What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, January 31, 2024

January 31, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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OVERNIGHT LANE CLOSURE ON BQE THIS SATURDAY A.M., FEB. 3

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — REPAIR WORK REQUIRING SINGLE-LANE CLOSURE OF THE QUEENS-BOUND BROOKLYN-QUEENS EXPRESSWAY, originally scheduled for the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 27, has been rescheduled to the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 3. One lane in the Queens-bound direction will be closed from Grace Court to Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights from midnight to 5 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. The closure will allow DOT access into the MTA chamber that houses the fan plant in order to carry out crucial column and beam repairs. At least one lane will still be available, according to DOT community contact Anita Navalurkar.

DOT contractors will be repairing spalled concrete with exposed and broken rebar on the interior of the chamber.

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CATHOLIC STEM STUDENTS WILL HOLD
‘BALLOON AND MARSHMALLOW OLYMPICS’

BAY RIDGE — ANOTHER BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC SCHOOL WILL BE DEMONSTRATING ITS ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE STEM PROGRAM on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 1, with its Balloon & Marshmallow Olympics. As part of Catholic Schools Week, students in the sixth to eighth grades’ Science, Technology, Engineering, Math program will propel balloon-powered cars and compete with marshmallow buildings to win medals. Teams of four or five students will work together on these projects, as well as on speed-editing videos, and more to score points and win medals.

Catholic Schools Week represents an opportunity for students at the Catholic Schools of Brooklyn and Queens to celebrate, give back to their communities and learn in new ways.

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BISHOP BRENNAN ‘FASCINATED’ BY ROBOTICS
PROGRAM AT BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY

BAY RIDGE — BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY GOT A SPECIAL VISIT ON WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31, FROM BISHOP ROBERT BRENNAN of the Diocese of Brooklyn, who expressed particular fascination with the school’s robotic program. Bishop Brennan, who has been visiting the diocese’s academic institutions as part of the 50th Anniversary of Catholic Schools Week, greeted students and families as they arrived, spent time with seventh-grade students in the STEM Lab and read stories to the kindergarteners. “I got to see some really exciting things happening at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy, and the students had some great questions for me,” he said.

Bishop Brennan also said, “I am very proud of our Catholic schools that strive to develop the whole person. We teach more than math, art, science, and technology. Our schools teach our faith, to form people of the community who know the love of God.”

A 7th grader gives Bishop Brennan a demonstration of her robot’s capabilities.
Photo courtesy John Quaglione/DeSales Media

Bishop Brennan takes part in a robotics class at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy.
Photo courtesy John Quaglione/DeSales Media

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DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO FAILING TO MAINTAIN
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MEASURES FOR PROFIT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE DIANE GUJARATI ON WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31, PRESIDED AT THE GUILTY PLEA of an individual who failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program, in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, as part of a scheme to bring lucrative and high-risk international financial business to a small, unsophisticated credit union. Court filings show that from 2014 to 2016, defendant Gyanendra Asre devised a scheme to bring more than $1 billion in lucrative and high-risk international financial business lines such as international currency trading to small, unsophisticated financial institutions. Asre trained in anti-money laundering compliance and procedures, and represented his expertise and knowledge of high-risk transactions, persuading the New York State Employees Federal Credit Union (NYSEFCU), a small financial institution with a volunteer board that primarily served New York state public employees, to allow Asre to conduct high-risk transactions through that entity.

When sentenced, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

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PRESIDENT BIDEN APPROVES NY’S REQUEST
FOR MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION AND FUNDING

STATEWIDE — PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS APPROVED NEW YORK GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL’S REQUEST FOR A MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION TO PROVIDE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO DOWNSTATE COMMUNITIES impacted by heavy rain and flooding in September. The governor, announcing the approval on Wednesday, Jan. 31, said that the declaration allows for federal assistance to support recovery and reconstruction efforts in Kings, Nassau and Westchester Counties, including assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures and repairs to public buildings and infrastructure. More than eight inches of rain fell in parts of Brooklyn, and more than six inches of rain fell in parts of Nassau and Westchester counties during 24 hours on Sept. 29, 2023, with Governor Hochul declaring a State of Emergency for the entire city, Long Island and the Mid-Hudson Region that same day.

