What’s News, Breaking: Tuesday, February 14, 2023

February 14, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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NAVY CHAPLAIN FROM BROOKLYN SERVES ON VESSEL IN INDO-PACIFIC REGION

BROOKLYN — A U.S. Navy chaplain from Brooklyn is currently serving aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the Indo-Pacific region. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Donelson Thevenin is pictured preparing the classroom for religious services aboard the Wayne E. Meyer.

This ship, part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG), is in U.S. 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mykala Keckeisen.

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TALK FOCUSES ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN MIDST OF TEACHING BANS

BOROUGHWIDE — “What does Black History Month mean in 2023?” — a question that will be the focus of a virtual conversation that the Center for Brooklyn History is presenting on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Jeanne Theoharis, author of ‘The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks’, and Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton, who made the documentary film of the same name, will discuss the politics of race and education, particularly the College Board’s recent decision to cut its Black Lives Matter Advanced Placement course and the banning of books about Black History, across the United States.

Many observe that history courses have reduced Rosa Parks’ story to a single event, although this icon of Black History — who would have turned 110 on Feb. 4 — was a lifelong activist.

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STATE PAROLE LEGISLATION GETS CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT

STATEWIDE — U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-10th Congressional District) is supporting the Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole legislation—to expand opportunities for meaningful, case-by-case evaluations for release. More than 350 leaders and organizations across New York State support the Elder Parole and the Fair & Timely Parole bills, which would direct the State Board of Parole to conduct a case-by-case evaluation for parole release to incarcerated older people who have already served 15 or more years, including some of the state’s oldest and sickest incarcerated people; and provide more meaningful parole reviews for incarcerated people who are already parole-eligible, restoring the Parole Board to its original purpose of evaluating people’s readiness for release.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Maritza Davila (D-District 53/northern Brooklyn), and State Sen. Julia Salazar (D-northern Brooklyn) are also co-sponsors of the bills. Said Rep. Goldman, “The estimated $522M in annual savings can be reinvested in community safety.”

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APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS RULING THAT TRUMP MUST PAY FINES FOR IGNORING SUBPOENAS

STATEWIDE — The New York State Appellate Division-First Department on Tuesday, Feb. 14, upheld the State Supreme Court’s ruling that former President Donald J. Trump must pay $110,000 to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) after he was found in contempt of court. Mr. Trump, who had refused to comply with Attorney General Letitia James’ subpoenas as part of an investigation, then appealed the decision of State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron of New York County. The Appellate Division ruled in favor of Attorney General James.

“Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law,” said Attorney General James, who is originally from Brooklyn before holding citywide office and being elected New York’s first woman and Black Attorney General. “…Today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for abusing the legal system. We will not be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing justice.”

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STATE EMPLOYEES NOW HAVE PAID PARENTAL LEAVE BENEFITS, WITH GOV. HOCHUL’S INITIATIVE

STATEWIDE — A new, nation-leading initiative has been launched and implemented that will offer fully paid parental leave benefits to New York State employees. Governor Kathy Hochul, who had announced this in her State of the State Address, has now launched the policy which, for most public state employees, becomes effective immediately. More than 10,000 unrepresented state employees are now eligible to receive 12 weeks of fully paid leave to use for bonding with a newborn, fostered, or adopted child.

The current Paid Family Leave, already implemented for many workers in New York, did not extend the coverage requirement to public sector employees, meaning the majority of the State workforce has not been covered.

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VISION ZERO UPDATE SHOWS DECREASE IN PER-MILE PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES IN CENTRAL BROOKLYN

CENTRAL BROOKLYN — The major Brooklyn corridor of Linden Boulevard, from Sapphire Street westward to Flatbush Avenue, a representative street in the NYC DOT’s latest report titled Vision Zero Borough Pedestrian Action Plans, saw one fewer pedestrian fatality per mile – representing a 33% decrease — over the past four years of Vision ZERO’s implementation, compared with the period of 2012-2016. During the period of 2012-2016, the Linden Blvd. corridor had seen 6 pedestrian fatalities and 7.4 pedestrians killed or severely injured per mile (the road stretches from Flatbush Ave. to the Queens border).

DOT credits this decrease to the addition of concrete median tip extensions and marking upgrades along the corridor from Ashford Street to Schenck Avenue in 2020.

