What’s News, Breaking: Monday, April 17, 2023

April 17, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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NYU TANDON RESEARCHERS DEVELOP MODEL TO PREDICT GUN VIOLENCE MORE ACCURATELY

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Professor Maurizio Porfiri, a researcher at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, led a team of colleagues in developing a new methodology to predict monthly gun homicide rates, with their findings published in the Journal of Criminal Justice. Porfiri, who is also director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), and his team revealed that by combining data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with information from a range of other sources — from city police departments, news stories and the crowdsourced Gun Violence Archive database — they created a model that outperforms the techniques currently in use to predict monthly gun homicide rates.

The team was working to reverse the challenge of accurately forecasting incidents during a high rate of gun homicides.

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NADLER DENOUNCES ‘SHAM HEARING’ OVER MANHATTAN DA ALVIN BRAGG’S LAWSUIT

MANHATTAN — Just before House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) urged a New York federal court on Monday to block Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s bid to derail a Congressional subpoena for confidential testimony, Mayor Eric Adams and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-12th C.D.) denounced what they called a “sham hearing.” The House Judiciary Committee is seeking to compel the disclosure of confidential testimony in the case involving former President Donald Trump and his alleged falsification of business documents. Warning that the field hearing is a political stunt, Nadler said, “Jim Jordan and his Republican accomplices are acting as an extension of the Trump defense team, trying to intimidate and deter the duly elected district attorney of Manhattan from doing the work his constituents elected him to do.”

Nadler, who at a media briefing on Monday, April 17, pointed out that for 4 years he was the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “I know what a real hearing and real oversight looks like.”

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BROOKLYN CHURCH HOSTS ONE OF NINE SIMULTANEOUS GUN BUYBACK EVENTS

SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — One of nine simultaneous gun buybacks that New York Attorney General Letitia James is holding around the state will take place in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 29. The Brooklyn drop-off point is All Saints Roman Catholic Church on Throop Avenue, in the Broadway Triangle neighborhood near South Williamsburg, with the buyback running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Partnering with Attorney General James are Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and the New York City Police Department in this historic effort, with each buyback event offering money in the form of prepaid gift cards when a gun is received and secured by law enforcement officers on site.

Functional and non-working, unloaded firearms will be accepted, and no questions will be asked in this amnesty program.

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STATE DEMOCRATIC CHAIR SCOFFS AT SANTOS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT

STATEWIDE — Upon hearing that an embattled freshman Congressman has already announced his re-election campaign, Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee Jay S. Jacobs scoffed at the news. Santos, elected in 2022 to represent New York’s newly-drawn 3rd District, which includes a portion of Queens and a large swath of Nassau County, later admitted to falsifying several parts of his education, ethnic background, earnings and campaign funds. Said Jacobs, “George Santos is 16 days late. April Fools’ Day was on the first of this month, and that would have been a more appropriate date to announce his re-election campaign.”

Members of Congress serve two-year terms in the House of Representatives, which means the party majority can switch every other year.

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BROOKLYN LEADERS SERVE ON INAUGURAL ADVISORY BOARD FOR RACIAL JUSTICE CHARTER AMENDMENTS

BOROUGHWIDE — At least two of the two founding advisory board members for the Racial Justice Charter Amendments are leaders in Brooklyn. Dr. Torian Easterling, MD, MPH, chief strategic and innovation officer for One Brooklyn Health — and former First Deputy Commissioner & Chief Equity Officer for the NYC Department of Mental Health & Hygiene — was appointed to the board on Monday, as was Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO & executive director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy organization with 170 member agencies and faith partners.

Ms. Jones Austin’s grounding in Brooklyn dates back to her childhood, when her father, Reverend William Augustus Jones, Jr., was senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a role in which he served for more than four decades.

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ADVISORY BOARD LAUNCHED AS PART OF RACIAL JUSTICE CHARTER AMENDMENTS

CITYWIDE — An advisory board, with at least two Brooklyn members, has been launched as part of the implementation of the Racial Justice Charter Amendments voted into law during the November 2022 general election, Mayor Eric Adams and Mayor’s Office of Equity Commissioner Sideya Sherman have announced. These amendments — the first of their kind in the nation — added a statement of values to the city’s charter; require the city to establish a racial equity office and commission, as well as racial equity focused plans; and, called for the city to measure the true cost of living for city residents.

