What’s News, Breaking: Wednesday, April 24, 2024

April 24, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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POLICE LOOK FOR SUSPECT WHO FIRED AND MISSED OUTSIDE SUNSET PARK RESTAURANT

SUNSET PARK — AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT FIRED A GUN at another man — but missed — outside a 5th Avenue eatery in Sunset Park on Wednesday, April 17. Police said the 23-year-old victim was at 4015 5th Ave. at about 2:35 a.m. when the aggressor approached and started a verbal dispute. A physical altercation ensued outside the restaurant, and the attacker displayed a firearm and discharged one round in the victim’s direction, missing him, before fleeing on foot northbound on 5th Avenue. The suspect is described as having a medium complexion and is approximately 30 to 40 years old. He has long hair and a stocky build.

Police ask that anyone with information call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or visit Crime Stoppers online.

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SPEAKER ADAMS, BRANNAN: MAYOR’S BUDGET CUTS UNNECESSARY & HARMFUL

CITYWIDE — IN A JOINT STATEMENT ON WEDNESDAY, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica, S. Ozone Park) and Finance Chair Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge, Coney Island) said that Mayor Eric Adams has reversed just a fraction of what they described as harmful and unnecessary cuts in the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget. “We are disappointed that critical support for key mental health services, programs to reduce recidivism, and libraries that our city desperately needs are not included in the Executive Budget,” Adams and Brannan said, adding that the Council has identified $6.15 billion in newly available resources for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

The officials said the Council’s budget response proposes $1.63 billion for the restoration of essential services, and sets aside nearly $3 billion to protect against fiscal risks and under-budgeted costs, while dedicating $500 million to the Rainy Day Fund. This would leave more than $1 billion as a safeguard, they said.

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GUYANA’S PRESIDENT ALI VISITS BROOKLYN

EAST FLATBUSH — GUYANA’S PRESIDENT IRFAAN ALI VISITED BROOKLYN on April 19, where he received a warm welcome from Guyanese-born medical staff at Kings County Hospital Center, Caribbean Life reports. Ali took a tour of the facility with CEO Sheldon McLeod, and expressed an interest in organizing medical missions to the South American republic to utilize the skills of specialized health practitioners from Kings County. “The fact is you have more than 5,500 medical practitioners, technicians, workers, and approximately 13% are Guyanese,” Ali said of Kings County. “I am very proud to see that Guyanese are contributing to this significant facility. This is the highlight of my day.”

Ali also took a neighborhood walk and sampled national dishes from several Guyanese-owned eateries, including Pam & Steve, Linda’s, Pam’s Bakery, German Restaurant, and “The Hills Restaurant” on Church Avenue.

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ADAMS: SOME PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS COULD BE ‘OUTSIDE AGITATORS’

CITYWIDE — MAYOR ERIC ADAMS TOLD REPORTERS TUESDAY that he believes some of the most disruptive pro-Palestinian protestors on college campuses like Columbia and NYU are actually “organized” outside anarchists trying to provoke a violent response from police. “We can’t have outside agitators come in and be destructive to our city,” he said at his weekly press conference. Adams also noted that many of the tents that popped up in college encampments appeared the same.

“Why is everybody’s tent the same? Was there a fire sale on those tents?” Adams asked. “There’s some organizing going on. There’s a well-concerted organizing effort. What’s the goal of that organizing? That’s what we need to be asking ourselves.”

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ACLU LEADER URGES UNIVERSITIES TO FOSTER
CANDID DIALOGUE ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT

CITYWIDE — “UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS DO A SERIOUS DISSERVICE when they respond to the concerns of one group at the expense of another, or when they assume all individuals within any group share the same viewpoint,” says NY Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, in response to the arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters at NYU and several university campuses. Instead, Lieberman calls for open dialogue and debate. “Political expression and activism are in New York City’s DNA. The city’s campuses and public spaces have a history of accommodating large and ongoing demonstrations, including controversial actions from sit-ins on campuses to week-long protests in our parks. In difficult times, speaking out, debate, and dialogue matter more than ever…Preemptively flooding nonviolent student actions with officers in riot gear and the use of chemical agents escalates tensions, intimidates those who would participate in further protest, and discourages meaningful dialogue.”

