What’s News, Breaking: Monday, April 24, 2023

April 24, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CITY’S NEW BIKE LANE EQUIPMENT WON’T EXTEND
INTO SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG

SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — New bike lanes being installed across the five boroughs “stop just short of filling a glaring hole in the city’s cycling network,” reports Gothamist, because the community in South Williamsburg is vehemently opposed. The city Department of Transportation’s newly-announced plans to install new bike lanes — with concrete barriers — across the five boroughs would stop at South Williamsburg, whose predominantly Orthodox Jewish community has fought persistently against the infrastructure, as have leaders from Brooklyn Community Board 3.

One of the bike lanes being converted from unprotected to protected — runs along Bedford Avenue (where traffic is one-way, northbound), between Dean St. in Crown Heights and Flushing Avenue in South Williamsburg, just beyond the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

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HALAL MEAT DISTRIBUTOR BARRED FROM SELLING
OR SHIPPING UNBRANDED PRODUCTS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Consumers of Halal foods may be relieved that an agreement reached between the U.S. Attorney’s Office (the United States) and a Queens-based Halal poultry distributor prohibits the sale or transport of any misbranded meat products. The agreement follows the government’s lawsuit filed earlier this month after several Food Safety and Inspection Service investigations revealed that for five years until 2022, USA Halal Foods, Inc., also known as As-Salaam Halal and Fine Foods Wholesale Distributors (USA Halal Foods), and its President, Kashiif Saeed, repeatedly offered for sale or transportation goat, lamb, beef and chicken products that were misbranded or that hadn’t undergone or passed federal inspection.

Meat and poultry products are “misbranded” if, among other criteria, the products are missing labels showing the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count, and the inspection legend.

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NEW PILOT PROGRAM COVERS COST OF MEDICINE
USED IN TREATING OPIOID USE DISORDER

STATEWIDE — New York State has launched the Buprenorphine Assistance Pilot Program to assist New Yorkers with the cost of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Bupe-AP will cover the cost of buprenorphine for eligible uninsured and under-insured individuals with no out-of-pocket costs for their medication. Buprenorphine is used to help manage OUD involving substances such as heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioids, and decreases the risk for opioid-related mortality (overdose).

The pilot phase will allow for select Office of Addiction Services and Supports and Department of Health programs to roll-out the benefit, make modifications as necessary and expand to additional agencies in the future.

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EATER NEW YORK SETS SIGHTS ON MONTAGUE ST.’S
L’APPARTEMENT 4F

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Montague Street’s own L’Appartement 4F, the French boutique bakery that originated as a pandemic home venture, received a shout-out from EATER NEW YORK in its latest feature on innovative pastry shops around the city. Of course, Heights locals who discovered L’Appartement 4F and its pastry chefs Gautier Coiffard and Ashley some time ago, delight in the sweet and savory croissant offerings.

EATER NEW YORK described L’Appartement 4F as “a stylish standalone venture in Brooklyn Heights,” and mentions in particular the croissant cereal — for $50.

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LISTENING TOUR BEING LAUNCHED
ON ENVIRONMENTAL BOND ACT

STATEWIDE — Governor Kathy Hochul next month will begin a statewide educational listening tour for the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022, which voters overwhelmingly approved last November. The tour will provide an opportunity for the public and potential funding applicants to learn more about the Bond Act, which prioritizes investments in environmental justice, climate change mitigation, shoreline restoration, flood resilience, water quality, open space land conservation, recreational resources and green jobs.

While the first meeting is scheduled for May 30 at the University of Buffalo, Brooklyn will be part of the tour, with future dates for in-person and virtual meetings to be announced.

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LEGAL DEFENSE ADVOCATES OPPOSE ROLLBACKS
TO DISCOVERY AND SPEEDY TRIAL REFORMS

CITYWIDE — A group of legal defense advocates is urging the two leaders of the New York State Senate to oppose any rollbacks of what the coalition asserts has been successful discovery and speedy trial reforms (also known as “Kalief’s Law”). Brooklyn Defender Services, its counterpart in three other boroughs (including Manhattan) and The Legal Aid Society are praising the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council for urging New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris to oppose the last-minute rollback efforts from Governor Kathy Hochul and local District Attorneys, calling on them to instead appropriate funding to both District Attorney and public defender offices, which the 2019 reforms omitted.

