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SAMMY’S LAW, NOW PASSED, WILL LET CITY REDUCE
SPEED LIMITS, BUT SOME ROADS ARE EXEMPT

CITYWIDE — THE GOVERNOR AND CITY OFFICIALS CELEBRATED the passage of Sammy’s Law, and its inclusion in the Fiscal 2025 Budget Agreement on Thursday, May 9. Named for 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein, who in 2013 died after being hit by a driver in Park Slope, the will allow New York City to lower its speed limit to 20 miles per hour on nearly every road, which will reduce the risk of death or life-threatening injury in a crash. The passage of Sammy’s Law authorizes the city to lower its speed limits via local law, with exception of major thoroughfares in the outer boroughs. Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, New York City officials, and activists celebrated a decade of advocacy on passing this bill.

However, some of those major roads in the other four boroughs, including the Park Slope street where Sammy was hit and Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue, could be made safer with speed limit reductions. Just last year, 31-year-old pedestrian Katherine Harris lost her life to a speeding driver who ran a red light at Atlantic Ave. and Clinton St.

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CITY SUED FOR DENYING IVF COVERAGE TO GAY MEN

CITYWIDE — FORMER MANHATTAN ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY Corey Briskin and his partner Nicholas Maggipinto on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit against the city over alleged medical discrimination against gay men, reports Gothamist. The suit claims that the city’s public employee health plan’s definition of infertility, which requires couples seeking IVF to first attempt to conceive through either intercourse or artificial insemination, leaves gay men without the option of coverage. The couple in an interview said that they have spent $80,000 so far on IVF and are seeking the same benefits that other couples would receive, coverage for up to three rounds of treatment; while a spokesperson for City Hall claimed in a response that the city’s health plan offers equal benefits for all but does not cover surrogacy, Briskin and Maggipinto are not seeking surrogate coverage.

Briskin and Maggipinto also filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint in 2022, but say they have not been satisfied with the investigation’s progress so far.

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AT&T, T-MOBILE & VERIZON FINED $10.2M FOR DECEPTIVE WIRELESS ADVERTISING

NATIONWIDE — AT&T, T-MOBILE & VERIZON HAVE BEEN PENALIZED $10.22M for deceptively marketing wireless service plans for years, NYS Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday. A multi-state investigation joined by multiple A.G.s found that the companies made false claims in advertisements in New York and across the nation, including misrepresentations about “unlimited” data plans that were in fact limited and had reduced quality and speed after a certain limit was reached by the user. The companies will pay $520,000 to New York and are required to change their advertising to ensure that wireless service plans are accurately and fairly explained.

“AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile lied to millions of consumers, making false promises of free phones and ‘unlimited’ data plans that were simply untrue,” James said in a statement. The penalized cell services also operate under the name Cricket Wireless, Cellco Partnership and TracFone.

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APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS CUOMO ETHICS COMMISSION WIN

STATEWIDE — FORMER GOV. ANDREW CUOMO may be able to hold on to the $5 million he made from a book deal after a five-member appellate court on Thursday upheld a 2023 court decision that the state’s relatively new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is unconstitutional. According to court paperwork, Cuomo in 2020 received permission from the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics to publish a book on his handling of the COVID-19 epidemic. Despite this approval, Cuomo was later charged with an ethics violation. In 2022, the state legislature replaced the Joint Commission with COELIG and proceeded with the charges against Cuomo. But the legislature, even if well-intentioned, “violated the dictates of separation of powers” in creating the new commission, by revoking the Governor’s enforcement powers with regards to ethics laws, the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, ruled.

“This has been a three-year exercise to bend the law to fit the political will of those in charge and hopefully after this second — and unanimous — court decision, this partisan and baseless prosecution will finally end,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement Thursday.

