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What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, March 8, 2023

March 8, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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FEDERAL COURT HERE AUTHORIZES SEIZURE OF AIRCRAFT USED BY RUSSIAN ENERGY FIRM

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The United States government on Wednesday, March 8, obtained a warrant to seize a Boeing 737-7JU aircraft that Moscow-based integrated energy company PJSC Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), reputedly owns. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York authorized the seizure, finding probable cause that the Boeing aircraft was subject to seizure based on violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), in light of the recent sanctions issued against Russia after the start of the Ukraine war.

Since February 2022, when the Russia sanctions went into effect, the U.S.-manufactured Boeing plane, believed to be valued at over $25 million, has reportedly left and reentered Russia at least seven times, in violation of federal law, was most recently seen in the United States in March 2014 and is currently believed to be in, or traveling to, or from Russia.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL TISH JAMES SECURES MORTGAGE RELIEF RESTITUTION FOR HOMEOWNERS

CITYWIDE — New York City homeowners who were denied mandated mortgage-relief will receive a total of $350,000 that New York Attorney General Letitia James recovered from Servis One, Inc. d/b/a BSI Financial Services, Inc. (BSI). This mortgage servicer failed to offer relief required by law, instead encouraging homeowners facing unemployment and financial hardship to continue making partial payments on their loans, according to an investigation from the Office of the Attorney General.

As a result of this agreement, BSI will pay $350,000 in penalties and restitution to as many as 160 homeowners in New York City, Long Island and Rochester, with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso praising his Attorney General James, a fellow Brooklynite.

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‘TOGETHER WE RISE’ AT GODSQUAD’S WOMEN’S DAY FORUM

BROWNSVILLE — GodSquad – the 67th Precinct Clergy Council is also celebrating International Women’s Day on Wednesday evening, March 8, with a panel discussion titled, “Together We Rise: Overcoming Bias and Making Room at the Table.” This event, geared as a conversation between women in business and organizational leadership, is bringing in as moderator SiriusXM Radio host Meta Washington.

Scheduled panelists for the event, which One Brooklyn Health (OBH) is sponsoring and hosting at its Brookdale location, include Bibi Esahack, executive director of the Bay Ridge Community Development Center, Jahmila Edwards, associate director of the union District Council 37; Sharon Devonish Leid, director of External Affairs at One Brooklyn Health and founder of Ladies of Third Thursday, and Tiffany Tucker-Pryor, deputy chief service officer for community engagement, NY County District Attorney.

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U.S. MINT WILL HONOR FAMED CUNY ALUMNA PAULI MURRAY WITH NEW COIN

The Brooklyn Eagle of September 22, 1949 published a photo and caption of Murray, who at the time was running as the Liberal Party’s candidate to New York City Council, 10th District, shaking hands with the Republican-Liberal fusion party candidate for mayor, Newbold Morris. Photo: Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives, 1949.

CUNY — Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray, a 1933 Hunter College graduate who is considered one of the most important social justice advocates of the 20th century, has been named 2024 honoree for the American Women Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint announced and City University of New York announced on International Women’s Day, March 8. Murray, who lived until 1985, was the first Black woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, a co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and a lawyer, activist, and poet.

 

 

 

 

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THREE 68TH PRECINCT OFFICERS HONORED FOR SAVING LIVES OF STUDENTS IN U-HAUL DRIVER ATTACK

BAY RIDGE — Three 68th Precinct officers who sheltered Bay Ridge Prep students during the U-Haul attack in southern Brooklyn on Feb. 13, were honored on Tuesday, March 7, during a commendation award ceremony. State Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-22) presented the three officers with a certificate from the State of New York; Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-43), and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams presented similar certificates from the City of New York to Lieutenant John Vitale, Officer Francis Ingebrethsen, and Officer Hector Santini for their quick thinking and actions that saved the lives of the students who were on outdoor recess as part of Open Streets at the time of the rampage.

The officers, who on Feb. 13 were already alerted that speeding U-Haul driver Weng Sor was targeting pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders, raced to Bay Ridge Prep and ushered students to safety indoors.