The advocates pointed out that, before the reforms, New York’s old “Blindfold Law” discovery law often prevented Black and Latinx New Yorkers from reviewing the evidence against them in a timely manner, as prosecution teams were permitted to withhold evidence that potentially exonerated defendants.

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BILL REVIVED TO REPORT ILLEGAL PARKING IN BIKE AND BUS LANES, MINUS THE BOUNTY REWARD

CITYWIDE — City Councilmember Lincoln Restler (D-33) was among the legislators rallying on Monday, April 24, to support two bills to protect cyclists and bike lanes from violators. The bills, Intro 501-A and 417, which are coming up for hearings before the New York City Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, would allow New Yorkers to report directly to the Department of Transportation vehicles that are illegally parked in bike lanes, bus lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks and fire hydrants. Intro 417, co-sponsored by 39 Councilmembers and four Borough Presidents, would consolidate the Community Board and Councilmember notice requirements for bike lanes, creating one single streamlined process and eliminating unnecessary 90-day delays.

One of these bills stalled last year after opponents objected that a portion of the ticket revenue would be paid to New Yorkers who report illegally-parked vehicles. The monetary component has been scrapped.

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STONY BROOK TO BUILD CLIMATE HUB ON GOVERNORS ISLAND

GOVERNORS ISLAND — Mayor Adams, Trust for Governors Island head Clare Newman and Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis on Monday announced the selection of Stony Brook’s “New York Climate Exchange” proposal: a 400,000-square-foot campus intended as the anchor educational and research institution at the Governors Island-based Center for Climate Solutions initiative. Chosen after a two-year search process, the mayor’s office says the Exchange will create over 2,200 union jobs at prevailing wages, generate $1 billion in economic impact for the city, develop innovative climate solutions, train New Yorkers for the green jobs of the future and expand public access to the island.

The campus is expected to serve 600 postsecondary and 4,500 K-12 students, 6,000 workforce trainees and 250 faculty and researchers every year, while supporting up to 30 businesses annually through its incubator program; the $700-million project will be funded in part by $100 million from the Simons Foundation and $50 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

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CNN PARTS WAYS WITH DON LEMON,
BROOKLYN COLLEGE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS

MIDWOOD AND NATIONWIDE — Almost immediately after news broke of Tucker Carlson’s departure from FOX NEWS, several media sources reported that CNN’s political commentator Don Lemon had also been axed from that network’s program “CNN This Morning.” Lemon, CNN’s 57-year-old star anchor, a 1996 graduate of Brooklyn College, had become a household name in the network’s prime-time lineup before his brief and controversial stint as a morning host; he’d been criticized for making comments viewed as sexist, according to a New York Times report published on Monday.

Don Lemon earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 1996, interning at WNYW TV, a Fox affiliate. According to Brooklyn College’s website, Lemon was honored as Distinguished Alumnus at the 2010 Commencement.

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FOX NEWS, TUCKER CARLSON PART WAYS

NATIONWIDE — Popular conservative commentator Tucker Carlson no longer works for FOX News, the network announced Monday morning, April 24. The network announced in a terse, four-sentence statement excerpted here, “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21; Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting Monday evening, April 24, as an interim show that rotating FOX News personalities will anchor until a new host is named.

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E-BIKE RIDER DIES FROM INJURIES
SUSTAINED IN CRASH WITH STOPPED VEHICLE

BOROUGH PARK/KENSINGTON — Spurring the city to install bike lanes are fatal collisions involving e-bikes similar to one on April 16, in which an e-bike rider in Borough Park succumbed to injuries from a collision in which he hit an SUV at a stoplight. The man, whom the NYPD has identified as 45-year-old Apolonio Aguirre of McDonald Avenue, was riding an e-bike with pedals, southbound near his McDonald Ave. residence, and sharing the roadway with other vehicles, when he hit the 2018 Ford SUV from behind. According to an ongoing investigation, the 38-year-old female Ford driver, also southbound, was stopped at a red light at McDonald and Webster Avenues, within the 66th Precinct, when the collision occurred.