The advisory board will help ensure the city continues to lead the nation in innovative, racial equity work and carries out the city’s newly enshrined charter changes.

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FEDERAL COURT CHARGES TWO FOR FAKE FOREIGN POLICE HQ

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Two suspects who allegedly operated an undeclared overseas police station for the People’s Republic of China were arrested on Monday morning, April 17, at their homes in New York City, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn. The two defendants, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, are charged in connection with opening and operating an undeclared and now first-known overseas police station in lower Manhattan on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) of the People’s Republic of China. They are charged also with harassing Chinese nationals residing in the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere in the United States by perpetrating transnational repression schemes targeting U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government.

The defendants’ initial appearances were scheduled for Monday afternoon, with United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho presiding.

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COUNCIL CANDIDATE RAGUSA DROPS OUT AFTER FRAUD ACCUSATIONS

BAY RIDGE — Republican city council candidate Michael Ragusa on Monday dropped out of the primary race for southern Brooklyn’s 47th District council seat after his campaign was accused of forging the signatures of multiple other Republican officials on Sunday, reports the New York Post. Ragusa told the Post that he believed the volunteer who collected the signatures was part of a plot to “sabotage my campaign.”

The primary field for the newly redistricted council seat is crowded, with three Republicans now vying to face off against presumptive Democratic nominee Justin Brannan in the general election in November in what is expected to be a close race — the new 47th is a likely swing district.

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QUANTUM INTERNET COMPANY EXPANDS IN NAVY YARD

WILLIAMSBURG — Qunnect, a cutting-edge tech company working on next-gen quantum communications solutions, on Friday announced that it has constructed two new research facilities in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for its GothamQ Network, a pilot program that piggybacks entangled pairs of photons onto telecom fiber cables in a loop between Brooklyn and Queens. According to a press release, the company hopes to use its research to usher in “new forms of secure communication,” and to prove the practicality of quantum networking by using its products in combination with existing infrastructure to form a backbone for future quantum computing technologies.

Quantum computers use specially linked pairs of subatomic particles to process large amounts of information more quickly and over much longer distances than are possible with a standard machine, but due to their unique data types, complicated upgrades to existing telecoms infrastructure are required in order for quantum computers to be able to communicate with each other — a problem Qunnect thinks it can solve for service providers.

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SUBWAY STRIKES PERSON, DISRUPTING SERVICE

MTA SUBWAY — For the second time during the Monday rush hour, subway trains were disrupted or delayed because of a person on the tracks. M trains were delayed in both directions as of 11:30 a.m. after a person was struck by a train at the 23rd St. station. F and M trains are disrupted in both directions while emergency teams respond to the individual.

Meanwhile, M train service resumed shortly before noon, with delays between Forest Hills-71 Av and Delancey St-Essex St.; but Coney Island-bound F and Middle Village-Metropolitan Av M trains are running express from 34 St-Herald Sq to West 4th St./Washington Square; and, southbound B and D trains are delayed because they share the same track with rerouted trains.

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SPEEDING DRIVER KILLS WOMAN ON ATLANTIC AVE.

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A Hyde Park woman was killed while trying to cross Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday night, April 16, during a wild series of collisions on a dangerous segment of Atlantic Avenue. The pedestrian, whom the NYPD identified as 31-year-old Katherine Harris, had been within the marked crosswalk, with the traffic light in her favor, when the 27-year-old male driver of a 2012 Volvo sped westbound and ran a red light at Clinton St., striking the woman, whom EMS first-responders could not save. The Volvo driver then caused a chain reaction of collisions, in which he hit the driver of a Honda and both drivers then struck an outdoor dining structure on the north side of Atlantic, according to a preliminary NYPD investigation.

The Honda driver was not injured and the Volvo driver was arrested, with charges pending.

