Good Morning, Brooklyn: Wednesday, August 24, 2022

August 24, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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SCOOTER MOTORIST KILLED ON BELT PARKWAY: A tragic early-morning collision yesterday claimed the life of a 41-year-old scooter operator. Police and EMS personnel responding to a 911 call of a vehicle collision on the eastbound Belt Parkway at exit 5, within the 62nd Precinct, discovered a 41-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive lying in the roadway with head and body trauma, who was pronounced deceased at the scene. The NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that the victim was ejected from the scooter, was then struck by a dark colored vehicle travelling eastbound on the Belt Parkway who did not remain on scene.

Another eastbound motorist driving a 2020 Hyundai Tucson also struck the victim but remained on the scene.

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GUILTY PLEA IN WIRE FRAUD CASE: U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie presided in Brooklyn federal court yesterday over the guilty plea of Keily Nunez, a former JetBlue Airways employee, of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with false statements Nunez made to obtain loans for himself and his coconspirators pursuant to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The defendant is the last of seven conspirators convicted for stealing nearly $1.5 million in fraudulently obtained small business loans.

In addition to making false statements to obtain the loans, the defendants did not use the relief funding for ongoing business expenses as the EIDL program requires. Instead, they withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from bank accounts that had received EIDL loan funds.

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CITY ADOPTS NEW INTRADERMAL MONKEYPOX VACCINATIONS: New York City will adopt the new intradermal monkeypox vaccination strategy that the federal government has mandated, thus expanding the available dose supply with which to vaccinate more New Yorkers. More than 12,000 new first-dose public appointments are expected to become available by tonight, August 24.

The city has begun training vaccinators and will continue to work with health care providers on preparation for broader-scale intradermal administration.

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MORE THAN 1,000 ATTEND ‘SAVE MAIMONIDES’ TOWN HALL: Save Maimonides, a grassroots effort led by Brooklyn community leaders and members, hosted a town hall in Borough Park on Monday night to educate and mobilize the local community on the campaign’s goals and efforts to improve its hospital. The event featured prominent community activists and leaders, including author and philanthropist David Lichtenstein, Professor Alan Dershowitz and community activists Baruch Rosinger and Zvi Gluck, who shared examples of what they assert is the hospital leadership’s negligence and ways to restore the medical center’s legacy.

The event, held in Ateres Chaya Hall, hosted more than a thousand participants who came together to show their support and share their negative experiences at Maimonides.

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LEGISLATION WOULD HELP MOTHERS WHO SUFFER FETAL DEATHS: New legislation that Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (D-AD 42), has introduced “Mickie’s Law” (A10659) that would ensure expectant mothers who encounter fetal deaths get the treatment they need to remove a dead fetus, especially in the event of an emergency. The sweeping bill aims to amend public health law to require a timely procedure to remove a deceased fetus from the womb within 48 hours of notification before its decomposition becomes toxic and life-threatening to the mother, a referral of patients to another health care provider if not available to perform services, and would require OBGYN residents to be fully trained and educated in these well-established and accepted procedures, among other provisions.

The bill is named Mickie’s Law in honor of the fetus-loss of parents who were denied removal treatment due to a hospital’s religious beliefs. Assemblymember Bichotte Hermelyn has publicly announced that she, also, is expecting a baby.

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FREE UNIVERSITY CLASSES IN PROSPECT PARK: University Open Air, a collaboration between the Brooklyn Public Library and the Prospect Park Alliance, is back for a full schedule of courses and workshops on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, September 8, 10, 11 and 15, 17, 18. This program gives immigrant teachers, professors, and academics, who were trained outside of the U.S., an opportunity to share their knowledge with the public by welcoming students to enjoy free classes under the trees at Prospect Park.

Classes, which are non-accredited, will take place, weather permitting, outside along the lawn surrounding the Boathouse in Prospect Park located at 101 East Drive.

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LOCAL STORIES ABOUT MOTHERING DURING THE PANDEMIC: New York-Presbyterian Dalio Center for Health Justice will host a community event highlighting local stories about motherhood during the pandemic. The event, taking place this September 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and titled “Community Conversations: Motherhood During a Pandemic,” celebrates the unique experiences of five new mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic and coincides with the 10th anniversary of Black Breastfeeding Week.

The community event is part of the Dalio Center’s SHaRE (Supporting Health and Reaching Equity) program – a novel initiative designed to create a set of community-informed health programs focused on maternal and child health.

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OTHMER PROGRAM EXAMINES TEENS AND TECHNOLOGY: “Screens, Teens & Rattled Parents” is the topic in an upcoming Talks in the Othmer series at the Center for Brooklyn History. Harvard University researchers Emily Weinstein and Carrie James, who have devoted their careers to studying teens’ use of technology, will discuss their book, Behind Their Screens: What Teens are Facing (and Adults are Missing.) Matt Schneider, co-founder of City Dads Group, will also lead a conversation about the fundamental generation gap, unfounded assumptions about the evils and benefits of social media, and a ‘reset’ for adults, at this event, taking place on Tuesday, September 13, at 6:30 p.m. (Registration https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/talks-othmer-screens-center-for-brooklyn-20220913)

Talks in the Othmer is CBH’s Fall series of in-person programs, presented in partnership with NYU’s Brooklyn-based 370 Jay Project.

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PUBLIC ADVOCATE EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER REDISTRICTING: As the New York City Redistricting Commission considers the proposed maps for new City Council districts, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams lifted several community concerns over the new boundaries that would determine representation for all New Yorkers across the 51 districts, detailing specific potential issues with the newly drawn districts: including that the waterfront communities from Red Hook to Coney Island have been substantially re-configured; and that communities of interest are being split up.

Williams pointed out that advocates are pushing for a Bensonhurst district with a majority AAPI community. Currently, Bensonhurst and the AAPI community is split over several districts, with CD43, the former Bensonhurst district, being composed of four different council districts.

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CVS JOINS LIDL AT NEW PARK SLOPE DEVELOPMENT: A CVS Pharmacy will be joining Lidl at a major residential and retail development on the site of the former Key Food at 120 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope. William Macklowe Company and Senlac Ridge Partners — the site’s joint developer — have signed a lease with CVS to operate a pharmacy. CVS will occupy the ground floor and lower level of one of the two mixed-use buildings planned for the site; while Lidl will anchor the retail component of the other building.

The 180‐unit residential rental development will include 45 affordable housing units and approximately 67,000 square feet of retail/commercial space, as well as a parking garage.

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BROOKLYN REPORTS 6.8 PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT FOR JULY: Brooklyn (Kings County) reported an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, according to the New York State Department of Labor’s preliminary local area unemployment rates for July 2022. Released yesterday, the data in the preceding table are not seasonally adjusted, which means they reflect seasonal influences (e.g., holiday and summer hires.)

The Labor Dept. points out that the most valid comparisons with this type of data are year-to-year comparisons of the same month, for example, July 2021 versus July 2022.