What’s News, Breaking: Friday, March 22, 2024

March 22, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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FILM CREW WILL RECREATE HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT
SCENE ALONG STREETS IN BENSONHURST, GRAVESEND

BENSONHURST AND GRAVESEND — POLICE, TENT CAMPS AND DRUG USE. These “reality scenes” will be part of a movie shoot in Bensonhurst starting Monday, March 25, according to an advisory from Community Board 11. The city’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting has issued a permit for the filming of “Long Bright River” along New Utrecht Avenue between 78th and 79th streets in Bensonhurst, and along Highlawn Avenue near West 6th St. in Gravesend this week. Residents and local merchants can expect to see actors in police uniforms, 50 un-homed actors, tent encampment set dressing, trash debris set dressing, and depictions of drug use. Set dressing will depict homeless encampments with garbage, debris, tents, shopping carts, drug dealing, and broken-down appliances on the sidewalk and curb lanes.

Parking for the film crew vehicles will be reserved along New Utrecht Avenue for the above-mentioned block-long stretch. Parking will also be blocked off along Highlawn Ave. between West 5th and West 10th streets in Gravesend and the related portions of West 6th St., W. 8th St. and Kings Highway.

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PRATT INSTITUTE’S FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITIONS OPEN

FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL — PRATT INSTITUTE OPENS ITS EXHIBITION OF BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS THESIS PROJECTS on Monday, March 25. The exhibit is part of the school’s 2024 Pratt Shows, where the graduating class will present the culmination of experimental jewelry research, exploration and creative production. Each artist’s work expresses self-empowerment, identity, culture and a love for the craft, with the materials themselves conveying attention to sustainability, innovation and tradition. In past years, celebrity style icons like Rihanna and Lady Gaga have popularized and worn the innovative creations of Pratt Jewelry program alumni.

Pratt Shows are public exhibitions and presentations by Pratt Institute’s graduating students in 30+ different fields, now through May. Also debuting on March 25 are the Thesis Exhibitions in Fine Arts Drawing, Painting and Photography.

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CITING MIGRANT CRISIS, BROOKLYN REP. MALLIOTAKIS
VOTES ‘NAY’ ON SPENDING BILL

CAPITOL HILL — HARDLINERS IN THE GOP-LED HOUSE STAGED A REVOLT ON FRIDAY, MARCH 22, AFTER CONGRESS passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September to prevent a partial shutdown at the end of the week, thus threatening Speaker Mike Johnson’s hold on his leadership of the chamber. Among those voting against the funding bill was Brooklyn Congressmember Nicole Malliotakis (R-11/southwestern Brooklyn). The only Republican in the Brooklyn Congressional delegation, Malliotakis issued a statement on Friday afternoon explaining her vote against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act: “Today I voted against the second appropriations package because it funds the continuation of President Biden’s border policies that are unsustainable, unsafe and unfair to New Yorkers and all Americans.”

Malliotakis in her statement cited “stabbings, robberies, assaults and attacks on our police officers and over 1,200 arrests at existing shelters in New York City,” blaming many of these incidents on migrants who have entered the city.

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BILL WOULD REQUIRE MTA TO NOTIFY PUBLIC
ABOUT BED BUG INFESTATIONS ON TRAINS, BUSES

ALBANY — THE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE BEDBUG INFESTATION NOTIFICATIONS under a bill that State Assemblymember William Colton (D-47) is sponsoring. The legislation, whose State Senate version is currently in committee, would require the MTA to post detailed notifications of bedbug infestations on subways, trains and buses, on its website or via email or text message within 24 hours of the infestation being discovered. Infestations of bedbugs, parasite insects of the genus Cimex, can result in a variety of different health issues such as rashes and allergic reactions. People unknowingly carry the bedbugs with them from infested locations in handbags, suitcases and other items, and only discover that they have brought the infestation with them after it has been proliferated.

According to the New York State Senate’s website, the bill is currently in that chamber’s committee, having already passed the Assembly, as of March 13. Assemblymember Latrice Walker (D-55/Brownsville) is also listed as a co-sponsor.

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GOLDMAN: BIDEN IMPEACHMENT ‘DEAD,’ AFTER CONGRESS WASTES 15 MONTHS & MILLION OF DOLLARS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — AFTER 15 FRUITLESS MONTHS, THE “POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED” IMPEACHMENT of President Joe Biden is “dead” and state Republicans should try to do something for their constituents instead, said Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10). On Thursday, Goldman joined the Congressional Integrity Project to call on New York’s House Republicans to drop the floundering impeachment. “Republicans have had 15 months to build a case, and after dozens of witness interviews, hundreds of thousands of documents reviewed, and millions of taxpayers’ dollars, there isn’t a shred of credible evidence linking President Biden to any wrongdoing, much less a high crime and misdemeanor,” he said in a statement.