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VISION ZERO UPDATE: BROOKLYN’S PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES DECREASED BY 38%

BOROUGHWIDE — Brooklyn overall has seen a 38% decline in pedestrian fatalities, according to an updated Vision Zero Borough Pedestrian Action Plans report, that NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez released on Tuesday. This detailed report contains data on safety progress made at intersections, corridors and areas first identified in 2019’s version of the report. Covering the past four years, the report highlights significant safety improvements and results, including the prioritization of certain intersections, with each borough seeing dramatic decreases in pedestrian fatalities.

Among the prioritized intersections is a stretch of Court St. from Montague down to Red Hook; but it focuses on pedestrian safety only, not on cyclists.

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“WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THESE BALLOONS”: SCHUMER

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer in an interview with ABC News on Sunday said that the small UFOs shot down over the North American arctic this weekend are believed to be balloons, although they are significantly smaller than the large Chinese surveillance balloon that captured the nation’s attention last week, which the government is still in the process of recovering from the Atlantic Ocean. Schumer also said that the balloon program has existed since the Trump administration but was only recently discovered by the U.S. intelligence community, and called for further investigation.

“The bottom line is, until a few months ago, we didn’t know about these balloons… It is wild that we didn’t know,” Schumer told ABC host George Stephanopoulos.

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YOUNG MAN SHOT AND KILLED AT GIRLFRIEND’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

CANARSIE — Ethen-Allen Flowers, 20, of Downtown Brooklyn, was shot and killed last week by three unknown gunmen while exiting an AirBnB where he had been celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday, reports the New York Daily News, which says that the young man had no history of criminal activity and that his family has no idea who could have wanted to hurt him. P.S. 8 parents have shared a GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses for Flowers, who attended the Brooklyn Heights school as a child and whose grandmother was head cook there for more than three decades.

“He was so young, so lively, so vibrant. My little brother was robbed,” Flowers’ sister told the Daily News.

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ADAMS ATTENDS PRAYER SERVICE AT TURKISH COMMUNITY CENTER

BRIGHTON BEACH — Mayor Adams on Friday attended a prayer service at the Eyup Sultan Cultural Center in Brighton Beach, reports amNY, where he delivered remarks in solidarity with the victims of last week’s catastrophic earthquakes, which have claimed the lives of more than 37,000 people in both Turkey and Syria, including a Queens family of four who had been in Turkey visiting relatives. The center’s director Ibrahim Sen told amNY that his group has received an overwhelming response to their relief efforts, and has had to temporarily stop accepting donations while they organize the delivery of more than 60 pallets of clothing to partners in Turkey.

“I’m sure everyone here, they are holding their breath hoping not to hear the name of a family member or a loved one. But even if you don’t hear that name, you know is your neighbor, is your colleague, is your friend. This is a very close knit community. And we are all feeling the pain that Turkey is going through right now,” said Adams at the service.

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RARE VIOLIN STOLEN IN CROWN HEIGHTS

The stolen violin. Photo: Violin Society of America.

CROWN HEIGHTS — An antique violin and bow were stolen from a house in Crown Heights on Jan. 23, according to an alert sent out by the Violin Society of America. The instrument is described as a “Stradivari gold period model with French interpretation,” handmade of rare woods and dates from the 1920s.

The society urges anyone with information about the theft to contact the NYPD, and has shared the owner’s contact information on its website.

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NYPD DETECTIVE ARRESTED FOR STALKING EX-GIRLFRIEND

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Detective Douglas Connolly, 36, a 10-year veteran of the NYPD, was arrested on Saturday on charges of computer trespass and stalking. The New York Daily News reports that Connolly allegedly used a police computer to look up license plate information about his ex-girlfriend, as well as repeatedly text messaging her.

Police say Connolly was arrested within the confines of the 84th Precinct, which covers Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, DUMBO and parts of Downtown Brooklyn.

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BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLDS LITFILM FESTIVAL

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The Brooklyn Public Library kicked off its weeklong LitFilm Festival, which presents films focusing on the lives and work of writers around the world, on Monday with a showing of “My Name is Pauli Murray” and a keynote conversation with director Betsy West on making literary documentaries. The festival will continue through the week, with other highlights including a documentary on poet Elizabeth Bishop followed by a talk with former New Yorker magazine poetry editor Alice Quinn, as well as a lighthearted documentary on biographer Robert Caro and his editor Robert Gottlieb followed by a discussion with the film’s director Lizzie Gottlieb, daughter of the editor.

A full list of the films and events of the festival, which runs until Feb. 19 at the library’s central branch near Prospect Park, can be found on the BPL’s website.

