What’s News, Breaking: Thursday, February 29, 2024

February 29, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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17 INJURED IN DRUNK DRIVER CRASH WITH BUS

NEW LOTS — SEVENTEEN PEOPLE WERE INJURED IN A TUESDAY AFTERNOON TRAFFIC ACCIDENT at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Livonia avenues, reports Gothamist, with no fatalities or serious wounds. Eleven of the injured were transported to local hospitals for evaluation, while six refused medical attention. The Daily News reports that the “chain-reaction” crash began when an allegedly drunk driver in a Lexus SUV made a turn and hit a Honda minivan. The SUV then hit multiple parked cars, while a city bus sideswiped the other vehicles involved in the crash.

The driver of the Lexus is reportedly in custody at Brookdale Hospital, with charges pending.

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DOG CAFE SAVED BY FUNDRAISER

WILLIAMSBURG — POPULAR LOCAL DOG-FRIENDLY CAFE BORIS AND HORTON WILL REMAIN OPEN for the time being after raising over $250,000 in under a week to pay for operating expenses, the Brooklyn Paper reports. The owners had originally notified fans on social media that the cafe’s two locations, in Williamsburg and the East Village, would have to shutter by Monday, Feb. 26, without a big infusion of cash. Boris and Horton’s Williamsburg outpost is new to the community, opening its doors in June of last year, but has quickly become a community favorite, hosting events like a viewing of the Puppy Bowl earlier this month. Customers were shocked by the news that the cafe had been struggling but offered an outpouring of support to father and daughter owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman, who told the New York Post that the money was urgently needed for health code fixes at the East Village location.

Both locations are temporarily closed, but will reportedly reopen soon following the success of the crowdfunding campaign.

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G’POINT RAMEN RESTAURANT SUES WEGMANS OVER FISH MARKET

GREENPOINT — THE OWNER OF LOCAL JAPANESE RESTAURANT OKONOMI AND YUJI RAMEN HAS FILED SUIT against grocery chain Wegmans over what he says is a breach of contract, Greenpointers reports. Restaurateur Yuji Haraguchi told Greenpointers that Wegmans in August of last year asked to collaborate on a traditional Japanese fish market concept, drawing on Haraguchi’s experience running the local Osakana fish market chain. Haraguchi says he signed agreements with Wegmans, shared trade secrets, gave tours and even hosted employees at one of Osakana’s sushi classes — but in October, Wegmans opened a fish market at its Astor Place store under the name Sakanaya without informing Haraguchi, before in November abruptly cutting ties.

Haraguchi told Greenpointers that he wants to reach a settlement and move on, adding that community support has been overwhelmingly positive. Wegmans in a statement said the lawsuit was without merit.

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MAN WHO SHOT NEIGHBOR WHILE WEARING HALLOWEEN MASK SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS

DOWNTOWN — A BROOKLYN MAN WEARING A HALLOWEEN MASK who walked into his neighbor’s apartment and killed him in his bed has been sentenced to 17 years in prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Thursday. Gregory Spears, 43, pled guilty to manslaughter after the bizarre killing of Angel Medina, 62, in the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville, where they both lived on the 14th floor. On May 19, 2020, at 2:40 p.m., Spears knocked on the door of the victim’s apartment, where his own wife was visiting the victim’s wife. Recognizing him despite the Halloween mask, the victim’s wife let him in. He then went into the bedroom, took off the mask, shot the victim multiple times and fled the apartment.

Spears was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo.

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SEN. GILLIBRAND PRAISES RESULTS
FROM ANTI-GUN TRAFFICKING LAW

NATIONWIDE — AFTER LAW ENFORCEMENT SEIZED MORE THAN 2,000 ILLEGAL GUNS UNDER THE ANTI-GUN TRAFFICKING STATUTE IN THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday, Feb. 29, praised the anti-gun trafficking provision for which she fought. Last December (2023), Gillibrand unveiled her first-of-its-kind report analyzing the initial successes of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)’s anti-gun trafficking section and mental health funding distribution. The original report highlighted the number of guns that have been seized by law enforcement and the number of defendants that have been charged under BSCA’s gun trafficking provision. “I am proud that in less than two years, law enforcement has used the anti-gun trafficking provision that I included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to take over 2,000 illegal guns off our streets and charge hundreds of suspected traffickers,” said Gillibrand.