Besides Gov. Hochul, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) also stated, “I fought to secure this approval and bring home the federal resources urgently needed to start recovering from this devastating storm, and today, those resources were made available.

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COLTON: CITY LAGS IN MAKING SCHOOLS ADA-ACCESSIBLE

BATH BEACH TO GRAVESEND — ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAM COLTON (D-47) IS URGING THE CITY TO SPEED UP THE ACCESSIBILITY of public schools for students with disabilities. Colton, who represents Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, charges that the city continues to lag in progress in this area, with just 31.1% of the city’s public schools fully accessible as of August 2023, some 34 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. In District 21, which includes a large portion of the area that Assemblyman Colton represents, only 22.5% of public schools operated by the city’s Department of Education (DOE) meet an accessibility benchmark, according to Advocates for Children.

Not all of the city’s 1,587 public school locations (including early childhood sites, annexes and some specialized programs) have accessibility status available, according to Advocates for Children; this is another problem for families trying to decide where to send their children.

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MAYOR INVESTS $1.5M IN FAITH LEADERS’
GROUPS TO DETER GUN VIOLENCE

BROOKLYN AND CITYWIDE — THE EAST FLATBUSH-BASED GODSQUAD (67th Precinct Clergy Council) is praising a $1.5 million investment in faith leaders’ work to end gun violence and support victims, survivors and their families. The award, which Mayor Adams announced at an interfaith breakfast on Wednesday, Jan. 31, will be administered through the Citywide Clergy Collective (C3) in all five boroughs to serve the community in anti-gun violence work through a three-pronged approach: Street-Level Engagement, Victim Support Services and Precinct Engagement. The Clergy Collective (C3) aims to be proactive by providing engaging activities, information and training to deter further violence in our communities. The Collective will coordinate with the Department of Youth and Community Development Office of Neighborhood Safety, Office of Faith-based and Community Partnerships, NYC Police Department and other law enforcement, social service agencies and violence interrupter organizations.

GodSquad was founded in 2010 to work with the NYPD’s 67th Precinct to fight gun violence and address the high murder rate in East Flatbush. Pastor Gilford Monrose, GodSquad’s Founding President, is now the city’s director of Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships.

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LIDL STORE COMING TO DOWNTOWN BK

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — GERMAN SUPERMARKET CHAIN LIDL IS CONTINUING ITS EXPANSION into North America with a new outpost planned for Fulton Mall, reports Patch, recently signing a long-term lease for a 30,000-square-foot space on Albee Square currently occupied by Express Factory Outlet. The new Lidl is set to open in 2025, and will join two other new locations scheduled to open in Crown Heights and Park Slope in late 2024, as well as existing locations in Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island.

“Our reception in Manhattan and Queens has been outstanding. We appreciate the enthusiasm for Lidl throughout New York City and look forward to offering our award-winning products to customers in Brooklyn,” Lidl Senior Director of Real Estate Or Raitses wrote in a statement.

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WOMAN SETS NEIGHBOR ON FIRE AFTER ARGUMENT

BROWNSVILLE — POLICE SAY A BROWNSVILLE WOMAN INTENTIONALLY SET HER NEIGHBOR ON FIRE on Monday after an argument over a debt turned ugly, reports the Daily News. According to the NYPD, Denise Wiley, age 62, confronted her 73-year-old downstairs neighbor seeking repayment, but was told he did not have the money available; Wiley then allegedly became enraged, poured gasoline on the man’s face, and then lit a match.

The victim was taken to Staten Island University Hospital’s burn center for treatment, while Wiley was taken into custody by police on Monday and charged with attempted murder, and is being held on $500,000 bail.

