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What’s News, Breaking: Tuesday, January 17, 2023

January 17, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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KIDS ENJOY THREE KINGS DAY WITH THE BOROUGH PRESIDENT

SUNSET PARK – Elementary-school children at P.S. 1/‘The Bergen’ got a huge treat when Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Councilmember Alexa Avilés teamed up with the National Supermarket Association to bring them “Three Kings Day” last week. Four hundred children in the first through third grades shared the significance of ‘Three Kings Day,’ celebrating cultural traditions and giving back to their communities, and each received gifts ranging from Easy-Bake Ovens to soccer balls, action figures and game sets like Checkers.

“Día de Los Reyes’ isn’t just about toys and presents, it’s about the traditions that have crossed borders and passed through generations,” said Reynoso, who is the first Latino elected to the Brooklyn Borough Presidency.

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CITY HOSPITAL SYSTEM NAMES SYSTEM CHIEF FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Dr. Omar Fattal will oversee behavioral health at NYC Health + Hospitals. Photo: NYC Health + Hospitals.

CONEY ISLAND — NYC Health + Hospitals has appointed Omar Fattal, MD, MPH of its Coney Island/southern Brooklyn location as System Chief for Behavioral Health and co-Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Fattal will lead the system’s efforts to expand psychiatric and substance use services, run innovative training programs for behavioral health staff and implement strategies to recruit and retain staff. He is also a psychiatrist at the Pride Clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

More than a decade ago, Dr. Fattal co-founded the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH), an organization of healthcare professionals that works to achieve equity in health, with a focus on sexual health within marginalized groups.

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CLEANING AND BEAUTIFYING SHORE ROAD PARK

BAY RIDGE – Ongoing cleanup of Shore Road Park has been a priority for the Bay Ridge Environment Group, with the next work date scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 28 at 10 a.m., at 75th Street. Volunteers can bring family and friends to the group effort, which will run for about 90 minutes.

Shore Road Park, which stretches 4.5 miles alongside the Belt Parkway from the American Veterans Memorial Pier to Bensonhurst Park, offers spectacular views of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and sunsets. It also contains Vinland Playground, honoring both the rich Norwegian heritage of the Bay Ridge community and the Leif Ericson discovery of America.

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POLICE ARREST KNIFE-WIELDING SUSPECT FOR MARINE PARK MURDER

EAST FLATBUSH – Police on Tuesday morning, Jan. 17 arrested and charged an East Flatbush man as a suspect in the Jan. 10 stabbing of a 30-year-old male in Marine Park, within the 63rd Precinct. Ansel Payano, 34, of East 51st St., is charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the death of Nessim Sahalon of Bensonhurst/Mapleton.

The victim, who had been stabbed in the chest, was pronounced deceased upon arrival at NYC Health and Hospitals/Kings County.

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MAIMONIDES AGAIN RANKS # 1 IN SURGICAL CARE

BOROUGH PARK – Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park ranks #1 in New York for Surgical Care and Orthopedic Surgery, according to a new analysis that Healthgrades, the leading marketplace connecting doctors and patients, has released. Moreover, Healthgrades has also named Maimonides Medical Center as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery, making it the only hospital in New York State to receive the 2023 America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Surgical Care Award and the only hospital in New York City to receive America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery Award for two consecutive years.

For the state ranking analysis, Healthgrades evaluated clinical performance for nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide, focusing on 18 key specialties across a mix of chronic, urgent and surgical specialty areas.

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RISE IN NUMBER OF HANDGUNS STOPPED AT TSA CHECKPOINTS

CITY AIRPORTS – Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped 39 handguns at New York City area airport checkpoints during 2022, a 33 percent increase from the 26 guns caught in 2021, according to a new report from the federal Department of Homeland Security. All firearms were discovered by TSA officers during the routine screening of carry-on property at airport security checkpoints, with the biggest jump in the number of firearms seen at LaGuardia Airport, where TSA officers detected 11 handguns in 2022.

Although John F. Kennedy International Airport was the only aiport in the NYC metropolitan area noting a decrease in the number of firearms brought to checkpoints — with seven guns last year — it was the same airport where the now infamous gun-toting peanut butter jars, containing the dissembled weapons, were detected in a traveler’s luggage on Dec. 22.

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PARKS DEPT’S MULCHFEST SETS NEW RECORD IN TREES COLLECTED, WITH MARINE PARK LEADING BROOKLYN

MARINE PARK – The southeastern Brooklyn neighborhood of Marine Park led the borough in the number of Christmas trees collected for tree-cycling during Mulchfest 2023, which the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation sponsors. Marine Park residents brought 3,404 trees, contributing toward a record-breaking Parks Department total of 58,309 trees.

The NYC Parks Department has, for more than 20 years, collected and mulched trees to help plant beds and community gardens around the city grow. Mulchfest 2023 ran from Dec. 26 through Jan. 8, with 73 total drop-off sites — 34 being chipping sites — across the five boroughs, including city parks and GreenThumb gardens.

