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What’s News, Breaking: Monday, November 28, 2022

November 28, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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SETTLEMENT REQUIRES CITY AGENCIES TO IMPROVE SERVICES FOR DIABETIC CHILDREN: United States District Judge Nina Gershon in Brooklyn federal court has granted preliminary approval to a landmark settlement that will ensure children with diabetes in NYC receive the care they need to fully participate in school and school-related activities. The proposed class action settlement resolves claims that New York City, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Office of School Health systemically failed to ensure that students with diabetes could attend school safely and have access to the same educational opportunities as their peers, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights Law.

Under the Settlement Agreement, defendants will modify their policies, practices, and procedures related to determining the needs of students with diabetes; providing care such that students with diabetes are not excluded or segregated from their classmates; training for staff and contractors, among other points.

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GOVERNOR VETOES BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION PASSED ON BEHALF OF DYSLEXIC STUDENTS: Legislation that would have helped children with the learning differences dyslexia (reading) and dysgraphia (writing) has gotten Governor Kathy Hochul’s veto, even though it had unanimous legislative support. The bill (Assembly Bill A2185), whose cosponsors included Assemblymembers Robert Carroll (D-44), Jo Anne Simon (D-52) and William Colton (D-47), would have established a task force to examine appropriate and effective evidence-based dyslexia and dysgraphia screening methods, reading interventions, and other educational supports for students in kindergarten through grade five.

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Assemblymember Carroll declared, “We’re heartsick and disappointed with the veto of our Dyslexia Task Force Act (A2185B/S.441C) on the heels of unanimous support in the State Legislature…. Sadly, with this veto, New York will continue to languish near the bottom tier of states with no roadmap to tackle this deep-seated problem that plagues our educational system.”

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FURMAN ST. CLOSES OVERNIGHT NEXT MONDAY: BROOKLYN HTS —Furman Street below the BQE and Promenade will have one lane closed overnight, next Monday, December 5 for road maintenance, the NYCDOT Division of Bridges announced today. Maintenance will be performed on the BQE (also known as Interstate 278) from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., weather and field conditions permitting, with only one lane open on the two-lane roadway between Joralemon St. and Doughty St. near Fulton Ferry Landing during that time.

Flaggers will be present at either end of the closure. Furman St. has one lane in each direction.

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NYPD: ARGUMENT PRECEDED AUGUST SHOOTING IN BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK: A NYPD investigation of an August 2022 shooting at Brooklyn Bridge Park (84th Precinct) in August has uncovered some new information and a photo of the assailant has become available. The NYPD is asking the public to help identify the gunman (pictured) in an August 30 non-fatal shooting, in which the 33-year-old male victim —originally believed to be a non-involved bystander, was  shot in the abdomen.

Though previous news reports disclosed that the police had believed the victim to be an innocent bystander, new facts have emerged to indicate that he had been dancing with women he just met when the gunman started a verbal dispute with him before firing his gun.

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ANOTHER CITY HOSPITAL IN BROOKLYN: EARNS PRESTIGIOUS NURSING DESIGNATION: NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health is the latest medical care recipient to receive received the prestigious Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health (formerly Coney Island Hospital) becomes the second hospital in Brooklyn and only the third in New York City to join a select group of just 202 health care organizations who have earned Pathway to Excellence designation worldwide.

The announcement comes on the heels of the recent NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County ANCC designation, which was the first hospital in to Brooklyn receive the designation last month

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SEEKING ATLANTIC TERMINAL PICKPOCKETS, NYPD WARNS NEW YORKERS TO BE ON ALERT: The NYPD is alerting commuters and holiday shoppers to be on the alert after a pickpocketing incident in the B & Q subway station at Atlantic Terminal, within the 88th Precinct. Police are also asking the public to identify two individuals who distracted a 38-year-old woman and stole her wallet on November 16 as she was standing on the northbound platform, first by speaking to the victim in a language unfamiliar to her, and then bumping her. After she noticed her wallet missing, she received text messages that more than $1,000 had been charged at the Target store within Atlantic Terminal.

Both individuals are (pictured) females with light complexions, medium build with black hair; one wore a tan jacket and a black shirt while her accomplice wore a black jacket and tan shirt.

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AMPLE ICE CREAM FOR NETS’ 10TH BIRTHDAY BASH: Prize-winning Brooklyn-based ice cream company Ample Hills Creamery is teaming up with the Brooklyn Nets to debut two new ice cream flavors in honor of the Nets’ 10 years in Brooklyn. Birthday Swishes: Home Court Advantage, sold exclusively at Barclays Center in single serve (4oz) cups, features dark chocolate cake ice cream with white frosting swirls and black, white and silver sprinkles, while Birthday Swishes: Away Game is sold in pints and as scoops across all Ample Hills scoop shops in New York and New Jersey, and features white birthday cake ice cream with chocolate frosting swirls, house-made chocolate cake batter bites and black, white, and silver sprinkles.