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ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE TO EXPAND AT CITY POINT

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — MOVIE THEATER/RESTAURANT CHAIN ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE this week announced that its branch at City Point Mall in Downtown Brooklyn will be expanding in 2024, adding five new screens to its current operation; Alamo also plans to install new reclining seats and upgraded projectors. The theater will close temporarily on Feb. 5 and 6 for construction, then reopen on Feb. 7 with a limited menu through the 13th.

The theater’s expansion was first announced in 2019 and planned for 2020 — but NYC theaters were hit hard that year by pandemic restrictions, with state-ordered closures between March 2020 and February 2021; the nearby Regal UA multiplex on Court Street ultimately shuttered in early 2022.

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REP. MALLIOTAKIS DEMANDS DEPORTATION
OF MIGRANTS WHO ATTACKED NYPD OFFICERS

BAY RIDGE — BROOKLYN CONGRESSWOMAN NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-11) ON WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31, CALLED FOR THE IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION of those who were caught on camera assaulting two NYPD officers on Saturday night, collectively referring to them as migrants. “The video released last night capturing the assault of two NYPD officers by a group of illegal migrants in Times Square is infuriating and a horrifying example of why Mayor Adams needs to stop misinterpreting ‘Right to Shelter’ and put an end to our city’s migrant crisis once and for all… Accusing the city of “refusing to cooperate with federal detainer and deportation requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Malliotakis said, “Republicans, Democrats & Independents should, at the very least, be able to agree that migrants who assault our police or commit crimes in our country should be deported immediately and have any future immigration application denied.”

Rep. Malliotakis did not mention in her statement that two of the men involved in Saturday’s assault reside in Brooklyn; one has a Jefferson St. address, and the other is staying at a men’s shelter on Marcus Garvey Blvd.

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BROOKLYN RESIDENTS ARRESTED AS PART OF MOB THAT ATTACKED COPS

MIDTOWN — POLICE HAVE RELEASED THE NAMES OF TWO BROOKLYN MEN ARRESTED AS PART OF A MOB that attacked two police officers on Saturday, Jan. 27, in Manhattan on West 42nd Street at about 10:30 p.m. Yorman Reveron, 24, a resident of Jefferson Street in Bushwick, and Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, residing in a men’s shelter on Marcus Garvey Boulevard, were arrested Saturday night. Also arrested were Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, a resident of a mobile home park in Columbus, Mississippi; Wilson Juarez, 21, residing in a migrant shelter in College Point, Queens; and Jhoan Boada, 22, homeless.

Multiple men repeatedly kicked and punched the officers in the head and body after they tried to make an arrest, video shows. All the men except Boada were charged with Assault on a Police Officer, Gang Assault, Obstructing Governmental Administration and Disorderly Conduct. Boada was charged with Attempted Assault on a Police Officer and Gang Assault.

Screenshot from surveillance video.
Photo: NYPD

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CHECK OUT WHERE NEW LOADING ZONES ARE COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

CITYWIDE — THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IS INSTALLING NEW LOADING ZONES across the city and wants residents’ feedback about the location of the zones planned for their neighborhoods. DOT says it is expanding the number of loading zones because demand for deliveries has increased significantly due to the exponential growth of e-commerce. On the positive side, more loading zones will help alleviate double-parking and traffic congestion from delivery vehicles, DOT said. On the downside (for car owners, at least), creating the loading zones will take away parking spaces, according to NY1.

See the map of planned loading zone locations, ask questions and leave feedback at nyc.gov/loading by Monday, Feb. 12, at 10 a.m.

