What’s News, Breaking: Monday, February 27, 2023

February 27, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BILL WOULD BOLSTER WORLD TRADE CENTER HEALTH PROGRAM FUNDING

NATIONWIDE — A bipartisan group of legislators, health program advocates and 9/11 responders and survivors on Tuesday morning, Feb. 28, will introduce a bill to close the funding shortfall in the World Trade Center Health Program. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), both New Jersey U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Corey Booker, and U.S. Rep Dan Goldman (D-10) who represents much of Brooklyn, are among those who will discuss the bill to the long-term funding shortfall, allow excluded Pentagon and Shanksville responders to join the program and make technical corrections to the program.

Joining the elected officials at the conference (to be livestreamed) will be International Association of Fire Fighters General President Edward Kelly, 9/11 advocate John Feal, union representatives of NYPD and FDNY and other 9/11 responder and survivor advocates, including medical professionals.

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PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LINDEN ST. HISTORIC DISTRICT

BUSHWICK — The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission convenes a public hearing on the proposed Linden Street Historic District in Bushwick on Tuesday, Feb. 28, both in-person and virtually. The proposed Linden Street Historic District is a remarkably intact group of 32 brick and brownstone row houses built between 1885 and 1901 when this area of Bushwick became more intensively urbanized. Designed by several Brooklyn architects, these distinctive row houses represent a variety of late-19th-century styles resulting in a cohesive historic streetscape with a strong sense of place.

The hearing will be live-streamed on the agency’s YouTube channel. For more information on LPC virtual public hearings and how to submit written testimony or otherwise participate, readers can visit the LPC hearings webpage.

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GUILTY PLEA IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD AND ID THEFT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A Nigerian national pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Monday, Feb. 27, to multi-million dollar fraud schemes and money laundering. Joseph Modile pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. to charges of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In a related scheme charged in the Eastern District of New York, in May 2018, Modile and others engaged in a separate business email compromise scheme, using fraudulent emails and telephone calls to steal approximately $10.2 million from a victim company based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

When sentenced, Modile faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each of the fraud counts and the money laundering count and a consecutive sentence of two years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft count. Upon completion of his sentence, Modile faces deportation from the United States.

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MAIMONIDES DOCTOR LEADS ANNUAL BREAST CANCER CONFERENCE

Dr. Patrick Borgen, Chair of the Department of Surgery at Maimonides Medical Center and head of the Maimonides Breast Center. Photo: Maimonides Medical Center.

BOROUGH PARK — Dr. Patrick Borgen of Maimonides Medical Center this week will kick off the 40th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference, which runs from March 2-5, at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. The conference brings together the country’s top surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists, as well as geneticists, pathologists, radiologists, and supportive care specialists over four jampacked days of seminars focusing on implementing genomic and molecular information to tailor treatment planning for individual patients with breast cancer; integrating evidence-based surgical and radiation approaches into multidisciplinary treatment plans to individualize care; and individualizing systemic therapy for patients with early-stage or advanced/metastatic breast cancer based on emerging data from clinical trials and evolving expert guidelines.

Celebrating his 10th year as the conference Chair, Dr. Borgen has brought new and innovative breast cancer treatments to his own patients at Maimonides, and to hospitals and providers across the country.

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NEW BILL WOULD TAX NON-ESSENTIAL CHOPPER FLIGHTS

CITYWIDE — A new bill that Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D/WF-44/Park Slope to Midwood) has introduced into state legislature would tax non-essential helicopter flights in New York City. This bill would impose both a carbon emissions tax (based on the Federal EPA “social cost of carbon” standard) and a noise tax (per seat ticket or per flight), and would require also both taxes be itemized on passenger receipts.

Initial estimates suggest approximately $17.5 million could be generated in taxes in the first full year after the bill becomes law.

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COMMUNITY WALK-THROUGH OF KINGSBORO PSYCHIATRIC CENTER POSTPONED

EAST FLATBUSH — The impending snowstorm has postponed a Community Walk-Through of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in East Flatbush that was scheduled for Tuesday morning, Feb. 28. Brooklyn Community Board 9 and the non-profit Breaking Ground teamed up for the walk-through, whose purpose is to “gain an understanding of future facility operations,” according to a digital flyer announcing the postponement. A new date has not yet been announced.

Breaking Ground is a non-profit focused on providing services and housing for vulnerable New Yorkers.