The 38-year-old female driver remained on the scene and no arrest was made. Aguirre was transported to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition but succumbed to head trauma last Saturday, April 22.

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DOT: CITY WILL GET INCREASED DEDICATED BIKE LANES
AND BARRIERS TO PROTECT CYCLISTS

CITYWIDE — The city, in response to a rise in e-bike fatalities — particularly single-bike deaths — will install a record number of protected bike lanes during 2023, harden more than 10 miles of existing bike lanes, and use sturdier materials in these new lanes, NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced on Monday, April 24. Upcoming protected bike lane projects include a range of high-ridership corridors, bridges, priority investment areas in underserved communities, and innovative bike boulevards. Hardening efforts will include the installation of cement Jersey Barriers and the continued testing of new materials along bike lanes in all five boroughs.

This work comes as the agency also announced today that cycling in New York City has reached an all-time high.

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‘BLING BISHOP’ SUED FOR $5M BY CHURCH OVER ILLEGAL EVICTION

CANARSIE — Brooklyn’s controversial “Bling Bishop” Lamor Whitehead, a longtime ally of Mayor Adams, has been hit with a $5 million dollar lawsuit by a Brooklyn congregation Whitehead illegally evicted from their church building last year, reports amNY. A judge in January sided with the congregation and ruled that the sale of the building to Whitehead at a foreclosure auction was invalid – yet Whitehead has not returned the building to the congregation, claiming that a bankruptcy filed the same day as his courtroom loss “operates as a stay” and therefore that he does not have to comply with a court order to restore the property to its owners.

Whitehead is also currently facing federal fraud and extortion charges for allegedly attempting to extort a Queens businessman and defrauding a parishioner out of $90,000, and subsequently lying to FBI agents; and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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HEIGHTS WINE STORE OWNER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SHIPMENT BILL

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Heights business owner Michael Correra, owner of Michael Towne Wine & Spirits owner and executive director of the Metro Package Store Association, on Sunday released a statement speaking out against a bill being considered in the legislature that would legalize interstate direct-to-consumer shipments of wine and other alcohols. The association argues that the bill would make underage drinking easier and would harm local liquor stores, as small businesses would struggle to compete against retail giants.

“After struggling to survive the pandemic this law would put us out of business once and for all while handing the industry over to Amazon, COSTCO, and Wal Mart,” Correra wrote.

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MAYOR, SUNY CHIEF TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT ON GOV ISLAND

GOVERNOR’S ISLAND — Mayor Adams and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. are set to make an announcement on Monday morning regarding what both men’s offices described as “the future of Governor’s Island.” The announcement may be related to last year’s competition to establish a climate research and education center on the island, in which a proposal from Stony Brook University and a proposal from CUNY in partnership with SUNY Albany were two of the three finalists.

The announcement will take place at 9 a.m. at the Liggett Terrace on Governor’s Island; a livestream and video will be available on the city’s website and the Mayor’s office’s YouTube channel.

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SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND TO PUSH LITHIUM BATTERY LAW AFTER FIRES

CITYWIDE — Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Sunday announced bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Brooklyn U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman and others, to create safety standards for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries after a recent spike in fires caused by the devices – the FDNY battled 216 such fires in NYC in 2022, up from only 44 in 2020, and 30 so far this year that have left 40 injured and two dead. According to the FDNY, no federal standards currently exist for the batteries, used in devices like cell phones, laptops, electric cars and scooters, which has helped allow the cheap and faulty batteries that have been the cause of most of the NYC fires to remain available.