Skepticism has only grown since an FBI informant and other Republican witnesses have been discovered to either be lying to Congress, associated with Russian agents, or actually testifying from federal prison — like Republican star witness Jason Galanis, who is serving a nearly 16-year federal prison sentence for multiple fraud schemes, the Washington Post reports.

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BROOKLYN DINING CLUB CELEBRATES
ITALIAN CUISINE, HISTORY BEHIND
BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK’S CREATION

CARROLL GARDENS — COMBINE ITALIAN CUISINE WITH THE STORY OF ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST-CELEBRATED PUBLIC PARKS, and you have the essence of the Brooklyn Dining Club, which on March 21 was treated to a conversation between esteemed journalist and author Laura Trevelyan and Michael Van Valkenburgh, the designer and architect of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn Eagle food columnist and GOODFOOD newsletter co-author, Andrew Cotto, hosted the dinner at Sociale at 320 Court St. in Carroll Gardens. After the main course, Trevelyan, a former BBC anchor and correspondent, spoke at length with Van Valkenburgh about the 23-year journey of transforming the once-industrial Brooklyn waterfront into Brooklyn Bridge Park — one of the nation’s most celebrated spaces in America — which welcomed more than five million people last year.

The evening began with Cotto discussing the regional Italian-meets-Brooklyn approach to the cuisine of Sociale and the special four-course menu for the evening that co-owner Francesco Nucitelli and his wife Meghan presented.

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EARLY VOTING FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES TAKES PLACE MARCH 23 – 30

CITYWIDE — PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES TAKE PLACE APRIL 2, but New Yorkers can vote early from March 23 – 30. (March 23 is the final date to register online.) According to nycvotes.org, Democrats will see Joe Biden, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williams on the ballot, even though Phillips dropped out and has endorsed Biden. Williams suspended her campaign on Feb. 7 but “unsuspended” it again Feb. 28. On the Republican ballot are Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump. However, all of the Republicans other than Trump have dropped out.

A number of New York Democratic lawmakers wanted to bar Trump from the ballot on the grounds that he violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bars someone who has engaged in insurrection from holding office. But Republican state election officials said removing Trump from the ballot was beyond their authority, Gothamist reported.

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POLICE SEEK BURGLAR CAUGHT IN THE ACT IN SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG

SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A MAN WHO ENTERED a private house located in the vicinity of Heyward Street and Bedford Avenue by breaking a vestibule door with a crowbar. Once inside, the burglar was confronted by a resident and fled on foot without removing any property. No injuries were reported. The incident took place on Thursday, March 7, at about 8:10 p.m. The man is described as last seen wearing a fur-lined winter hat and carrying a black/gray backpack.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or by visiting the Crime Stoppers website.

Video freeze-frame of surprised burglar.
Photo: NYPD

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‘STAY CURIOUS’ ART EXHIBITION AT THE WATERMARK

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘STAY CURIOUS,’ AN ART EXHIBITION CURATED BY THE IVY BROWN GALLERY, is open through July 15 at The Watermark, 21 Clark St., in Brooklyn Heights. The exhibition includes works by artists Agnes Baillon & Eric de Dormael, Angelica Bergamini, Eileen Braun, Terri Fraser, Samuelle Green, Scott Harbison, Valerie Huhn, Elizabeth Jordan, Megan Klim, Robert Lach, David Mellen, Federica Patera & Andrea Sbra Perego, Judy Rushin-Knopf and Ann Vollum.

‘Stay Curious’ is open to the public by appointment. Visit ivybrowngallery.org, email [email protected] or call 212-925-1111.

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NEW YORK YIMBY: PERMITS FILED FOR SKYSCRAPER AT 205 MONTAGUE, CURRENTLY TD BANK BUILDING

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — PERMITS HAVE BEEN FILED FOR A 47-STORY MIXED-USE SKYSCRAPER AT 205 MONTAGUE ST,, at the intersection where Cadman Plaza West joins Court Street and across the street from a major transit hub, reports the real estate news website New York YIMBY. The proposed building is one block outside the eastern boundary of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, which limits the heights of new buildings. Jonathan Landau of Landau Development Corp. is listed as the owner behind the applications, although PropertyShark indicates a different party has owned the multi-parceled building since January 2013. The proposed 672-foot-tall development will yield 529,597 square feet, portions of which are designated for residential space and commercial space. The concrete-based structure will also have multiple cellar levels and 100 enclosed parking spaces.