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BROOKLYN ATTORNEY FEATURED SPEAKER AT KATZMANN SYMPOSIUM

NEW YORK CITY — Brooklyn attorney Peter Eikenberry will be the leadoff speaker at a symposium on the 15th anniversary of the Katzmann Immigration Study Group, presented by the Fordham Law Review on Thursday, March 9, from 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. and viewable via Zoom. Eikenberry played a seminal role in the formation of the Study Group, which has created numerous initiatives to obtain legal representation for impoverished immigrants since its founding in 2008. (CLE credit available.).

The group was led until his passing by the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, who wrote in 2018, “At the invitation of Peter Eikenberry, I took the occasion of the 2007 Marden Lecture of the New York City Bar to challenge the New York legal establishment… to increase efforts to help address the large, and largely unmet, legal needs in noncitizen communities.”

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS ASSN. ANNUAL MEETING TO BE HELD WEDNESDAY

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The Brooklyn Heights Association will hold its annual meeting in person on Wednesday for the first time since 2020, and is set to honor the recipients of its annual Community Service Awards. The meeting will also feature a discussion on “Rethinking the Public Realm,” in which a moderated panel of experts will discuss public realm innovations in NYC and beyond, with an emphasis on reshaping public spaces to be more human-centered, as well as supporting local businesses and fostering a sense of community and well-being.

The meeting will be held at the Packer Collegiate Institute on Wednesday, March 8, starting at 6:30 p.m.

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SENIOR BEATEN IN PARK SLOPE BY ROAD RAGERS

Have you seen this man? All tips submitted to police are strictly confidential.

PARK SLOPE — Police are looking for help in solving an assault that took place on the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 5, near the Park Slope Food Co-op, in which two unknown men engaged in a verbal dispute with a 71-year-old male victim after their vehicle backed into his vehicle, before punching, kicking, and throwing the victim to the ground and fleeing, causing the senior victim to suffer a broken hand and eye trauma. The first man is described as slim, around 6’0” and 25 years old, dark-complexioned and was last seen wearing all-black clothing with a white design on the front; while the second man is described as dark-complexioned and was last seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt; both fled the scene in a 2014 Honda Accord.

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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COUNCIL’S RESTLER INTRODUCES BILL TO EASE SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION

CITYWIDE — Councilmember Lincoln Restler on Tuesday introduced a bill to ease city regulations on the installation of solar panels on small buildings, something that is currently difficult for many homeowners because the fire code restricts the amount of available space on rooftops. This legislation will reduce the width of required rooftop clearance pathways and allow for adjoining buildings to be consolidated for the purposes of complying with the code, in order to make it feasible for more small buildings to install solar panels and start reaping the benefits of clean energy.

There are generous incentives for homeowners who install solar, including federal and state tax credits, property tax abatements, and lower energy bills; most recently, the Biden administration extended residential solar tax credits, along with other incentives for green technologies, in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

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PARKS, HEALTH DEPT SPAR OVER RESPONSIBILITY FOR RATS IN TREE PITS

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Prospect Heights residents have been struggling to get the city to respond to reports of rampant rat infestations in sidewalk tree pits, reports Patch, as the city’s Parks and Health departments each point fingers at each other – and at homeowners. Neighborhood groups say that the Health Department, which usually handles rat issues, won’t touch tree pits as those are supposedly the domain of the Parks Department; while the Parks Department says that homeowners are supposed to maintain the sidewalk tree pits and the Health Department says that they will only go after sidewalk rats in emergency situations.

The eternal war on rats has been a top priority for Mayor Adams, who in December announced that the city was looking to hire an official “rat czar” to consolidate and streamline anti-rodent efforts.

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BROOKLYN DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUED FOR NOT PAYING RENT

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS – Brooklyn’s Democratic Party faces a lawsuit from its landlord, according to City and State, which reports that landlord CIM Group filed a suit in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday asking for a total of $109,000 in back rent, fees and interest from the party for its office space in the 16 Court Street office building, across the street from Brooklyn Borough Hall. The landlord says that the party attempted to terminate its lease in 2020 as a result of the COVID pandemic, but had no right to do so, as CIM did not agree to the termination. 

City and State reports that the suit follows accusations of opaque financial and political operations on the part of Brooklyn Democratic Party leadership; one critic and former member told City and State that “There’s just an enormous amount that was done to suppress democratic participation with COVID as an excuse.”

