What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, November 29, 2023

November 29, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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SEN. GILLIBRAND TAKES AIM AT
AI-GENERATED ROBOCALL SCAMS

NATIONWIDE — NEW YORKERS REPORTED RECEIVING MORE THAN 238 MILLION ROBOCALLS DURING OCTOBER, prompting U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to draft a bill aimed to crack down on them. She will announce the legislation during a video conference on Thursday, Nov. 30, to crack down, particularly on scam robocalls and robotexts, many of which are AI-generated. Gillibrand is expected to express particular concern about voice cloning, which enables a scammer to mimic or impersonate the voice of an individual’s loved ones in order to steal money or information.

As artificial intelligence grows more sophisticated, so do phone scams, which are believed to comprise a large percent of the four billion robocalls that Americans deal with every month.

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FUNERAL FOR BELOVED FDNY CHAPLAIN,
MSGR. DELENDICK, TAKES PLACE FRIDAY

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — BROOKLYN’S CATHOLIC AND FIRE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITIES will bid farewell this Friday, Dec. 1, to Monsignor John Delendick, longtime Fire Department Chaplain and pastor of several parishes in the diocese, who died last week. The Tablet Diocesan newspaper reported on Wednesday, Nov. 29, that Bishop Roman Brennan will be the main celebrant for the concelebrated funeral Mass, taking place at Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph, 856 Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, with Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio as one of the celebrants. A Vigil Mass will also be offered the evening before Msgr. Delendick’s funeral — at Shrine Church of Saint Jude, 1677 Canarsie Road — where he served as pastor during part of his ministry.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, a fellow FDNY Chaplain, told The Tablet, “Msgr. John Delendick arrived in Heaven on Thanksgiving Day. He was, using a Latin phrase, ‘primus inter pares,’ first among equals. He was a person of faith who respected all faiths of the human family. I will always remember his steadfast courage and commitment as he served our first responders daily at Ground Zero.”

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COMMUNITY BOARD 13 MEETING VENUE CHANGES

BRIGHTON BEACH TO GRAVESEND — BROOKLYN COMMUNITY BOARD 13 HAS ANNOUNCED A WEATHER-RELATED CHANGE OF LOCATION for their monthly General Meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. Instead of being held at the New York Aquarium on West 8th St., the meeting will convene at St. Paul’s Church, 2801 West 8th Street, off the corner of Neptune Avenue. A revised agenda distributed on Wednesday afternoon includes a presentation from the Department of Aging on available Senior Employment Programs and Coney Island school programming with the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island. The License Committee’s vote report on several liquor and dispensary licenses and new business license applications, as well as a premises alteration application for Aramax Sports, are also on the agenda.

Community Board 13 instructs attendees not to use the parking lot adjacent to St. Paul’s, as it does not belong to the church. The board’s website indicates that the Dec. 27 monthly meeting will also take place at St. Paul’s.

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FORT HAMILTON ARMY BASE HOSTS
ANNUAL HOLIDAY MARKET DEC. 8

FORT HAMILTON ARMY BASE — THE US ARMY GARRISON AT FORT HAMILTON, the only active military installation in New York City, will host its annual tree lighting and Holiday Market. This event, one of about four each year that welcomes the public to the base, will be held on Friday, Dec. 8, from 4-8 p.m. The Holiday Market, which opens at 4 p.m. at Colonel’s Row near the 101st Gate (Main Gate), gives the wider Brooklyn community the chance to explore unique gifts created by local artisans and artists, traditional food, carousel, meet Santa and more. The Tree Lighting starts at 5:30 p.m. Free online registration is required.

The event, originally scheduled for Dec. 1, was postponed in advance after inclement weather was forecast.

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MORE THAN 5 MILLION VISITED BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK IN 2023

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS WATERFRONT — BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK AND ITS CONSERVANCY REPORTED on Wednesday that that park has seen more than 5 million visitors to date in 2023, which is about the same number that visited last year. Visitors came to relax, barbecue, engage in sports, or take part in hundreds of Conservancy-led recreational, cultural, volunteer, and environmental education programs along the waterfront, including movie nights, yoga and dance classes, birdwatching and numerous special events.

The park also celebrated the start of the reconstruction of its Pier 1 entrance, which will include a new visitors center and bathrooms, and the opening of the Glide Brooklyn Bridge Park ice skating attraction.