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FREE SUMMER YOUTH ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS IN NYC PARKS AND WATERWAYS

CITYWIDE — REGISTRATION FOR FREE AND LOW-COST ENVIRONMENTAL summer programs in NYC’s parks and coastlines has opened for students in 4th – 9th grade. Offered by the City Parks Foundation, the Coastal Classrooms and Learning Gardens programs focus on coastal waterways, food systems and the local urban environment. Coastal Classroom helps foster STEM learning through immersive lessons in NYC’s marine ecosystems. Learning Gardens, for students living in densely populated neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, offers hands-on lessons on growing food, identifying biodiversity in the urban environment and more. In Brooklyn, programs take place in Kaiser Park in Coney Island, Abib Newborn Learning Garden in Brownsville, and ENY Success Gardens in East New York.

“We look forward to students getting outside and having positive experiences that will shape their relationship to NYC Parks for the rest of their lives,” Chrissy Word, Director of Education at City Parks Foundation, said in a statement.

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ASSEMBLYMEMBER COLTON HONORED FOR WORK
ON ESTABLISHING LUNAR NEW YEAR HOLIDAY

ALBANY AND SOUTH BROOKLYN — BROOKLYN ASSEMBLYMEMBER WILLIAM COLTON was presented with a legislative achievement award from the Albany chapter of the Asian Pacific Islanders Public Affairs Association (APAPA), for championing the recognition of Lunar New Year as a school holiday across New York State. The ceremony, held last Sunday, May 5, at Albany’s Empire State Plaza to mark Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month during May, saluted Colton as the prime sponsor of the Lunar New Year legislation, signed into law in 2023. The law adds the first day of the Asian Lunar New Year to the state’s calendar of public school holidays for the state’s two million people of Asian heritage. “This is a very significant occasion for many of the state’s residents and now, across the state, those who celebrate will no longer have to choose between marking the holiday as a family and sending their children to school,” said Colton.

APAPA also honored other state lawmakers on Sunday, including Senator Brian Kavanaugh who represented Senate District 26 covering Brooklyn Heights and several of the Downtown-area neighborhoods until redistricting changed his geographic scope.

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BROOKLYN COLLEGE CELEBRATES EXPANDED SERVICES FOR ASIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

FLATBUSH — A CHINESE LION DANCE, MONGOL FOLK MUSIC and other performances were part of Brooklyn College’s May 7 celebration of pan-Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Associate Prof. Yung-Yi Diana Pan and the director of the Women’s Center Sau-fong Au are principals for a $1.97 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, allowing Brooklyn College to invest in mentoring, mental health and curriculum development to support students of Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander ancestry. The grant is a “huge win” for AAPI students, Pan and Au said in a release.

The grant also led to the launching of the Brooklyn College AANAPISI Project, led by director Christopher Y. Won.

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DINAPOLI: NYC’S GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE WILL INCREASE

CITYWIDE — THE CITY’S FULL-TIME GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE is expected to increase for the first time year-over-year since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. New York City is projected to end the 2024 Fiscal Year in June with at least 283,000 full-time employees, up from 281,917 workers in June 2023. While a general hiring freeze was in effect from October 2023 through February 2024 as part of the city’s Program to Eliminate the Gap, and the city’s vacancy rates were cut almost in half to reduce costs, some agencies, including the Department of Education, with 7,745 vacancies in 2023, now have insufficient staff to meet the state’s class size mandates. Other agencies that didn’t cut costs are still experiencing elevated vacancy rates when compared to pre-pandemic; for example, Environmental Protection has the highest vacancy rate by program area at 11.5% followed by the Department of Transportation (10%) and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (9.3%).

The city has been accelerating hiring since the pandemic to reduce vacancies and has increased civil service exams and outreach to potential applicants through the city’s online job hub.

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SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR BANKS DEFENDS HIS RESPONSE
TO ANTISEMITIC HATE INCIDENTS

CAPITOL HILL — SPEAKING AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON Wednesday, May 8, NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks vigorously defended New York City’s response to antisemitic incidents in public schools and resisted efforts from Republicans to brand him as ignoring hate speech, according to Gothamist and the Daily News. Banks had to address both antisemitic speech and actions as well as another surge in Islamophobia and hate speech directed at Palestinian students and their allies. Banks also dismissed allegations from an organization called NYC Educators for Palestine, which plans to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as Banks’ failure to protect Pro-Palestinian teachers, students and parents. Banks said the city is designing new curricula to educate students on Jewish history and culture, and as part of a new partnership with the Museum of Jewish Heritage to create a new Holocaust education guide.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat representing New York (D-New York) emphasized that schools must combat Islamophobia just as strenuously as they battle antisemitism.