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NY STATE TAXES WERE $9.5 BILLION LESS THIS YEAR

STATEWIDE — Tax collections for State Fiscal Year 2022-23 totaled $111.7 billion, $2.9 billion higher than the forecast released by the Division of the Budget (DOB) in the Amended Executive Budget financial plan at the beginning of March, according to the March State Cash Report that State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Monday, April 17. However, tax collections are still $9.5 billion lower than the previous year, with the decrease attributed to a decline in Personal Income Tax (PIT) receipts, resulting from a variety of factors.

Some of the reasons stated were a decline in year-end bonuses in the financial services industry, claiming of credits related to the Pass-Through Entity Tax, the acceleration of the final phase-in of the middle-class tax rate cuts, and financial market volatility throughout 2022.

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SALON ARTS SERIES IN BED-STUY

BED-STUY — Historic Black artistic organizations 651 ARTS and The Billie Holiday Theatre — honored by President Biden with the National Medal of the Arts last month — are joining forces this spring to present “Song Salon,” a live performance series inspired by the artistic gatherings known as salons that were popular in the 1920s, most notably those of Harlem arts patron and heiress A’Lelia Walker, that served as a safe space for Black creatives and thinkers to express themselves and helped to define the Harlem Renaissance. “In that spirit, the Song Salon was designed to be a supportive space and community for artists to explore their artistry and to connect with audiences on a more intimate and personal level,” wrote the groups in a press release.

This inaugural season of the series will feature performances each Thursday from emerging artists including Jordyn Davis on May 4, Terron Austin on May 11, Candice Hoyes on May 18 and Nicholas Ryan Gant on May 25.

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L TRAIN SERVICE DELAY: PERSON ON THE TRACKS

WILLIAMSBURG — The L train was delayed in both directions on Monday morning during rush hour due to a report of an unauthorized person on the tracks, according to the MTA. Police officers responded to the situation, and said that the investigation is ongoing, as commuters scrambled to find alternative routes into the city.

Commuters can find live updates on train status on the MTA’s website, or by checking the NYC Transit Twitter account.

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INDOOR GOLF COMING TO DOWNTOWN BK

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Golfzon, a company that provides immersive indoor golf experiences, is setting up shop in Downtown Brooklyn this fall, reports the New York Post, and has claimed an 18,000-square-foot space in the brand-new luxury 11 Hoyt building. The golf center is expected to also feature a cafe and lounge, serving craft beer.

The Korean company uses cutting-edge technology to allow simulator users to experience world-famous courses without leaving their neighborhoods, offering what an executive of the building’s developer called a “one-of-a-kind amenity for 11 Hoyt residents and a vibrant destination for the surrounding community.”

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PARK SLOPE ‘ROCKS’ BUDGET PARTICIPATION

PARK SLOPE — City Councilmember Shahana Hanif on Friday announced the results of her district’s most recent round of participatory budgeting, which recorded 4407 votes from local community members choosing which area improvement projects to fund. The six winning projects this cycle is providing for include 100 trees for District 39, a family resource center at P.S. 124, the rehabilitation of the Prospect Park Bandshell Lawn, seed funding for the CHiPS Food Pantry Truck, a “Repair Café” and a Gowanus urban forest stewardship program.

This voting cycle closed on April 2 and distributed $1.5 million in funding; District 39 residents can find updates on the councilmember’s website.

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BK GETS PIECE OF STATEWIDE FEDERAL $$$

WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday announced that 43 New York Community Development Financial Institutions (a class of financial institutions that work with underserved groups) will receive $116,822,564 in federal funding to help low- and middle-income communities recover from the pandemic. The funds will be used to expand lending to small businesses, to invest in struggling communities and to support borrowers impacted by the pandemic; as well as for community facilities, affordable housing, commercial real estate and intermediary lending to non-profits and other CDFIs.

Four Brooklyn credit unions and loan funds will be receiving more than $10 million in funding: BOC Capital Corp., Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, CAMBA Economic Development Corporation and Concord Federal Credit Union.

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CLEANUP BEGINS SOON AT ANOTHER GOWANUS BROWNFIELD SITE

GOWANUS — The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation will begin supervising a cleanup this month of 380 4th Avenue, a brownfield site in Gowanus that is adjacent to the U-Haul storage center. The applicant for development at that site, 380 4th Avenue Owner, LLC, will perform the cleanup of contamination with several components, including excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil to a minimum depth of 15 feet below ground surface and hotspot areas, as well as collection and analysis of confirmation soil samples to evaluate the remedy’s effectiveness and importing clean fill that meets the established Soil Cleanup Objectives for use as backfill.