The FDNY also issued several battery safety tips: always follow manufacturer guidelines and use approved chargers; never charge or store batteries in hot places or around flammable materials; look for the Underwriters Laboratories “UL” mark, which indicates that the battery has been safety-tested; and discontinue use and call 911 if a battery overheats or you notice an odor, change in shape or color, leaking or odd noises.

Victims and families gathered at the announcement to speak about their experiences with lithium battery fires.

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FDNY TO DEDICATE PLAQUE TO FIREFIGHTER KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY

CANARSIE — Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh will preside over a plaque dedication ceremony to honor firefighter Timothy P. Klein on Monday morning at his Canarsie firehouse, paying tribute to his heroic actions after Klein became the 1,157th FDNY member to die in the line of duty while battling a three-alarm fire in April of last year. Klein, 31, joined the fire department in 2015, following in the footsteps of his father Patrick, also a firefighter, and was known as a selfless worker and loyal friend by his fellow FDNY members.

The dedication ceremony will be held Monday, April 24, at 11 a.m. at Engine Company 257, Ladder 170, Battalion 58 at 1361 Rockaway Parkway; the ceremony can be viewed live on the Fire Department’s website.

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MISSING GRAVESEND WOMAN FOUND: NOT KIDNAPPING, SAY POLICE

GRAVESEND — The woman whose apparent kidnapping off a Gravesend street on Friday sent the city into an uproar has been found by police – who say the event was not a kidnapping at all. The NYPD on Monday announced that both the man, seen in surveillance footage picking the woman up and putting her in his car, and the woman had been located, and that an investigation determined the two were known to each other.

Gravesend residents will be relieved by the news – many expressed feelings of dismay and fear after the incident, such as local worker Espie Glow, who told CBS, “I close a little late, so it’s like, now I’m gonna be like, damn, somebody gonna come kidnap me … It’s scary.”

The photo of the man carrying the woman that caused many to assume the event was a kidnapping.

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CITY DEP CLERK ARRESTED FOR
HARASSING CALLS TO CUSTOMERS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Water customers in Brooklyn can breathe easier now with the arrest of a Department of Environment Protection employee who harassed and threatened callers with questions about their bill. Lamont Jackson, 50, a clerk in the DEP’s Downtown Brooklyn office, allegedly used an anonymous number twice during 2022 to phone back people who called his desk about their bills — yelling profanities at them, and in one case threatening to shoot the person, according to a Department of Investigation report.

Arraigned in Kings County Criminal Court on Thursday, April 20, Jackson is charged with three counts of aggravated harassment as well as drug possession and is due back in court on June 12.

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BREAKFAST EATERY LITTLE EGG OPENS
AT BORDER OF TWO NEIGHBORHOODS

WASHINGTON AVENUE — The beloved Williamsburg restaurant, Egg, which closed during the pandemic, has a new life as Little Egg, which opened on Friday, April 21, closer to Downtown Brooklyn. Nestled at 657 Washington Avenue and straddling both Prospect Heights and Crown Heights, Little Egg, whose owner is the longtime chef of Egg, offers traditional favorites plus some new inventions, according to EATER New York. Little Egg is open Fridays through Mondays, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and closed Tuesdays through Thursdays, according to the restaurant’s website.

Little Egg, which attracted a crowd just two hours after its opening, has brought in as its pastry chef Tanya Bush, co-founder of the independent publication Cake Zine.

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UPDATED PLANS FOR GREENPOINT LANDING OPEN SPACE
PRESENTED DURING COMMUNITY BOARD 1 HEARING

GREENPOINT — New open space, including picnic nooks, a garden and a meadow walk, are just some of the aspects of the plan for Greenpoint Landing, according to information that the developers presented at the Brooklyn Community Board 1 hearing on Monday, April 17. Greenpoint Landing is a 22-acre site situated along a half-mile of East River waterfront that Greenpoint Landing Developers is master-planning on Zoning Lot 5C-2 in northern Brooklyn. Part of this updated open space plan will incorporate the Green Street Pier — an almost 500-foot-long accessible pier that extends out to the water and includes synthetic turf areas, lounge chairs, shade structures and viewing steps.