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SNOW FORECAST SUSPENDS ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING

CITYWIDE — Monday’s impending snowstorm will give drivers a break from alternate side parking regulations — but not the parking meter payments. Mayor Adams’ administration announced on Monday afternoon, Feb. 27, that Alternate Side Parking Regulations will be suspended on Tuesday, Feb. 28, to facilitate snow operations but that payment at parking meters will remain in effect throughout the city, which is also urging commuters to use mass transit.

Concurrently, the NYC Emergency Management Department has issued a travel advisory following the National Weather Service Winter Weather Advisory, starting Monday at 6 p.m. A total accumulation of 2 to 4 inches of snow is forecast overnight to Tuesday, and may affect the morning commute on Feb. 28.

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HEARING TESTS FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

SUNSET PARK — Children of immigrant families in Sunset Park will be able to get their hearing screened, thanks to an outreach event in which NYU Langone Medical Center’s Hearing Loss & Screening Program has partnered with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica. All trained screeners from other partner community organizations have been invited to help conduct the screenings being offered on Wednesday, March 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., hosted at the church on 5th Avenue and 59th St. The event aims to screen 100 community members from the Chinese, Spanish, Arab, Caribbean, and Bengali-speaking communities in Brooklyn.

“It’s critical to know whether a young child has hearing loss,” says pediatric otolaryngologist Marie T. Homsi, MD, a lead investigator for the program. “It affects their development and their school performance.”

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THIEVES STEAL BOY’S SCOOTER IN CROWN HEIGHTS

CROWN HEIGHTS — On the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 20, a 13-year-old boy was approached by a group of unknown older individuals while walking with his scooter in Crown Heights. One of the individuals displayed a kitchen knife with a black handle, then proceeded to forcibly remove the victim’s scooter and fled on it in an unknown direction; fortunately, no injuries were reported.

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.

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HOCHUL, SCHUMER CELEBRATE GRAND CENTRAL LIRR OPENING, NEW SCHEDULES

ATLANTIC TERMINAL — Governor Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, along with federal and local elected officials, on Sunday, celebrated the official opening of the new Grand Central Madison LIRR terminal, with full LIRR service to begin Monday, Feb. 27. In conjunction with the opening of the new terminal, the MTA is also introducing new LIRR schedules, featuring more than 500 additional station stops in Brooklyn and Queens and, during the peak period, an LIRR train into Penn Station or Grand Central every 3 to 6 minutes and service to Atlantic Terminal approximately every 12 minutes.

The controversial schedule changes will see more frequent trains between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal, running every 12 minutes at peak times and 20 minutes at other times, but commuters will now have to swap trains at Jamaica for service between Long Island and Brooklyn.

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NYC DOT MISSPELLS JACKIE ROBINSON HIGHWAY SIGN

QUEENS — The city Department of Transportation has egg on its face after commuters noticed an embarrassing spelling error in a new highway sign for the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Queens, which memorializes the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball great who helped break racial barriers for black players, reports the New York Post. The sign, which reads “Jakie Robinson Parkway,” will be corrected ASAP, according to city officials.

Another memorial to Robinson was restored in late 2020 after activism from the Brooklyn Heights Association — a plaque on the Montague Street T.D. Bank branch commemorating the location of the Dodgers’ former front office, where Robinson signed his first major league contract.

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MYSTERIOUS GROUP SPENDS BIG BUCKS TO ATTACK MAIMONIDES

BOROUGH PARK — The Save Maimonides campaign, which pays for protesters and ad campaigns to criticize struggling Maimonides Medical Center and has drawn the ire of both hospital management and nurses’ groups, may be funded by a nursing-home tycoon attempting to stage a hostile takeover for financial gain, according to hospital leaders who spoke to the New York Times. Campaign representatives denied the claim, saying Maimonides management was deflecting responsibility for the hospital’s troubles but refused to reveal their donor lists to the Times, citing fears of possible retaliation from hospital workers towards patients.

Both hospital leaders and campaign spokespeople told the Times that they wanted Maimonides to merge with healthcare system Northwell Health, but the potential merger is held back by the hospital’s shaky finances, which are largely the result of its patient base — Medicare and Medicaid recipients, who do not generate as much money as other patients.

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SNOW FORECAST FOR MONDAY NIGHT

CITYWIDE — The city may be getting a taste of wintry weather this week, as forecasters predict a moderate amount of snow for Monday night, according to the National Weather Service, as a result of the storm sweeping through the northeast. Accumulation could be up to five inches but is unlikely to last long, as Tuesday morning will bring freezing rain and slightly higher temperatures.

This winter has been one of the city’s least snowy in recent memory, with the boroughs seeing no snowfall until earlier this month, breaking a fifty-year record.