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MAYOR ANNOUNCES NEW PLAN FOR ASYLUM-SEEKERS

CITYWIDE — Mayor Adams, at a press conference on Tuesday, announced “The Road Forward,” his administration’s plan for handling the ongoing refugee crisis situation, which will see the city create a 24/7 arrival center for incoming migrants and a new Office of Asylum Seeker Operation, in addition to continuing to lobby for increased federal and state funding and for enforcement at the southern border. The Office of Asylum Seeker Operation will take over responsibilities related to the asylum-seekers from the multiple city agencies currently working on them, in order to streamline the processes for helping the migrants with immigration paperwork, obtaining work permits, finding housing and employment and helping migrants resettle in other locations if they choose.

Adams also invited a Venezuelan asylum-seeker named Abraham to speak at the press conference, who said through a translator “As immigrants, we too want to contribute back to the city and to the United States of America… I want to send a message to all the asylum seekers throughout the city to keep calm and be respectful and continue moving forward because the city is doing everything possible to make sure that you have the support that you need.”

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THREE JAIL GUARDS PLEAD GUILTY TO SICK LEAVE FRAUD

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Former NYC correction officer Eduardo Trinidad pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday to federal program fraud, admitting that he fraudulently obtained his salary from the NYC Department of Correction by taking sick leave even though he was able to work; while on Feb. 15 and Feb. 27, respectively, former correction officers Steven Cange and Monica Coaxum also pleaded guilty to the same charge. According to court documents and facts presented at the guilty plea proceedings, Cange fraudulently obtained more than $139,000 in salary while on sick leave from March 2021 to November 2022, while Coaxum fraudulently obtained more than $80,000 in salary while on sick leave from March 2021 to April 2022, and Trinidad, Monica’s fiancé, fraudulently obtained more than $119,000 in salary while on sick leave from June 2021 to October 2022; all three submitted fraudulent sick notes to the department and were later observed by investigators to be living active lives with no difficulty.

“These correction officers faked medical documentation to take sick leave they were not entitled to in the midst of a city jail staffing crisis. They violated DOC policy, and they broke the law. Their conduct — including travel around the country, partying, bowling, and home repairs, on stolen sick leave time — is an insult to the correction officers who do their jobs, who show up to work and risk their personal safety on a daily basis,” said Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber in a press statement.

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$10M USDOT GRANT FURTHERS NYU TANDON RESEARCH ON TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Dr. Kaan Özbay, Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering and Founding Director of C2SMART. Photo: NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — NYU Tandon School of Engineering has been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation, to lead a consortium of universities dedicated to and continuing multi-faceted research to understand and combat traffic congestion. The money, along with $5 million in non-federal matching funds, creates the Connected Communities for Smart Mobility Toward Accessible and Resilient Transportation for Equitably Reducing Congestion (C2SMARTER) Center, which the USDOT has selected as the only Tier 1 University Transportation Center designated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address a priority area of Reducing Congestion.

NYU Tandon Professor Kaan Özbay founded C2SMART and is its director. C2SMARTER will continue this work, which will involve emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and connected and autonomous vehicles that will be tested and deployed using a variety of “cyber-physical testbeds” that are already operational or in planning stages.

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CONEY ISLAND COMMUNITY PROTESTS CASINO PLAN

CONEY ISLAND — Coney Island residents are unhappy with a proposal to build a casino on the boardwalk, reports Gothamist, and protested outside a Monday night community meeting on the plan at the Coney Island YMCA. Unhappy locals said that they feared the casino would bring increased crime and traffic to the already-struggling neighborhood, while Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who organized the meeting, said he himself was undecided on the merits of the idea and wanted to ensure that residents had a say in the process.

Brooklyn’s Robert Cornegy has thrown his weight behind the Coney casino project, which represents only one of several possible options for three new downstate casino licenses.

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MAYOR WANTS NO MORE FACE MASKS IN STORES

CITYWIDE — Mayor Adams on Monday joined the NYPD in calling for shop owners to demand customers remove face masks in their stores in order to reduce theft, reports Bloomberg News, in a sharp turnaround from policies just last year that required masks while shopping. Adams suggested owners require customers to remove masks while entering but said he thought that customers should be allowed to replace the masks after showing their faces initially.