In total, the new plans call for nearly 96,000 square feet of waterfront public access area — more than 20% of what was required by the city.

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TASK FORCE PRAISES MAYOR ADAMS FOR INCLUDING
CLIMATE EDUCATION IN REVISED PLANYC

CITYWIDE — The Climate and Resilience Education Task Force (CRETF), a coalition of more than 100 teachers, community educators, students and environmental groups advocating for interdisciplinary climate education and professional learning opportunities in New York’s K-12 schools, gave New York City Mayor Eric Adams high marks for including this in PlaNYC, the city’s newly revised strategic plan that was announced on Thursday, April 20. The city’s Green Economy goal is to “accelerate an equitable green economy transition by advancing climate education, work, and entrepreneurship opportunities,” including the launch of new Career Connected Learning Programs for public school students dedicated to green job training and placement.”

The CRETF has supported this initiative, along with the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Education, by making recommendations for incorporating age-appropriate climate education throughout all subjects and grade levels to ensure that the city’s children graduate with climate literacy.

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BLOOM AGAIN BROOKLYN CREATES BOUQUETS FOR
NURSING CARE RESIDENTS, HOMEBOUND SENIORS

COBBLE HILL — Bloom Again Brooklyn was one of more than 130 volunteer opportunities that New York Cares organized this week as part of a campaign that engaged over one thousand volunteers to serve New Yorkers in need across all five boroughs. Celebrating National Volunteer Week, New York Cares helpers on Wednesday, April 19, refurbished donated flowers, arranged flowers, and prepared bouquets, which were distributed to home-bound seniors and local nursing home residents in Brooklyn.

On site at Christ Church-Cobble Hill, the Bloom Again Brooklyn volunteers helped from initial setup to clean up as part of the observance — and year-round — in which New Yorkers dedicate time to volunteer projects addressing the city’s greatest needs, in order to create meaningful change in local communities.

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OVENLY CLOSES ALL BUT TWO LOCATIONS,
AND FOCUSES ON COBBLE HILL, GREENPOINT

GREENPOINT AND COBBLE HILL — Ovenly, the bakery chain established in 2010, has closed all but two of its locations, reports the culinary news website EATER NEW YORK. The Park Slope and Williamsburg locations closed at the end of last month so the owners could focus on Ovenly’s Greenpoint Av. location as well as its Cobble Hill store on Court St.

Ovenly carries a variety of baked goods, including gluten free selections like Pistachio Cardamom Bread, and also caters events, according to the Cobble Hill location’s website.

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POLITICS AND THE BODY: PRATT OPENS PART II
OF ITS MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION

FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL — Pratt Institute opens Part II of its MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition on Monday, April 24, with a special event from 6 to 8 p.m. Titled “MAKING PLACE: Politics and the Body,” the exhibit is the second part of the master’s thesis project that ran from March 27 to April 7 and was titled “MAKING PLACE: Histories and Heritage.”

The show will remain on view through May 5 at the Pfizer Building (630 Flushing Avenue/7th Floor) in Brooklyn. The artists are profiled in the MFA Fine Arts 2023 Publication.

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NADLER AND GOLDMAN PUSH FOR CONGESTION PRICING; MALLIOTAKIS SAYS IT CREATES DOUBLE-TOLLS FOR SOME

WESTERN BROOKLYN/BAY RIDGE — Three members of the Brooklyn Congressional delegation find themselves on opposite sides of the congestion pricing issue; with Reps. Dan Goldman (D-10/western Brooklyn) and Jerrold Nadler (D-12/formerly including Brooklyn) urging its immediate implementation, but not Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-11). Reps. Goldman and Nadler on Friday led transportation and environmental advocates in a press conference outside the Lincoln Tunnel urging the immediate implementation of New York’s Central Business District (CBD) Tolling Program, the formal name for “congestion pricing,” and also penned an Op Ed that was published in the Daily News.

However, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights and Staten Island — the nearest neighborhoods affected by the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge tolls — called the Goldman/Nadler plan “elitist,” and said that “congestion pricing… would charge commuters an additional $23 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, totaling more than $5,000 per year and potentially more for Staten Islanders who already pay a toll to connect to the rest of the city.”

