What’s News, Breaking: Monday, May 1, 2023

May 1, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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CCRB MEETING WILL EXAMINE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN NYPD AND BROOKLYNITES

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — The relationship between Brooklyn residents and the NYPD will be the focus of the next Citizen Complaint Review Board, which is convening next Wednesday, May 10, at Restoration Plaza in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Virtual participants can also join in via Webex; registration is required for both in-person and digital attendance.

The meeting is not limited to Brooklynites, and, the CCRB welcomes all New Yorkers to participate in this discussion about police-community relations and to learn more about civilian oversight of the NYPD.

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SETTLEMENT WILL ENSURE DENTAL CARE
FOR MEDICAID RECIPIENTS

STATEWIDE — As Medicaid recipients in New York fight the GOP-led Medicaid work requirement bill, they found an ally in The Legal Aid Society and a law firm that has now secured dental benefits for them. The New York Law Journal reported on Monday, May 1, that Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and The Legal Aid Society secured a landmark settlement that expands dental coverage for about five million New Yorkers on Medicaid across the state, based on a 2018 lawsuit against filed in 2018 against the New York State Department of Health for denying necessary medical treatment to low-income residents.

The settlement will require the Medicaid dental program to add coverage for routine dental care and other preventative procedures to help patients maintain better oral health, and it will also expand the eligibility for those needing root canal work.

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NEW YORK’S MAYOR DENOUNCES MIGRANT BUSING
TO DEMOCRAT CITIES AS ‘MORALLY BANKRUPT’

CITYWIDE — Mayor Eric Adams on Monday, May 1, denounced Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s plans to resume “the uncoordinated and involuntary” bussing of asylum seekers to New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and now to Los Angeles and Denver. Adams called Abbott’s decision “morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of asylum seekers,” adding that “it is also impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by Black mayors. Put plainly, Abbott is using this crisis to hurt Black-run cities.”

Calling on the federal government to put an end to the involuntary busing, Adams spoke of inhumane treatment toward the migrants last year, including the allegation of their being tagged with barcodes and transported while ill and COVID-positive.

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FAA INVITES PUBLIC’S VIEWPOINTS ON
CHANGES IN AIRCRAFT NOISE EXPOSURE

NATIONWIDE AND COMMUNITY BOARD 11 — The Federal Aviation Association is asking the public for input regarding how the FAA analyzes, explains, and presents publicly, changes in aircraft noise exposure to affected communities, according to a notice published on the Community Board 11 website. The posting of the Request for Comments will start a 90-day comment period during which the public can share their viewpoints by submitting a written comment until Monday, July 31, 2023, to Docket FAA-2023-0855 at www.regulations.gov, where one may look up the document number or access, more directly, the comments section online.

Commenters will be asked to review four key considerations of the FAA’s civil aviation noise policy, in the context of noise metrics and noise thresholds, including recreational and commercial fixed-wing airplanes, helicopters, commercial space transportation vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems.

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‘END JEW HATRED’ DAY PASSES COUNCIL OVER OBJECTIONS

CITYWIDE — The City Council on Thursday voted to establish April 29 as “End Jew Hatred Day,” legislation proposed by Councilmember Inna Vernikov, who represents Bay Ridge and Staten Island, in recognition of a recent spike in hate crimes and antisemitism. Brooklyn Councilmembers Shahana Hanif and Sandy Nurse voted against the bill, citing concerns about working with Republicans, while Alexa Avilés, Jennifer Gutiérrez, and Charles Barron abstained, along with Rita Joseph, who later on Twitter said that she had not had time to review the bill before the vote and supported its passage.

A representative for Councilmember Hanif told the New York Post, “The Council Member does not believe that supporting resolutions sponsored by far-right Republican politicians, who invoke persecution in one breath and then turn around and support Republican governors who are demonizing trans youth, will further efforts to address hate crimes in our City.”

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NYPD DETECTIVE SHOT IN 1990 DIES AFTER 33-YEAR COMA

BED-STUY — Detective Troy Patterson, a police officer shot outside his Bed-Stuy home while off-duty during a robbery attempt in 1990, passed away on Saturday night following 33 years spent in a coma after the shooting, reports NBC News. The fatal injury was inflicted by a 15-year-old robber, who approached Patterson as he was washing his car and demanded $20 before shooting him in the head.

