What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, February 28, 2024

February 28, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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ONE QUEENS-BOUND LANE OF BQE TO BE CLOSED FEB. 29 — MARCH 15

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WILL BE CLOSING ONE LANE of the Queens-bound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from the Atlantic Avenue entrance ramp to Clark Street, starting on or about Thursday, Feb. 29, until March 15, from midnight to 5 a.m. During the right lane closure, the Atlantic Ave. entrance ramp to the Queens-bound BQE will also be closed. These closures are required for temporary restriping, saw cutting of pavement and installation of temporary plates for interim repairs.

This work and related closures are dependent on the weather and field conditions, DOT said in a release.

Detours to the Queens-bound BQE.
Map: NYCDOT

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WARREN ST APT COMPLEX WINS ARCHITECTURE AWARD

GOWANUS — A NEW CONDO COMPLEX IN GOWANUS WAS SELECTED AS THE WINNER of the 2024 ArchDaily reader-selected Building of the Year awards in the Housing category, reports CoStar. The 18-unit 450 Warren building features spare, open spaces made of contrasting concrete and see-through wire and glass elements that “allow light and changing seasons to permeate the building’s activity.” The project’s architects noted in their submission statement that the complex seeks to deliver both privacy and community, featuring three shared courtyards to bring residents closer together, as well as private terraces and balconies for respite from daily life.

“We engage with what makes the city more livable: conversations with the outdoors and conversations with others,” architect SO-IL wrote.

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COUPLE INDICTED FOR LURING CHILD TO BROOKLYN & SEX TRAFFICKING HER

DOWNTOWN — A BROOKLYN COUPLE HAS BEEN ARRAIGNED ON A 22-COUNT INDICTMENT in which they are charged with sex trafficking of a child, promoting prostitution, promoting sexual performance of a child and other charges relating to a 15-year-old girl they allegedly lured to Brooklyn from Harlem, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Wednesday. The defendants were identified as Daryl Hicks, 38, and Michelle Wicks, 31, of East New York. The couple posted the victim’s photo on escort websites and arranged “dates” for her at various locations in Brooklyn, according to Gonzalez. The girl reached out to her foster mother, and detectives from the Human Trafficking Squad went to the Imperial Hotel in East New York and rescued her.

Hicks, who also allegedly had sex with the child, was ordered held without bail and to return to court on March 13. Wicks was previously arraigned before Justice Chun on Dec. 7, 2023, and released without bail.

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TWO CONVICTED IN JAM MASTER JAY MURDER

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — TWO MEN, RONALD WASHINGTON AND KARL JORDAN Jr., were convicted on Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court in the 2002 murder of hip-hop icon Jason Mizell, a.k.a. Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, reports the New York Post, and face 20 years to life each at sentencing. Prosecutors said the murder was motivated by revenge after Mizell cut the two out of a lucrative drug deal. Witnesses told the jury that Jordan, Mizell’s godson, pulled the trigger, shooting Mizell dead at a Bronx recording studio, while Washington threatened others present; a third man, Jay Bryant, was indicted separately over his involvement in the shooting and will stand trial later this year.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace praised the courage of the witnesses for coming forward decades later: “[They] knew the killers. And they were terrified that they would be retaliated against… But their strength and resolve in testifying at this trial were a triumph of right over wrong and courage over fear.”

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MORE BLACK AMERICANS SHOULD BE ABLE TO OWN HOMES,
SAYS LETTER FROM BK REP. YVETTE CLARKE

CAPITOL HILL — THE RACIAL HOMEOWNERSHIP GAP MUST BE BRIDGED, URGED Brooklyn Congressmember Yvette D. Clarke (D-09) in a bicameral letter sent on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to the Biden-Harris administration and Congressional colleagues. The letter reads in part, “Black Americans continue to suffer from historical and persistent homeownership gaps with the gap between Black and White homeownership rates remaining higher than they were before housing discrimination became illegal in 1968…We urge you to further prioritize efforts to close the homeownership gap and dismantle the structural barriers limiting Black homeownership.”

