What’s News, Breaking: Friday, April 26, 2024

April 26, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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HEIGHTS’ OWN RABBI LIPPE IS PANELIST
AT UPCOMING LANDMARKS CONSERVANCY TALK

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS AND MIDTOWN MANHATTAN — RABBI SERGE LIPPE of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue is one of four religious leader panelists at a discussion with the New York Landmarks Conservancy on Tuesday, May 7. The ticketed event, being held in advance of the Conservancy’s annual Sacred Sites Open House, is titled “Anchoring Neighborhoods: Historic Religious Institutions in Service of the Wider Community” and will be a forum in which religious institutions of all denominations discuss maintaining their landmark properties, while also serving as neighborhood anchors. New York Landmarks Conservancy’s longtime Executive Director Peg Breen will moderate the talk. This event is both in-person and online, hosted at the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of The City of New York in Midtown.

Joining Rabbi Lippe will be His Grace Bishop Irinej Dobrijević, head of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Eastern America, Fr. John Kamas of St. Jean Baptiste on the Upper East Side, and the Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen of St. James Presbyterian Church in Hamilton Heights.

Rabbi Serge Lippe, pictured as guest preacher for an interfaith Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day Service in 2018.
Brooklyn Eagle photo by Francesca N. Tate

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‘BACK TO BASICS’ FOCUSES ON TEACHING
THE SCIENCE OF READING

STATEWIDE — GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL ON FRIDAY, APRIL 26, CELEBRATED HER ‘BACK TO BASICS’ legislation signed into law as a part of the Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Budget. Governor Hochul’s ‘Back to Basics’ reading plan ensures every school district utilizes instructional best practices grounded in the science of reading to improve reading proficiency among New York’s children. The State Education Department will provide instructional best practices to school districts in the teaching of reading to students in prekindergarten through grade three by Jan. 1, 2025. School districts will be required to annually review their curriculum and instructional practices for alignment with those issued by SED, and verify by September 2025. The Budget also includes $10 million to train 20,000 teachers in these instructional best practices through NYSUT’s Education and Learning Trust.

Additionally, the Budget expands the State University of New York and the City University of New York’s micro-credentialing programs for teachers focused on the science of reading.

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ST. PEREGRINE NOVENA PRAYERS
OFFERED FOR CANCER PATIENTS

DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN — ST. PEREGRINE, THE PATRON SAINT OF CANCER PATIENTS, will be venerated during a special three-day Novena that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn will offer. Hosted at Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church on 38th Avenue in Bayside, the Novena Triduum, which begins Monday, April 29, will include special prayers of healing and strength for those afflicted with cancer within the diocese. Services on Monday and Tuesday, April 29-30, will begin at 7:30 p.m. and include the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the recitation of the Rosary, a guest homilist, a litany and prayers to St. Peregrine, and veneration of his relic — a fragment of his bone — which will be displayed for the faithful in attendance to offer prayers before the relic.

Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio will lead a Mass in honor of St. Peregrine, on Wednesday, May 1, the Feast of St. Peregrine, during which time those afflicted with cancer will be invited to receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. The Mass will conclude the three-day Novena to St. Peregrine.

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PROSPECT PARK ALLIANCE, EVERGREEN CEMETERY
AMONG THOSE GETTING URBAN FORESTRY GRANTS

STATEWIDE — FOUR BROOKLYN SITES are among 32 in New York State receiving a total of $2.4 million in urban forestry grants, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, April 26, as part of the state’s celebration of both Arbor Day and Earth Week. The grants, which build upon the Governor’s 2024 State of the State commitment to plant 25 million trees by 2033, are specifically for tree planting and maintenance projects that provide critical support for urban forest managers to sustain and expand green infrastructure. The Prospect Park Alliance will receive $100,000 for tree maintenance; New York City H2O, Inc. will receive $100,000 for tree planting; Big Initiatives Incorporated will receive $99,760 for tree maintenance; and the Evergreens Cemetery Preservation Foundation will receive $100,000 for tree planting. A multi-agency initiative led by dozens of commissioners and other State agency leaders planting trees across New York are amplifying these grants.

The forestry grants complement DEC’s ongoing initiatives to address invasive species, climate change, environmental degradation, environmental justice, and urban sprawl.