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EDITOR’S BOOK DEBUT SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — High-powered book editor Jenny Jackson of Alfred A. Knopf, responsible for “Crazy Rich Asians” and other hits, is making her first foray into writing with a look at Brooklyn Heights in her debut novel “Pineapple Street,” according to the New York Times. The book follows the antics of an ultra-wealthy Heights family grappling with class, money and love in a time of social strife, in what Kirkus Reviews called a “remarkably enjoyable visit with the annoying one percent, as close to crazy rich WASPs as WASPs can get.”

“Pineapple Street” comes out on March 7, and has already been optioned for a TV adaptation.

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MODULAR TOILETS COMING TO NYC PARKS, IRVING SQ PARK IN BUSHWICK

BUSHWICK — The Parks Department will be installing five prefabricated bathroom units, called “Portland Loos,” in parks across the five boroughs, reports The City, with one proposed location being in Bushwick’s Irving Square Park. “This is a pilot to determine the feasibility of using this model in the future as an economical solution to building bathrooms in parks,” said Parks Department spokeswoman Meghan Lalor, with a total estimated price tag of $5.3 million — a steal compared to traditional “comfort station” bathrooms, the cost of which skyrocketed to nearly $3.6 million each prior to the pandemic.

Much of the cost of building park bathrooms comes from the expense of running electricity and water to the structures from existing utility lines, according to the city.

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BROOKLYN SENIOR NABBED FOR SLASHING COP CAR TIRES IN QUEENS

BUSHWICK — On the morning of Friday, Feb. 24, an unknown man approached seven NYPD vehicles parked outside the 112 Precinct Stationhouse in Queens and punctured the vehicles’ tires, then fled in a beige SUV. After a short investigation, Bushwick senior Jose Patino, 74, was arrested and charged on Sunday, Feb. 26, with criminal mischief for the tire puncturing.

Police say the investigation is still ongoing.

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GROUP DEMANDS REFORMS FROM THE LPC

FORT GREENE — A group that asserts that the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission needs reform is planning a rally for next Tuesday, March 7, in Lower Manhattan. The organization, named Preserve Our Brooklyn Neighborhoods, wants the public to attend a rally at 250 Broadway to tell the LPC that “our historic treasured buildings and districts are NOT FOR SALE-not for demolition!”

Reminding the city that “The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was founded in 1965 to protect the irreplaceable in our city’s-built environment,” the group is demanding reforms “to insulate the LPC from lobbyists and from real estate influence and Mayoral interference” and wants the LPC to commit to “a democratic standard in its internal proceedings.

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FDNY AUDITORIUM WILL BE NAMED FOR DEPARTMENT’S FIRST BLACK COMMISSIONER

METROTECH CENTER — Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh will preside over the renaming of the FDNY Auditorium to the Robert O. Lowery Auditorium at the FDNY Headquarters at 9 MetroTech Center, on Monday morning, February 27, in honor of the New York City Fire Department’s first Black Fire Commissioner. Joining the Fire Department in 1941, Lowery later served as a Fire Marshal and was cited numerous times for his outstanding investigative ability. Lowery became Fire Commissioner on January 1, 1966 at the start of Mayor John V. Lindsay’s administration, leading the department for eight years, during an unprecedented period of fire activity — including at the Standish Arms Hotel on December 30, 1966 — known in the Department as “The War Years.”

The Brooklyn Heights Press of May 27, 1971, carried a story referencing Fire Commissioner Robert O. Lowery’s “orders for a close inspection of all places selling or storing fireworks. The Commissioner warned that there are new types of fireworks that are explosive and very dangerous.”

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BROOKLYN COLLEGE WELCOMES BLACK FEMINIST PIONEER BARBARA SMITH

Feminist author and scholar Barbara Smith, keynote speaker at Brooklyn College’s Hess Lecture. Photo: Joanna Chattman.

FLATBUSH/MIDWOOD — Author and trailblazer Barbara Smith, making one of her first public appearances since the pandemic began, is the keynote speaker at Brooklyn College’s Women’s History Month celebration at a free and public event on Thursday, March 16, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Smith’s lecture, “What I Believe,” which is the main highlight of the college’s Hess Scholar-in-Residence program for 2022–23, will be an intimate exploration into her life as a trailblazer, breaking new ground as a Black feminist, lesbian, activist, author, publisher, and the first to define African American women’s literary tradition and to build Black women’s studies. The College’s Hess Week will include a library exhibit, curated by Professor and Librarian Helen Georgas, that highlights the works and legacy of Barbara Smith.

Interested attendees who are not Brooklyn College students or faculty may register for any of her events or watch the livestream on YouTube.

