What’s News, Breaking: Friday, December 15, 2023

December 15, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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FDA EXPANDS RECALL OF PRE-CUT CANTALOUPE

SHEEPSHEAD BAY NATIONWIDE — THE FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION HAS EXPANDED ITS RECALL OF CANTALOUPE. The recall was originally announced in November after TruFresh brand pre-cut cantaloupe from recalled fruits sickened several hundred people. As of Dec. 15, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control reported 302 cases from 42 states, with the latest onset date of Nov. 28, 2023. Based on the CDC’s epidemiological data, 107 of 145 cases report exposure to cantaloupe and 56 people specifically report eating pre-cut cantaloupe. An updated list of stores includes a Stop & Shop location in Brooklyn, at 1710 Avenue Y in Sheepshead Bay.

Several other stores in the metropolitan region were also selling this project, including in Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and the Hudson Valley.

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SUBWAY REHAB WORKS PROGRESSES
ON J & Z LINES IN BROOKLYN

BUSHWICK — THE MTA’S J AND Z LINE Structural Repairs and Paint Project is still underway in the Broadway Junction area of Brooklyn, reports Community Board 4 in its weekly newsletter. For the rest of this year, work will be completed on the portion between DeSales Place and Alabama Avenue. Crews will then move westward along that line. The scope of this project, which was first announced in February, has included rehabilitated platforms to minimize the gaps to trains, structural repairs to the mezzanine levels and extended canopies over stairs, providing better weather protection. Windscreens are also being upgraded, with laminated glass artwork from MTA Arts & Design.

Last year, the MTA also reconstructed a section of the J/Z track at Archer Avenue.

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DISASTER LOANS AVAILABLE TO COVER
DAMAGE FROM 9/29 FLASH FLOODING

BOROUGHWIDE — BROOKLYN RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES WHO SUSTAINED DAMAGE IN THE SEPT. 29 FLASH FLOODING EMERGENCY MAY APPLY FOR for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D-44) announced on Friday, Dec. 15. Carroll reported hearing from many constituents in his district, which stretches from Prospect Heights to Midwood, about how costly damage from the severe flooding apply. The filing deadline to submit applications online is Feb. 2, 2024, for physical damage, and Sept. 4, 2024, for economic injury.

The loans are available to eligible homeowners and businesses in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island.

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PARKS DEPT. OPENS GATEWAY ESTATES
GREENSPACE WITH RIBBON-CUTTING

EAST NEW YORK — A BRAND-NEW GREENSPACE IS NOW OPEN IN the Gateway Estates development in East New York. NYC Parks Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Martin Maher and City Councilmember Charles Barron on Thursday, Dec. 14, cut the ribbon on a brand-new park, the culmination of an $8.2 million project built on an acre of new parkland in the Spring Creek Urban Renewal Area. The green space is complete with sports amenities, a skate plaza and fitness equipment. The new park is also equipped with security lighting, drinking fountains, seating, fencing and plantings. The Parks Dept. has constructed accessible routes from the park entrances to the activity spaces, seating areas and drinking fountains.

The new park is located within the Gateway Estates development area, a 227-acre mixed-use community near Spring Creek where the Dept. of Housing, Preservation and Development has spearheaded the creation of approximately 2,660 housing units.

The large new greenway at Gateway Estates
Photo: NYC Parks-Malcolm Pinckney

The green space includes fitness equipment and seating
Photo: NYC Parks-Malcolm Pinckney

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SENTENCED FOR SHOPLIFTING,
ASSAULTING MODELL’S EMPLOYEES

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A WILLIAMSBURG MAN WILL SPEND THE NEXT 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ASSAULTING TWO MODELLS’ SPORTING GOODS EMPLOYEES when they caught him shoplifting. The defendant, whom Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified as 43-year-old John Whichard, was convicted of first-degree assault and second-degree assault on Oct. 26, in a jury trial for the February 2020 attack inside the Modell’s Graham Avenue store. A store manager attempted to retrieve the merchandise that Winchard and his accomplice, Gerald Rowlett, had put in their bag. Two 20-year-old male employees attempted to intervene on behalf of the store manager.