A site-specific Health and Safety Plan (HASP) and a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) will be implemented during remediation activities, establishing procedures — such as required air monitoring as well as dust and odor suppression measures — to protect on-site workers and residents.

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CITY APPROVES $1M CONTRACT FOR TRUCK-WEIGHING EQUIPMENT ON BQE CENTRAL

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The city approved a $1 million contract on Tuesday to install equipment on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that automatically tickets overweight trucks, the Gothamist reported on Friday. The contract was awarded to NYU’s C2SMART Center to put in so-called “weigh in motion” sensors on the crumbling triple-cantilever section — nicknamed BQE Central — between Sands Street and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights.

Those sensors are to be used to identify trucks on the highway that exceed the legal weight limit of 40 tons. The program will automatically issue fines of up to $7,000 to the operators of trucks that are too heavy.

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STATE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY REACHING OUT TO GOWANUS RESIDENTS REGARDING BROWNFIELDS

GOWANUS — The NY State Department of Conservation’s Community Availability Session, taking place on Thursday, April 20, will focus on updates to what the agency says is an ongoing cleanup and oversight “of the investigation and remediation of 49 brownfield sites in the Gowanus Canal area.” DEC and the Department of Health will have experts available for community members regarding specific areas of interest; and, the two agencies will set up multiple stations at the meeting venue, The Children’s School on 1st Street, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Last Monday, the advocacy group Voice of Gowanus urged residents and local businesses to attend the meeting and to demand that the State be more thorough and transparent in the cleanup effort.

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CADMAN CONSERVANCY CELEBRATES EARTH DAY WITH MULCH

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS – The Cadman Plaza Park Conservancy is making mulch ado about Earth Day this year, and is calling on Brooklynites to help prepare the park for spring. The group is meeting on Saturday, April 22 to weed, rake and plant, and on Saturday, April 29 for its Mulching Event, which the conservancy did not elaborate on but can be assumed to involve a large amount of mulch.

Volunteers on both Saturdays are asked to gather at the Juneteenth Grove at the park’s southern end from 10 a.m. to noon.

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SENTENCING HEARING FOR SON CONVICTED OF PUTTING HIT ON FATHER

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Two men, Anthony Zottola and Himen Ross, were set to be sentenced on Friday after being convicted in October 2022 of murder-for-hire in the 2018 fatal shooting of mafia associate Sylvester Zottola at a McDonald’s drive-through in the Bronx. Anthony Zottola allegedly orchestrated and financed multiple attacks on his father and brother prior to the murder, in hopes of taking over his father’s multi-million-dollar real estate empire.

The sentencing hearing will take place on Friday, April 14, at 10 a.m. in Brooklyn federal court; Zottola faces a life sentence for his role in the murder.

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VEGAN BURGER JOINT SUED FOR UNPAID WAGES

FORT GREENE — Three employees at the Fort Greene location of burger chain Slutty Vegan last week filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court alleging that the restaurant failed to pay bonuses, overtime wages and expenses, reports Eater NY, with the amount owed estimated by Patch to be worth over $27,000. Founder Pinky Cole, profiled this week in The New Yorker, was also sued earlier this year over unpaid wages at another vegan restaurant she co-owns in Atlanta — claims she denied on Instagram.

“What do I gain from withholding someone’s hard earned money when my blessings overflow everyday? I don’t lie, I don’t steal and more importantly, I DON’T PLAY WITH PEOPLE’S MONEY,” Cole wrote of the Atlanta lawsuit; the Brooklyn employees say that one man’s overtime pay was withheld and his uniform expenses were not reimbursed and that two management employees were denied bonuses.

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CENTRAL BROOKLYN BECOMES DOGGY-DOO HOTSPOT

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS — Dog poop-related 311 complaints in central Brooklyn are skyrocketing this year, reports Patch, with just five zip codes responsible for 55 complaints — a third of the total number that the city received last year, marking a huge upswing. The 11226 zip code, in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, was the second most canine-intestinally active in the city, with residents of the 11-by-15 block area calling in 25 complaints.