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GODZILLA, THE RESCUED PROSPECT PARK LAKE ALLIGATOR, DIES

PROSPECT PARK —Sad news just before Earth Day: Godzilla, the Prospect Park Lake alligator, has died, reports Gothamist. Urban Rangers had rescued the female reptile, whose previous owner had dumped her in the frigid-water lake in February; Godzilla was then transferred up to the Bronx Zoo for treatment.

Found in a lethargic state, Godzilla was diagnosed with stomach ulcers that were blamed on a bathtub stopper she had swallowed. Gothamist reported on April 21 that the alligator had died the previous Sunday.

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NYC SUBWAYS SET RIDERSHIP RECORD ON APRIL 20,
WITH JUST OVER FOUR MILLION RIDERS

CITYWIDE — The New York City subway system recorded 4,002,961 paid rides on Thursday, April 20, for the first time since before the pandemic lockdowns were implemented on March 15, 2020. Making the announcement on Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA CEO Janno Lieber reported that the previous record for the subway carrying more than four million riders was on March 12, 2020 — also a Thursday — when 4.1 million New Yorkers rode the system.

New York City subway OMNY, the MTA’s contactless fare payment system, also set a single-day subway record with 1,699,914 taps, accounting for 42.5% of all paid rides.

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MTA COMMITS TO 85% EMISSIONS SLASH BY 2040

CITYWIDE — The MTA on Thursday committed to reducing the emissions from its trains, buses and facilities by at least 85% by 2040, an ambitious target that aids New York’s efforts to fight climate change. Steps the authority intends to take include the conversion of all buses to electric and sustainable fuel sources, upgrading stations and facilities by replacing older systems with newer energy-efficient ones as well as installing solar panels, and deploying new energy management technologies such as remote-controlled rail heaters to reduce energy use across the network.

The MTA also released a new analysis showing that its public transit allows New Yorkers to avoid emitting 20 million metric tons of carbon annually by reducing car usage — the equivalent of the amount of carbon that would be absorbed by a forest greater than the size of the state of Indiana, or of keeping 4.5 million cars off the road.

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SAFETY WALK ON ATLANTIC AFTER DRUNK DRIVER KILLS WOMAN

COBBLE HILL — The Cobble Hill Association is hosting a pedestrian safety rally and march next week with elected officials and community leaders down Atlantic Avenue following a drunk driving incident on Sunday that claimed the life of Brooklynite Katie Harris while crossing Atlantic at Clinton Street — an intersection where four pedestrians have been killed in the last ten years. The association, along with several other neighborhood associations, as well as councilmembers Lincoln Restler and Shahana Hanif, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, sent a letter on Tuesday to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez demanding immediate pedestrian safety and traffic calming measures on Atlantic, and praising his support of legislation that would lower blood alcohol limits statewide.

The walk will start at noon on Saturday, April 29, from Atlantic Ave. and Furman Street and finish at Atlantic Ave. and Flatbush.

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CUNY PARTNERS WITH ECO GROUPS ON CLIMATE JUSTICE CENTER

CITYWIDE — The NYC Environmental Justice Alliance on Thursday announced a partnership with CUNY to establish the NYC Climate Justice Hub, funded by a $4 million grant from the Waverly Street Foundation, which will support efforts by communities of color, disproportionately burdened by climate hazards, to fight for healthy foods and environments. Over the next two years, CUNY faculty and students will work with the EJA and neighborhood organizations through classes on local climate issues, a summer leadership academy, a fellowship program, public programming and interdisciplinary research teams; efforts that will help prepare students for professions in the climate sector and advance equitable climate solutions for marginalized and low-income communities.

The groups, including Bed-Stuy’s Brooklyn Movement Center, Williamsburg’s El Puente and Sunset Park’s UPROSE, will also work with CUNY to assess local climate needs, reduce vulnerabilities and burdens, and support priority environmental policy campaigns.