Founded in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn in 2011, Ample Hills has been rated #1 in New York City by Zagat, named “Best Ice Cream in America” by Food Network. The inventive force behind the Birthday Swishes packaging was Ample Hills’ longtime Creative Director Lauren Kaelin.

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WINNING TAKE 5 TICKET SOLD IN BROOKLYN: A merchant in East New York sold one of two prize-winning tickets from the Saturday, November 26 TAKE 5 evening drawing. The ticket worth $18,558 was sold at Kevin’s Liquor, 2216 Pitkin Avenue.

Another ticket for the same amount (total top prize jackpot of $37,117) was sold in the Buffalo suburb of Angola, New York, in Erie County.

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NEW BILLS REQUIRE FDNY TO ADDRESS DIVERSITY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: A package of five bills that New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed today aims to improve diversity within the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). The bills address recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups within the department, and require the implementation of diversity, inclusion, anti-discrimination, and anti-harassment training.

One of the bills, Intro 519-A, has provisions for the growing number of women firefighters; it requires the FDNY to complete a survey of permanent firehouse upgrades to establish a working environment that facilitates use by a mixed-gender workforce.

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Presiding Justice Hector D. LaSalle of NY State Appellate Court-Second Department.
Brooklyn Eagle File Photo by Rob Abruzzese

PRESIDING JUSTICE FROM BROOKLYN ON SHORT LIST TO BECOME CHIEF JUDGE OF NEW YORK: Appellate Court Presiding Justice Hector D. LaSalle, who serves here in Brooklyn, is among the seven jurists and attorneys whom a special committee has recommended to Governor Kathy Hochul to become the next chief judge of New York, the Law Journal reports. Justice LaSalle presides over the New York State Appellate Court-Second Department, whose courthouse is on Monroe Place, was appointed to the Appellate Division in 2014, and has served as Presiding Justice since 2021, with previous experience in the U.S. District (federal) Court-Eastern District in 1997. Gov. Hochul has until December 23 to make her decision, with the earliest date permitted by law being December 8.

The chief judge, who will replace now-retired Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, is in charge of administering New York State’s $2.4 billion court system, with more than 1,200 state-paid judges and approximately 15,000 nonjudicial staff in more than 300 locations. 

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LEGISLATION TO PROTECT VEHICLES FROM CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT: Vehicle owners may be better protected by new legislation to  prevent theft of catalytic converter parts and reduce the incentive for stealing them. The City Council Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection’s Introduction 525-B would require that any secondhand dealer purchasing a used catalytic converter, must first obtain from the seller information about the vehicle the catalytic converter was removed from, which demonstrates that the seller either owns the vehicle or was otherwise authorized to remove the catalytic converter in connection with a repair.

Catalytic converters are increasingly becoming a popular item as they contain highly valued metals and are easy to steal — taking less than two minutes to remove — yet cost the rightful vehicle owners thousands of dollars to replace. The 84th Precinct recommends that vehicle owners etch their VIN numbers onto the catalytic converters, install metal plates over them, and spray them with bright colors.

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LAND USE APPLICATION GRANTED FOR INNOVATIVE URBAN VILLAGE: Innovative Urban Village in Brooklyn’s East New York section is one of two land use applications that City Council has approved that will collectively produce more than five thousand new units of housing, 65 percent of which will be affordable, with more than 1,900 of the housing units (over 37 percent) being deeply affordable for extremely or very low-income households.

The application for Innovative Urban Village, LLC, a partnership between the Christian Cultural Center and the Gotham Organization) is for a proposed zoning map amendment to rezone the south side of Flatlands Avenue between Louisiana Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue to designate a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Area in Appendix F of the Zoning Resolution (Option 1) and extend the Transit Zone, and zoning special permits to waive bulk regulations for a large-scale general development and for a public parking garage.

These actions will facilitate construction of 11 new mixed-used buildings with 1,975 affordable residential units, a ground-floor commercial area (including a grocery store) a performing arts center, residential and public parking, and open space surrounding the existing Christian Cultural Center house of worship in Councilmember Charles Barron’s district.

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DUMBO BID GETS BUDGET INCREASE; S. WILLIAMSBURGH GETS TAX EXEMPTION FOR BUILDINGS: The DUMBO Business Improvement District (BID) will benefit from a budget increase that City Council passed, thanks to Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-43/ southwestern Brooklyn) and colleagues. The Council passed Introduction 798, sponsored by Councilmembers, Farah Louis, Kristin Richardson Jordan (D-Harlem, and Diana Ayala (D-Harlem/Bronx), and by request of the Mayor, which will authorize an increase in the amount to be expended annually DUMBO Business Improvement Districts, and in Harlem’s 125th Street. City Council also passed a Preconsidered Resolution, whose sponsor is Councilmember Justin Brannan, authorizing an Article XI tax exemption for twelve buildings with a total of 251 residential units in South Williamsburg.