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BITE OF HISTORY

BROOKLYN ALLIGATOR WAS DUMPED AT BROOKLYN MUSEUM STATION

CROWN HEIGHTS — The famous subway alligator of 1937 emerged onto the platform of the IRT Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum station (now part of the 2 and 3 line), according to articles published in both the Brooklyn Eagle and New York Times, on Monday, June 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Eagle story opened as a rebuke: “If the person who carelessly dropped an alligator in the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum station of the Interborough Subway wants to recover his pet, he may do so by applying to the S.P.C.A. Shelter, 233 Butler St.” The story then unfolds to patrolmen’s capture of the animal—which took about 20 minutes.

The brief article concluded, “If [the alligator’s owner fails to claim it, it will probably be given to the Prospect Park Zoo…Another alligator was fished out of the East River last week.”

This clipping from the Brooklyn Eagle of June 7, 1937, tells what happened to an alligator who slithered onto a subway platform near the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Archival image copyright Brooklyn Eagle, © 1937.

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PROSPECT LAKE ALLIGATOR HAD SWALLOWED RUBBER BATHTUB STOPPER

PROSPECT PARK — The alligator rescued from Prospect Park Lake last week was found to have a rubber hardware item in its stomach, according to The Weather Channel — which frequently covers environmental stories — and several other news reports. Doctors conducting x-rays on the alligator found that the reptile had swallowed a rubber bathtub stopper. According to CBS News, experts at the Bronx Zoo identified the alligator, who is being tube-fed, as female and said it is too weak yet to eat on her own or to undergo surgery to remove the stopper.

Although myths have blown unusual alligator sightings out of proportion, the reptiles were found on two occasions during 1937: in the East River and on a subway platform in Crown Heights, after having emerged from a trash can. More recently, in 1982 an alligator got into the city’s water supply and have been spotted in parks over the past five years.

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‘DILBERT DEBACLE’: DAILY NEWS EDITOR SAYS CARTOONIST ‘CROSSED A LINE’

NATIONWIDE — A New York metro daily joins others around the United States in dropping the popular cartoon strip “Dilbert,” — about the office adventures of the title character that launched in 1989, after a YouTube video circulated of its creator, Scott Adams, spewing hate-filled rhetoric about Black people. Daily News Executive Editor Andrew Julien wrote in an editorial on Saturday afternoon, February 25, that Adams’ words “crossed a line that has made it impossible for The News to continue running his content and underwriting his work… At a time when America is becoming increasingly defined by its divisions, Adams’ comments fueled racial antipathy in a mean-spirited and ugly way.”

Emphasizing that his newspaper welcomes “diversity of informed thought and opinion, Mr. Julien pointed out that the decision to pull “Dilbert” isn’t about tolerance of diverse views. It’s about making clear there’s a bright line between what’s acceptable and what’s not, and that hate should not and cannot be tolerated. And that it certainly will not be endorsed.”

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NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY GETS $751.8M FOR CAPITAL UPGRADES

CITYWIDE — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $3.16 billion in funding to nearly 2,770 public housing authorities in all 50 states, the nation’s capital and several U.S. territories, to make capital investments to their public housing stock. HUD awarded $838,525,997.00 to 39 housing authorities in New York State, of which $751,874,745 will go to the New York City Housing Authority (breakdowns by borough were not provided by press time).

The grants announced are provided through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, which offers annual funding to all public housing authorities to build, renovate, and/or modernize the public housing in their communities, such as completing large-scale improvements, replacing roofs or making energy-efficient upgrades to heating systems and installing water conservation measures.

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NOROVIRUS EPIDEMIC STRIKING CITY

CITYWIDE — An outbreak of norovirus, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhea, is sweeping through the city, especially its schools, reports Gothamist, with reports of symptoms in emergency rooms nearly doubling between December and February. Brownsville, Flatbush, East New York and Sunset Park appear to be hotspots for the illness, according to the city’s EpiQuery “syndromic surveillance” data portal — although critics charge that tracking outbreaks of it is made difficult by not routinely testing for the virus and instead relying on syndrome tracking, which is less reliable.

An expert consulted by Gothamist warned that alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus, which spreads through contact with particles of an infected person’s feces or vomit, and must be combated by handwashing with soap and water or through washing with bleach.

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POLICE SEARCH FOR MISSING SUNSET PARK WOMAN

Missing woman Yvonne Rouse. Photo: NYPD.