Lieberman pointed out that “Jewish, Arab, and Muslim students have all expressed fears for their safety on campus…Officials should not conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism or use hate incidents as a pretext to silence political views they oppose.”

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FOUR-ALARM FIRE DISPLACES FAMILIES
OF TWO BENSONHURST BUILDINGS

BENSONHURST — IT TOOK 170 FIREFIGHTERS and emergency medical personnel to bring a four-alarm fire under control near 71st St. and 20th Avenue in Bensonhurst on Tuesday afternoon, according to the FDNY and several news sources. The fire started on the first floor of a residential building at 2052 71st St., near 21st Avenue, around 1 p.m. and spread both upward to the second floor and an adjoining building, displacing four families, according to News 12 Brooklyn. The house where the fire broke out was occupied at the time, but the residents were able to escape. FDNY officials said that the fire went to four alarms before it was contained around 3 p.m. Seven firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling the flames, and that both buildings had extensive damage. The cause is under investigation.

City Councilmember Susan Zhuang and the Red Cross are working closely with the impacted families, according to News 12 Brooklyn.

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FORT GREENE PARK EARTH DAY

FORT GREENE — FORT GREENE PARK IS WRAPPING UP EARTH WEEK on Saturday with a day-long celebration of Mother Nature, offering a flower-themed storytime, nature walks, park planting opportunities and more. The festival will also host heaps of different eco-friendly craft workshops for all ages, including clothes-mending lessons, recycled instrument-making, bandana printing, a “seed bombs” workshop, plant fossil crafts, nutritional herb bundling, and plant swaps; UrbanGlass will help lead the creation of a community Earth Day mosaic, which will be displayed in the park afterward.

Fort Greene Park’s Earth Day festival will take place on Saturday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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PEOPLE’S BALL CELEBRATES FASHION AT LIBRARY

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — THE BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY WILL HOST ITS ANNUAL “People’s Ball” party next month, offering a community-focused counterpoint to the Met Gala where Brooklynites of all stripes are invited to strut along the catwalk and pose in the Central Branch’s lobby at Grand Army Plaza, and dance the night away. The Ball’s principle is that “the pinnacle of fashion is found in the everyday New Yorker.” The event will be co-curated by creator Souleo and co-hosted by actress Delissa Reynolds and stylist Robert Verdi, with performances by drag icon Kevin Aviance and DJ Spinna, as well as a tribute to style photographer Bill Cunningham.

The People’s Ball will take place on Sunday, May 5, starting at 7 p.m.; entrance is free, but admission is limited, and online RSVPs are encouraged by the Library.

Scenes from last year’s People’s Ball at the Brooklyn Public Library.
Photo courtesy of BPL

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‘A BIG, SLOW, MAJESTIC COVID MEMORIAL’ IS COMING TO GREEN-WOOD

GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY — “A BIG, SLOW, MAJESTIC COVID MEMORIAL” in memory of those lost to the COVID-19 pandemic will be on view at The Green-Wood Cemetery from May 3 through June 3, with an activation and livestreamed dedication ceremony on May 19. Composed of tributes from 22 community groups, “A Big, Slow, Majestic Covid Memorial” will hold a prominent place along Green-Wood’s historic wrought-iron fence, near the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street. The public is encouraged to add their own nameplates to the memorial, sponsored by NAMING THE LOST Memorials, City Lore and others, with a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, nearly 1.2 million people across the country, including an estimated 83,000 in New York City, have lost their lives to the virus. See the Green-Wood website for full information.