Article XI (11) tax exemptions encourage new construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing to be carried out by a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC), by granting a complete or partial exemption from real estate taxes for up to 40 years.

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HISTORIC RED HOOK SHIP MARY A. WHALEN RECEIVES FEMA GRANT: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved $231,000 for  a new scope of work and extension for a Sandy Alternate Project that is essential to making the historic ship MARY A. WHALEN in Red Hook again operational. PortSide NewYork’s flagship, the MARY A.WHALEN, is a retired coastal oil tanker that was turned into a museum named the BLUEspace, which functions as a floating education and cultural center, the site of their non-profit offices, and the home of famous ship cat CHICLET. 

National Day of Giving on November 29 (https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/sail-nyc/items/28964/availability/851048782/book/?flow=276598&full-items=yes) will also provide a chance for donations to The MARY, which is the last of her kind in the USA. Built for Red Hook’s Ira S. Bushey and Sons, she was launched May 21, 1938 and is significant to area history and national maritime law.

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GOVERNOR NOMINATES KAYLIN WHITTINGHAM TO STATE COMMISSION ON ETHICS: Kaylin L. Whittingham, a leader with multiple Bar Associations including as: a past president of the Association of Black Women Attorneys (ABWA), has been nominated to serve on the Commission on Ethics in Lobbying and Government. Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced Whittingham as the Executive Chamber’s third nominee to the Commission, which is responsible for holding government accountable and increasing transparency and accountability. A seven-day public comment period is in effect, after which Whittingham as the nominee will then be presented to the Independent Review Committee, composed of the deans of New York’s law schools, for review of her qualifications to serve on the Commission.

Several years ago, the Brooklyn Eagle covered a panel discussion in which Whittingham participated, on Continuing Legal Education (CLE). The seminar Tuesday titled “Termination of the Attorney-Client Relationship: Prevention, Planning and Procedure” will give lawyers tips on the proper way to end relationships with their clients.

Commission nominee Kaylin Whittingham
Brooklyn Eagle File Photo by Rob Abruzzese

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BROOKLYN GUNMAN ARRESTED IN FATAL SHOOTING IN JAMAICA: A Brooklyn man has been arrested, with multiple charges including murder, in relation to an August incident in Queens. The defendant, Dariel Herrera, of Hale Avenue in Cypress Hills, is charged with murder, attempted murder and several counts of criminal possession of a weapon and assault for an incident that took place August 7 on 148th Ave. near Idlewild Park and JFK Airport, with one 24-year-old victim being declared deceased at Jamaica Hospital 

A second unidentified 24-year-old victim was shot in the leg and is in stable condition as of press time Friday.

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ARRESTED ON DRUG CONSPIRACY AND WEAPONS CHARGES: Carlos Silva Arellano, also known as “Bolas,” was arraigned on Friday before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom, on charges of participating in a large-scale narcotics distribution conspiracy and using one or more firearms in connection with narcotics offenses. The defendant, a Mexican citizen, was a member of the H-2 Cartel, a violent Mexican drug trafficking organization with numerous distribution cells in the United States — including in New York —which smuggled large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana from Mexico into the United States and distribute the drugs throughout the country, using firearms and physical violence, including homicide.

Silva Arellano was extradited from Mexico to the United States last Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and was ordered detained pending trial.

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COMMUNITY BOARD 13’S LAND USE COMMITTEE ADDRESSES GRAVESEND ZONING AMENDMENTS: A zoning amendment for Mandating Inclusionary Housing in Community Board 13 goes before that body’s Land Use Committee next Wednesday in a virtual meeting. The discussion will focus on a proposal as part of the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) for Blocks 7237, Lots 61, 63, 64, 65 , and Lot 7238 constituting 58 Nixon Court, near the intersection of Shore Parkway and Ocean Parkway in Gravesend. 

The proposed zoning map amendment would amend the Rezoning Area from R5 (residential/urban areas)  to R7X and R7X/C2-4; and a zoning text amendment would be sought that would make the Rezoning Area applicable as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (“MIH”) area (the “Proposed Actions”).

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ALLOY DEVELOPMENT SEEKS PARTNER WHO SPECIALIZE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS: Brooklyn-based Alloy Development has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for partner companies specializing in renewable energy solutions to run 100 Flatbush Avenue, the 44-story story part of the Alloy Block, as the city’s first all-electric residential building. Alloy’s RFP seeks to partner with a community solar developer to enroll 100 Flatbush in community solar projects that will secure a 100 percent renewable energy supply for the building, a  44-story project to be part of the first phase of Alloy Block, a mixed-use development that will comprise five old and new buildings

Construction at 100 Flatbush recently passed the halfway mark and is on track to complete in 2024, with all of the apartments featuring induction cooktops, heat pump dryers, and electric-power basic function services including hot water heating and HVAC systems.


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