The Daily News reports that Patterson’s friends and family members have been taking care of him and holding vigils in his honor since the shooting, and are now working on an effort to have the street where he was shot renamed in his honor.

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SCHUMER SOUNDS ALARM ON DEBT PLAN: ‘GUT PUNCH FOR FAMILIES’

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday released a statement asserting that a debt ceiling plan backed by House Republicans would be highly damaging to NYC due to its “draconian and disastrous cuts” from a variety of federal programs, and called for Congress to “pass a clean debt ceiling bill that doesn’t go after New Yorkers by slashing some of the most basic functions of good government.” According to Moody’s, the House plan’s cuts would be devastating for short-term economic growth, reducing the country’s GDP by 0.65 percentage points and potentially pushing the economy into a recession.

Among the negative impacts Schumer said New York could suffer are a worsening of the opioid epidemic due to cuts from substance abuse programs, slashes in summer cooling assistance programs for seniors, and funding reductions for Pell grants, SNAP benefits, schools and community health centers.

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POLICE ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY UNKNOWN MAN FOUND IN SHEEPSHEAD BAY

SHEEPSHEAD BAY — Police are asking the public to help identify an unknown man found unconscious near the Sheepshead Bay Houses on the morning of Sunday, April 30, who is now in serious condition at a nearby hospital. The man is described as approximately 5’8” to 5’10”, aged in his late 40s to early 50s, with a light complexion, heavy build, salt-and-pepper close-cut hair and a tattoo of what appears to be a bird on his left forearm; police also said that he is known to frequent the vicinity of Avenue W and Nostrand Avenue.

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). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

Police provided images of the unknown man, currently unresponsive in the hospital.

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COP CAR SHOT IN GREENPOINT

GREENPOINT — The back window of a parked police car was shot out by a mystery gunman on a Greenpoint street corner Saturday night, reports the New York Post, while two officers were seated inside. Police are searching for the shooter, but do not know whether the shooting was accidental or intentional at this time.

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WOMAN DIES AT UNDERAGE PARTY IN GOWANUS LOFT

GOWANUS — A 20-year-old woman died on Saturday from unknown causes at an event space in Gowanus that locals say has become a hotspot for raucous, illegal parties, reports Gothamist. A group of area residents filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the space’s operators over alleged frequent noise complaints, pandemic occupancy violations and disruptive behavior by partygoers; one woman told Gothamist that NYPD officers who respond to complaints at the event space appear to be friendly with the guards there.

“I was shell shocked, but I wasn’t surprised. It was only a matter of time before something happened,” said neighbor Jason Farr, who witnessed paramedics carrying the woman out of the party, which others described as having a crowd that appeared to be largely underage.

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MONTAGUE OPEN STREETS STARTS THIS WEEKEND

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Montague Street’s Open Streets program is starting this weekend, with loads of local businesses kicking off the season with food, games, music and dancing — especially for families. Activities scheduled for this Saturday, May 6, include a pop-up obstacle course, multiple dance parties, martial arts demonstrations, and free chicken tenders for kids; activities planned for later this summer include a pop-up flower park, dance lessons, a craft fair and more; all presented in the open air as part of the city’s efforts to reclaim the urban landscape for pedestrians.

A full schedule can be found on the Montague Street BID’s website, along with information for upcoming Open Streets events.

Kids explore at last year’s edition of Montague Open Streets. Photos courtesy of Montague Street BID.

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SCOTUS JUSTICES’ PERSPECTIVES VARY
ON RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION CASE

NATIONWIDE — A First Amendment case that tests the extent to which employers are required to accommodate their employees’ religious views and practices is apparently dividing the justices — including the conservatives — of the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a report on NPR’s website. The plaintiff, Gerald Groff in the case Groff v. DeJoy, is a former postal employee who identifies as Evangelical Christian and is suing the U.S. Post Office for requiring him to work on Sundays as part of the federal agency’s partnership with Amazon.