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PROSPECT PARK SPRING BREAK CELEBRATION

PARK SLOPE — THE PROSPECT PARK ALLIANCE IS HOSTING a family-friendly Spring Break celebration this week, offering free lessons for kids and families from naturalists about the park’s ecosystem, as well as rides on the park’s historic carousel for $3. The Audubon Center will host sessions on native plant seed production, animal encounters, and opportunities to plant your own seeds. Alliance naturalists will also lead nature walks to nearby wild areas.

The Alliance’s activities will take place daily through Tuesday, April 30, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Audubon Center, while the carousel is open from noon to 5 p.m. Information about lesson times can be found on the Alliance’s website.

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EPA TO FINALLY FIX POISONOUS PLUMES IN GREENPOINT & E. WILLIAMSBURG

GREENPOINT/EAST WILLIAMSBURG — FEDERAL EPA OFFICIALS SAID THEY WILL SPEND a million dollars on a five-year plan to measure and mitigate poisonous vapors that may have “potentially impacted” more than 1,000 Brooklyn properties in East Williamsburg and Greenpoint for decades, Gothamist reports. The Meeker Avenue plume, which was first discovered in 2005, spans about 45 blocks and is the result of toxic chemicals left by local dry cleaners, foundries and metalworking shops.

“The state has known that there is a potential threat for nearly 20 years, but the people who are being exposed haven’t known what their exposure might be,“ said Willis Elkins, executive director of the Newtown Creek Alliance.

The Meeker Avenue plume site to the left is outlined in orange. Newtown Creek, also encircled in orange, is another Superfund site.
Map: EPA

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G’POINT APT COMPLEX ON SUPERFUND SITE TO GO AHEAD, KEEPING TOXIC SOIL

GREENPOINT — DEVELOPMENT WORK ON THE NUHART WEST apartments in Greenpoint is set to continue despite the presence of industrially contaminated soil beneath their recently poured foundations, reports Gothamist. The toxic dirt beneath the planned eight-story complex will instead be mixed with concrete on-site and used to form large blocks, which will be left under the foundations. Removal of the contaminated soil began four years ago, but developers earlier this year discovered that the affected area extended deeper than previously believed, raising concerns that complete removal could risk the building’s future stability; while the practice of locking toxic soil into concrete was approved by state regulators and has been used at other former industrial sites around the city, Greenpoint locals were cautious about the plan: “It’s disappointing that the cleanup isn’t going to be to the same level that it was originally proposed, but, hopefully, this new method is protective of public health,” Lael Goodman of North Brooklyn Neighbors told Gothamist.

The complex is being constructed on the location of the former NuHart Plastic factory, which was declared a state Superfund site in 2010 due to high concentrations of phthalates and cancer-causing trichloroethylene suffusing the soil and groundwater.

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MISSING BOY IN OCEAN HILL

OCEAN HILL — POLICE ARE URGENTLY SEARCHING FOR MISSING boy Cashmere Jones, age 13, who was last seen on the morning of Saturday, April 20, leaving his residence on Hull Street, near the Rockaway Avenue C train station. Cashmere is described as Black, 5’1” and approximately 110 pounds, with black hair, and was last seen wearing a black jacket and black pants.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips on the CrimeStoppers website, or X (Twitter) @NYPDTips.

Missing boy Cashmere Jones, age 13. All calls are strictly confidential.

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MISSING MAN IN GRAVESEND

GRAVESEND — POLICE ARE ASKING THE PUBLIC FOR HELP IN locating missing man Michael Montone, age 50, who was last seen on the night of Wednesday, April 3, leaving his residence on Avenue W, near Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church. Montone is described as a White male, approximately 6’0″ and 185 pounds, and was last seen wearing a Yankees baseball cap, a dark-colored shirt, dark-colored shorts, and black Converse sneakers.

Missing Gravesend man Michael Montone. All calls are strictly confidential.

