23 toll to enter Manhattan south of 60th street, costing drivers more than $5,000 per year, and potentially more for Staten Islanders who already pay a toll to connect to the rest of the city. If the plan does move forward, Malliotakis is calling on the MTA to establish a credit system to prevent her constituents from being double-tolled.

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PATHWAYS TO INDUSTRIAL AND CONSTRUCTION CAREERS: New York City Pathways to Industrial and Construction Careers (PINCC), an innovative new talent development initiative, was launched yesterday. Mayor Eric Adams announced that the Pathways initiative will help place nearly 2,300 low-income New Yorkers on the trajectory to careers in two high-growth sectors of the city’s economy over the next three years.

Formalized in Executive Order 22, the program will be funded with an $18.6 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in response to New York City’s winning proposal to the Good Jobs Challenge created under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

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ALABAMA BANK BOOSTS HOUSING IN BROOKLYN: Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood will get a transformational building initiative to help reduce homelessness, thanks to a banking corporation in Birmingham, Alabama. Regions Bank on Monday formally announced the closing of two transactions to support this initiative, under the leadership of HELP USA, a national housing nonprofit dedicated to addressing the holistic needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Financing from the transactions is aiding in the development of HELP ONE Buildings A & B, part of what will become a four-building development occupying an entire city block along Blake Avenue in East New York. HELP USA offers a range of services that extend beyond shelter to help its clients achieve independence.

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WILL CONSIDER NEW NAME FOR MONKEYPOX VIRUS: The World Health Organization announced that it will organize an open discussion to rename the monkeypox, illness following pushback that the word could have racist overtones. A statement that the WHO issued explained that two families, or clades, of the virus have had their names changed to Roman numbers rather than specific places.

Many additional illnesses, such as the Marburg virus, Spanish influenza, Japanese encephalitis, and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, have been named after the regions where they first manifested or were first discovered, with none of the names officially recommended for change by WHO.

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NY ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PROMOTES BROOKLYNITES: Two Brooklyn servicemen have been promoted within the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their capability for additional responsibility and leadership, Major General Ray Shields, the National Guard’s Adjutant General for the State of New York, announced. Carlos Pujolsovalles (from zip code 11206), who is assigned to the 442nd Military Police Company, received a promotion to the rank of sergeant. Daniel Smaranda (from zip code 11222) in Greenpoint, assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment, received a promotion to the rank of specialist.

The New York National Guard (New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs) is the state’s executive agency responsible to the Governor for managing New York’s Military Forces, which consists of nearly 20,000 members of the New York Army National Guard, the New York Air National Guard, the New York Naval Militia and the New York Guard.

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REPS. JEFFRIES, CLARKE, ENDORSE STATE SEN. KEVIN PARKER: As early voting began last weekend, U.S. Rep Hakeem Jeffries (D-8^th District) endorsed State Senator Kevin Parker for re-election. Parker, who is fighting challengers to retain his 21^st District seat, encompassing parts of central and southern Brooklyn, including Flatbush and Mill Basin, also picked up an endorsement from Rep. Yvette Clarke, as well as labor unions and Planned Parenthood of New York.

Challenging Parker in this primary are David Alexis, Kaegan Mays-Williams, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney

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CATHEDRAL-BASILICA MARKS ITS BICENTENNIAL: Hundreds of people filled the pews at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon to mark the 200th Anniversary of the parish of St. James, the first Catholic Church to be built on all of Long Island. His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, was the homilist and main celebrant of the Mass, which Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, and Bishop John Barres of Rockville Centre, also concelebrated.

Chronicling the parish history of St James, Cardinal Dolan preached, “The faith of an inspired layman, Peter Turner, who approached on behalf of a rather tiny Irish village, he approached my predecessor Bishop Connolly for the first church to be built on Long Island. You know in his eloquent simple letter to Bishop Connelly, he said, we just need a place, a place for prayer and the sacraments, to teach the faith and to bury our dead.”

Front center: Timothy Cardinal Dolan of the New York Archdiocese, with Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio of the Brooklyn Diocese (hands outstretched), reciting a portion of the Eucharistic Prayer.
Photo: The Tablet/Jeffrey Bruno

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APPELLATE COURT JUDGE NAMED AS LIFETIME ACHIEVER: The Hon. Michelle Weston, Associate Justice of the Appellate Term, Second Department, Supreme Court of the State of New York, has been named as one of the New York Law Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winners, who have made an impact on the legal community and the practice of law over an entire career. The Appellate Term, Second Department, seated on Monroe Place in Brooklyn, covers Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and several counties in the Hudson Valley region.

These winners for 2022 will be recognized in the New York Law Journal’s upcoming Professional Excellence web presentation and honored Oct. 6 at the New York Legal Awards at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

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REP. MALONEY CALLS FOR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT FROM CLASSIFIED FILES FOUND AT TRUMP RESORT: The FBI’s confiscation last week of top-secret documents from former President Donald Trump’s resort residence has prompted a Brooklyn Congressmember to request an immediate assessment of the potential damage to national security. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-12/northern Brooklyn), chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, are asking Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to identity whether the nation’s security has been compromised, following reports that former President Trump removed and retained highly classified information at his personal residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump’s possession of highly-classified documents after leaving office in January, 2021 is a potential violation of the Presidential Records Act and laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act. The New York Times reported on Sunday that two months before the FBI removed sensitive material, a Trump attorney had signed a statement in June that all highly-classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago had been returned.

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NEWLY-DEDICATED NYCHA PARK IN GRAVESEND: The New York City Housing Authority has dedicated Marlboro Houses Recreational Area in Gravesend as Sara Lee McWhite Park. Assemblymembers Steven Cymbrowitz (D-45) and Colton (D-47) gave a $2 million grant to refurbish the space, known locally as “the skatepark, at West 11 Street and Avenue X, is now dedicated in honor of a Marlboro Houses changemaker. The newly-named Sara Lee McWhite Park received new benches, trees, fencing, pavement and barbeque pits.

Assemblymembers Cymbrowitz (Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Midwood), and Colton (Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Dyker Heights and Midwood) are both actively involved in community initiatives at Marlboro Houses, frequently touring the facilities with NYCHA leadership; providing meals to residents and participating in Family Days at the development.

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JAZZ AND SALSA DANCE FOR LUNCH AT COLUMBUS PARK: Dance down the steps at Borough Hall Plaza today during a “Summer Lunchtime Jazz Concert” with Willie Martinez and the NYC Salsa All-Stars starting at noon. The Summer Lunchtime Jazz Concert series is made possible through the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the Jazz Foundation of America, and Emblem Health.

The event takes place on the plaza and in Columbus Park.

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SOCIAL SECURITY TURNS 87: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-8^th District) hosted a birthday picnic yesterday for Social Security at Canarsie Park to celebrate the 87th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. Joining him at the picnic for food, live music, dancing and games and advocacy were hundreds of seniors from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, Spring Creek, Brownsville and East New York.

Declaring that “Millions of Americans rely on Social Security to meet their everyday needs, including 113,000 right here in New York’s 8th Congressional District and the more than 300 seniors who came out to join me today, Rep. Jeffries pledged that “House Democrats will fight Republican plans to privatize, cut and even end Social Security.”

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NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS TO RECEIVE THE ENDORSEMENT OF UNIFORMED FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11, R-C, Staten Island-Brooklyn) will receive the Endorsement of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York at a news conference on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 1:00pm in front of the FDNY Firehouse at 278 McClean Avenue, Staten Island, New York.

The UFA represents approximately 25,000 active and retired members of the FDNY. This is the first time the UFA will be endorsing Congresswoman Malliotakis.