City officials are fighting back against the smelly situation with a campaign aimed at getting dog owners to pick up their messes, unveiling the new slogan “Don’t Leave **it On The Sidewalk” to the public last week.

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CITY COMPTROLLER: CLAIMS FILED AGAINST CITY SET RECORD DURING FISCAL YEAR 2022

CITYWIDE — Claims and lawsuits against New York City totaled 12,188 and were resolved for $1.5 billion, during Fiscal Year 2022 — the highest amount in the City’s history — according to City Comptroller Brad Lander’s newly-released Annual Claims Report. The 11 largest individual tort claim settlements were seven wrongful convictions, two medical malpractice claims, an assault at Rikers Island, and an accident involving a science experiment at a public school. During this time, the City settled 16 wrongful convictions, the most of any single year, for a total of $86.8 million.

The increase in claims from the previous fiscal year is largely due to the Gulino class action lawsuit, filed in 1996 against the Department of Education in which the court found that state-mandated teacher certification exams discriminated against Black and Latino teachers.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES CHALLENGES FEDERAL JUDGE’S DECISION ON MIFEPRISTONE

NATIONWIDE — The same day that NY New York Attorney General Letitia James led a multi-state coalition and filed an amicus brief to challenge a federal judge’s decision on an FDA-approved abortion drug, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, April 14, issued a stay on the restriction. The attorneys general are challenging a decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued, one that would leave in place restrictions on access to mifepristone — already imposed by a Texas trial court — consequently restricting access to medication abortion nationwide.

Attorney General James warned that upholding the Fifth Circuit’s order would also cause medical harm to women who had suffered a miscarriage (the involuntary loss of an unborn child), for which mifepristone is also a treatment.

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$6.5M AWARD FROM NY STATE WILL SUPPORT CREATION OF CLIMATE-FRIENDLY INSURANCE POLICIES

STATEWIDE — New York State has awarded $6.5 million under the Insurance Innovation for Climate-Technology Solutions program to support new insurance policies and products that will accelerate consumers’ adoption of clean technologies, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, April 14. The nonprofit InnSure was selected to deploy grants that will advance risk management and insurance market growth — transforming business support and providing consumer confidence for a range of climate-friendly technology products.

InnSure will work with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to co-develop a program that will competitively award insurance innovators for the research and development of new insurance policies and products.

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FUNDS WILL HELP NEEDY COMMUNITIES RECOVER FINANCIALLY FROM PANDEMIC

BOROUGHWIDE — Four Brooklyn financial institutions are among 43 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across New York State that will receive $116,822,564 in federal funding to help low- and moderate-income communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) announced on Friday. Two loan funds in Brooklyn: BOC Capital Corp. and CAMBA Economic Development Corporation, will receive $6,197,097 and $500,000, respectively; Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union will receive $3,470,374; and Concord Federal Credit Union will receive $500,000. Carver Federal Savings Bank, based in Manhattan but with branches at Atlantic Terminal, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Flatbush, will receive $2,478,839 to help their clients.

The funds, which are being delivered through the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Equitable Recovery Program, will expand lending related to small businesses and microenterprises, for grantmaking and investing in underserved communities, and to support borrowers that experienced disproportionate economic impacts from the pandemic.

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FORT GREENE BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE TOUR ON WEEKENDS

FORT GREENE — On the third Saturday of each month this year, from April to June, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy will be hosting free Black History and Culture of Fort Greene guided tours, providing rich context and information on the history of Black communities in the area, ranging from the 1800s to modern day. The tours are free to attend, and the content was developed in partnership with BlackSpace, the Future Historical Society at BRIC, MoCADA and the Weeksville Heritage Center.

This month’s tour took place on Saturday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.; attendees for May 20 should gather at the Fort Greene Park Entrance on the corner of Dekalb Avenue and Washington Park.

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SIR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER RECEIVES KEY TO NYC FROM MAYOR ADAMS

CITYWIDE — Brooklyn-born Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, April 14, awarded Oscar-winning Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber the key to New York City for the composer’s contributions. Lloyd Webber, who has also won an Emmy, three Grammys, an Oscar, six Tonys, and a Golden Globe for beloved classics such as “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Evita” and “Cats,” responded in kind about American musical theatre classics: “I, always since I was a little boy, loved musicals, and I’ve always loved American musicals in particular. And I grew up really with the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows.”