While Rep. Clarke and 46 of her colleagues praised the Biden-Harris administration for its numerous efforts to promote Black homeownership through underwriting policies within the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and other initiatives, they urge that more must be done to help Blacks achieve a lifetime goal of homeownership, “a defining moment of success.”

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SENATE MINORITY LEADER MCCONNELL
SAYS HE’S GIVING UP LEADERSHIP THIS FALL

CAPITOL HILL — SAYING THAT “IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON,” SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KENTUCKY) ON WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28, ANNOUNCED THAT HE WILL STEP DOWN from his leadership role in November. McConnell, who is the Senate’s longest-serving Leader, originally was elected Senator in 1984; he became Senate Majority Whip in 2003 and, when Democrats flipped the Senate in 2007, he became Minority Leader. During McConnell’s leadership, he has seen his party shift from the traditional conservative of the Reagan era to the populist, America-first approach under former President Donald Trump’s leadership.

McConnell, who turned 82 on Feb. 20, emphasized that he will complete the remainder of his current Senate term, which expires in January 2027.

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NYC EMERGENCY OFFICE WARNS PUBLIC
OF HEAVY STORMS AND WINDS FOR TONIGHT

CITYWIDE — THE NYC OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADVISES NEW YORKERS TO PREPARE FOR HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS, STRONG WINDS, and a rapid temperature drop tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 28. In addition to the Gale Warning that the National Weather Service issued earlier on Wednesday, about half an inch to one inch of rain is expected through about 10 PM, leading to possible minor flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas. NYC OEM also warns of 50 mph winds until 2 AM, which could result in downed tree limbs and localized power outages. Temperatures will drop about 30 degrees overnight with areas of patchy ice possible tomorrow morning in places with standing water.

New Yorkers are advised to exercise caution when driving, walking, or biking, to allow for additional travel time and use mass transit if possible.

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MTA, RESPONDING TO GALE WARNING,
BANS CERTAIN TRUCKS ON AREA BRIDGES

STATEWIDE — A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS PROMPTED THE METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY BRIDGES AND TUNNELS TO IMPLEMENT A BAN of certain vehicles, including empty tractor-trailers, on all bridges, starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, Feb. 28 through 5 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29. The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a Gale Warning for the city, including New York Harbor, through the overnight hours, with winds at 20-30 knots and gusts of up to 40 knots. Empty tractor-trailers and tandem trucks are included in this directive.

During the Gale Warning, the MTA is also closing the pedestrian walkways at the Cross Bay and Marine Parkway Bridges, which connect eastern Brooklyn with the Rockaway Peninsula, the Belt Parkway and Jamaica Bay.

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MAJOR BEEF PRODUCER SUED OVER CLAIMS
OF NET ZERO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION GOAL

NATIONWIDE — AN AMERICAN SUBSIDIARY OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF BEEF PRODUCTS IS FACING A LAWSUIT from New York Attorney General Letitia James. She filed the litigation on Wednesday, Feb. 28, against JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings for misleading the public about its environmental impact. JBS USA has claimed that it will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, a point refuted through documented plans to increase production. Attorney General James charges that JBS Group and JBS USA repeatedly misled consumers with these claims; meanwhile, company executives told their industry peers that, to stay competitive, their advertising needed to target climate-conscious consumers. In reality, JBS Group and JBS USA had not calculated the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions to determine whether they could successfully reduce those emissions to net zero by 2040. The claims violate Sections 349 and 350 of the General Business Law.

Attorney General James is asking the court to require JBS USA to cease its “Net Zero by 2040” advertising campaign and other stipulations.

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SETTLEMENT REQUIRES DEBT COLLECTORS WHO SUED
ON COMPLETED JUDGMENTS TO PAY RESTITUTION

STATEWIDE — NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES HAS SECURED MORE THAN $650,000 FROM DEBT COLLECTION LAW FIRM, Tromberg, Morris, & Poulin, LLC and its subsidiary, Stephen Einstein & Associates, P.C. (SEA), for filing frivolous lawsuits and harming vulnerable New Yorkers. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General found that the debt collector and subsidiary, acting on behalf of NYC landlords, often sued tenants in Civil Court on issues that were already resolved in Housing Court. Moreover, the Office of the Attorney General determined that continued to pursue consumers for debts that were already paid or partially paid, and sometimes garnished wages for judgments that were completed.