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LAWMAKER REBUKES MAYOR ON BUDGET CUTS
TO NYPD, PUBLIC SAFETY

BAY RIDGE AND CITYWIDE — BROOKLYN CONGRESSMEMBER NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS IS DENOUNCING the planned budget cuts to the New York City Police Department, which Mayor Eric Adams announced earlier this month. A former police captain, Adams had campaigned on a pledge to reduce crime and make New York safe. Instead, the budget cuts are expected to impact the NYPD and public safety the hardest by the end of Fiscal Year 2025. Malliotakis said in a Nov. 29 statement, “Mayor Adams’ plan to slash NYPD ranks by more than 4,500 officers and reduce the force to 1990s levels is a preventable disaster that will cause irreparable damage to public safety in New York City…The reduction of police and school safety officers will certainly have an impact at a time when crime rates are much higher than where they were just a few years ago,” said Malliotakis, who added that the mayor should place first priority on the citizens and not migrants.

“The Mayor has repeatedly claimed he would not do anything to make our city less safe, but his actions speak louder than his words,” Malliotakis stressed.

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HOUSE BILL WOULD END JUNK FEES FOR RENTERS,
REQUIRE MORE TRANSPARENCY FROM LANDLORDS

NATIONWIDE — RENTERS WOULD ALSO BENEFIT BY A BILL THAT CONGRESSMAN DAN GOLDMAN (D-10) HAS INTRODUCED TO END the growing number of excessive and predatory junk fees. Joining Congressional Democrat colleagues Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida and Jimmy Gomez of California, Rep. Goldman introduced the ‘End Junk Fees for Renters Act,’ which would ban application and screening fees; end late fee profiteering by requiring them to be applied as a credit toward the next month’s rent; and prohibit credit score screening in the rental application process. The bill would also require that landlords disclose in their rental contracts past and present litigation with tenants, ongoing pest and maintenance issues, a history of rent increase percentages over the past decade, and a clear statement of the total amount due each month, meant to end surprise fees.

Rep. Goldman indicated that the average monthly rent in Brooklyn is $3,909 — a 13% increase from the pre-pandemic February 2020 levels.

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TEAM AT SUNY DOWNSTATE AWARDED $2.1M TO STUDY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN RESEARCH

EAST FLATBUSH — A RESEARCH TEAM AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT SUNY DOWNSTATE, led by Dr. Thomas I. Mackie, chair of Health Policy and Management, has secured a $2.1M award for a pilot study focused on ways to empower underrepresented community members to engage in the preparation, implementation and dissemination of mental healthcare research. The study will be co-led by Dr. Karen Tabb from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“True progress in advancing mental health equity will require the active participation of individuals from the communities most affected by mental healthcare disparities, both as researchers and as research partners,” Dr. Mackie said in a statement.

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DATA SHOWS MOST DELAYED SUBWAY LINES OF 2023

CITYWIDE — ONLY 71% OF SUBWAY TRAINS ON THE F LINE RUN ON TIME, and trains on the A and C lines were on time only 72% of the time, according to the New York Post, which compiled a list of the city’s most delayed subway lines of 2023. The N train running between Astoria in Queens and Coney Island in Brooklyn came in third most delayed, with only 73% of trains running on schedule. The most on-time train? That would be the L train with 93% of trains running to schedule. The L tunnels under the East River were upgraded in 2020, which helped improve service on the line.

Maintenance worker Jamilla, 54, who lives in Brooklyn, told the Post that train delays are so frustrating they often cause people to “get crazy.”

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REP. GOLDMAN URGES PROBE OF REAL ESTATE TOOL
THAT USES RAW DATA TO INFLATE RENTAL PRICES

WESTERN BROOKLYN — BROOKLYN CONGRESSMAN DAN GOLDMAN IS URGING THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL to probe a Texas-based real estate logistics company for manipulating market rental rates at a time when affordable housing is scarce. Rep. Goldman (D-10) sent a letter on Nov. 28 to New York Attorney General Letitia James calling for her to investigate the multinational company RealPage Inc., which has been accused of anticompetitive behavior and manipulating market rent rates through their price optimization software named YieldStar. Among their suite of products is a software tool targeted to landlords which analyzes large swaths of rental data from competitors operating in the same market and recommends artificially inflated rent prices based on non-public pricing information. Goldman added that RealPage and its algorithm are the subject of legislators’ scrutiny and several state lawsuits.