The Supreme Court is being asked to reconsider a previous ruling and to decide whether an employer may demonstrate “undue hardship” on the conduct of the employer’s business” under Title VII merely by showing that the requested accommodation burdens the employer’s co-workers rather than the business itself; and whether to treat the issue as “de minimis” — a legal doctrine by which a court considers the case of insufficient importance; for example, viewing the matter as being instead in the bailiwick of Congress to amend labor laws.

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IN MEMORIAM: RABBI HAROLD KUSHNER, 88

CROWN HEIGHTS AND NATICK, MA — Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose books have offered comfort to countless readers with grief and other adversities, has died at age 88, according to several news sources, including NPR and the New York Times. The Brooklyn-born Kushner was author of several best-sellers, foremost among them “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” (1981), which he wrote after the death of his teen son Aaron, who suffered from the rare disease progeria. Kushner and his wife made their home in Massachusetts, where he served for 24 years as rabbi of Temple Israel in Natick.

Born in East New York, young Harold Kushner was raised in Crown Heights and graduated from Erasmus Hall High School. He was an avid Dodgers fan, reports the NY Times’ Sam Roberts.

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NINETY GUNS TURNED IN AT BUYBACK: JAMES

WILLIAMSBURG — NY Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez on Saturday announced that 90 firearms were turned in at a Williamsburg community gun buyback event hosted by their offices and the NYPD, while James’ nine statewide gun buyback events resulted in the collection of more than 3,000 guns overall. The 90 guns collected from the Brooklyn event included five assault rifles, 51 handguns, and 11 long guns.

Altogether, AG James has removed more than 7,000 guns from New York communities since taking office in 2019.

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MAN STABBED WITH ICE PICK ON SUBWAY, POLICE SEEK SUSPECT

CYPRESS HILLS — Police are searching for an unknown man who, on the early morning of Wednesday, April 19, approached two men at the Crescent Street J train station and stabbed one of them in the stomach with an ice pick, then chased the two with the pick before fleeing on a northbound J train. The suspect is described as a male approximately 35 years old, with a dark complexion, approximately 6’ tall and 180 pounds, and was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, black sneakers and a white knapsack.

Do you recognize this man? All tips given to police are strictly confidential.

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MISSING GIRL IN GRAVESEND

GRAVESEND — Police are searching for missing girl Lesley Hernandez, 11, last seen leaving her house on Avenue W on the morning of Saturday, April 29. Lesley is described as 5’6 tall and 137 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a blue jacket and light pants.

Missing girl Lesley Hernandez. If you have seen her, all tips given to authorities are strictly confidential.

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GOLDMAN CALLS FOR END TO CORPORATE TAX CUTS

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman this month cosponsored the “No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act,” which would end tax breaks on offshore profits that incentivize corporations to ship jobs overseas, as well as bringing the U.S. into alignment with the standards of the Global Minimum Tax Agreement by taxing overseas profits at domestic corporate tax rates. The more than 130 nations who in 2021 signed on to the agreement through the OECD have agreed to cooperate to tax multinational corporations at equal rates via “topping up” taxes over the rates of low-tax nations; its implementation means that American companies operating abroad will have to pay foreign nations at this minimum rate even if the United States doesn’t join — and without U.S. enrollment, the money will go to other countries instead.

Goldman in a press statement wrote that studies have found that the companies that benefited most from the Trump-era tax breaks increased foreign rather than domestic investment, while others estimate the U.S. loses over $90 billion in revenue annually from offshore tax dodging.

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HOSPITAL GROUP SLAMS STATE BUDGET

CITYWIDE — The New York Safety Net Hospital Coalition on Friday issued a statement criticizing the treatment of safety net hospitals, which serve marginalized communities, in the state’s proposed 2024 budget, writing: “Years of chronic underfunding due to a longstanding shortfall in Medicaid reimbursement rates have left us struggling to survive on shoestring budgets… It is irresponsible not to invest $1.3B, alongside structural Medicaid reimbursement reform, in order to access over $2B in available federal funds that could stabilize safety net hospitals.” The Coalition also called for the passage of the Health Equity Stabilization and Transformation Act, which would help ensure funding for safety net hospitals by expanding hospital eligibility for the state’s Directed Payment Program, tying Medicaid reimbursement rates to regional average commercial rates, and optimizing the usage of federal funding programs, among other measures.