Rowlett, the 53-year-old co-defendant, also of Williamsburg, was convicted of petit larceny and sentenced to six months jail time.

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MOM GETS 15-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE
IN BEATING DEATH OF CHILD

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A CROWN HEIGHTS WOMAN HAS RECEIVED A 15-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE for beating her 9-year-old daughter to death. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo sentenced the defendant, whom Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified as Shemene Cato, 50, of Lincoln Place. She had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October in an incident in which she beat her daughter, Shalom, and another 13-year-old daughter for over two hours with an electric cord and broom during an argument over a missing tablet device.

Shalom tried hiding under a bed, but the defendant lifted that furniture and used it as a deadly weapon. An autopsy on the 9-year-old revealed the cause of death was blunt force trauma. The elder sibling, who survived the beating, was treated at Brooklyn Hospital for lacerations and contusions over her lower body.

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NYCHA COMPLEX TENANTS VOTE TO JOIN
NYC HOUSING PRESERVATION TRUST

SHEEPSHEAD BAY — RESIDENTS OF THE NOSTRAND HOUSES, A NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY APARTMENT COMPLEX IN SHEEPSHEAD BAY, HAVE VOTED TO JOIN the New York City Housing Preservation Trust, a state-created public entity that will help them access more private and public funding for urgently-needed capital repairs. Spectrum News NY1, which covered the start of a 10-day voting period on Nov. 28, explained that the Nostrand Houses tenants had two other choices in addition to the Preservation Trust: the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative, or to remain in Section 9 public housing. Both the Preservation Trust and PACT are components of a strategy to deal with NYCHA’s capital repair needs which are estimated to be $78.3 billion within the next two decades.

The NYC Preservation Trust will enable the Nostrand Houses to lease units, transfer them to a more financially stable housing program and raise funds for rehabilitation. As part of the program, the apartments remain publicly owned and tenants are given protections.

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SHORT-CIRCUIT CAUSES BRIEF POWER OUTAGE,
EXPLOSION AT CON ED’S BROOKLYN SUBSTATION

CITYWIDE — A SHORT CIRCUIT IN SOME HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT at a Con Edison substation in Brooklyn caused an explosion and lights around the city to flicker just before midnight, a Heights resident told the Brooklyn Eagle. According to the New York Times, which covered the incident, at 11:55 p.m. a large flash occurred at the substation near the Manhattan Bridge, which Con Edison attributed to the short-circuit and a power surge. Matthew Ketschke, the utility company’s president, told the New York Times that an existing protective system activated and isolated the failed equipment; this safeguard led to the voltage dip that caused lights to flicker, but area residents who witnessed the incident said the flickering happened first. Con Edison workers were restoring a transmission line at the substation, according to an NYPD spokesperson about that department’s preliminary investigation.

However, even brief disruptions can cause major problems with sensitive equipment such as elevators, which were thrown out of commission and had to be reset. The Fire Department was responding to these outages as of early Friday.

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DINAPOLI: NY STATE HAD GOVERNMENT WORKER DECLINE;
NOW CITY PREPARES FOR JOB CUTS ALSO

STATEWIDE — THE NUMBER OF FULL-TIME LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKERS EMPLOYED OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY shrank 7.9% from 491,102 to 452,298 during 15 years starting before the Great Recession of 2008, according to a new report from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. His report shows the state’s full-time local government workforce outside New York City decreased by 50,000 workers (11.1%) since the end of the Great Recession. While this was similar to the national trend, New York experienced more year-over-year volatility and a longer period of overall economic decline. Two key events during this time — the Great Recession of 2007-09 and the COVID-19 pandemic — impacted state and local government workforce levels the most. New York’s decline in local government employment stands in contrast to the nation as a whole, which saw a 2% increase in the number of full-time employees over these 15 years.

Meanwhile, within NYC, recently announced city budget cuts will mean the elimination of more jobs, more than 2,000 of these already vacant. More than 2,000 vacant positions in the municipal workforce are being eliminated as part of the city’s recently announced budget cuts. City departments are also projected to slash their budgeted headcounts by 2,873 positions, according to City Hall, as reported in The Chief, a Voice for Workers last month.