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SCANDINAVIAN MUSEUM IN BROOKLYN OPENS ESSAY CONTEST ON NORWEGIAN RESISTANCE

BAY RIDGE – Elementary school students of Scandinavian heritage, or those impassioned by Norwegian history, are invited to participate in the Scandinavian East Coast Museum’s annual essay contest, this year focusing on the Norwegian Resistance during World War II. Students in the fourth through sixth grades may select from a number of topics, choosing one person, group or story that exemplifies this movement, such as the Teachers’ Resistance — a harrowing story of how the schoolteachers of Norway stood together to resist teaching Nazi propaganda — or the 99th Battalion, many of whose members were from Brooklyn.

Two winners will be selected from the contest, now in its second decade, with prizes including the opportunity for winners to read their essays at Viking Fest 2023. Essays, which can be typed or handwritten at a maximum of three pages, should be submitted no later than Feb. 28 to the Scandinavian East Coast Museum, 440 Ovington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11209.

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PUBLIC HEARING ON STORES SELLING FLAVORED VAPE PRODUCTS TO KIDS

CITYWIDE – Parents concerned with the proliferation of unlicensed smoke and vape shops in NYC are invited to a public hearing at City Hall this Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m., also being offered via Zoom. The public hearing will focus on the so-called “convenience stores” that continue to sell kid-friendly candy-flavored cigarettes and vaping paraphernalia, even though the sale of flavored vapes has been illegal in NYC since 2019. People will be given the opportunity to provide testimony and tell lawmakers that action is needed; register in advance via email.

The hearing will also address concerns about the entry and peddling of cannabis to youth.

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OPENING STATEMENTS TO BE GIVEN IN FIFA BRIBERY TRIAL

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – The trial of two former Fox executives accused of paying bribes to a member group of international soccer organization FIFA in order to secure lucrative broadcasting rights to South American soccer events is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 9 a.m. The New York Times, in a detailed breakdown of the case, speculates that this trial could shine an embarrassing light on Fox Sports, which has denied any knowledge of the bribery.

This latest trial is another dark spot on FIFA’s record after a sprawling 2015 corruption investigation yielded dozens of convictions over the last decade.

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POLICE SEEK WOMAN MISSING FROM BROOKLYN COLLEGE

MIDWOOD – Police are searching for Rhea Butt, 19, who was last seen on the Brooklyn College campus on the morning of Jan. 9. She is described as around 5’7″ and 130 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair and was last seen wearing a beige jacket, black jeans and white sneakers.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782); or, log onto the Crime Stoppers website or Tweet @NYPDTips.

Missing woman Rhea Butt.

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PETE DAVIDSON MOVES TO DUMBO PENTHOUSE

DUMBO – Comedian Pete Davidson, of Saturday Night Live fame, has moved into a massive, 4,500-square-foot DUMBO penthouse apartment, reports The U.S. Sun. A realtor quoted by the Sun estimated that the rent on such a luxury property might be costing the comic from $20,000 to $30,000 a month.

Davidson, a Staten Island native, announced his move to Brooklyn last February, telling NBC: “I am very excited. I love Staten Island, but it takes too long to get over the bridge.”

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SENIOR ATTACKED BY YOUTHS IN CONEY ISLAND TRAFFIC ARGUMENT

CONEY ISLAND – On the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 11, a 71-year-old man engaged in a traffic dispute with a group of unknown people at the intersection of Avenue T and Coney Island Avenue. Multiple members of the group punched the victim about the face and threw him to the ground, before fleeing the scene in a black car.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782); or, log onto the Crime Stoppers website or Tweet @NYPDTips.

Have you seen these men? All tips are confidential.
Have you seen these men? All tips are confidential.

 

The car used by the suspects.

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JURY SELECTION IN TRIAL OF MEXICAN OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF CARTEL CONNECTION

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. in the trial of Genaro Garcia Luna, formerly the head of Mexico’s equivalent of the FBI, who stands accused of receiving millions of dollars in bribe money over nearly twenty years of service in exchange for aiding the Sinaloa drug cartel in its criminal activities. ABC News reports that Luna’s charges stem from the investigation into El Chapo, who was convicted in 2019.

The conviction of the notorious drug lord El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman, was upheld in January of last year, and he is currently serving a life sentence.

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MAN SHOT DEAD NEAR BARCLAYS CENTER

PROSPECT HEIGHTS – On the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 16, police officers responded to a 911 call of a male shot in front of 45 4th Avenue and upon arrival observed a 32-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the chest. EMS responded to the location and transported the victim to Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, say police; the identity of the deceased is pending family notification.