One commenter on the YIMBY story pondered, “Previous media coverage of this nascent project suggested the development team was considering the reuse of the old bank building as the base of a new tower. Any clue whether this is still an option?”

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ACTOR ELLIOT PAGE TO PRODUCE VR EXPERIENCE ON LGBTQ BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ACTOR ELLIOT PAGE (“JUNO,” “THE UMBRELLA Academy,”) is set to produce a virtual-reality adaptation of the 2019 historiography “When Brooklyn Was Queer,” which explores the untold stories of LGBTQ Brooklynites throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, reports Variety. Production on the adaptation, which will be directed by Brooklyn Emmy-winning director Yasmin Elayat, is set to begin later this year; the finished interactive experience will be viewable through devices like Meta’s Quest headset.

“When Brooklyn Was Queer,” by author Hugh Ryan, is a 2019 New York Times Editor’s Pick, and was inspired by Ryan’s difficulty in finding information about the borough’s rich but underground queer history, according to the author in a walking tour with New York Magazine through Brooklyn’s one-time LGBTQ hotspots, such as the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Park Slope and Coney Island.

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NAT’L BLACK WRITERS’ CONFERENCE RETURNS TO BROOKLYN

CROWN HEIGHTS — THE NATIONAL BLACK WRITERS’ CONFERENCE RETURNED TO Brooklyn for its 17th year this week at Medgar Evers College, reports News 12, featuring discussions on issues like systemic racism, the impact of social media, and social and environmental justice, as well as on the role of Black writers in educating and leading the Black community and the public. Hundreds turned out on Wednesday evening for the first day of the conference to celebrate Black authors at a talk hosted by Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin and Vanderbilt University professor Michael Eric Dyson on the theme “All That We Carry: Where do we go from here?”. The conference will continue through Saturday at Medgar Evers’ Center for Black Literature.

Griffin and Johnson told News 12 they were honored to be asked to speak; Dyson added, “Teaching is important. To center the ability to engage young people in expanding their minds, in thinking thoughts about issues they are not ordinarily asked to consider — that’s what a Black writer’s job is.”

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EPA’S INSPECTOR GENERAL REBUKES CITY ON FAILING TO ENFORCE SAFE CLEANUPS IN GOWANUS

GOWANUS — EPA INSPECTOR GENERAL SEAN W. O’DONNELL ON THURSDAY, MARCH 21, ISSUED A SCATHING REPORT THAT EXCORIATES both the city of New York and the EPA Region 2 on how they have handled environmental issues that led to soaring costs and increased health risks in Gowanus. Declaring that “the EPA needs to strengthen its enforcement and actively supervise construction efforts to ensure this project is completed without further financial losses or environmental contamination,” O’Donnell in his report notes that the community coalition Voice of Gowanus (VoG) had registered a complaint that initiated an audit and investigation. The report validates VoG’s grave concerns about EPA Region 2’s failure to take proper enforcement actions against the City and State of New York to ensure a comprehensive clean-up of the Gowanus area in a manner protective of human health and the environment.

The report shows that the project cost has ballooned to over $1 billion — a more than 1,300% increase from the original estimate of $78 million — and that the project is more than six and a half years behind schedule, with additional delays likely.

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2 INJURED BY FALLING CHUNK OF BED-STUY BUILDING

BED-STUY — TWO CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WERE INJURED ON A BED-STUY worksite on Tuesday after a 20-foot piece of a building’s decorative parapet molding detached from its roof and crashed through layers of scaffolding, reports CBS News. The victims were trapped on the building’s fire escape under debris for several minutes and were transported to Kings County Hospital in serious condition, according to witnesses and the FDNY. The 4-story building was the subject of a February complaint to the Department of Buildings that alleged unpermitted work was taking place by unlicensed workers; the DOB is now investigating the site.

Construction worker injuries and deaths have risen in Brooklyn, according to a recent report by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, especially among non-union workers; last month, worker Juan Ildefonso Tamay Ganzhi was killed in a partial building collapse in Bed-Stuy at a worksite that had received multiple stop-work orders.