Budgeting for NYC’s safety net hospitals, including Brooklyn’s Interfaith, Wyckoff, Maimonides, Brookdale, Kings County and Coney Island Hospitals, has long been a point of contention, and the perpetually underfunded institutions have been asking for increased assistance for years, particularly after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

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DOT RELEASES PLAN TO FIX NINTH STREET BIKE LANE

GOWANUS — The DOT on Friday unveiled its plan for safety improvements to a dangerous area of 9th Street in Gowanus where a biker was struck and killed in January, sparking outrage in the local community, which has been asking for fixes to the street for years, reports Streetsblog. The draft plan would see the DOT remove curbside parking along one block to make room for concrete barriers to protect the current painted bike lanes, as well as removing the current left-turn lane, with the potential to ban left turns in the area down the line if the DOT finds this approach is creating traffic issues.

While some praised the improvements as a good first step, others, including area Councilmember Shahana Hanif, felt the plan did not go far enough, calling for more dramatic changes including a speed limit reduction to 15 mph, converting 9th Street into a one-way street and implementing sidewalk pop-outs.

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BABY ALLIGATOR FOUND IN BROOKLYN HOME

Last month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation reports that two of its officers were summoned to a Brooklyn home to retrieve a baby alligator, after a friend of the resident dropped the reptile off and never returned. The officers, along with the NYPD’s Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad, rescued the small alligator and delivered it safely into the care of a Massachusetts herpetologist.

The Department noted that it is illegal to possess alligators as pets in New York without the proper permit — a necessary warning after the tragic death of Godzilla the alligator, who was found abandoned in a frigid Prospect Park lake in February.

The baby American alligator found by DEC officers. Photo: DEC.

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BROOKLYN HOSPITALS SUED OVER CYBER ATTACK INFO THEFT

BROOKLYN — One Brooklyn Health, the group that operates Brookdale Hospital, Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, among other facilities, has been hit with a class action lawsuit over an alleged lack of proper cybersecurity measures that led to the theft of patient data and a hospital services outage last year, reports The City. OBH initially did not disclose the full scope of the data breach, but now says that “an unauthorized actor acquired a limited amount of OBH data during a period of intermittent unauthorized access to OBH’s computer systems between July 9, 2022, and November 19, 2022,” with possible details including patient names, medical records, health information, Social Security numbers and drivers’ license numbers.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and restitution on behalf of OBH patients, according to plaintiff Kiya Johnson, whose attorney told The City that OBH’s five-month delay in informing patients of the data breach was unacceptable and exposed patients to risks.

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BOROUGH PARK RESIDENTS WARNED OF HIGH LEAD LEVELS

BOROUGH PARK — The City Council at a recent general meeting discussed legislation that would strengthen protections against lead hazards in housing, especially those that would impact children, and revealed that Borough Park has one of the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning in the city, reports BoroPark24. City records from 2019 show that Borough Park recorded by far the highest levels of children testing positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood of any Brooklyn neighborhood — 5,340 children under three tested positive in NYC’s mandatory under-three lead tests, nearly 2,000 cases more than the second-most contaminated area, Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights.

A spokesperson for Councilmember Alexa Aviles told BoroPark24 that safe housing for area families was important to her office; the city advises parents to have their children regularly tested for lead exposure, as symptoms are usually not apparent right away, and to call 311 for help finding a pediatrician.

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FIRE KILLS 3 IN BEDFORD-STUYVESANT APARTMENT

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Two children and their mother died in a fatal blaze in a Bedford-Stuyvesant fire just after 5 a.m. on Friday, April 28. Responding to the fire at 587 Gates Avenue, Apt. 3A (79th Precinct), FDNY personnel transported a 40-year-old woman and two girls, ages 10 and 8, to NYC Health & Hospitals/Woodhull, where each was pronounced deceased.