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POLICE I.D. PARK SLOPE COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT, POSSIBLE MURDER-SUICIDE

PARK SLOPE — POLICE RELEASED THE NAMES OF A COUPLE discovered dead in their Park Slope apartment in the early morning of Thursday, Jan. 25, and the investigation may point to a murder-suicide. Jason Jackson and his girlfriend, Olga Kirshenbaum, both 34, were discovered in their Second Street home, both shot in the head. A firearm was recovered in the vicinity of Jackson, leading police to suspect he had killed his girlfriend and then himself. Kirshenbaum, aka “The Money Whisperer,” was the owner of Rags to Riches Consulting, who provided “un-scary” financial advice to creatives. Jackson was a cook who had studied at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas, according to his Facebook.

The news shocked those who knew them as a happy couple. “[It] couldn’t have been him,” a grieving friend and next-door neighbor who identified himself as Mook told the Daily News.

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CITY & STATE HONORS DOUG JABLON FOR HIS HALF-CENTURY OF LEADERSHIP

BOROUGH PARK AND MANHATTAN — DOUBLAS JABLON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS and Special Assistant to the President at Maimonides Health, has been named to City & State’s 2024 “50 Over 50: The Age Disruptors List.” This award celebrates 50 of the most prominent leaders in New York over the age of 50 in business, government and media, reflecting continued dedication to, and a sustained positive impact in, New York. During his nearly half-century tenure at Maimonides, Jablon has ushered Maimonides Health through several demographic changes, transforming the hospital complex into an increasingly diverse center of care. He has also worked in the wider community through outreach to cultural, ethnic and faith-based groups. He also built Maimonides’ Community Relations and Volunteer departments and implemented in-hospital Muslim, Christian and interfaith religious facilities at Maimonides.

Mr. Jablon was profiled in the Jan. 28 issue of City & State Magazine and honored with the award at a Jan. 29 reception at The Manhattan Penthouse.

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ASSEMBLYMEMBER CARROLL LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO IMPROVE CHILDHOOD LITERACY

ALBANY — ADDRESSING AN EARLY-CHILDHOOD READING CRISIS, ASSEMBLYMEMBER ROBERT CARROLL (D-44) WAS SET TO LAUNCH THE NY CAMPAIGN FOR EARLY LITERACY at a special event in the state Capitol Building on Tuesday morning. Joining him were coalition members of the New York Campaign for Early Literacy and his legislative colleagues. Together, they are pushing for a comprehensive approach that addresses New York’s early childhood literacy crisis through legislation and funding. Governor Hochul’s Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget included elements of Carroll’s Right to Read legislation (A.2897/S5480), which would establish policy changes that promote the use of evidence-based practices in schools throughout New York that are aligned with the science of reading.

New York is one of the few states that haven’t yet enacted laws related to the science of reading. According to the results of the State’s 2022 assessment test, fewer than half of the state’s third graders were reading at grade level.

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MAINTENANCE ISSUES FAULTED FOR CONEY F TRAIN DERAILMENT

CONEY ISLAND — THE MTA HAS IDENTIFIED TWO SEPARATE CAUSES OF the derailment of an F train near Coney Island on Jan. 10, reports AMNY. MTA New York City Transit President Rich Davey, at a press conference on Thursday, told the media that the combination of a “slightly misaligned” track segment and four missing bolts on the train’s chassis resulted in the train’s fourth car jumping the rails near Neptune Avenue: “Independent of one another [they] would not have caused a derailment… But together, that is what we believe caused the derailment.” The MTA had known about the misaligned track, which was out of position by just ⅛ of an inch, for over a year, according to Davey, but did not consider it a priority to fix. The agency says it is now acting quickly to repair similar issues across the system, with 82 out of 103 previously noted misalignments now corrected and the remainder set to follow by the end of February.

The Coney derailment was unconnected to an incident earlier in January when two trains collided in Manhattan after a passenger pulled an emergency brake. Davey said that the MTA’s inspection of its train fleet did not find missing bolts to be a systemic issue.