The settlement between Attorney General James’ office and Tromberg, Morris, & Poulin requires the companies to pay $595,600 in restitution to more than 4,000 affected New Yorkers, $60,000 in penalties, and stop its frivolous and predatory behavior.

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LANDER: REVIEW OF WORKERS’ RIGHTS AT APPLE
FAILS TO RECONCILE POLICY WITH ACTUAL PRACTICE

CITYWIDE — AN ASSESSMENT OF APPLE’S WORKERS’ RIGHTS POLICY LACKS RIGOR, EXPERTISE AND WORKER INPUT, says City Comptroller Brad Lander, in an analysis that his office released ahead of the tech company’s annual general meeting. Comptroller Lander, working on behalf of the city’s five retirement systems, released the analysis, from independent assessor Jenner & Block on Wednesday, Feb. 28. The analysis determined that Apple’s assessment lacked rigor, failing to address the company’s actual practices, underscoring investors’ lack of confidence in the assessment’s ability to thoroughly analyze whether Apple adheres in practice to its commitment to upholding workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. The assessment consciously avoided addressing 28 unfair labor practice charges, which could have provided insights into potential inconsistencies between company practices and stated commitments.

The assessment also failed to examine whether the company’s response to labor activity was part of a broader strategy to avoid unionization.

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BIDEN ISSUES EXEC ORDER SHIELDING AMERICANS’ PERSONAL INFO FROM UNFRIENDLY COUNTRIES

NATIONWIDE — PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ISSUED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER on Wednesday to protect Americans’ personal data from unfriendly foreign countries, the White House said on Wednesday. The order seeks to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ sensitive data — including genomic, biometric, personal health, geolocation and financial data — to “countries of concern.” Bad actors can use this data to track Americans (including military service members), pry into their personal lives, and pass that data on to foreign companies and foreign intelligence services, enabling intrusive surveillance, scams and blackmail.

It’s not just a foreign problem: Data brokers in America also have recently been exposed collecting the location data of people visiting 600 Planned Parenthood clinics, and selling the information to anti-abortion groups.

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BK OFFICIALS PUSH FOR FEDERAL FLOOD & STORM INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS

CITYWIDE — BROOKLYN ELECTEDS JOINED REP. JERRY NADLER IN A LETTER TO FEMA Administrator Deanne Crisswell and Homeland Security Commissioner Jacqueline Bray in support of NYC’s applications for nearly $117 million in funding through the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities and Flood Mitigation Assistance grant programs, the group announced Monday. Ten projects would increase coastal protection and cloudburst infrastructure, tackle stormwater flooding and sewer back-ups, and plan multi-hazard projects for facilities across the city. These facilities include 11 DOHMH health center facilities; five HRA centers, including two in Brooklyn; City Hall, borough halls, courts, administrative buildings and others. A scoping study of the Flatlands-Fairfield Industrial Business Zone in southeast Brooklyn is also planned.

Signing the letter were U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10), Rep. Nadler (NY-12), along with U.S. Reps. Bowman (NY-16), Clarke (NY-09), Espaillat (NY-13), Jeffries (NY-08), Meng (NY-06), Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Velázquez (NY-07).

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DC 37 RETIREES’ PARENT UNION TAKES ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL DURING FIGHT OVER MEDICARE PLAN SWITCH

CITYWIDE — THE PARENT UNION OF DISTRICT COUNCIL 37 RETIREES ASSOCIATION has been given emergency jurisdiction over the chapter on the grounds that the required paperwork on its nonprofit status was never filed. But the retirees allege this move is in retaliation to their protest of an unpopular Medicare Advantage plan they say is being foisted on them. According to the news website The City, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is now the administrator for the Retirees Association of District Council 37, which the parent union alleges failed for several years to file the required 990 form with the Internal Revenue Service detailing basic salary and expenditure information — even though retirees collect pensions rather than salaries.