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SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM OPENS FOR AGES 14-24

CITYWIDE — Department of Youth and Community Development commissioner Keith Howard on Monday announced the launch of applications for the 2023 Summer Youth Employment Program, a six-week initiative taking place in July and August that provides youth with paid opportunities to explore potential career interests and pathways, allowing participants to engage in learning experiences at worksites in a variety of industries, ranging from fashion to technology to finance, and everything in between. This summer will mark the 60th anniversary of the program, with the city slated to provide a record 100,000 summer job opportunities for New Yorkers ages 14-24.

Young people can complete applications on the city’s SYEP website or at a participating community-based organization until Friday, March 31; applications are also available for employers who would like to provide work experiences for SYEP participants by becoming a worksite.

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DOE LAUNCHES ANNUAL SCHOOL SURVEY

CITYWIDE — Schools Chancellor David C. Banks on Monday launched the 17th annual NYC School Survey, a critical tool in New York City Public Schools’ efforts to engage members of school communities and strengthen connections with educators and families. The newly updated survey questions help school leaders understand what members of their community think about the learning environment in their school and inform improvements to schools and programs.

The survey is available at schools and online on the city’s schools website in 10 languages, and is open until March 31 to all families and teachers, as well as to students in grades six through 12.

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POLICE SEEK MAN WHO PUSHED ANOTHER ONTO SUBWAY TRACKS

Do you recognize this man? Police are asking the public to reach out with any information they can share.

CROWN HEIGHTS — Police are searching for a man believed to have pushed a 66-year-old male victim onto the subway tracks at the President Street subway station in Crown Heights on Sunday. The victim was able to climb back safely onto the train platform with the help of other subway riders, reports the New York Post, but the pusher made his escape before police arrived.

Anyone with information in regard to 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.

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CLIMBING DOWN BUILDINGS NEAR COLUMBIA HEIGHTS HILL

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS/FULTON LANDING — Brooklyn Heights locals who spot people lowering themselves down buildings with ropes on Valentine’s Day need not panic. A media production company with simulated building rappelling is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. near Doughty and Everit streets, at the bottom of Columbia Heights hill (near Fulton Ferry Landing), according to a Notify NYC Alert issued on Monday afternoon. The NYPD will be onsite during the event.

Rappelling, from the French word rappelle, refers to the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. Notify NYC indicated that buildings would be involved.

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MORE TENANT ORGANIZING: PUSHING FOR REPAIRS IN SUNSET PARK BUILDING

SUNSET PARK — Residents of three connected brick apartment buildings on 23rd St. will hold a Valentine’s Day press conference outside of their landlord’s office to demand long-awaited-repairs and signed rent-stabilized renewal leases. Since December 2019, the tenants of 225, 227 and 229 23rd St., have sued their landlord four times in Housing Court and gone on a rent strike, before the landlord in June 2021 finally agreed to repair conditions — and then sold the building that year without doing the work.

Conditions, including rodent infestations and inadequate heat and hot water, have deteriorated both building-wide and in individual apartments. The three buildings currently have 57, 94 and 73 HPD violations, and all three buildings are in HPD’s Alternative Enforcement Program for severely distressed buildings.

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TENANT LOVE + POWER ON VALENTINE’S DAY

ALBANY — State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-20) and members of Right to Counsel coalition will rally for Tenant Love + Power on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, launching their 2023 legislative platform, consisting of Statewide Right to Counsel and a Winter Eviction Moratorium. The Right to Counsel coalition aims to end all evictions across New York State, and transform New York State’s housing courts from eviction machines to places that hold landlords accountable and uphold tenants’ rights. The Winter Eviction Moratorium (S1403/A4093) will ban evictions from Nov. 1 through April 15 each year.

They will emphasize the effectiveness of universal eviction moratoria during the pandemic that kept tenants securely housed, prevented homelessness, and protected tenants from exposure-related health problems and death.

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SENATORS MYRIE, GOUNARDES PUSHING FOR VIOLENCE INTERVENTION LAWS

ALBANY — Two state senators from Brooklyn will join their colleagues in Albany legislature, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, national and local gun violence prevention advocates, to urge the passage of state legislation to expand coverage of community violence intervention services. Senators Andrew Gounardes (D-22/Bay Ridge) and Zellnor Myrie (D-20/central Brooklyn) will be among those encouraging the passage of bills that cover expanding coverage of community violence intervention services through Medicaid reimbursements, provide fair access to victim compensation, impose an excise tax on ammunition sales and to fund school anti-violence education programs.