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PSC APPROVES EMPIRE WIND’S PLAN TO BUILD SUNSET PARK WIND POWER FACILITIES

SUNSET PARK — THE NYS PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ON THURSDAY APPROVED the petition to build and operate transmission facilities connecting to a substation in Sunset Park for the Empire Wind 1 Offshore Wind Project. A 17.5-mile high-voltage power line will run under the Atlantic Ocean from more than a hundred offshore wind turbines — faintly visible from Jones Beach — to an onshore substation in Sunset Park’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Underground cables will also run to a Con Edison substation in Gowanus. The project is expected to bring 600-700 temporary jobs and eventually roughly 300 permanent jobs to Sunset Park. With Empire Wind 2, the projects will produce enough renewable energy for more than 388,000 homes.

Empire Wind is being developed through a 50-50 joint venture between Equinor and bp. Molly Morris, President, Equinor Renewables Americas, said the project would revitalize the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

Photo: How Empire Wind’s wind turbines would appear from Jones Beach. Simulation: Equinor

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CHARGED WITH GRAND LARCENY AND FRAUD INVOLVING CLIENTS’ ESCROW ACCOUNTS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A BENSONHURST LAWYER HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH STEALING close to $1.5 million from three clients he represented in real estate and estate proceedings. The defendant, Salvatore Strazzullo, 51, with a law office in Bensonhurst, was arraigned on Thursday, Dec. 14, with Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Tomlinson presiding. He was released without bail and given a Jan. 17 court date. District Attorney Eric Gonzalez reported that defendant Strazzullo is charged with one count of first-degree grand larceny, two counts of second-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. The lawyer failed to surrender the $1.2 million sale proceeds of an elderly Bensonhurst woman’s home, instead using the customary escrow account for personal expenses. An 80-year-old male selling his home and a 52-year-old widow were also victimized.

People who believe they have been victimized by this defendant are encouraged to contact the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Action Center at 718-250-2340 or to send an email to [email protected].

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LEXINGTON AVE. ARMORY AT FORT HAMILTON WINS FUNDING FOR REPAIR AND RENOVATION

FORT HAMILTON — THE LEXINGTON AVENUE ARMORY AT THE FORT HAMILTON MILITARY BASE WILL RECEIVE FUNDING THAT U.S. SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY) has secured through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024. Gillibrand, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Chair of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, successfully got a number of her provisions included. The NDAA provides $90 million for construction, repair, and modernization of Lexington Armory, which is the center of the New York Army National Guard’s (NYARNG) recruiting and diversity efforts: NYARNG achieved 103% of its recruiting mission and 108% of its retention mission during Fiscal Year 2022.

The National Guard this week celebrated its 387th anniversary as the nation’s oldest military organization, founded in 1636 with the original mission of safeguarding local communities.

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BROOKLYN’S TOP 10 WORST BUILDINGS AVERAGE MORE THAN 400 HPD VIOLATIONS EACH

BOROUGHWIDE — PROPERTIES FROM BEDFORD-STUYVESANT TO CONEY ISLAND MADE THE DUBIOUS HONOR OF BEING ON THE TOP 10 WORST BUILDINGS for each borough/Brooklyn. The list, which NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams released on Thursday, Dec. 14, as part of his 2023 Landlords Watchlist, includes several properties that do not include a corporation or landlord name. The number of apartments ranges from three to 83 and the worst building, at the top of the list, is 133 MacDonough Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, with 640 HPD violations. Other properties on the Brooklyn Top Ten include 165 East 19th St. in Prospect Park South; 187 Hull St. in Ocean Hill-Brownsville; 1392 Sterling Place in Crown Heights; and 80 Clarkson Avenue, near SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Flatbush.

The top 10 buildings with the most average open HPD violations in each borough are included on the Watchlist, regardless of ownership.