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TEENAGER’S BODY FOUND IN BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK

DUMBO – The body of a 13-year-old girl was found on the riverbank in Brooklyn Bridge Park near Fulton Ferry Landing on Monday morning, reports the Daily News. Police sources say that the girl had been reported missing on Sunday and may have been suffering from bipolar disorder.

The death is not believed to be suspicious at this time.

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MISSING WOMAN FOUND SAFE IN THE SUBWAY

EAST FLATBUSH – An East Flatbush woman missing since Christmas Eve has been found safe, police reported on Saturday, Jan. 14. Samantha Prius, 47, whose family members said is deaf, mute and has limited sign language skills, had last been observed leaving Queens General Hospital after being discharged on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, although other reports say she was leaving a family member’s home.

NYPD reports that Ms. Prius was located and declared safe after an ongoing investigation after she left the hospital. According to WABC-News, she was spotted on the #1 train in Manhattan.

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN ‘EDS AND MEDS’

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – Two neighboring anchor institutions in Downtown Brooklyn — Long Island University and The Brooklyn Hospital Center — the “Eds and Meds,” are the focus of a discussion that Brooklyn Community Board 2’s Land Use Committee will have with the Department of City Planning this Wednesday, Jan. 18. The DCP, which is following up on its November preliminary briefing to Community Board 2’s Executive Committee, will also solicit feedback to inform ongoing advanced planning efforts led by DCP to help shape future developments.

The “Eds and Meds,” nicknamed in the DCP’s preliminary report, refers to the university and neighboring hospital, respectively.

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GUN VIOLENCE SURVIVOR PROGRAM FOCUSES ON CHANGEMAKERS

FLATBUSH/EAST FLATBUSH – The 67th Precinct Clergy Council/GodSquad will observe the fifth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week, this year highlights the role of these survivors as changemakers who are leading the efforts to end gun violence and support other survivors in their communities. The observances, running from Feb. 1-7, will include an evening of inspiration, prayer, and worship to honor the survivors, on Monday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m., at Alliance Tabernacle, 3304 Clarendon Rd. in East Flatbush.

As Feb. 1 also marks the start of Black History Month, GodSquad will also emphasize the critical role of Black survivor leaders across the gun violence prevention movement.

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STOLE MAN’S PHONE AND USED HIS MONEY APP

This man is wanted in connection with the digital theft of money and a cell phone in Bushwick. Photo: NYPD/CrimeStoppers.

BUSHWICK – Police are seeking a man who stole his victim’s phone and money from an app on that phone last Sunday, Jan. 8, around 11:15 a.m. The suspect, approaching another man in front of 600 Bushwick Avenue in Bushwick within the 83rd Precinct, asked to borrow his victim’s cell phone, and used the phone to transfer a sum of cash using the victim’s bank and cash app, before fleeing with the victim’s phone.

No injuries were reported.

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POLICE ARREST WOMAN WHO THREW ACID IN COMMUTER’S FACE

CONEY ISLAND – The woman who threw acid in a commuter’s face at the Nostrand Ave./Winthrop St. subway station on Dec. 2 has now been arrested and charged with assault. Rodlin Gravesande, a 33-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, got into a verbal dispute with the victim, a 21-year-old woman, then followed her up the stairs and splashed an unknown chemical substance on the victim’s face, causing severe burns.

Although the assault occurred in the 71st Precinct covering East Flatbush, Gravesend was arrested in Coney Island, within the 60th Precinct, about six weeks after the incident.

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REPS. GOLDMAN AND TORRES DEMAND REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP COOPERATE IN SANTOS ETHICS PROBE

WESTERN BROOKLYN – Representatives Dan Goldman (D-10th District/Brooklyn) and Congressmember Ritchie Torres D-15/South Bronx) have issued a formal letter to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Chair of the House Republican Caucus Elise Stefanik, and other Republican leadership, demanding that they proactively cooperate with all current and future investigations into Congressmember George Santos, including the potential Ethics Investigation following the official complaint that the two Congressmembers filed last week. They issued the letter following a Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 New York Times investigation finding that Republican leadership were aware of Santos’ deception long before it became public.

The two NYC Congressmembers have also introduced legislation “Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker” – or “SANTOS” – Act in the 118th Congress, a bill that would require that candidates for Congress file additional biographical information with the Federal Elections Commission, and which would apply to federal elections held on or after the day in which it is signed into law.

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DOT CLOSES QUEENS-BOUND LANE OF BQE FOR MAINTENANCE ON JAN. 20

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – One Queens-bound lane of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278) in Downtown Brooklyn will be closed overnight, Friday, Jan. 20 so the Dept. of Transportation can continue maintenance work. The single-lane closure, above Pearl Street from Exit 28 B (Brooklyn Bridge) to Exit 29 A (Manhattan Bridge), will be closed from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. that day, reopening in time for the morning rush hour.

This section of the highway is just southeast of the BQE Central — the corridor between Atlantic Ave. and Sands St., or the cantilevered highway underneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, on which urgent repairs are needed.

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