Gillibrand initiated the legislation after the 2009 shooting death of Nyasia Pryear-Yard, a 17-year-old Nazareth Regional High School honors student and Brooklynite who was hit by a stray bullet while at a dance party with friends.

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BOYCOTT DELAYS A/C SERVICE THURSDAY FOLLOWING CONDUCTOR SLASHING

BROOKLYN — SUBWAY SERVICE ON THE A/C LINE RAN WITH SEVERE DELAYS THURSDAY MORNING as train crews launched a boycott following the vicious slashing of a subway conductor, Crain’s reports. The boycott came after a conductor on a Brooklyn C train was slashed in the neck, requiring 34 stitches. Alton Scott, 59, a conductor with 24 years of service, was attacked at about 3:40 a.m. at the Rockaway Avenue/Fulton Street subway platform on the A/C-line. So far this year, seven transit workers have been assaulted, Crain’s reports.

At 2:48 p.m. Thursday, MTA’s website stated that C trains were running with delays “after we removed a train with a mechanical problem from service earlier in Manhattan,” and A trains were delayed “while we conduct track maintenance at Far Rockaway-Mott Av.”

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CITY COUNCILMEMBER HANIF: BOYCOTT IFTARS
UNLESS HOSTS SUPPORT ISRAELI-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE

PARK SLOPE AND CITY HALL — CITY COUNCILWOMAN SHAHANA HANIF (D-39), A LEADER OF THE COUNCIL’S PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS, HAS CALLED FOR A BOYCOTT OF ANY IFTARS OR OTHER RAMADAN EVENTS that Mayor Eric Adams plans hosts next month, reports the Daily News. Ramadan this year lasts from March 10 to April 9 and is a time of sunrise-to-sunset fasting as well as spiritual and emotional discipline. Hanif — City Council’s only female Muslim — is calling for fellow Muslims to boycott Mayor Adams’ customary Iftars until he commits to supporting a cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas war that many people view as genocide. Speaking during a rally outside City Hall on Feb. 28, Hanif also urged mosques in the city to bar any of her Council colleagues from attending Ramadan prayer services unless they publicly support a ceasefire.

Hanif made the boycott demand during a rally outside City Hall on Wednesday, denouncing what she calls an inconsistent message from the mayor and other local Democrats relating to the rising civilian death toll of Palestinians.

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NEW CONGRESSIONAL BILL WOULD PROTECT
ABUSED-PARTNERS’ FINANCIAL SAFETY

NATIONWIDE — SURVIVORS OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE would be protected from Economic Abuse in legislation that Congressmembers Nydia Velazquez (D-07/Brooklyn and Queens) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are introducing. Their bill, the Survivor Financial Safety and Inclusion Working Group Act, aims to increase support for survivors of intimate partner violence within the financial system, and would create an interagency working group composed of the federal financial regulators and relevant stakeholders, including a representative of historically underserved communities. The working group would be tasked with collecting data on the impacts of the economic abuse of survivors carried out through regulated financial institutions.

This working group would also provide recommendations on how Congress and federal regulators can help financial institutions improve existing products and services and launch new ones to meet survivors’ financial and safety needs.

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FIRST LEGAL CANNABIS SHOP OWNED BY BLACK WOMAN OPENS IN BROOKLYN

PARK SLOPE — NUMEROUS OFFICIALS AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS CELEBRATED THE OPENING of a legal cannabis shop in Park Slope on Thursday, Feb. 29. Matawana, at 533 5th Ave., is the first legal dispensary in the borough to be owned by a Black woman, Leeann Mata. Four of her five brothers had been arrested on cannabis charges during the stop-and-frisk era, Mata said. “Draconian prohibition laws cost my family almost everything. But, the plant itself is a healing herb.” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-10) said, “I’m proud to see Brooklyn’s first Black woman-owned dispensary open in the heart of my district. With the opening of Matawana, Leeann Mata is making history.”

Matawana brings to five the number of legal weed shops currently operating in Brooklyn. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams both promised to crack down on the hundreds — if not thousands — of illicit storefronts threatening legal businesses.