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POLICE LOOKING FOR ASSAILANT WHO PUNCHED TWO BOYS IN THE FACE

GRAVESEND — POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR AN ADULT MAN who walked up to two 12-year-old boys on Kings Highway in Gravesend and punched them both in the face, causing minor injuries. The attack took place on Thursday, April 18, around 4:43 p.m. on a block filled with restaurants and other businesses. The suspect fled on foot, and the victims were removed by EMS to Maimonides Medical Center and treated for minor abrasions. The attacker is described as a male with a light complexion and medium build. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, dark-colored pants, a blue backpack, and multicolored sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or log onto the CrimeStoppers website.

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NYPD RECEIVES FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT

STATEWIDE — THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT is among several cities, municipalities and towns to receive a total of $13 million in federal grant awards through the State Homeland Security Program, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, April 26. The funding is allocated to New York’s bomb squads, hazardous materials teams, explosive detection canine teams, tactical teams, and technical rescue and urban search and rescue teams. It will be used to protect and secure critical infrastructure, mass gathering events and enhance local governments’ cybersecurity capabilities. Grants will also be used to enhance the protection of critical infrastructure and the cybersecurity posture across New York State. The NYPD was awarded funding for the bomb squad program, which helps equip and train the state’s 12 local FBI-accredited bomb squads to locate and prevent potential emergencies caused by improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

During the last year for which figures were made available, the NYPD received $472,727 in 2022, up from $445,455 the previous year.

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BROOKLYN HUMAN SERVICES NON-PROFITS
AWARDED CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION GRANTS

BOROUGHWIDE — SIX BROOKLYN CHARITABLE NON-PROFITS are among 70 human services organizations being awarded nearly $25 million in an initial round of capital grants, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, April 26. The capital grants, coming through the Nonprofit Infrastructure Capital Investment Program and administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, aim to empower nonprofits across the state to undertake projects that improve the delivery of critical services to New Yorkers. The human services organizations in Brooklyn (most of them having faith-based histories) receiving these grants are: Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) Inc.($500,000.00); Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services ($ 431,450.00); Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Inc.($190,629.00); St. John’s Bread and Life Program ($218,650.00); Providence House Inc.($171,087.00); and River Fund New York ($194,000.00).

Governor Hochul launched the $60 million NICIP opportunity in October 2023 to make targeted investments and reimbursements throughout the State in capital construction projects, such as technology, renovations and expansion of space used for direct program services as well as renovations that enhance energy efficiency or accessibility.

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FAMILY STEM NIGHT SPOTLIGHTS
CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S SCIENCE-FOCUSED CURRICULUM

BAY RIDGE — BAY RIDGE CATHOLIC ACADEMY HOSTED a Family STEM Night fair on Thursday, April 25, celebrating the academy’s work and accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and math. Students, parents, teachers and retired faculty all took part in presentations and exhibits that showcased a program that had been under the radar. Bay Ridge Catholic Academy’s STEM Teacher, Mrs. Christine Deem, coordinated the event that illuminates the school and its STEM curriculum.

According to the school’s website, Bay Ridge Catholic Academy has an engineering-focused curriculum, and begins teaching analytic and critical thinking skills in the younger grades. The school also offers algebra classes (Math 9) to eighth-grade students in addition to the student’s regular class schedule.

Students demonstrate the balloon-powered car races.
Photo courtesy John Quaglione/DeSales Media

Caption: Students explore the chemical makeup of particles in plastic bags and bottles.
Photo courtesy Bay Ridge Catholic Academy

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USDA ANNOUNCES NEW THRESHOLD FOR DETERMINING
SALMONELLA IN FROZEN BREADED CHICKEN PRODUCTS

NATIONWIDE — THE PRESENCE OF SALMONELLA in commercially prepared raw breaded chicken products is the focus of a final testing-standard determination that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service announced on Friday, April 26. Raw breaded and stuffed chicken products are pre-browned and may appear cooked, but the chicken is still raw, and cooking it from a frozen state increases the risk of the product reaching an insufficient internal temperature needed to destroy Salmonella. Despite FSIS’ and the industry’s efforts to improve labeling, these products continue to be associated with Salmonella illness outbreaks. The FSIS’ specific threshold for Salmonella contamination is one colony-forming unit per gram or higher. Chicken exceeding this colony threshold will no longer be cleared for breading or stuffing.

However, FSIS did not mention whether the presence of breading itself on raw meat contributes to the growth of salmonella, a risk that a 2017 Mayo Clinic study examined.

