What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, January 10, 2024

January 10, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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LIVINGSTON BUS LANE REDESIGN FINISHED, SAYS DOT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HAS OFFICIALLY WRAPPED UP its work on the new Livingston Street safety redesign, according to a press statement from the department, with a mile-long stretch of Livingston from Boerum Place to Flatbush Avenue now featuring two protected bus lanes for the B41, B45, B67 and B103 bus lines in the busy and frequently clogged Downtown Brooklyn commuter corridor. The project involved the conversion of one of Livingston’s two car lanes into a bus lane, meaning that the street is now one-way westbound only; the DOT also installed concrete pedestrian and bus stop islands, physical traffic barriers and sidewalk extensions to promote safety.

Local pols hailed the project’s completion: “50,000 daily bus riders have been stuck in endless traffic on Livingston Street on one of the slowest bus routes in all of Brooklyn… those days are over!” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler; while Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon called it “terrific news,” and state Sen. Andrew Gounardes said he was “thankful” to the DOT.

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MISSING BOY IN BROWNSVILLE

BROWNSVILLE — POLICE ARE ASKING THE PUBLIC FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MISSING Brownsville teen Jeremiah Vernet, age 15, who was last seen leaving his residence, near Brookdale Hospital, on the morning of Monday, Jan. 8. Jeremiah is described as around 6’0″ and 160 pounds, with a medium complexion.

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 their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website, or on X (Twitter) @NYPDTips.

Missing teen Jeremiah Vernet. All calls are strictly confidential.

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SLIWA: KEEP FLOYD BENNETT CAMP CLOSED

MARINE PARK — FORMER REPUBLICAN MAYORAL CANDIDATE CURTIS SLIWA on Wednesday announced that he planned to lead a protest on Thursday urging the city to permanently close the controversial migrant tent encampment at Floyd Bennett field, echoing calls from politicians on both sides of the aisle for the camp’s shuttering. The Guardian Angels leader said Monday’s evacuation of camp residents due to a storm was predictable given its location in a flood plain, and alleged that migrants from Floyd Bennett have been begging and shoplifting in nearby neighborhoods; Sliwa plans to lead protesters to block traffic and hand out fliers outside of Kings Plaza.

The protest is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11, at 3 p.m., and will take place at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U; Sliwa was arrested in August of last year for blocking traffic at a protest of a different migrant facility in Queens.

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THE BROOKLYN HOSPITAL CENTER
NAMES FULL-TIME CHAPLAIN

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE BROOKLYN HOSPITAL CENTER HAS APPOINTED FATHER FRANCIS JOOJO OBU-MENDS, a distinguished member of the Spiritan international Roman Catholic religious missionary congregation, as the full-time Chaplain and Director of the Spiritual Care Department. A board-certified healthcare chaplain accredited by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains since 2013, Father Francis has been an integral part of TBHC for several years, previously serving in a part-time capacity. Originally hailing from Ghana, Father Francis brings a wealth of academic, pastoral, and spiritual care experiences from his extensive background in Africa, Europe, and the United States. Locally, he has served Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Windsor Terrace and a parish in Breezy Point, Queens.

Spiritans (The Congregation of the Holy Spirit) established a new province in the U.S. in 1872, largely serving African-American communities. The Spiritans founded Duquesne University, an internationally recognized Catholic university in Pittsburgh.

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RESEARCH TEAM OF PROFESSOR AND PH.D. CANDIDATE
SETTLES A PALEONTOLOGICAL DEBATE

Stephen Chester, associate professor of anthropology at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center.
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn College

FLATBUSH/MIDWOOD — A PROFESSOR AND A STUDENT FROM BROOKLYN COLLEGE AND CUNY’S GRADUATE CENTER HAVE PRUNED A BRANCH OFF THE PRIMATE TREE, with their research paper that determined picrodontids — an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs — are not primates as previously believed. The paper, published on Jan. 10 in Royal Society’s Biology Letters, is significant in that it settled a paleontological debate that has been brewing for over 100 years while helping to paint a clearer picture of primate evolution. Stephen Chester, the paper’s senior author and associate professor of anthropology at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, conducted the research with Jordan Crowell, lead author and adjunct lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College and a Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, and John Wible, Curator of Mammals at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Chester and Crowell are also currently working on several additional externally funded research projects focusing on how primates and other mammals evolved following the extinction of dinosaurs.

Chester and Crowell also encourage undergraduates to contact them regarding funded research opportunities in the Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology Laboratory.