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WHISTLEBLOWER AT BOEING’S SUPPLIER TELLS BBC, CBS
OF EMPLOYEES’ ‘FEAR OF FLYING’

KANSAS AND NATIONWIDE — PLANE BODIES FROM BOEING’S LARGEST SUPPLIER regularly left the factory with serious defects, a former quality inspector at the manufacturing supplier Spirit AeroSystems told the BBC and the CBS news network in an exclusive interview (reported on both networks’ websites this week). The quality inspector, Santiago Paredes, said he often found up to 200 defects on parts being prepared for shipping to Boeing, during the time he worked at Spirit, from 2010-2022. Spirit Aerosystems, (unrelated to Spirit Airlines) was a subsidiary of Boeing and founded as its own company in 2005. Parades found “a lot of missing fasteners, a lot of bent parts, sometimes even missing parts,” and that while working at Spirit, “..met a lot of people who were afraid of flying — because they saw how they were building the fuselages.” He said, “They just wanted the product shipped out. They weren’t focused on the consequences of shipping bad fuselages.”

Boeing chose not to comment on Parades’ report, while Spirit stated they “strongly disagreed” with the allegations. Both companies are at the center of inquiries involving safety, and Spirit has seen its revenue plummet since January.

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SAIL-FREIGHT SCHOONER APOLLONIA ARRIVES IN BROOKLYN THIS WEEK

BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK/RED HOOK — THE SCHOONER APOLLONIA, America’s only active sail freight ship, will make port calls open to the public in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Friday, May 10, and in Red Hook on Saturday, May 11. Apollonia will be unloading cargoes of malted barley (for beer makers), wholesale cargoes and individual cargoes of cider, subscription Boat Boxes of Hudson Valley goods and bottles of rye whiskey. The Apollonia crew works with local port partners to make sustainable first- and last-mile deliveries using a human-powered cargo bike with solar-powered e-assist (and the occasional horse-drawn wagon).

May 10: Brooklyn Bridge Park — meet at Estuary Brasserie at 6, 6:30, or 7 p.m. to board the vessel in Brooklyn One15 Marina. May 11: Red Hook – fun at Sail Freight Saturday, 6-7:30 p.m. Join the crew at the RETI Center Barge (courtesy of ~GBX Gowanus Bay Terminal) at 701 Columbia Street for music by the Barge Rat Band, beverages, cargo delivery and an informal visit aboard the schooner.

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NYC TO INSTALL 500 SECURE BIKE PARKING UNITS

CITYWIDE — THE ADAMS ADMINISTRATION is looking for a company to install a network of 500 secure bike parking locations across the city over the next five years, NYC DOT announced Thursday. NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement that the agency has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to “support continued growth in cycling by addressing a key barrier to bike ownership: the lack of access to secure bike storage.” DOT will prioritize locations near major transit hubs, with the ability to accommodate e-bikes and cargo bikes, and potentially incorporate e-bike charging. DOT envisions a variety of small and high-capacity designs, including enclosed and open-air units both at the curbside and off-street.

“It’s infrastructure like bike storage and protected bike lanes that are necessary to get more New Yorkers onto bikes,” Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said.

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NOAA INVESTIGATING DEATH OF ENDANGERED SEI WHALE
FOUND ON BOW OF CRUISE SHIP

RED HOOK — AN ENDANGERED-SPECIES SEI WHALE was found dead last Saturday on the bow of a cruise ship at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, with investigators now working to determine whether it was hit or had already died before making contact with the vessel, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the 44-foot whale was discovered dead on the front of the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia on May 4. A spokesperson for the cruise company explained the policies and training that officers and crew complete to protect marine life. Scientists are examining the evidence from a May 7 necropsy of the whale to determine its exact cause and moment of death.