An investigation by ProPublica in 2017 revealed that “RealPage discourages bargaining with renters and has even recommended that landlords in some cases accept a lower occupancy rate in order to raise rents and make more money.”

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NYPD RELEASES PHOTOS OF PROSPECT PARK SHOOTING SUSPECTS

PROSPECT PARK — POLICE HAVE RELEASED PHOTOS OF FOUR SUSPECTS wanted in the broad daylight shooting of a 37-year-old man in Prospect Park. At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19, the four individuals engaged in a dispute with the man, then shot him in the leg before fleeing the park on foot. The victim was transported by EMS to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in stable condition.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or by visiting Crime Stoppers online.

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FOUR NEW LEASE SIGNINGS AT INDUSTRY CITY

SUNSET PARK — INDUSTRY CITY ANNOUNCED FOUR NEW LEASE SIGNINGS at its 35-acre mixed-use complex in Sunset Park. New deals include: Kinolime, a community platform producing and financing films and television pilots; Dowbuilt, a Seattle-based residential construction company dedicated to fine craftsmanship; Prudential Insurance, relocating its insurance brokerage office from Bay Ridge; and KYHA Studios, an Australia-based bridal design brand that blurs the line between fashion and bridal.

Industry City is home to more than 70 film and media-related businesses, plus architecture and design studios, homewares shopping, furniture retailers and makers, and fashion brands.

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NYC’S HEAVY TRUCKS TO TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE DIESEL

CITYWIDE — NEW YORK CITY WILL BE THE FIRST CITY ON THE EAST COAST to transition its fleet of heavy-duty vehicles — such as garbage trucks and ambulances — from fossil to renewable fuel, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Dawn Pinnock said Wednesday. The city’s fleet includes more than 12,600 on- and off-road trucks and specialized equipment that currently operate on standard diesel fuel. By the end of FY2024, they will all operate on renewable diesel, made from fats and waste cooking oils.

The administration is also moving to electrify the city’s fleet. DCAS expects to operate over 5,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2023, an increase of 49% in FY2023.

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FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED AFTER THREATENING MASS SHOOTING ON NYC SUBWAY

PINELLAS PARK — A FLORIDA MAN WAS ARRESTED after allegedly threatening to shoot up a New York City subway on Thanksgiving, WFLA News Channel 8 reported. An anonymous tip led officers to Robert Trout III, 19, of Pinellas Park, who had posted a video of himself brandishing two Glock .40-caliber pistols on social media. “I’m gonna shoot anybody I see on that f****** train. If you’re from New York City do not take the train on Thursday evening,” Trout wrote on Instagram.

Trout’s family told police he has ties to New York and was expected to be moving back soon. As of Monday, he was still being held in the Pinellas County Jail on an “FBI courtesy hold,” with bail set at $50,000, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

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PARENTS CALL CUTS TO NYC’S FREE 3-K ‘CATASTROPHIC’

CITYWIDE — PARENTS DESCRIBED MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ CUTS to the city’s free 3-K program as “catastrophic” and “pulling the rug out from under families’ feet,” the Daily News reported Monday. Adams announced plans last week to cut $120 million from the budget for free preschool for 3-year-olds, translating into thousands of fewer slots. Enrollment in 3-K was expected to increase by 18% next year, the Daily News said.

The mayor calls these and other large budget cuts the “rightsizing” necessary to meet the demands of the large number of migrants entering the city.

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MAN SUSPECTED OF KILLING MOTHER AND STUFFING HER IN A BOX MAY BE FREED

EAST FLATBUSH — A MAN CHARGED WITH KILLING HIS MOTHER AND STUFFING HER INTO A BOX in their apartment may be set free due to the lack of an accurate autopsy proving the cause of her death, the New York Post reports. 30-year-old David Drummond was removed from the custody of the Department of Correction earlier this month and sent to Bellevue Hospital. Cops said he admitted to hitting his mother but without an autopsy, Drummond, who allegedly has a history of mental health issues, could be back on the streets of Brooklyn.

The mother’s body was too deteriorated to take an accurate autopsy, the paper reported.