The mayor quipped, “I remember as a young person watching Cats, one of the amazing performances on Broadway. You could bring Cats back because we hate rats in New York. So, we would love it to be here.”

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BROOKLYN CHEFS TO FACE OFF ON NEW SHOW ‘CIAO HOUSE’

ITALY — Ten rising culinary stars, including Brooklyn native Omar Ashley and Brooklyn-based Corey Becker, will face off starting this week on the new Food Network show “Ciao House,” where the competitors will live together in a classic Tuscan villa and prove their mastery of Italian cooking in weekly challenges. Each week, the chefs will vote off other contestants, with the last chef standing winning an immersive culinary education across Italy, training with renowned Italian master chefs.

Ciao House will premiere on Food Network and the streaming service Discovery+ on Sunday, April 16, at 9 p.m.

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COCKTAIL BAR SELLS BAKLAVA FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

GREENPOINT — The owners of Greenpoint cocktail bar Little Rascal last week announced that the restaurant will in April be donating all proceeds of its baklava sales to help fund a Turkish chef working to feed victims of February’s devastating earthquakes. Owners Halil and Öner Gündogdu, who hail from Adana, Turkey, are partnering with chef Turev Uladag, who has established four kitchens in four different cities throughout Turkey that are providing around 100,000 meals every day to those left hungry and homeless from the tragedy.

Little Rascal’s baklava is sourced from Elmaci Pazari Güllüoglu, say the owners, known as “The Oldest Baklava Shop of the World,” which dates from the 1850s and was founded in the region affected by the quake.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL TISH JAMES SPEAKS OUT ON JUSTICE ALITO’S STAY ON ABORTION DRUG BAN

NATIONWIDE — Following U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s stay on lower courts’ rulings over a medication abortion drug on Friday, April 12, NY State Attorney Letitia James stated, “The rulings regarding abortion medication access from various courts over the past two weeks have caused confusion and anxiety for millions of Americans. The decision by the Supreme Court to temporarily maintain the status quo will provide at least a temporary respite as the appeals process moves forward.”

Earlier on Friday, Attorney General James had led a multi-state coalition of 24 of her counterparts from other states in an amicus brief requesting that a ban on the drug be paused pending an appeal.

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JEFFRIES MAKES TIME 100 LIST

WASHINGTON — Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Brooklyn representative and the first Black person elected to the role, was selected for the Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list for 2023, the publication’s prestigious annual ranking of the people who are affecting the most change in the world today. Jeffries’ writeup, by fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, focuses on his strident leadership and the energy he brings to the role.

Jeffries was chosen for the position in November 2022 following the Democrats’ loss of power in the midterm elections, although by narrower margins than anticipated, leading some — including Pelosi — to believe that he may take on the role of House Speaker at some future date.

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HOCHUL EXPANDS SNAP USE AT FARMERS’ MARKETS

STATEWIDE — Governor Hochul on Wednesday announced the new FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, which will more than double the buying power for SNAP recipients at farmers’ markets across New York state, offsetting recent reductions in SNAP benefits and record inflation, providing increased revenue for farmers and boosting local food sourcing. SNAP beneficiaries at participating farmers’ markets will now be provided with $2 checks for every $2 spent — up from $2 for every $5 spent — and will now also be reimbursed for dairy products, meats and more, as well as fruits and vegetables.

The FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative will launch and be available to consumers on April 15; informational materials will also be made available for vendors selling eligible products who wish to take part in the initiative.

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GOVERNMENT DELAYED ON CONGESTION PRICING: BUTTIGIEG

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced on Thursday that the federal government is still processing environmental reviews for New York’s congestion pricing plan, and has no firm timeline for the project’s final approval, reports amNY. While officials have expressed concerns that placing tolls on routes into Manhattan might cause pollution and traffic to spike in the outer boroughs outside the tolled zones, groups like the Brooklyn Heights Association and the Riders Alliance have backed the plan on the grounds that the tolls will work to reduce traffic in Brooklyn neighborhoods overall.