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MAYA WILEY APPOINTED TO PRESIDENT BIDEN’S GROUNDBREAKING AI BOARD

NATIONWIDE — RENOWNED CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY, former mayoral candidate and Brooklyn resident Maya Wiley has been appointed as an inaugural member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS announced Friday. President Biden directed Mayorkas to establish the board, which includes 22 representatives from a range of sectors. The board will develop recommendations to help keep critical infrastructure — such as transportation, pipelines, power grids and the internet — safe while developing and deploying AI technology, and help DHS stay ahead of evolving threats posed by hostile nation-state actors. Wiley will serve with top technology, infrastructure and civil rights experts, including the CEOs of OpenAI, NVIDIA, IBM, Occidental Petroleum, Microsoft, Alphabet and many more.

“It is critical to have a civil rights perspective on any board with the mission to responsibly deploy artificial intelligence in our nation’s infrastructure,” Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement. While the technology can bring positives, AI “also poses great threats, including the spread of bias and hate speech online, stoking fear, distrust and hate in our communities of color.”

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DiNAPOLI: NYU FINANCE DIRECTOR PAYS $6.6K RESTITUTION
FOR PERSONAL-GAIN SCHEME

ALBANY — A FORMER DIRECTOR OF FINANCE and administration at New York University paid full restitution of $663,209 after pleading guilty to grand larceny for orchestrating a $3.5 million, 6-year fraud relating to two NYU programs, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced on Friday, April 26. Comptroller DiNapoli reported that Tappe, 59, used her position as the director of finance and administration for NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools (also known as the “Metro Center”) to divert approximately $3.5 million intended for minority- and women-owned businesses. She ultimately routed $3.3 million to bank accounts held by two shell companies she created by using subcontractors to serve as pass-throughs. However, none of the subcontractors performed work on the contracts.

Tappe used some of the funds for NYU payments and employee reimbursements but kept more than $660,000 to pay for personal expenses, including renovations to her home and an $80,000 swimming pool.

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MTA TO RENOVATE BKLYN SUBWAY STATIONS

CITYWIDE — THE MTA ON TUESDAY ANNOUNCED THAT 13 SUBWAY stations have been selected for its “Re-NEW-vation” station improvement program between now and June, reports amNY. Brooklyn stations will include 18th Street N station, the Bay Parkway F station, the Gates Avenue J station and the Franklin Avenue station on the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. The Re-NEW-vations focus on quality-of-life upgrades for riders, and include deep cleanings, fresh paint, improved lighting fixtures and drainage systems, repairs to cracked tiles and ceilings, rust abatement bench refinishing and more.

The MTA also announced that two more G train stations, Flushing Avenue and Greenpoint Avenue, would be renovated this summer during the G train’s partial shutdown between Court Square and Hoyt-Schermerhorn, scheduled for late June through early September.

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‘BEE HOTELS’ COMING TO PLAZAS AROUND CITY

CITYWIDE — THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WILL BE INSTALLING “bee hotels” and “bee bunkers” in public plazas and Open Streets around the city, reports Gothamist. The Pollinator Port project, co-led by the Horticultural Society of New York and Rutgers University, will see New York’s at-risk native bee species given habitats and nutritious vegetation in locations designed to help bees and other pollinators move around the city. The bee hotels offer above-ground nesting locations made out of natural materials, while the bee bunkers provide dirt for burrowing species to shelter in during the winter.

The Pollinator Port pilot program began with an installation in Parkside Plaza last year; this year’s expansion includes an installation at Gates Avenue.

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SOME OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS SCUTTLED AFTER CRUCIAL COMPONENT CANCELED

STATEWIDE — THREE MAJOR OFFSHORE WIND FARMS SLATED FOR construction off the New York coast have been canceled, reports Politico. The Attentive Energy One project, the Community Offshore Wind project and the Excelsior Wind project were planned wind farms all made unworkable after General Electric announced in February that a large turbine key to all three projects would not be produced, leading the state to last week announce that it was unable to reach final agreements with the teams behind the farms. The three projects, touted last year by Governor Hochul as “an historic investment to demonstrate our full commitment to renewables,” would have generated enough electricity to power nearly 2 million homes, and were expected to finish construction by 2030; while New York’s other wind projects have begun seeing success, the cancelation raises concerns over whether the state will be able to meet its ambitious climate goals, which call for New York to use 70% renewable energy by 2030.

The cancellation will not affect Sunset Park’s burgeoning turbine assembly industry or the new Gowanus substation, which are attached to the soon-to-be-built Empire Wind project, off the coast of Long Island.