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POLICE GIVE TRAFFIC SAFETY AWARDS AS DEATHS REMAIN HIGH

CITYWIDE — MAYOR ADAMS’ OFFICE AND NYPD BRASS ON FRIDAY HONORED SEVEN POLICE PRECINCTS that reported zero traffic deaths in 2023, including Brooklyn’s 67th, 76th, 81st and 83rd precincts, with the city’s first-ever Vision Zero Awards, reports Streetsblog. But despite touting a “dramatic reduction” in traffic fatalities within those precincts, NYC actually recorded a slight uptick in deaths overall, with 257 fatalities in 2023 versus 255 in 2022. Commissioner Edward Caban thanked the NYPD’s traffic safety teams and promised to work with the public on safety solutions, stating, “There is little difference between saving a life from gunfire and saving a life from an inattentive or reckless driver. There is certainly no difference to the families and loved ones that are left behind… we vow to remain relentless in our efforts to eradicate traffic violence in all its forms.” While the city’s streets have grown safer since the implementation of Vision Zero anti-traffic-death goals in 2013, when 299 people died, fatalities remain stubbornly above a low of 206 deaths in 2018, while crashes with injuries have crept up steadily since 2020.

Brooklyn’s 77th Precinct in Crown Heights was also honored with an award recognizing its work in achieving the largest reduction in fatalities, dropping from nine in 2022 to just one in 2023.

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GREEN-WOOD TO HOST CRAFTS THERAPY

SUNSET PARK — GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY WILL HOST A THERAPEUTIC YARNWORK session next week as part of its “Grieving and Weaving” monthly event series, focusing on finding catharsis and reminiscing through knitting and crochet. Crafters of all skill levels are welcome: beginners will have the opportunity to learn the basics from textile artist Mary Pat Klein, while more skilled knitters and crocheters are encouraged to bring projects along. Green-Wood Death Educator Gabrielle R. Gatto will lead discussions on tactile and kinesthetic healing, crafting physical reminders of loving relationships and incorporating handiwork into grieving journeys, according to the cemetery’s program catalog.

The class will take place on Feb. 7, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Green-Wood’s Modern Chapel near the 5th Avenue main entrance. Tickets are free, although the cemetery suggests a $10 donation, and must be reserved on Green-Wood Cemetery’s website in advance.

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RINGLING BROS, BARNUM + BAILEY DEBUTING NEW CIRCUS AT BARCLAYS

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE CIRCUS IS COMING TO THE BARCLAYS CENTER in February, when Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey will debut a new version of their “Greatest Show on Earth” in the first stop of a North American tour, featuring live and interactive music performances, death-defying stunts, acrobatics, clowning, dancing and more. Show highlights include a bike-riding high-wire act by the sixth-generation Lopez family of circus performers, a world-record three-story-high unicycle ride, brand-new trapeze and aerial stunts, the Ukrainian Equivokee clown trio, the Argendance Boleadoras and Malambo fusion troupe, and the show-closing Ringling Rocket, where performer Skyler Miser will be shot out of a cannon at 65 miles per hour.

Performances will be held from Thursday, Feb. 22 through Sunday, Feb. 25, before the circus decamps to New Jersey.

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OPENING ARGUMENTS IN JAM MASTER JAY MURDER TRIAL

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — THE TRIAL OF TWO MEN ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING in the 2002 murder of legendary hip-hop star Jason Mizell, known as Jam Master Jay, of the group Run DMC, began on Monday, reports ABC News, as lawyers for both sides made their opening arguments in Brooklyn Federal Court. The defendants, Karl Jordan, Jr., and Ronald Washington have pleaded not guilty to the long-unsolved crime. Prosecutors allege that Jordan, accused of the fatal shooting, and Washington, accused of waving a gun at others, acted out of “greed and revenge” for being cut out of a drug deal. The defense argued that the government’s eyewitnesses are unreliable and that their clients couldn’t have been involved. Washington says he depended on the star for money, while Jordan claims to have been with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting.

The two face up to 20 years in prison if convicted; a third defendant, Jay Bryant, is set to be tried separately later this year