The tolls were originally set to be introduced in 2021, at rates between $9 and $27, but were placed on hold due to the COVID pandemic and to a lack of action from the Trump administration.

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GOLDMAN OFFERS STATEMENT ON JUDICIARY HEARING

WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat on Saturday issued a statement following the G.O.P-led House Judiciary Committee’s announcement that it would be holding a field hearing in Manhattan on Monday, April 17, on what the committee called the “pro-crime” policies of Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, who is currently prosecuting former President Trump on charges related to the alleged hush-money payoff of porn actress and Trump affair partner Stormy Daniels.

“At the explicit direction of Donald Trump, they are coming to the safest big city in America with the sole aim of abusing their power to serve as a taxpayer-funded arm of Donald Trump’s legal defense team,” the congressmembers wrote. “Republicans are attempting to defund federal law enforcement agencies while endorsing a man for president who was impeached twice, is facing a 34-count felony indictment, and is the target of at least four other criminal and civil investigations in three states…. We look forward to attending this hearing and exposing the hypocrisy and corruption of Donald Trump’s MAGA extremists.”

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‘I LOVE MY PARK DAY’ VOLUNTEER REGISTRATIONS OPEN

STATEWIDE – Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday announced that registration is now open for the 12th annual “I Love My Park Day” event, which will be held on Saturday, May 6 at state parks, historic sites and public lands all across New York state. Volunteers will celebrate New York’s public lands by cleaning up debris, planting trees and gardens, restoring trails and wildlife habitats, removing invasive species and working on various site improvement projects at more than 120 locations, including in Brooklyn at Shirley Chisholm State Park and Marsha P. Johnson State Park.

Prospective volunteers can register online for the day’s events on Parks and Trails New York’s website; more details on the events can also be found online – attendees are asked to wear appropriate clothing and to note that not all activities are suitable for young children.

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‘URBAN VILLAGE’ PLANNED FOR EAST NEW YORK

EAST NEW YORK – The Christian Cultural Center and Reverend A.R. Bernard on Friday announced that construction on the transformative Innovative Urban Village project in East New York is expected to begin by next winter. The project’s first two phases will cost an estimated $570 million and create 817 permanently affordable rental residences for families earning between 30 and 80% of the area median income, as well as retail space intended for a fresh grocery store, a pharmacy, a walk-in medical center and a neighborhood day care, alongside 107,000 square feet of parking.

The project team received full City Council approval in December of 2022 to repurpose CCC’s East New York campus into a “sustainable, pedestrian friendly, mixed-income community.”

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BIG BROOKLYN PLAYDATE AT CENTRAL LIBRARY BRANCH

PROSPECT HEIGHTS – The Brooklyn Public Library is inviting babies, toddlers and their caregivers to join children’s librarians and families from across the borough at the Big Brooklyn Playdate, which will turn the lower level of the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza into “a world of sensory and constructive play.” The library’s open-ended activities, games and toys offer kids a chance to learn how their own bodies and movement can affect themselves and their environment, and to work on fine motor skills, object permanence, spatial awareness and problem-solving.

The playdate event is for ages 0 to 3 and will take place on Wednesday, April 19 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Central Library; parents can find more information online on the library’s website.

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GOP POLS ALLEGE FORGERY ON COUNCIL CANDIDATE RAGUSA’S PETITIONS

BAY RIDGE – Two Republican officials, Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny and district leader David Sepiashvili, have accused the campaign of City Council candidate Michael Ragusa of forging their signatures on his petition sheets, with Brook-Krasny calling on the Brooklyn D.A. to investigate the campaign for fraud, reports City and State. Ragusa is seeking the Republican nomination for the new Council District 47, which covers several southern Brooklyn neighborhoods, in a hotly contested primary – one in which the Brooklyn GOP has declined to endorse any candidates – the winner of which will face off against current Councilmember Justin Brannan in what is expected to be a close general election this fall after the area’s recent redistricting.

Ragusa’s campaign told City and State that “We are investigating the matter and are determined to get to the bottom of this,” while the candidate himself said that the fraud allegations are proof that his opponents “will stop at nothing to bring him down.”