The takeover, which happened last week, comes in the midst of an opposition fight against Mayor Eric Adams’ mandating a switch to Medicare Advantage that retirees worry will reduce their health coverage.

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RETIREE GROUPS SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS THEY ASSERT MEDICARE FIGHT IS AT CORE OF TAKEOVER

CITYWIDE — MEANWHILE, ANOTHER MUNICIPAL RETIREES GROUP ALSO FIGHTING THE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN has articulated solidarity with the DC37 Retirees Association. Marianne Pizzitola, President of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, last August won a victory when Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank “permanently banned” NYC from switching to the Medicare Advantage plan (a development reported in the Brooklyn Eagle and The City). She has circulated the DC 37 Retirees Association statement, which pointed out that the nonprofit documents were given to their accountant and the IRS never informed them of any problems. It adds that its membership voted to resume contributions to help Ms. Pizzitola’s group in their successful fight against the Medicare plan, but that administrator Anne Widger “sent us a threatening memo warning us not to continue our contributions.”

While Widger asserted in her statement to the union membership that the current issue is not about the Medicare plan, DC 37 Retirees answered that “the healthcare issue is exactly what this takeover is about.”

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STATE SENATOR MYRIE ORGANIZES RALLY TO SAVE SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER

EAST FLATBUSH — STATE SENATOR ZELLNOR MYRIE (D-20) IS ORGANIZING A LEAP-YEAR DAY RALLY TO SAVE SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He and advocates for the hospital are fighting a transition plan that they say would result in the closure of SUNY-Downstate Hospital. The Brooklyn Eagle’s Raanan Geberer reported on Jan. 24 that the “transformation plan” for chronically underfunded SUNY Downstate Medical Center in East Flatbush would secure “a sustainable future for Downstate for years to come.” However, critics — particularly the unions that represent SUNY Downstate employees — charge that the transition plan would lead to downsizing that would disrupt their ability to provide medical care and would eventually cause the hospital’s closure. The noon rally to save SUNY Downstate takes place on Thursday, Feb. 29, at the hospital, 450 Clarkson Ave.

Sen. Myrie urges constituents to contact Gov. Hochul and SUNY Chancellor John King urging them to save the hospital.

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PASSENGER EJECTED AND KILLED IN HIGH-SPEED COLLISION WITH MTA BUS

WILLIAMSBURG — A MALE PASSENGER IN A MERCEDES BENZ WHOSE DRIVER SMASHED INTO AN MTA BUS WAS KILLED on impact and abandoned by the vehicle’s other occupants, reports the Daily News. Video on Monday night, Feb. 26, around 9:45 pm, had captured the driver racing through a red light at the Harrison Avenue-Lorimer Street intersection in Williamsburg, within the 90th Precinct, when an MTA B-48 bus struck the rear-right passenger side, ejecting the 33-year-old man through the rear window. The NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad and MTA sources said the Mercedes then struck an MTA Bus whose driver was traveling eastbound on Lorimer Street. The collision forced the bus onto the sidewalk where it struck a Citi Bike kiosk.

The Mercedes’ other occupants fled the scene. First-responders rushed the victim, identified as Alex Caba-Gutierrez, to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue where he was pronounced deceased. The bus driver and a passenger were transported to other hospitals and were listed in stable condition as of press time on Tuesday.

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TA PUSHES CITY ON MAKING ‘VISION ZERO’ CORRIDORS SAFER

WILLIAMSBURG — THE ADVOCACY GROUP TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES IS DENOUNCING THE UNSAFE ROAD CONDITIONS THAT IT CLAIMS CAUSED two traffic fatalities in Williamsburg within a 24-hour period. Transportation Alternatives reported that a driver struck and killed a cyclist riding a Citi Bike at the intersection of Lorimer St. and Broadway, near Intermediate School 318, on Tuesday morning, Feb. 27. Just hours before, also on Lorimer St., a speeding driver who ignored a steady red traffic signal collided with a bus, killing a rear-seat passenger. Transportation Alternatives’ Executive Director Danny Harris stated, “Traffic violence has already killed 35 people less than two months into 2024.” Pointing out the Lorimer/Broadway intersection as particularly dangerous, and that Broadway is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor, Harris lamented the 20 serious injuries on the road since 2022, including eight serious bicycle injuries.”