SUNSET PARK — Police are looking for Sunset Park resident Yvonne Rouse, 66, last seen on Friday, Feb. 24, shortly after noon walking on the corner of Church Avenue and McDonald Avenue. Rouse is described as 5’4” and around 165 pounds, with brown eyes and salt and pepper hair; she was last seen wearing a black overcoat, blue sweater, dark gray pants and black shoes.

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MTA TO INSTALL WIDE WHEELCHAIR TURNSTILES AT BARCLAYS, OTHERS

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The MTA will be installing new wheelchair-accessible gates in turnstiles at the Brooklyn Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center and Queens Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue subway stations later this spring, reports amNY, in a victory for disability advocates, who say that the new gates will make it easier for people who use wheelchairs and strollers to access the subway system. The new wide gates are low and open automatically, replacing the current large, heavy gates in use across the transit networks.

The two stations are the first of more than 200 that the MTA wants to equip with wide gates going forward.

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BOROUGH PARK MAN MISSING FROM INSIDE HOME

BOROUGH PARK — Police are asking the public for help in locating Borough Park man Farzod Ziyoev, 24, last seen on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 18, inside his residence. Ziyoev is described as 5’4” in height and around 160 pounds, with a light complexion, brown eyes and black hair; he was last seen wearing a black jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and green sneakers.

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BROOKLYN PROM PROJECT ASKS FOR FORMAL WEAR DONATIONS

BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Prom Project has put out a call for donations of new and gently used formal wear for the spring prom season, in its sixth year of helping Brooklyn teens attend big events. The group asks Brooklynites to bring tuxedos, suits, gowns and accessories to its designated drop-off locations at the Kingbridge Dry Cleaners in Brooklyn Heights, the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights and Minks and Mattes Beauty Bar in Midwood.

Teens who would like to register for the prom-wear giveaway event on April 1 can find registration info on the project’s Facebook page; last year’s event helped thousands of high-schoolers in temporary housing find special outfits for their big days.

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HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL CALLS FOR FIXES TO BK HEIGHTS HOUSE

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The Historic Districts Council has released a list of at-risk buildings with historic significance across NYC, including the longtime Brooklyn Heights eyesore at 1 Monroe Place. The HDC is also calling for increased city attention to dilapidated historical structures, and for more comprehensive monitoring to prevent unnecessary demolitions.

The falling-down structure on the corner of Monroe Place and Clark Street has been under construction for decades, as a succession of owners have failed to restore it to habitable conditions, most recently following a 2016 plan to reconstruct its roof that has not seen progress in years, according to local residents.

The house on Monroe Place, deemed an urgent risk by the Historic Districts Council. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle.

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AG’S OFFICE RULES POLICE SHOOTING OF MAN WITH GUN JUSTIFIED

BAY RIDGE — The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation on Friday released its final report into the fatal police shooting of Brian Astarita in 2021, finding that officers were justified in opening fire at Astarita after he pointed what appeared to be a handgun at them, following a car chase prompted by a traffic stop. The report, which used testimony from more than two dozen civilian witnesses, concluded that the officers involved had the reasonable belief that it was necessary to use deadly force to defend themselves and the public, and that it would not be possible to prosecute them for any crime.

On Nov. 11, 2021, Astarita, 65, sped off after being pulled over for speeding on the Belt Parkway, rammed a police car as officers attempted to intercept him, and then retrieved a BB gun painted to look real before pointing it at police, yelling “You’re going to let me go,” as the officers ordered him to drop the weapon; one witness reported that Astarita refused to drop the BB gun even after being shot by the officers.

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GANG OF MEN ON ARMED ROBBERY SPREE IN NORTH BK, QUEENS

Recognize these robbers? Don’t hesitate to reach out to police with any information you can share; all tips are strictly confidential. Photo: NYPD.

WILLIAMSBURG — Police are warning the public that a group of robbers has been on a crime spree since last week, holding up at least seven different businesses in north Brooklyn and south Queens between Feb. 17 and Feb. 21. Up to four unknown males, described as average height, and believed to be in their 20s, have robbed more than $20,000 from business owners and customers so far, typically entering the establishments, displaying a firearm and demanding money and other goods.

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MTA PUSHES BACK CONGESTION PRICING PLAN

CITYWIDE — The MTA has pushed back the start date of its controversial new congestion pricing plan from the first to the second quarter of 2024 as it waits for a sign-off from the Federal Highways Administration, potentially costing the city as much as $250 billion in anticipated revenue. Streetsblog reports that the city had hoped to begin collecting tolls in 2023, but that this start date is no longer achievable.

The congestion pricing plan was initially approved in 2019, but has faced legal and community challenges as the city seeks to implement it.