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BOERUM HILL MAN GETS LIFE SENTENCE WITHOUT PAROLE IN ARMED ROBBERY CASE

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A BOERUM HILL MAN HAS BEEN SENTENCED to life in prison without parole in the fatal shooting of a man in East Williamsburg in July 2021. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Eugene Guarino sentenced the defendant, whom District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified as Ramel Chapman, 32. The defendant was convicted in February in a jury trial of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of first-degree robbery and three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in an armed robbery spree in which he fatally shot one man and wounded another.

The victim who was fatally shot was identified as Sean Robinson, 33, of Stamford, Connecticut. He was the father of three and was engaged to be married.

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MAN WHO STOLE $100K FROM GARGIULO’S RESTAURANT SENTENCED UP TO 8 YEARS

CONEY ISLAND — A BROOKLYN MAN HAS BEEN SENTENCED to up to eight years after breaking into Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island and stealing $100,000 from a safe in June 2022, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Tuesday. Video surveillance captured Luis Mercado, 34, and an unnamed accomplice breaking into the building. Mercado jumped bail, but was rearrested after an alleged break-in on the Lower East Side. He pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and second-degree bail jumping in March and was sentenced Tuesday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joanne Quinones.

“Beyond breaking into Gargiulo’s, a beloved Coney Island landmark for more than a century, this defendant is a serial burglar who has shown that he will continue to commit crimes if he remains at large, necessitating today’s prison sentence,” Gonzalez said in a statement.

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LAWSUITS DRAG ON OVER SUNY’S BUNGLED SALE OF LICH TO FORTIS

COBBLE HILL — A JUDGE IN ALBANY TOSSED OUT — FOR NOW — THE STATE’S CLAIM that developer Fortis Property Group must immediately pay $8 million to SUNY as part of the controversial $240 million deal cut in 2014 to redevelop the former Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill, Crain’s New York reports. Judge Richard Platkin of Albany’s Court of Claims on April 5 denied a motion for summary judgment, which would settle the case and make Fortis pay off a SUNY entity that entered into its sale agreement with Fortis and NYU Hospitals Center (now NYU Langone Hospitals) effective June 30, 2014. Fortis is also suing NYU for delays in building the medical center at the site.

While the first closing on the 16-acre parcel took place, Fortis claims that the guarantee of payment for a second (disputed) closing never included the required signatures of the state comptroller or attorney general. “They got signatures afterward — we said it’s too late,” said Fortis’ attorney, George Carpinello, according to Crain’s.

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GOLDMAN INTROS BILL TO MAKE HOMELAND SECURITY’S CLIMATE COUNCIL PERMANENT

NATIONWIDE — REP. DAN GOLDMAN (NY-10) INTRODUCED A BILL ON EARTH DAY, April 22, to permanently authorize the Department of Homeland Security’s “Climate Coordinating Council.” The Council, originally established by the Biden administration, is tasked with analyzing the impact of climate change and making recommendations on how to mitigate its impacts on DHS programs. In a release, Goldman cited the increase in extreme storms and wildfires as risks that will exacerbate inequities, strain critical infrastructure and decrease housing security. The next decade will also see an increase in severe heat, flooding, reduction in crop yields, deteriorating infrastructure, increasing migration and increasing potential for violent conflicts driven by water availability.

Introducing the bill with Goldman were Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), and Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02).

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BROOKLYN OFFICIALS APPLAUD LAUNCH OF ‘AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS’

NATIONWIDE — PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN LAUNCHED THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS on Earth Day, nearly a century after the launch of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps. The program — praised by officials across the country including Brooklyn officials Rep. Nydia Velaquez (NY-07), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) — is a workforce training and service initiative that will put 20,000 young Americans to work fighting the impacts of climate change while training them for clean energy and climate-resilience employment.

“This is wonderful Earth Day news! Americans can now apply to join the American Climate Corps,” Velazquez said on Twitter. New York opportunities listed so far include working in The Adirondack Corps; in the Campus Climate Action Corps; and in the Green City Force in New York City.