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BROOKLYN DIOCESE: ‘RECONCILIATION MONDAY’ A TIME TO PREPARE ONE’S HEART FOR EASTER

BOROUGHWIDE — CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN BROOKLYN AND QUEENS WILL BE OPEN THIS COMING MONDAY, MARCH 25, FOR the faithful to receive the Sacrament of Confession during Holy Week. Bishop Robert Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, is inviting Catholics throughout Brooklyn and Queens to take part in Reconciliation Monday, which is customarily held the day after Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week. Most parishes in the diocese will have a priest available to hear confessions from 2-4 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m. that day. “Reconciliation Monday is an opportunity to experience the healing power of our Lord. Let us prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter with a clean heart, free of the burden of our sins,” said Bishop Brennan. Readers go online for a complete listing of parishes.

Holy Week commemorates the events in the Gospels, which Catholics believe reconcile God and humans to each other, and give victory over sin and death.

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CITY HOSPITAL SYSTEM, MAYOR COMPLETE ROLLOUT OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE PROGRAM

CITYWIDE — THE NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED LIFESTYLE MEDICINE PROGRAM, which NYC Health + Hospitals and Mayor Eric Adams launched five years ago, completed its expansion on Thursday, March 21, with a new facility opening in the South Bronx. The program, which Mayor Adams helped launch in 2019 after making personal testimonials about his own health turnaround, is now active at seven sites across the five boroughs, with six locations previously launched, including two in Brooklyn: NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County. The Lifestyle Medicine Program’s team supports patients in making evidence-based lifestyle changes, including a healthful plant-based diet, increased physical activity, improved sleep habits, stress reduction, avoidance of substance use, and stronger social connections. Adults living with prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or health concerns related to excess weight are eligible to enroll.

Together, the program’s seven sites will serve approximately 4,000 patients each year, providing them with tools and support to prevent and manage common chronic conditions.

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NEW CONTRACT WILL KEEP HOSPITAL SYSTEM IN AETNA’S NETWORK, SAVING COVERAGE FOR MANY NEW YORKERS

CITYWIDE — AETNA-SUBSCRIBER PATIENTS USING THE NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN HEALTH SYSTEM, WHICH INCLUDES A HOSPITAL IN PARK SLOPE, will be able to keep their health care coverage, now that an agreement has been reached, reports Gothamist. The New York-Presbyterian health system reached a deal with insurer Aetna just days before the contract expiration deadline — thus preventing an expected loss of coverage starting on April 1 for tens of thousands of patients who use the network’s hospitals, which include NewYork-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, and keeping the hospitals, physicians and clinics in the network. The health system had threatened to sever its ties with Aetna, alleging that the insurance had “presented an unreasonable offer” and it sent letters to patients, asking them even to discuss other insurance options with their employers.

Neither NewYork-Presbyterian nor Aetna had shared with Gothamist additional information on the contract’s terms as of press time.

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NY ATTORNEY GENERAL OPENS ELECTION PROTECTION HOTLINE AS EARLY VOTING BEGINS

STATEWIDE — VOTERS ENCOUNTERING ANY OBSTACLES IN CASTING THEIR BALLOTS DURING THE PRIMARY ELECTION PERIOD have recourse, NY Attorney General said on Thursday, March 21. The Office of the Attorney General is making its Election Protection Hotline available for the April 2, 2024, presidential primary election and during New York’s early voting period, which runs from this Saturday, March 23 through March 30. The hotline will be available to troubleshoot and resolve a range of issues encountered by voters, encompassing absentee ballot, early mail ballot, or in-person voting at polling places. A guide addressing frequently asked questions is also currently available. Written requests for assistance may be submitted at any time through the online complaint form or the OAG phone hotline at (866) 390-2992.

The OAG has also taken legal action to protect against voter registration purges and to ensure that voters have adequate and equitable access to vote early as required by law.

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JUSTICE DEPT., USING ANTITRUST LAWS, SUES APPLE OVER TECH DESIGN MONOPOLY

NATIONWIDE — THE U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS SUING THE TECH GIANT APPLE OVER WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DEEMS AN ILLEGAL MONOPOLY ON SMARTPHONES that blocks competitors from developing software, the Associated Press and other news agencies announced on Thursday. The lawsuit, which the DOJ filed in federal court in New Jersey, accuses Apple of exerting monopoly power in the smartphone market, particularly with its iPhone series, to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct.” The suit centers around Apple’s engineering a “walled garden” of software and hardware, that allows customers ease of use. Apple defends its software on the grounds that it provides an indispensable and popular layer of security for the personal information stored on phones.

Apple also claims that its security feature distinguishes its products from Apple’s main competitor, Google’s Android software, which is less restrictive and licensed out to more manufacturers.