The NYPD has not released the victims’ identities. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh confirmed in an on-scene press conference that the woman was the children’s mother and that the Fire Marshal is investigating the blaze, which is at this time believed to have started in the kitchen.

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DINAPOLI: PAID FAMILY LEAVE HELPS WORKERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH MODEST INCOMES

STATEWIDE — New York State’s Paid Family Leave program is paying off in the number of workers who have been helped during challenging times, reports State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Payments under the PFL program rose steadily between 2018 and 2021 as the amount of allowable time off and weekly cash benefits increased, with almost eight million workers covered and $872 million paid on approximately 156,000 claims during 2021, the latest year for which PFL data is available from the state Department of Financial Services.

Employees Earning Under $40K had the largest number of claims, a fact that suggests paid family leave is a particularly important benefit to low-to-moderate-income employees.

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NYU RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ELECTRICAL PILL THAT REGULATES APPETITE

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A new electrical pill that an NYU Tandon School of Engineering professor and his team have developed can regulate appetite without the use of drugs or surgical procedures. Khalil Ramadi, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at NYU Tandon and the Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Neuroengineering and Translational Medicine at NYU Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), fellow researchers at NYU’s U.A.E. location, and MIT have developed this pill, named FLASH, which delivers electrical impulses to the stomach lining once it’s swallowed, in a targeted stimulation that triggers the brain to modulate gut hormones related to hunger.

The journal Science Robotics has published the researchers’ study, which chronicled the results of trials with pigs, in which FLASH successfully affected the release of ghrelin — an appetite hormone. “This is a big step forward in how we approach these diseases,” Ramadi said.

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NYU TANDON ENGINEERING PROFESSOR WARNS ADDED WEIGHT MAY HAVE CAUSED PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — NYU Tandon School of Engineering Assistant Professor Luis Ceferino was quoted extensively in a CBS News ongoing investigation into the causes of last week’s Lower Manhattan parking garage collapse that killed the on-site manager, caused injuries and damaged vehicles. Prof. Ceferino pointed out that the garage building, constructed almost a century ago in 1925, may have had “a different standard of construction, obviously. There could be deterioration there. Obviously, you could have cars now on different floors that could have added weight to the building that it wasn’t designed for.”

Paperwork was filed in 2010 to install 34 auto lifts, which are heavy equipment capable of holding a minimum of 7,000 lbs. that’s used to elevate cars. Ceferino told CBS News, “There needs to be some investigation to see actually what was the capacity of the building and whether it was exceeded because of the decision to add more weight.”

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INTEL HONORS NYU PROFESSOR FOR WORK ON ENSURING HARDWARE AND CHIP SECURITY

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The tech giant Intel has honored NYU Tandon School of Engineering Professor Ramesh Karri as one of its outstanding researchers of the year, for his contributions to the global hardware supply industry. Karri, an NYU Tandon Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-founder and co-chair of NYU’s Center for Cybersecurity, was recognized for his seminal work in ensuring that the global hardware supply chain is as secure as possible.

Intel cited a project in which Karri and his team focused on boosting system-on-a-chip survivability, as he points out that unlike software, where a patch can be readily applied, with hardware, “you must detect any vulnerability before the chip is actually fabricated.”

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MTA DROPS TWITTER AS VEHICLE FOR SERVICE INFO

CITYWIDE — In case anybody hasn’t yet noticed, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has dropped Twitter as a means of communicating transit disruptions and updates, the city agency reported late on Thursday. A notice on the transit authority’s Twitter Feed announced, “For the MTA, Twitter is no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect. So as of today, we’re saying goodbye to it for service alerts and information.

The MTA concludes the tweet by reassuring its ridership, “But we’re not saying goodbye to you, our customers. There are lots of ways to get real-time updates.” Among those are the website https://new.mta.info/, and the mobile app, MYmta.

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RESEARCH EXPO FEATURED INNOVATIONS, FROM URBAN MICROCLIMATE TO AI IN STANDUP COMEDY

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — NYU Tandon School of Engineering held its annual Research Expo featuring exhibits that illustrate the scope of engineering and the applied sciences — and their potential for improving the world. This year’s Exhibit showcased the academic contributions of the Tandon community and the ways in which they connect to Tandon’s seven areas of research excellence, including K-12 STEM education.