Tuesday’s announcement will recognize the fifth anniversary of the school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and will allow for an expression of grief for all of the lives lost to gun violence day after day across the nation.

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PROTESTING RIKERS POLICY OF DENYING PERSONAL MAIL TO DETAINEES

CITYWIDE — Just in time for Valentine’s Day, family members and other loved ones of people in custody at Rikers Island will rally Tuesday to prevent the Board of Correction from banning personal correspondence and other mail. The city’s nine-member Board of Correction and the NYC Department of Correction want to replace physically-sent mail with images scanned onto tablets and, under the proposed variances, would deny people in custody access to correspondence from their loved ones. The plan to scan mail onto tablets relies on technology provided by Securus, a private contractor with a history of severe privacy and contract breaches.

Comptroller Lander will join loved ones of people in custody on Rikers Island, former detainees of that facility, criminal justice advocates, in urging the Board of Correction to reject the proposal, and many will speak from personal experience about the fractured communication with their loved ones on Rikers Island.

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RECLAIMING THE MANHATTAN ANCHORAGE OF BROOKLYN’S ICONIC BRIDGE

BROOKLYN BRIDGE — Congressmember Dan Goldman (D-10th District) has called for reimagining and redevelopment of the Manhattan anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge. This redevelopment will transform aging, unused, and dilapidated infrastructure into a public park and community hub, with the first phase of the project reclaiming shuttered open space, including half of the Banks and the adjacent basketball courts, reimagine the Park Row landing with digital art and improved connectivity to Chinatown, and install uses focused on community well-being. Phase 3’s anticipated completion year would be 2034.

“The Chinatown community on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge has for too long received the short end of the community investment stick, and it’s long past time we reimagine how we can make use of the dilapidated Manhattan anchorage,” Congressman Goldman said.

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‘WRECKLESS SPENDING’ REPORT SHOWS CITY’S DOLLAR PAYOUTS SOARED IN TRAFFIC SETTLEMENTS

CITYWIDE — Payments to settle city-owned vehicle crashes have nearly doubled over the past decade, a new report from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander’s office has determined. The report, titled “Wreckless Spending: The Accelerating Cost of City Car Crash Settlements,” points out that despite a decrease in the number of crash claims that the city settled, the dollar amounts of the city’s settlement payouts have soared from a low of $67.4 million in Fiscal Year 2015 to a high of $130.1 million in FY 2021. Moreover, city fleet-related personal injury settlements over the past decade have cost the city a total $653.9 million.

Comptroller Lander’s report includes recommendations, as well: accelerating efforts to upgrade vehicle technologies like Automatic Emergency Braking and Intelligent Speed Assistance, reducing the size and number of vehicles in the city fleet, and strengthening measures to hold city drivers and agencies accountable.

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VOICE OF GOWANUS URGES ‘COMPREHENSIVE CLEANUP’ OF UNION STREET VENUE

GOWANUS —The Voice of Gowanus neighborhood coalition is charging that the Department of Environmental Conservation failed to notify Gowanus residents of toxic indoor air pollution concerns at a popular entertainment venue on Union Street. The group is asking Governor Kathy Hochul to require a comprehensive cleanup of high-level chlorinated solvents, toxic metals and petroleum contamination documented at a popular entertainment venue at 514 Union Street, in strict compliance with all applicable State remediation requirements, and is urging her not to adopt what it calls the “fatally flawed proposed “expedited cleanup of contamination at 514 Union Street, Brownfield Site # C224318.”

The group points out that the brownfield site “is woefully inadequate because it would fail to remediate the site in strict compliance with all state regulatory requirements” with regard to massive contamination involving petroleum, chlorinated solvents, metals and other toxic pollutants.

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MAYOR’S ‘RAT WAR’ GETS CLOSE TO HOME

BED-STUY — Mayor Adams went before an administrative court on Thursday to attempt to fight a ticket related to a rat infestation at a Brooklyn house that he owns, making the claim that the rats were a problem for the whole block and that the owner of the neighboring building was the actual party responsible for the trouble, reports Gothamist. Adams has received several previous tickets for rodent issues at the residence, but says that he and his tenants have taken extensive efforts to mitigate the problem, and that he has spent several thousand dollars on exterminations and inspections.