Queens Councilmember Tiffany Cabán criticized the mayor on Twitter, saying that shoplifting concerns did not outweigh the safety benefits of masks during the ongoing pandemic, while others raised concerns that such a policy could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and could expose workers to COVID, as current CDC guidelines call for people who test positive for COVID to wear masks for ten days.

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CHABAD OF DUMBO TO HOST FAMILY PURIM CARNIVAL

DUMBO — Chabad of DUMBO will be hosting a family carnival on Tuesday, March 7, in honor of the Jewish Purim holiday, which is traditionally celebrated with costumes, lots of food and readings from the Book of Esther. The carnival will feature clowns, juggling, snacks and games; all attendees who come in costume will receive a prize.

The carnival will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the DUMBO Loft; admission is open to all but suggested donations are $20 per family, and more information can be found on EventBrite.

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ARREST MADE IN FATAL CANARSIE HIT-AND-RUN

CANARSIE — Police have made an arrest in connection with a hit-and-run collision that killed a 65-year-old man last Labor Day weekend. Brierley Collymore, age 70 and residing on Avenue L, was arrested on March 7 and faces several charges related to Leaving the Scene of an Accident — death, injury and failure to show license. The defendant, driving a Nissan Pathfinder had struck a pedestrian on the sidewalk near the intersection of Remsen Ave. and Avenue M, in the 91st precinct, since identified as Ali A. Alshawesh, who had resided in the area.

Fleeing the scene, the defendant driving the Nissan then struck a parked, unoccupied Dodge Nitro.

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MISSING BROOKLYN MAN POSSIBLY FOUND DEAD UPSTATE

ELLENVILLE — The family of Shehroz Tokhirov, reported missing from his Brooklyn apartment last summer, believes he may be the mystery man found dead last month in the small upstate town of Ellenville, near New Paltz, reports News 12, and have confirmed that details reported by the FBI on the dead man’s case are a match for Tokhirov’s. The dismembered body was discovered in two duffle bags behind a house in Ulster County in what state police describe as “an old dumping ground for the Russian mob.”

Shlomo Patchiav, also of Brooklyn, was arrested last week in connection with the murder after an investigation by the FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which believes that Patchiav and an accomplice extorted money and a Mercedes from the victim before shooting him.

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NEW CONGRESSIONAL BILL WOULD PENALIZE LANDLORDS WHO DISCRIMINATE OR KEEP APARTMENTS OFF MARKET

NATIONWIDE — New legislation that Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-7th District) has introduced in Congress aims to protect tenants, particularly those in the Section 8 program, from abuses by dishonest landlords. The Landlord Accountability Act of 2023 creates new violations under federal law for discrimination based upon a tenant’s source of income, and giving prospective tenants the right to seek remedies for discrimination under the Fair Housing Act if they receive any form of federal, state or local housing assistance, and fining landlords up to $100,000 for violations, with revenue going to aggrieved tenants.

The bill would also create new penalties for landlords who engage in the practice of “warehousing” — intentionally keeping rent-stabilized units off the market. According to media reports, more than 88,000 affordable units went unrented across the city in 2021.

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IN MEMORIAM: BISHOP FRANK GRISWOLD LED EPISCOPAL CHURCH DURING TIME OF TURMOIL

NATIONWIDE — Bishop Frank Tracy Griswold III, who led the Episcopal Church through a tumultuous debate over the place of women and LGBTQ clergy during the late 1990s and early 2000s, died Sunday, March 5, in Philadelphia, at 85, reports the Religion News Service.  Elected in 1997, Griswold served as presiding bishop from 1998-2006, and presided at the ordination and consecration of the mainline denominations first-openly gay bishop, the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson in 2003, causing a schism within conservative dioceses.

Bishop Griswold also focused on ecumenical and interfaith relations, inviting a Muslim leader to speak during his installation service, and helping bring the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church into full communion with each other.

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PROPOSED RULE FROM CITY WILL PROVIDE MAJOR PAY RAISE FOR APP-BASED DELIVERISTAS

CITYWIDE — A revised proposed rule to establish a minimum pay rate for NYC’s more than 60,000 third-party app-based restaurant delivery workers was released on Tuesday, March 7, from Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga. The revised rule, when fully implemented in 2025, provides for a pay rate of $19.96 per hour – nearly three times what delivery workers currently make, establishing pay equity with Uber and Lyft drivers and other workers who earn a minimum wage.