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FORT DEFIANCE CLOSING AFTER 15 YEARS IN RED HOOK

RED HOOK — FORT DEFIANCE, A BAR AND RESTAURANT THAT WAS A “HOME AWAY FROM HOME” for Red Hook residents for 15 years, posted on Instagram that it will be permanently closing on Dec. 3. The bar was known for its “acclaimed Irish coffees and standout brunch,” Eater said. Fort Defiance’s closure comes just a little over a year after it reopened in its new home at 347 Van Brunt St.

The owner St. John Frizell told Eater that the decision to close Fort Defiance was related to debt accrued during the pandemic and losses from stalled liquor licenses.

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REP. GOLDMAN REBUKES CALL TO EXPEL PALESTINIANS, CALLING IT ‘RACIST, XENOPHOBIC’

BROOKLYN AND CAPITOL HILL — BROOKLYN CONGRESSMAN DAN GOLDMAN (D-10) JOINED HIS COLLEAGUE, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio/Cincinnati area), in denouncing calls from other members of Congress to have Palestinians expelled from the United States. Reps. Goldman and Landsman, both of whom define themselves as Jewish, on Tuesday, Nov. 28, introduced a resolution condemning calls from members of Congress to expel Palestinians from the United States, and in response to another House Resolution (6211) from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Montana). “Calls to expel Palestinians from the United States are racist, xenophobic and have no place in the government of the United States,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “We cannot stand for rhetoric that fans the flames of hate in this nation. The anti-American proposal to expel an entire people from this country must be condemned.”

Zinke, the congressmember who initiated the expulsion idea, defines himself on his webpage as a fifth-generation Montanan. According to his bio on government advocacy pages, he and his family are Lutherans — interestingly, the same faith tradition as some Palestinians in the U.S. and in the Holy Land. The Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem’s Old City is Lutheran.

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RESOLUTION FROM JEWISH CONGRESSMEMBERS CONDEMNS PUSH TO EXPEL PALESTINIANS FROM U.S.

CAPITOL HILL — THE RESOLUTION CONDEMNING CALLS FOR EXPULSIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARAB COMMUNITY, which Brooklyn Congressman Dan Goldman co-introduced on Nov. 28, reads, in part: “Whereas this rhetoric calls for the removal of an entire people from our nation . . . [U]nfairly and dangerously conflates Palestinians with Hamas and its actions . . . [I]mplies immigrants are a danger to America — ignoring our nation’s long history of welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds . . . [I]s un-American, bigoted, and is designed to inflame tensions which could result in violence: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives — Condemns calls from Members of Congress for the expulsion of Palestinians from the United States.”

Congressman Goldman has personal experience with the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, having been in Israel that weekend to attend a bar mitzvah. He later recounted to Spectrum News 1 the “traumatic experience” of trying to flee Israel.

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MAIMONIDES HEALTH TEAM TRAVELS TO UKRAINE

BOROUGH PARK AND UKRAINE — MAIMONIDES HEALTH RECOGNIZED THE WORK OF DR. JOSHUA SCHILLER, Director Of Global Health, Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, and a team of seven of its doctors who joined a weeklong medical trip to Ukraine from Nov. 4-11. The team was organized through the charitable foundation, International Medical Response, whose objective is to “support, and enhance healthcare systems in communities across the world that have been impacted by natural disasters, extreme poverty, or regional conflict,” according to its mission statement. “Medicine is a language between healthcare practitioners that is spoken worldwide,” said Dr. Schiller, who explained that “the goal of this program is to bring care and health education to patients and providers.” He said, “Consequently, education in medicine can bridge political and social boundaries over great distances.”

Partner organizations include Zonta International, Uzhhorod National University, and Maimonides’ Department of Emergency Medicine.

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MEDICAL, FINANCIAL DATA OF FOUR MILLION NEW YORKERS IMPACTED IN SECURITY BREACH

STATEWIDE — AT LEAST FOUR MILLION NEW YORKERS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY A DATA BREACH at the medical transcription company Perry Johnson & Associates, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The Nevada-based company, which provides transcription services to healthcare organizations and physicians for dictating and transcribing patient notes, became aware of the breach in May, with the impacted data comprising some social security numbers, insurance and clinical information from medical transcription files. The data breach affected Northwell Health and Crouse Health. Most individuals whose data was impacted have been notified.

Attorney General James is warning New Yorkers to protect themselves from potential identity theft by informing their insurance companies of possible fraudulent billing and to question any unrecognized billing and to place fraud alerts on their credit reports.