Jordan Crowell, the lead author and adjunct lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College and a Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, works with modern CT scan technology to analyze the picrodontid skull in Brooklyn College’s Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology Laboratory.
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn College

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MAYOR: RESTORED FUNDS WILL ADD
NEW POLICE ACADEMY CLASS

CITYWIDE — FUNDING WILL BE RESTORED FOR THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT (NYPD) TO ADD ANOTHER POLICE ACADEMY CLASS OF 600 NEW RECRUITS set to join the ranks in April, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Wednesday, Jan. 10. This class of recruits will graduate in October and will join the three additional police classes that are scheduled to graduate this year. Additionally, Mayor Adams announced that funding will be restored to return a fifth firefighter at 20 FDNY engine companies and maintain 190 firefighters on payroll who are not expected to be able to return to full-duty status. Mayor Adams credits the funding restoration to measures that his administration has taken to responsibly manage the city’s budget and strategically navigate significant fiscal challenges.

Adams also credited the restoration of funds to his administration’s successful efforts to drive down overall crime, saying that murders were down by 12% and shootings down 25% in 2023.

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NYC HEALTH DEPT. RECRUITING THOUSANDS FOR ‘LONG COVID’ STUDY

CITYWIDE — MANY NEW YORKERS SUFFER DEBILITATING LONG-TERM EFFECTS FROM COVID-19. Now, the NYC Health Department is launching a multi-year study on the often-serious effects of what is termed ‘Long COVID,’ the agency announced Wednesday. The agency will recruit up to 10,000 participants for the study this year and follow up over several years. These data will inform policymakers and program planners on the needs and barriers to support services for those experiencing long-term physical and mental health problems, Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement.

The study will ensure that “no one in our city suffers in silence and that New Yorkers have access to the most helpful resources available,” said Dr. Amanda K. Johnson, Assistant VP of Ambulatory Care and Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals.

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ANSWERS DEMANDED ON HOW ARMY CONTRACTOR SOLD MILITARY-GRADE ORDNANCE TO CIVILIANS

NATIONWIDE — AMID RECENT REPORTS THAT A FEDERALLY FUNDED CONTRACTOR HAS PRODUCED MILITARY-GRADE AMMUNITION FOR SALE TO CIVILIANS, NY Attorney General Letitia James is leading a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general calling on the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to investigate this. The reports allege that the military-grade ammunition has been sold to the perpetrators of recent mass shootings. The coalition is demanding to know how a facility overseen by the U.S. Army — Lake City Army Ammunition Plant — produced billions of rounds of ammunition that were sold on the civilian market, and asked the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to ensure that future military production contracts will prohibit the sale of military-subsidized weapons and ammunition to civilians.

Attorney General James’ action was announced the day after Brooklyn Congressmember Dan Goldman (D-1) introduced a related “Federal Firearm Licensee Act,” which would require background checks on all firearms sales.

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NUMBER OF GUNS SEIZED BY TSA AT NYC AIRPORTS UP 76% IN 2023

NYC METRO — TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) AGENTS SEIZED 51 HANDGUNS AT NYC AREA AIRPORTS in 2023, a notable increase from the 39 guns caught in 2022. Each firearm was discovered by TSA officers during routine screening at airport security checkpoints, the agency said. Newark Airport had the most seizures — 20 guns — followed by JFK (15) and LaGuardia (9). Regional airports make up the remainder of seizures.

Nationwide the number of guns detected increased to 6,737 in 2023, up from the 6,542 detected in 2022. The vast majority of the seized guns (93%) were loaded.

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NYPD CHAPLAINS COMMEND THE LATE JOSEPH ESPOSITO

BENSONHURST — LEADERS IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN SALUTED THE LATE JOSEPH ESPOSITO, UPON LEARNING OF HIS DEATH, reports the diocesan newspaper, The Tablet. Esposito, who died on Monday, Jan. 8, “…was an amazing person,” said Msgr. David Cassato, an NYPD chaplain and a close friend, told the Tablet. “He cared about every single cop in the NYPD.” Esposito helped guide the city through the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy and was a steadfast presence for the relief workers at the Ground Zero site. A parishioner of St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, where Msgr. Cassato before his retirement was a longtime pastor, Esposito was also a former chairman of the Diocesan Review Board, the panel that assists the bishop in responding to allegations of abuse against priests. Esposito was “a cop’s cop, Monsignor Robert Romano, another NYPD chaplain, told the Tablet. “He was genuinely loved by the cops because he had worked his way up and they knew they had great leadership in him.”