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COPS ARREST BK WOMAN WHO SMASHED SUBWAY MUSICIAN IN HEAD WITH BOTTLE

MANHATTAN — POLICE ARRESTED THE WOMAN WHO WALKED UP TO A CELLIST passionately playing in the mezzanine of the 34th Street/Herald Square subway station on Feb. 13 and smashed him in the head with a metal bottle. Amira Hunter, 23, of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, was arrested late Wednesday night and charged with assault. The capture followed a two-week manhunt.

Musician Iain Forrest, who uses the stage name Eyeglasses, posted a video of the attack on his Instagram, saying, “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

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NEW CONGRESSIONAL BILL WOULD PROTECT
ABUSED-PARTNERS’ FINANCIAL SAFETY

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‘C’ TRAIN CONDUCTOR SLASHED IN NECK, 34 STITCHES CLOSE ‘GAPING’ WOUND

BEDFORD STUYVESANT — A NYC TRANSIT CONDUCTOR WAS SLASHED IN THE NECK when put his head out of the window to make routine observations early Thursday morning, TWU Local 100 Union President Richard Davis said in a statement. Alton Scott, 59, a conductor with 24 years of service, was attacked at about 3:40 a.m. at the Rockaway Avenue/Fulton Street subway platform on the A/C-line. He was transported to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center where he received 34 stitches to close a gaping wound, Davis said.

According to NBC, MTA officials expected to hold a press conference later on Thursday.

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REP. VELÁZQUEZ AMONG THOSE PUSHING FOR PERMANENCY
OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING RISK-SHARING PROGRAM

NATIONWIDE — THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ON THURSDAY, FEB. 29, INDEFINITELY EXTENDED THE FEDERAL FINANCING BANK’S RISK-SHARING PROGRAM, which has helped state agencies finance 42,000 homes since its inception in 2015, including almost a quarter of these — 10,000 — in New York alone, reports Real Deal. The Obama-era program provides long-term, fixed-rate financing to housing finance agencies, or HFAs, that fills a gap when the private market cannot. President Joe Biden in September 2021 revived the program for three years after the Trump administration had allowed it to lapse at the end of 2018. Although the program was scheduled to stop accepting applications in September, housing leaders and Congressional Democrats, including Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-07) of Brooklyn/Queens, Rep. Ritchie Torres (South Bronx) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), have led the fight to extend it, officially asking for Risk-Sharing to become permanent.

“Since the program’s resumption by the Biden administration, FFB Risk-Sharing has supported nearly $2 billion in FHA-insured loans that have helped create or preserve more than 12,000 units of affordable housing,” said Rep. Velázquez, who said the federal government must still do more.

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IN MEMORIAM:
BROOKLYN-BORN COMEDIAN RICHARD LEWIS, 76,
CO-STARRED IN ‘CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’

PROSPECT HEIGHTS TO L.A. — THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD HAS LOST BROOKLYN-BORN COMEDIAN RICHARD LEWIS, WHO DIED UNEXPECTEDLY AT AGE 76 on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Los Angeles. Lewis, who gained fame for his dark and acerbic humor during the 1970s and 1980s, is best known as a co-star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a series that just ended after its 12th season. Although his official cause of death was listed as a heart attack, Lewis last April had said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Richard Lewis was born on June 29, 1947, at the old Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn (555 Prospect Place in Prospect Heights — before its merger with nearby St. John’s Hospital at Washington Ave. and St. John’s Place). Another future comedian, with whom Lewis was linked, Larry David, also was born at Jewish Hospital just three days later, according to Lewis’ New York Times obituary.

A bitter hatred of each other early in their lives transformed into a strong friendship between Richard Lewis and Larry David in their adult years.

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DINAPOLI: NYC’S BUDGET OUTLOOK IMPROVES
BUT SCHOOLS, SOCIAL SERVICES STILL NEED MONEY

CITYWIDE — NEW YORK CITY’S BUDGET OUTLOOK HAS IMPROVED, BUT the city will need to identify ways to fund education and social services in the future, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli says in his analysis of the latest financial plan. The city’s Preliminary FY 2025 budget and January Financial Plan enabled the city to increase current-year spending to $115.8 billion (adjusted for prepayments), close its $7.1 billion FY 2025 budget gap, and reduce its out-year gaps. However, DiNapoli’s report anticipates unfunded Department of Education risks will rise to nearly $1.9 billion by Fiscal Year 2028, and points out that the city does not address how it will support $92 million in funding for its free 3-K program, nor does it include funding to reduce class size.