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FDA: RARE BUT SERIOUS REACTIONS POSSIBLE WITH CERTAIN ANTI-SEIZURE MEDICINES

NATIONWIDE — SEVERAL ANTI-SEIZURE MEDICINES CAN CAUSE A RARE BUT SERIOUS REACTION THAT CAN BE LIFE-THREATENING IF NOT DIAGNOSED AND TREATED QUICKLY, the Food and Drug Administration warned on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The anti-seizure medicines Keppra, Keppra XR, Elepsia XR, Spritam (levetiracetam), Onfi and Sympazan (clobazam), can cause Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS), which may start as a rash but spread quickly and injure internal organs. Cases that are not quickly treated could lead to hospitalization and even death. DRESS can include fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, or injury to organs including the liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, or pancreas. Therefore, the FDA is requiring warnings about this risk to be added to the prescribing information and patient Medication Guides for these medicines.

The FDA urges patients taking levetiracetam or clobazam who develop any unusual symptoms or reactions, including a rash, to seek emergency room care immediately. However, they should not stop taking the medicines without consulting with their doctors, as sudden cessation can cause uncontrolled seizures.

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POLICE ID PEDESTRIAN KILLED IN MONDAY MORNING COLLISION

MIDWOOD — A 77-YEAR-OLD MIDWOOD WOMAN WAS KILLED MONDAY MORNING IN A PARTICULARLY GRUESOME PEDESTRIAN COLLISION, REPORTED THE NYPD ON TUESDAY, NOV. 28, and the Daily News on Monday. Around 9 a.m., the woman was crossing the intersection of Avenue P and East 19th St. (within the 61st Precinct), from the southwest corner to the northwest corner, when the driver of a 2020 Peterbilt Motors dump truck traveling eastbound on Avenue P struck her. The Daily News quoted witnesses to the collision who said the impact had decapitated the woman, although the police report used different language, indicating “trauma about the head and body.” The NYPD has identified the deceased as Erika Wajsman of East 12th Street. The 43-year-old male dump truck driver remained at the scene.

Several Jewish newspapers have since updated their coverage of the tragedy: Hamodia, based on Foster Avenue in Kensington, reported that the Jewish ambulance corps Hatzalah responded to the scene, but was unable to save Ms. Wajsman. Misaskim and Chesed Shel Emes, a crisis intervention organization, provided the victim with proper Jewish burial preparations.

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REP. GOLDMAN’S RESOLUTION, NOW PRIVILEGED, FORCES HOUSE VOTE ON EXPELLING SANTOS

CAPITOL HILL — THE RESOLUTION TO EXPEL EMBATTLED QUEENS CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS has been reinvigorated. Brooklyn Congressman Dan Goldman (D-10) and colleague Robert Garcia (D-CA) on Tuesday, Nov. 28, called up as a privileged resolution their previous bill, thus forcing the House Republican leadership to schedule a vote on his expulsion within 48 hours. This resolution follows the release of the report from the House Ethics Committee’s investigation which concluded that George Santos defrauded his donors, filed false FEC reports and repeatedly broke the law in order to fraudulently win his election last November.

Reps. Goldman and Garcia had originally introduced their individual resolutions to expel Santos earlier this year — Goldman in August and Garcia back in February. Although a majority of GOP House members voted to refer them to the House Ethics Committee, its chair, Republican Michael Guest, released a scathing report against the freshman Congressman from Queens and Nassau County.

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GANG LEADER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERS AND MANY OTHER COUNTS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A GANG LEADER WAS SENTENCED ON TUESDAY, NOV. 28, TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDER-IN-AID-OF-RACKEETERING. United States District Judge Rachel P. Kovner presided in federal court in Brooklyn over the sentencing of Melvi Amador-Rios, a leader of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas (CLS) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. The defendant was also sentenced to 80 years in prison for four Hobbs Act robberies, 40 years in prison for ordering a non-fatal shooting and 38 years in prison for firearms charges, to run consecutive to the sentences on all other counts.

Amador-Rios was convicted after a three-week jury trial last summer of racketeering, murder-in-aid-of-racketeering in connection with the May 16, 2017, fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Julio Vasquez in Queens, attempted murder-in-aid-of-racketeering, assault-in aid-of racketeering, firearms offenses and four counts of Hobbs Act robbery.