Esposito was made a knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 2002, one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors for a layperson. Funeral arrangements were pending as of press time.

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SUBWAY F TRAIN DERAILS IN CONEY ISLAND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

CONEY ISLAND — A SUBWAY TRAIN ON THE F LINE DERAILED IN CONEY ISLAND after a wheel came off the tracks Wednesday afternoon, news sources including WABC report. The incident occurred at West 6th Street and Neptune Avenue in Coney Island after the train’s brakes were activated. F train service has been suspended in both directions between Avenue X and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. No injuries have been reported at this time.

Investigators are looking into the incident, WABC reports.

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ANOTHER OLD-SCHOOL DINER CLOSES ITS DOORS IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

DOWNTOWN — NEW APOLLO DINER, ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING OLD-SCHOOL DINERS IN THE DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN AREA, shut its doors in mid-December after 20 years of operation on Livingston Street near Smith Street. In a message on their website, the owners said they are retiring. “It is with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to each and every one of you who have been an integral part of the New Apollo Diner family since our doors opened in 1993,” they wrote.

Another longtime establishment, Happy Days Diner on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, also closed in mid-December after the landlord seized the site following non-payment of rent. Another restaurant owner has applied for a liquor license for the site.

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PUBLIC INVITED TO COMMENT ON MTA’S CONGESTION PRICING PLAN

CITYWIDE — PEOPLE CAN NOW SUBMIT COMMENTS ON THE MTA’S RECOMMENDED FEES AND TOLLS for NYC’s congestion pricing plan. The public comment period will allow for possible tweaks to this program before the final MTA vote in the spring of 2024. The agency will accept written and audio comments until March 11 and will hold four hybrid virtual/in-person public hearings in February and March. People may submit written comments online and by email, mail and fax, and may submit audio comments by leaving a voicemail message. Feedback may be submitted online.

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon says the plan is important to her district because “50% of the vehicles in and around Downtown Brooklyn are pathfinding their way through our neighborhood streets to the free Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, avoiding the toll on the Brooklyn Battery/Gov. Hugh Carey Tunnel.”

Graphic courtesy of the Office of Jo Anne Simon

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BACKLASH AFTER CITY MOVES MIGRANTS TO BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL DURING STORM

MIDWOOD — CRITICS PILED ON AFTER THE ADAMS ADMINISTRATION EVACUATED ALMOST 2,000 MIGRANTS from tent shelters at Floyd Bennett Field and installed them at James Madison High School in Midwood on Tuesday. The migrants were moved by Emergency Management as a storm with driving rain and high winds threatened the encampment. Students at the school were told to attend classes remotely on Wednesday, stirring a backlash by parents and several local politicians, including Assemblymember Michael Novakhov, who was set to lead a rally outside the school Wednesday morning. “The City of New York’s decision to prioritize migrants over our communities, budget, safety, and even the education of our children has raised serious concerns,” Novakhov said in a statement.

Comptroller Brad Lander on Tuesday criticized the city’s decision to place asylum seekers in Floyd Bennett Field from the start, “despite the known significant storm risks.”

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FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR JOSEPH ESPOSITO, LONGTIME NYC PUBLIC SERVANT

CITYWIDE — FLAGS AT NYC CITY BUILDINGS WERE LOWERED TO HALF-STAFF on Tuesday following the passing of Joseph Esposito, deputy commissioner for enforcement at the NYC Department of Buildings. He died of cancer on Monday, Jan. 8. Esposito’s service in city government began with the NYPD, where he was appointed chief of department in 2000 — holding that role for 12 years, longer than anyone else in city history. He was subsequently appointed in 2014 as commissioner of the NYC Office of Emergency Management, headquartered in Downtown Brooklyn, before joining DOB in September 2022.

“Joe Esposito was not only a friend for almost 30 years, but a hero who dedicated his life and career to keeping New Yorkers safe, and he has earned the gratitude of our entire city,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

Former OEM Commissioner Joseph Esposito at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2014.
Brooklyn Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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OPEN HOUSE IN RED HOOK TO DISCUSS OFFSHORE WIND

RED HOOK — THE NYS ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (NYSERDA) will host a public open house in Red Hook to discuss New York’s efforts to advance offshore wind. Representatives from NYSERDA, the state’s regulatory agencies, and project developers will discuss the offshore wind energy development process and the state’s contracted and conditionally awarded projects. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires the responsible development of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

The event takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 10, from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Joseph Miccio Community Center, 110 W 9th St.