“I have two machines that collect and kill rats,” said Adams, in reference to a bespoke rat drowning tank deployed outside the home that generated controversy after the mayor used the traps to make a pickled “rat soup” at Borough Hall during his tenure as Brooklyn BP.

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BROOKLYN’S TURKISH COMMUNITY HELPS EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

CONEY ISLAND — Brooklyn volunteers, organized by the Turkish Cultural Center, are working to raise funds and solicit donations of supplies for victims of Monday’s devastating twin earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, reports News 12. The organization, many of whose members have friends and relatives directly impacted by the disaster, began to coordinate the donation effort shortly after news broke of the tragedy, and has so far shipped dozens of trucks’ worth of goods like winter clothes, medicine and childcare supplies collected from its donation center at the Brooklyn Amity School to relief organizations in Istanbul.

The two massive earthquakes that struck in Turkey’s southeastern region in the early hours of Monday morning have so far claimed 22,000 lives, with the death toll in Turkey and Syria expected to rise further as hopes begin to fade of rescuing many more people from the thousands of collapsed buildings in the region, following a week of freezing temperatures and a disjointed disaster response.

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POLICE SEEK SHEEPSHEAD BAY MUGGER

Have you seen this man? Any tips you offer the police are strictly confidential.

SHEEPSHEAD BAY — On Sunday, Jan. 22, at around 1 a.m., two unknown male individuals attacked a 25-year-old man standing in front of a Sheepshead Bay apartment building, striking him in the head with an unknown blunt object while kicking and punching him. One of these men was apprehended on Feb. 2, but police are still searching for the outstanding individual, who is described as a light-complexioned man of medium build, last seen wearing a black top and black pants.

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BROOKLYN TEEN CHOSEN FOR CHANGE LEADER AWARD SPOTLIGHT

BROOKLYN — Brooklyn native Aaliyah Duah, 19, was named on Thursday as one of ten 2023 Black & Positively Golden Change Leaders as part of a program created by McDonald’s to shine a light on Black youth who inspire and positively advance change in their communities. Duah is the founder of Financial Revolutionn, a platform that creates daily financial literacy content on Instagram and TikTok; has published an eBook on the fundamentals of investing and financial literacy; and, has a scholarship fund that last year awarded aid to two female HBCU students — all while being a student herself at Virginia State University.

Each Change Leader will receive $20,000 and have access to elevated platforms to amplify their community missions, in addition to attending culturally impactful events, having their stories profiled on McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Instagram and being featured in a national ad campaign voiced by actress Keke Palmer.

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HORRIFYING TRAIN TRACKS DEATH CLASSED AS HOMICIDE: POLICE

MIDWOOD — On the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 7, police discovered the body of Deandre Matthews, 19, on the freight train tracks near Brooklyn College, with significant burn wounds throughout his body and a gunshot wound to the head. Following an investigation that determined Matthews had been reported missing after leaving his house on Monday, Feb. 6, and that the body showed signs of smoke inhalation prior to death, police have announced they have deemed the case to be a homicide.

The investigation is ongoing, and police have not made any arrests or announced any suspects at this time.

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NYU LANGONE RECEIVES GRANT FOR AMBULANCES

COBBLE HILL — NYU Langone Health announced on Thursday that it had received a $2 million federal grant from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis to support the purchase of six new Advanced Life Support, energy efficient ambulances. This grant will allow NYU Langone, which responds to 80,000 911 calls and transports 51,300 patients in the NYC area each year, to replace older ambulances and ensure reliable vehicles are on the road, in addition to helping decrease air pollution in the communities it serves.

“These additional ambulances will help provide lifesaving care to our patients across Brooklyn as well as Staten Island,” stated Bret J. Rudy, executive vice president and chief of hospital operations for NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.

NYU Langone will purchase six new advanced life support, energy-efficient ambulances. Photo: NYU Langone Staff.

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BROWNSVILLE GUNMAN WHO KILLED TWO IN WEST INDIAN RESTAURANT CAUGHT

BROWNSVILLE — Police apprehended on Thursday the gunman who fatally shot two patrons of a West Indian restaurant in Brownsville in October of last year. The man, identified as Sawandi Galara of Fort Lauderdale, FL, was charged with murder and eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and is believed to have been arrested on previous firearms charges in Florida.

The victims of the October shooting were Eyon Johnson, who passed away shortly after the incident on Oct. 27, and Damien White, who succumbed to his injuries in the hospital on Oct. 30.