Cash and rental assistance enrollment is likely to remain higher than pre-pandemic levels in the near future. Furthermore, the expansion of the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) housing voucher program could result in costs of $11.4 billion cumulatively over the next four fiscal year cycles.

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SCHOOL EMPLOYEE ARRESTED IN WILLIAMSBURG FOR ENDANGERING WELFARE OF A CHILD

WILLIAMSBURG — AN OFF-DUTY EMPLOYEE OF THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION was arrested at 12:32 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, within the confines of the 90th Precinct, which includes Williamsburg. Douglass James, 40, was charged with unlawful publication of an intimate image, endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful disclosure of an intimate image, according to a police report.

No further information was available at press time.

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CANARSIE MAN CHARGED WITH RUNNING DOWN PEDESTRIAN WHILE DRIVING DRUNK

DOWNTOWN — A CANARSIE MAN HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER after he allegedly drove drunk and struck a 68-year-old pedestrian crossing the street, killing him. Gary Turner, 47, was arraigned Wednesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dale Fong-Frederick. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a release that on Jan. 31, 2024, at approximately 6:45 p.m., the defendant was driving a 2017 Dodge Caravan westbound on Glenwood Road when he struck Luis Garcia, 68, in the crosswalk at the intersection of East 105th Street, throwing him onto the ground. Police allegedly observed that Turner had slurred speech, red eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. A breathalyzer test showed he had a blood alcohol level of .132, greater than the legal limit of .08.

Bail was set at $150.00 cash or $300.00 bond. Turner was ordered to return to court on April 16.

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BRANNAN’S CHIEF OF STAFF TO CHALLENGE BROOK-KRASNY

BAY RIDGE — CHRIS McCREIGHT, CITY COUNCILMEMBER JUSTIN BRANNAN’S Chief of Staff, on Monday announced his intention to run against Republican southern Brooklyn Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny this year, reports the Brooklyn Paper. Brook-Krasny is a former Democrat who won his seat in 2022’s “red wave” local election after changing parties. McCreight, a former small business owner, characterized Brook-Krasny as ineffective and absent from local affairs, as well as accusing him of flip-flopping to the far right on issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights and environmentalism, potentially leaving constituents confused about his shift away from his previous liberal stances; Brook-Krasny, in turn, highlighted his previous terms of service in the district between 2006 and 2015 and claimed that his newfound conservative values are in line with those of District 46.

“He doesn’t have an office that’s operable, he doesn’t have signs up. He’s really sort of absent in the district, not bringing any funding back — no money to schools, no money to anything in the neighborhood,” McCreight said. Brook-Krasny shot back, “When I left Soviet Union in 1989, I thought I would never have to deal with the socialists again. Now one of them is running against me for New York State Assembly.”

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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 Avenue 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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BRANNAN’S CHIEF OF STAFF TO CHALLENGE BROOK-KRASNY

BAY RIDGE – CHRIS MCCREIGHT, CITY COUNCILMEMBER JUSTIN BRANNAN’S Chief of Staff, on Monday announced his intention to run against Republican southern Brooklyn Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny this year, reports the Brooklyn Paper; Brook-Krasny is a former Democrat who won his seat in 2022’s “red wave” local election after changing parties. McCreight, a former small business owner, characterized Brook-Krasny as ineffective and absent from local affairs, as well as accusing him of flip-flopping to the far right on issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights and environmentalism, potentially leaving constituents confused about his shift away from his previous liberal stances; Brook-Krasny in turn highlighted his previous terms of service in the district between 2006 and 2015, and claimed that his newfound conservative values are in line with those of District 46.

“He doesn’t have an office that’s operable, he doesn’t have signs up. He’s really sort of absent in the district, not bringing any funding back — no money to schools, no money to anything in the neighborhood,” McCreight said; Brook-Krasny shot back, “When I left the Soviet Union in 1989, I thought I would never have to deal with the socialists again. Now one of them is running against me for New York State Assembly.”

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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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COUPLE INDICTED FOR LURING CHILD TO BROOKLYN AND 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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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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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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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, accusing it of 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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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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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 Black people achieve a lifetime goal of homeownership, “a defining moment of success.”

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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.”