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BROOKLYN’S GOTHAM HEALTH SITES RECEIVE $1.1M INVESTMENT FOR PRENATAL CARE

WILLIAMSBURG TO EAST NEW YORK — NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/GOTHAM HEALTH HAS RECEIVED $1.1 MILLION FROM BROOKLYN Borough President Antonio Reynoso allocated as part of his Fiscal Year 2024 capital funding. The Borough President’s investment will support Gotham Health sites in Brooklyn, including the replacement of outdated ultrasound machines at Gotham Health, Cumberland and Williamsburg and the purchase of new ophthalmology equipment at Gotham Health, East New York. The monies will also be used to upgrade patient services. “Gotham Health is essential to the health of Brooklyn, providing high-quality preventative care that strives to chip away at decades of inequities in the health and well-being of our neighbors,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

Reynoso added, “I’m particularly excited that some of this funding will be going toward state-of-the-art ultrasounds that will support healthy pregnancies among Brooklynites.”

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health CEO Michelle Lewis celebrate $1.1 million in city funds to support necessary infrastructure improvements and enhance patient services for Gotham Health sites in Brooklyn.Photo courtesy NYC Health +Hospitals/Gotham Health — Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health CEO Michelle Lewis celebrate $1.1 million in city funds to support necessary infrastructure improvements and enhance patient services for Gotham Health sites in Brooklyn.
Photo courtesy NYC Health +Hospitals/Gotham Health

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NEW BILL WOULD REQUIRE BACKGROUND CHECKS ON ALL FIREARM SALES

CAPITOL HILL — THE “FEDERAL FIREARM LICENSEE ACT,” WHICH BROOKLYN CONGRESSMEMBER DAN GOLDMAN (D-10) INTRODUCED in the legislature on Tuesday, Jan. 9, aims to modernize and strengthen the federal requirements for anyone who facilitates gun sales. This legislation, which would update and expand sections in the U.S. Code directed at federal firearms licensees that have stayed in place for 30 years, would mandate “facilitators” such as gun shows or websites to run background checks on all gun sales, increase physical security requirements at gun shops, modernizing record keeping, and require dealers to inform the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) immediately if any firearms are transferred before a background check has been completed. Current regulations permit sellers at gun shows or on online marketplaces to sell a firearm without first initiating a background check to determine whether the buyers are prohibited under applicable state or federal law.

Rep. Goldman joined his Congressional colleague Robin Kelly (D-IL/Chicago area) in introducing the Federal Firearm Licensee Act.

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CITY EVACUATES MIGRANTS FROM FLOYD BENNETT FIELD FOR WEATHER EMERGENCY

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD — AS PART OF A WIDE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MEASURE, NYC OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMISSIONER ZACH ISCOL ANNOUNCED ON MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY, JAN. 9 that OEM was “proactively relocating individuals from the Floyd Bennett Field Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center as a precaution to safeguard the well-being of those in our care.” NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, responding to the emergency move, still criticized the city’s decision to place asylum seekers in Floyd Bennett Field from the start. Doing so, Lander said, “despite the known significant storm risks, highlights the mismanagement and waste of money that is all-too-present in City Hall’s approach to shelter and services for asylum seekers.”

Lander added, “The need for the city to find temporary shelter for the people already in temporary shelter demonstrates that the site was not adequately set up for extreme weather on top of the hardship this isolated and inadequately serviced location, miles from the nearest neighborhood school, already imposes on its residents.”

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CHABAD STUDENTS, TRYING TO HONOR A LEGACY, GET ARRESTED OVER A TUNNEL THEY BUILT

EASTERN PARKWAY—A GROUP OF CHABAD STUDENTS BUILT A TUNNEL TO EXPAND A SANCTUARY, BUT INSTEAD GOT ARRESTED on Monday, January 8, the Daily News reports. The young men had begun “some months ago” digging the tunnel to an adjacent Chabad property dating from the 1930s, but in doing so destabilized the building, Chabad spokesman Motti Seligson told the Daily News. When administrators began sealing the tunnel, the students tried to block the cement workers and finish the tunnel. The NYPD were called in and arrested five of the group members, who will be assigned dates at Brooklyn Criminal Court. Department of Buildings inspectors were scheduled to inspect the property on Tuesday, Jan. 9 to determine if the building is stable.