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TWO BROOKLYN ARTS NONPROFITS RECEIVE GRANTS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

BOERUM HILL AND GOWANUS — TWO BROOKLYN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS are among those receiving a total of nearly $32 million through the New York State Council on the Arts’ Capital Projects Fund, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday, April 25. This investment in nonprofit arts and cultural organizations across New York supports crucial building renovations, accessibility improvements and new spaces for creative and cultural work. Awardees in the grant category of Small and Midsized Capital Improvement Grant, which helps underwrite projects ranging from $50,000 to $2 million are The Tatter Blue Archives Institute on Carroll Street in Gowanus, which is receiving $1,364,000 for its flagship space construction, and Roulette Intermedium, Inc., a performing arts venue in Boerum Hill, which is receiving $50,000 for its LED lighting system replacement.

Installation Roulette supports artists with experimental art products and audience building. Tatter Blue is a textile library that chronicles the stories of African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and other indigenous peoples, offering classes and exhibits in both crafts and history.

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APPLICATION PERIOD OPENS FOR GOVERNOR’S CAREY GABAY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

ALBANY AND BROOKLYN — APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN for the 2024 Carey Gabay Fellowship Program, memorializing an attorney on the governor’s staff who was an innocent bystander in gang crossfire during the 2015 J’ouvert that preceded Brooklyn’s annual West Indian Day Parade Carnival. Gabay, who had won a full scholarship to Harvard, worked in the Counsel’s Office for the Governor at the time of his death. The Carey Gabay Fellowship is a paid two-year legal fellowship program that appoints an attorney biannually to a placement in the Governor’s Office. The selected fellow will work directly with the counsel to the Governor and their staff on issues such as violence prevention, economic equality, and community development — policy areas Gabay championed throughout his career. Applications will be accepted online through May 15.

The incoming Carey Gabay Fellow will serve from September 2024 to September 2026 and participate in an educational program along with participants in the Empire State Fellows program.

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BILL WOULD MANDATE REVIEWING DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM

CAPITOL HILL — A BIPARTISAN ANTISEMITISM AWARENESS ACT that would codify the definition of “antisemitic” was introduced in Congress on Thursday, April 25. Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, alongside 29 other senators, introduced the bill that will help address antisemitic sentiment and action on college campuses — in the wake of recent protests related to the Israel-Hamas war — by requiring the U.S. Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. The Antisemitism Awareness Act would formalize the Department of Education’s consideration of the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, having been used by the State Department since the Obama administration.

However, according to the Oxford Dictionary and academic sources, Semite is a language group rather than a religion or ethnic group. Arabs and other peoples of the Middle Eastern region and Western Asia are also Semitic. Questions also arise whether the First Amendment right to criticize government policy could be redefined as antisemitic activity.

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NEW AIRLINE RULES ON PASSENGER REFUNDS CODIFY MEANING OF ‘SIGNIFICANT DELAY’

NATIONWIDE — AIRLINES SOON MUST COMPLY with a set of finalized new rules, to be implemented over the next two years, that require them to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to more clearly disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation. The federal Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled flights and “significant” delays. The administration now defines “a significant delay as lasting at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international ones, thus removing the airline industry’ wiggle room” on defining delay lengths. The rule will also apply to refunds of checked-bag fees if the bag isn’t delivered within 12 hours for domestic flights or 15 to 30 hours for international flights.

Refunds of fees for amenities like seat selection or an internet connection are also covered if the airline fails to provide the service.

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HEIGHTS RESIDENTS PAY $30K+ EACH FOR ELECTRIC HEAT CONVERSION

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — APARTMENT DWELLERS ARE FACING steep charges as a result of new city rules that apply stiff financial penalties to multi-family buildings with high carbon emissions, reports The CITY. Residents at one Brooklyn Heights co-op are spending between $30,000 and $40,000 per unit to upgrade their 20-unit building to use highly efficient heat pumps and an electric water heater, even after generous rebates from Con Ed — saving money over the long term, but a hard choice for the thousands of similar buildings across the city with aging heating systems. Discussion began on the upgrades to the Hicks Street building four years ago, when its old oil-burning boiler had reached the end of its lifespan; residents were unsure at the time if the city’s efficiency penalties would apply, but decided that taking a loan to finance the upfront investment was a sounder choice than a cheaper gas upgrade that might need sooner replacement.

While the building’s contractor, Tom Esposito of VRF Solutions, was able to secure discounts for the Hicks Street residents, he warned that economic barriers could prevent widespread adoption: “The buildings that are more well-heeled and have their financing in place and have gotten educated on the technology go much quicker than folks that are just learning… Some projects fail because of financing. Some of the folks that need it the most can’t get it.”