The revision was made following two public hearings and a lengthy public comment period which, together, brought in nearly 2,000 public comments, and was based on feedback from workers and the restaurant delivery apps. Another hearing is scheduled on April 7, 2023, and an opportunity to submit public comments on the revised proposed rule.

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CENSUS BUREAU ONCE HIRED THE TELEPHONE’S INVENTOR

NATIONWIDE — This Friday, March 10, marks National Landline Telephone Day, the anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell’s far-reaching invention, and the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in School program is encouraging teachers around the country to include lessons and activities related to this. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools program brings subjects to life using real-world Census Bureau data to create materials for use at all grade levels, with its “History of the Telephone” curriculum covering the telephone’s impact on society and its evolution.

Alexander Graham Bell had his own historical connection with the Census Bureau, which hired him in 1900 as a special agent to write a report on the deaf and blind population.

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CITY FILES SUIT AGAINST COLLEGE DORM MOVING SERVICE

CITYWIDE — Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga on Monday announced that her department had filed a lawsuit against Dorm2Dorm LLC, a moving and storage company that allegedly preyed on and willfully deceived NYC college students and their parents and guardians, and is seeking civil penalties, restitution for consumers and a court order instructing the company to cease its false and deceptive advertisements. The lawsuit follows an investigation launched in September 2022 after the department logged more than a dozen customer complaints about the company’s practices, including consistently late pickups and deliveries, misplacing and damaging possessions and making false promises of a 25% “instant rebate.”

“DCWP will not hesitate to hold predatory businesses like Dorm2Dorm accountable for their actions. Anyone who feels that they’ve been deceived by Dorm2Dorm should reach out to us immediately,” said Mayuga in a press statement, urging other unhappy customers to call 311 and say “Dorm2Dorm” or visit nyc.gov/dcwp to file a complaint; schools the company operated at include Pratt Institute, Long Island University and New York University, among others.

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METROPOLITAN BLACK BAR ASSN. TO HONOR ACLU PRESIDENT ARCHER AT GALA

CHELSEA — The Metropolitan Black Bar Association has announced that it will be honoring Brooklyn resident Deborah N. Archer as its Trailblazer of the Year at its 39th Anniversary Awards Gala in May this year. Archer, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, is an alum of Smith College and Yale Law School, and in 2021 was elected as the first African American president of the ACLU.

Archer joined the faculty of New York Law School in 2003, before moving to NYU School of Law in 2018, where she serves as “Associate Dean and Co-Director of Clinical and Advocacy Programs, Professor of Clinical Law, and Co-Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law.”

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CITY BUDGET OFFICIAL FACES OFF WITH COUNCIL IN TENSE HEARING

CIVIC CENTER — NYC Budget Director Jacques Jiha faced hours of questioning at a preliminary budget hearing from the City Council on Monday over what the council described as “an abundance of pessimism” in the Office of Management and Budget’s assessment of the city’s economic prospects, reports City and State, suggesting that belt-tightening measures supported by the Adams administration were unnecessarily conservative. Councilmembers called for increased spending on social programs in next year’s budget, but Jiha said that the council’s expectations were overly rosy, and said NYC is “in a very difficult situation,” warning of a potential upcoming recession.

Jiha also broke with Adams at one point during the hearing, according to Gothamist, stating that the elimination of remote work was partially to blame for the city’s difficulty in filling necessary government jobs and that the city is considering rolling back Adams’ controversial “return to office” policy for government employees, which Adams in 2022 said was necessary to support the city’s retail and restaurant industries.

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AIRTRAIN FARE TO INCREASE ONCE AGAIN

FAR ROCKAWAY — The Port Authority on Sunday raised the fare of the AirTrain, which connects the subway system to the city’s airports, from $8 to $8.25, reports Gothamist, blaming inflation and lost revenues during the COVID pandemic. The Port Authority had also raised fares from $7.75 to $8 in 2022, also supposedly due to inflation.

“Just the fact that there’s an AirTrain fare at all, and no free transfer to the bus, subway, or Long Island Rail Road, particularly while the state is undertaking a multibillion-dollar highway expansion cutting through Jamaica to JFK, says so much about our inequitable and inefficient transportation policy in New York,” transit advocacy group Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein told Gothamist.

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