Harris added that TA is “horrified that children witnessed the impact of a fatal crash during their morning trip to school. We send our thoughts and condolences to their community and their loved ones.”

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METROPLUSHEALTH OFFERS FREE TAX PREP FOR ELIGIBLE PATIENTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS

FLATBUSH — METROPLUSHEALTH WILL OFFER FREE TAX PREP SERVICES to New York, the network announced on Tuesday, Feb. 27, just a few days after Mayor Adams announced that NYC Health + Hospitals, the city’s public hospital system, is doing the same. Eligible patients and community members will be able to access free, in-person and virtual tax preparation as part of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s (DCWP) NYC Free Tax Prep initiative and in partnership with BronxWorks, Grow Brooklyn, Urban Upbound and Code for America’s GetYourRefund initiative with MetroPlusHealth. The Brooklyn location is 2221 Church Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11226 in Flatbush, Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled via calling (347) 682-5606 or online.

Services are available for New Yorkers who earned $85,000 or less and file as a family, or those who earned $59,000 or less and file as an individual or couple without dependents.

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LAWMAKERS CALL FOR COLLEGE DISABILITY FUNDING

ALBANY — TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FROM ACROSS NEW YORK STATE JOINED advocates and elected leaders, including state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, in Albany on Monday to call for increased aid for college students with disabilities. The group championed a $15 million earmark for college student support services like academic coaching, accessibility retrofitting, professional development and mental health services, as well as $4.7 million for the CUNY system and a proposed state bill that would allow students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in transition programs to be eligible for Tuition Assistance Program funds. The state, in recent years, has allocated between $2 million to $4 million a year for such services – an amount advocates say isn’t enough to meet the needs of the nearly 95,000 students with disabilities currently pursuing college degrees. Gov/ Kathy Hochul in January announced a $10 million accessibility investment at SUNY campuses statewide.

“As a former teacher of deaf and deaf-blind students and disability civil rights attorney, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of quality, accessible education for all … to provide an accessible and inclusive institution of higher learning welcoming of students with disabilities, you need money and resources. Students with disabilities should not be an afterthought,” Assemblymember Simon said.

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FATAL SHOOTING AT CROWN HEIGHTS BODEGA

CROWN HEIGHTS – A STORE EMPLOYEE AT A CROWN HEIGHTS BODEGA WAS SHOT and killed on Monday afternoon after refusing a demand for free cigarettes, reports the Daily News. Police say Nazim Berry, age 36, was found with a gunshot wound on the sidewalk outside of the Amin Deli on Franklin Avenue and was later pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital. The victim’s mother, Danette Hollie, told the Daily News that a local man had asked Berry to buy him cigarettes, then became angry when Berry said no and left before returning with a gun, shooting him in the back of the head. Police had not made any arrests in the case as of Tuesday afternoon, but are searching for the shooter, who may have wounded himself in the attack.

“He was my heart. I called him Pop. He had an old soul. Everybody loved him… It was senseless. I knew it had to be over something stupid because I knew his heart,” Hollie said; neighbors have set up a memorial for Berry outside the deli.

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PRESCHOOL APPLICATION DEADLINES CLOSING SOON

CITYWIDE – THE DEADLINE FOR NYC’S FREE PUBLIC PRE-K AND 3K PROGRAMS is quickly approaching: parents of children born in 2020 and 2021 will need to have their online applications filled out by Friday, March 1 to enroll. Seats are still available at full-day programs, which help introduce children to building blocks like colors, shapes and numbers, as well as teaching basic school skills like waiting in line and taking turns; application forms and more information can be found online through the city’s NYC MySchools portal.

As parents apply for preschool seats, advocates have begun to warn of serious budget shortfalls that could lead to major cuts in funding for the popular program next year; the powerful UFT teachers’ union filed suit against Mayor Adams in December seeking to restore schools funding.