Among the exhibits were: Urban Microclimate: People, Space, Time; A smart wearable device for persons with blindness or low vision; VIP M Biodevices: 3D Printed Wheelchair Arm Mobility Device; AMIGO: Autonomous Machine In Galactic Operations – Tandon’s Homemade Lunar Excavation Rover; “Fish against the flow: how do fish know where current is coming from?”; and, Artificial Intelligence in Stand-up Comedy.

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NOTIFY NYC PROVIDES STEPS FOR SUBSCRIBERS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH NEW PROGRAM UPDATES

CITYWIDE — The Notify NYC program is responding to feedback it received from subscribers about technical glitches in its new program updates launched on Wednesday, April 26. Many subscribers reported difficulty in registering for the new opt-in Police Advisory and Basement Alert notification types. Assist directions as follows: Go to NYC.gov/notifynyc; select Login in the top-right corner; enter login information or use one of the sign-in options (Gmail, LinkedIn, etc.); from the right-hand side menu, select “Notification Addresses” to see one’s currently enrolled addresses; select the pencil icon next to the address to which the notification should be added; at bottom of page, select the new notification types you would like to receive for that address; then press submit.

Customers who continue to experience technical problems editing their accounts may send an e-mail to [email protected], indicating the browser being used and a screenshot of where the error recurs.

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JUDGE RULES THAT TERMINATED HHC EMPLOYEES OLDER THAN 40 CAN SUE CITY AS CLASS GROUP

CITYWIDE — In what could be a victory for labor across the city, public hospital employees aged 40 and older who were terminated by NYC Health and Hospitals as part of a cost-cutting initiative constitute a class and can continue their lawsuit for discriminatory termination, Manhattan Acting Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne ruled on Friday, reports the New York Law Journal. Jeffrey Wallach, a former manager at Health & Hospitals Corp. who was terminated in June 2017 filed a lawsuit in 2018 based on New York City Human Rights Law, New York City Administrative Code § 8-101, alleging that a second round of layoffs under an HHC program known as Management Efficiency Improvements Initiatives disproportionately affected older employees.

The plaintiffs had previously moved for class certification but had the application denied. One of Wallach’s attorneys, Joseph Aron of Aron Law, sued twice under FOIL to obtain data proving that older managers were disparately impacted.

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POLICE IDENTIFY VICTIMS IN EARLY-MORNING APARTMENT FIRE

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Police have released the names and amended the previously-announced ages of the three victims of a residential house fire that broke out in Bedford-Stuyvesant early Friday morning, April 28. The deceased persons, all of 587 Gates Avenue, Apt. 3A, were: Danielle Havens, age 48; Journee Miles, age 11; and Keslee Miles, age 9.

The FDNY continues to investigate the cause of the All-Hands fire that broke out just after 5 a.m., with an initial report that the blaze originated in the kitchen.

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WILLIAMSBURG’S PIE CONTEST CELEBRATES DERBY DAY

WILLIAMSBURG — The Kentucky Derby, taking place on Saturday, May 6, may be the second most-famous tradition for pie-making (after Pi Day, 3/14) and Brooklyn is doing a contest. Pete’s Candy Store, a Williamsburg fixture since 1999, has launched a competition “where bakers of promise compete for honor, prestige, and cash prizes all via the simple mechanism of a humble Pie. Bakers’ rules: $10 entry fee per pie, must be presented in a 9” pie pan, with a 4 x 6 handwritten index card identifying and describing the pie; pies become the property of Pete’s Candy Store (deadline: 5 p.m. on May 6; contest registration).

The descriptions, with identifying information redacted, will be read aloud for the judges: Paige Lipari is the owner and principal baker at Greenpoint’s Archestratus bookstore and foodie outlet; Asa Canty, indiscriminate pie lover and lead singer for the band Young June and Emilie Baltz, food experience designer and founder of the first Food Design Studio at Pratt Institute.