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NYC UPGRADES SNOWPLOWS WITH ‘BLADERUNNER 2.0’ GPS TRACKING TECH

CITYWIDE — IN TIME FOR THE WINTER SNOW SEASON, MAYOR ERIC ADAMS INTRODUCED “BLADERUNNER 2.0,” which he described as state-of-the-art software that tracks the city’s fleet of roughly 5,000 vehicles. “With BladeRunner 2.0, we’ll be able to track real‑time progress more efficiently, deploy our plows and salt spreaders to keep the snow and ice off our streets so that the city that never sleeps will never have to be stalled due to a snowstorm,” Adams said at a press conference Thursday. Adams said the system, based on GPS data, would make snow removal more equitable. “No more systems of first-, second- and third-tier streets in which different communities receive different levels of services.”

Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the agency’s budget was not cut this year, unlike other city agencies. “We are headed into this snow season with the highest headcount of sanitation workers that we have had in decades and 600 more than the last time we fought snow.”

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HOCHUL: A DOZEN NEW CANNABIS SHOPS OPENING, INCLUDING ONE IN BROOKLYN

HOMECREST — GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL ANNOUNCED THURSDAY THAT A DOZEN NEW adult-use cannabis dispensaries, including one in Brooklyn, will soon be opening statewide. The Grow Together dispensary will open at 2370 Coney Island Ave. in Homecrest on Dec. 19. Two more legal shops will be opening in Manhattan and one in the Bronx. Legal challenges have slowed the rollout of legal dispensaries, allowing illegal outlets to flourish. By the end of December, the state anticipates having at least 37 legal weed shops open for business.

Hochul emphasized that eight of the legal outlets are majority Black-owned (including the new one in Brooklyn), five are Hispanic-owned, and nine are women-owned, “highlighting New York’s commitment to fostering a representative and inclusive cannabis market.”

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REP. CLARKE, ACTIVIST HALLE BERRY PROMOTE NEW BILL ON MENOPAUSE RESEARCH, ADVOCACY

CAPITOL HILL — DECLARING THAT “A WOMAN’S VALUE SHOULD NOT BE DEFINED BY THE END OF HER FERTILITY,” Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-09) introduced the bipartisan Menopause Research and Equity Act of 2023 and met with menopause advocates, Let’s Talk Menopause and award-winning actress and activist Halle Berry, to discuss further initiatives to improve menopause awareness. The Menopause Research and Equity Act of 2023, which Rep. Clarke introduced on Thursday, Dec. 14, would direct the National Institutes of Health to evaluate current menopause-related research and submit a report to Congress on its findings; identify the total amount of funding allocated by the National Institutes of Health for the conduct or support of menopause-related research; and research on midlife women’s health over the preceding 5 fiscal years.

“For too long, menopause has remained stigmatized, or even ignored entirely. Women facing this common, natural condition are told to be silent and hide their struggles, only because they may make men uncomfortable,” said Rep. Clarke. “All the while, the nation-wide attack on women’s bodies has only continued to erode our rights.”

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TRANSFER STUDENTS GET ‘SHORT-TERM-WIN’ ON RULING THAT BLOCKS NCAA SPORTS RULE

NATIONWIDE — TRANSFER STUDENTS MAY GET A REPRIEVE FROM AN NCAA RULE THAT BANS THEIR PARTICIPATION IN COLLEGIATE SPORTS, now that a federal judge temporarily stopped the NCAA from enforcing a transfer eligibility rule. U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey of northern West Virginia issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, Dec.14, against the athletic organization, whose transfer eligibility rule prohibits Division I college athletes from competing for a year if they transfer schools twice. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA rule is an illegal restraint on college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education. New York Attorney General Letitia James was part of a coalition of six states, including North Carolina and West Virginia, where transfer student-athletes were benched from competing.

Attorney General James, calling the victory by NC Attorney General Josh Stein “an important short-term win,” said, “The NCAA’s transfer eligibility rule is not fair play, and we will continue to fight to ensure that college athletes do not need to choose between their academic goals and athletic pursuits.” Meanwhile, the NCAA said in a statement it would comply with the order and notify schools.