Seligson explained that the students were trying to obey a command by Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994) ,who is credited with expanding Chabad from a small Jewish sect into an international movement, and who in 1972 instructed his disciples to expand the house of worship.

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ALICIA KEYS, SWIZZ BEATS SHARE ART COLLECTION AT BK MUSEUM

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM IS SET TO HOST A SHOW curated from the art collection of A-list singer Alicia Keys and her husband, producer Swizz Beats, later this year, reports the New York Times, featuring a broad spectrum overview of African-American art from the couple’s extensive archive. The exhibition, titled “Giants,” will run from Feb. 10 to July 7 of this year and will include more than 100 paintings, photographs, installations and other works from Black and African diaspora artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Derrick Adams, Melaka Molgosi and more; tickets will cost $25 and can be pre-purchased on the Brooklyn Museum’s website.

The power couple have said they want to use their star power to help support Black artists and creatives: “The reason why we doubled down on African American art is because people weren’t collecting it… we as collectors must take responsibility to shape the market,” according to Swizz Beats; Keys added, “We have never seen all these artworks in one room.”

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‘PHARMA BRO’ SHKRELI BANNED FROM BK TECH SCHOOL CLUB

FORT GREENE — OFFICIALS AT THE CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ON Monday shut down a planned talk by controversial investor Martin Shkreli scheduled for Tuesday at Brooklyn Tech’s cryptocurrency club, reports the Daily Beast; Shkreli was set to speak on AI and finance with students and staff. Since convicted of securities fraud unrelated to his pharmaceutical exploits, the investor faced widespread condemnation in 2015 when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, hiked the price of life-saving medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill. In 2022, he was ordered to return more than $64 million generated from Daraprim profits and barred for life from the pharmaceutical industry after unsuccessfully arguing that Turing payment programs and insurance coverage meant the price hike did not impact patients.

Shkreli, a Sheepshead Bay native, lashed out at the DOE and Daily Beast on X (Twitter): “[Expletive], i will host a parade in brooklyn on a harambe float in front of the DoE building, you dont know me,” he wrote, referencing an internet-famous gorilla killed by zookeepers in 2016; the event may be rescheduled off-campus according to other posts.

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POLICE CALLED TO LUBAVITCH HQ AFTER ILLEGAL TUNNEL DISCOVERY

CROWN HEIGHTS — POLICE ON MONDAY STRUGGLED TO CONTAIN A chaotic scene at the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters on 770 Eastern Parkway, reports Crown Heights Info, when fighting broke out over a secret tunnel dug between the synagogue’s basement and an adjoining building; 10 people have been arrested, and the basement has been temporarily closed for safety reasons. The conflict reportedly began when Lubavitch leadership discovered the tunnel, became concerned over the potential collapse of the wall it undermined, and ordered it filled with concrete; younger members then attacked the cement truck and attempted to occupy the tunnel to prevent the infilling.

Chabad Lubavitch CEO Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky wrote in a statement, “These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored… Our thanks to the NYPD for their professionalism and sensitivity,” while Motti Seligson, Media Director at Chabad, condemned the “extremist student” diggers on X (Twitter), also saying that Chabad was seeking a structural review. A hotly contested ideological split within the Lubavitch movement has resulted in the group’s leadership not having control over the bottom section of the 770 building.

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SPIKES IN CITY, BOROUGH

CITYWIDE — A RECENT CITY STUDY SHOWS A DRAMATIC SPIKE IN INTIMATE partner violence in NYC between 2021 and 2022, reports BK Reader, with police records indicating a nearly 30% increase in violent incidents citywide and a shocking 225% increase in partner murders in Brooklyn within that time frame. The Fatality Review Committee, which conducted the study, found that areas suffering from poverty and unemployment had disproportionately high crime rates, with Brooklyn’s Community District 5 — Cypress Hills, East New York, New Lots and Starrett City — recording eight partner homicides, the highest in the borough. The committee also found that Black women were by far the most likely to be victims of domestic homicide and called for greater investment in programs targeted towards racial justice and uplifting impoverished communities.

Recent city budget cuts ordered by Mayor Adams could jeopardize some of these programs, according to a nonprofit, Urban Resource Institute, which said the spike was “a direct result of long-standing disinvestment in services for survivors,” according to BK Reader. Read more about recent upward trends in domestic violence here.