Although sei whales are covered under the Endangered Species Act, and whaling is prohibited, these mammals still face other dangers including ship strikes and fishing nets. NOAA estimates the natural life of a sei whale to be about 50 to 70 years.

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STATE COUNCIL ON ARTS POSTS GUIDELINES
FOR PROSPECTIVE GRANT APPLICANTS

STATEWIDE — APPLICATIONS AND OPPORTUNITY GUIDELINES for $82 million in grants from the New York State Council on the Arts are now available for nonprofit arts and culture organizations and individual artists, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday, May 8. The governor said that included in this grant opportunity is the most critically needed resource for New York’s robust arts and culture sector — general operating support — which provides funding for day-to-day activities for hundreds of organizations across the state. The opportunities also offer support for individual artists, affordable rehearsal space, folk arts apprenticeships and performing arts residences. Application guidelines are now available online. The application portal will open on Wednesday, June 5, and the deadline to apply is Wednesday, June 17, at 4 p.m. All applicants must complete the prequalification process through the Statewide Financial System before applying for a grant.

NYSCA urges applicants to begin the prequalification process as soon as possible. Opportunities for Capital Project Grants will be announced in the fall.

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BROOKLYN SEES SPIKE IN NEW CONSTRUCTION, ALONG WITH INJURIES

CITYWIDE — THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS ON MONDAY released a new report highlighting a boom in post-pandemic building in Brooklyn, with new construction more than doubling between 2020 and 2023, from 10,343,000 square feet added to 22,498,000 square feet added, more than any other borough by a wide margin. The building boom, however, also comes with an attendant increase in construction-related injuries, with 222 injuries reported last year, up from 107 injuries in 2020. Advocates had raised concerns over construction accidents after six fatalities were reported in Brooklyn in 2022, although last year saw only two deaths; a press statement from the DOB indicated that safety conditions at worksites may be improving, and despite conducting more inspections, the department is “taking fewer enforcement actions.”

Construction worker Juan Ildefonso Tamay Ganzhi was killed in February in a Borough Park building collapse, at a site previously fined for unsafe conditions.

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TENSIONS OVER CLINTON HILL MEGA SHELTER

CLINTON HILL — HUNDREDS OF CLINTON HILL LOCALS packed a community meeting on Monday night to air complaints over the high concentration of migrant shelters in the neighborhood, which now hosts around 4,000 recently arrived people, reports The City. Some pointed fingers at Councilmember Crystal Hudson over a perceived lack of action on the issue; speakers at the meeting demanded that the city not renew the Hall Street shelter’s lease next March. Tensions rose recently after the opening of a new shelter building on Hall Street in April, across from a previously existing one, housing hundreds more people; some meeting attendees raised complaints over quality-of-life issues like an increase in panhandling and a homeless encampment under the nearby BQE, while others expressed concerns over the conditions shelter residents are experiencing.

Hudson told The City that she was unable to attend the town hall meeting due to a schedule conflict, but said she was working with City Hall to aid Clinton Hill, citing a recent open letter to the mayor requesting additional resources.

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BILL WITH AMENDED LANGUAGE ON PRESCRIPTION COSTS
ADVANCES FROM CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE

CAPITOL HILL — A BILL CHANGING LANGUAGE to lower prescription drug costs has advanced from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways & Means Committee, Congressmember Nicole Malliotakis (R-11) announced on Wednesday. Malliotakis, who represents southwestern Brooklyn and sits on the House Committee on Ways and Means, introduced language to delink Pharmacy Benefit Manager compensation from the cost of medications and increase price transparency, thus protecting “mom & pop” pharmacies and lowering the cost of prescription drugs for consumers. The bill also increases telehealth services for mental health appointments passed out of the full committee with bipartisan support. The language, which received bipartisan support to clear the committee, will be included in Ways & Means’ Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act.

This policy will save taxpayers roughly $700 million and help reduce seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs, Rep. Malliotakis’ office said.

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BROOKLYN FASHION AT BPL PEOPLE’S BALL

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — HUNDREDS OF NEW YORKERS turned out on Sunday night for the Brooklyn Public Library’s fourth annual People’s Ball at the Central branch. The event is a celebration of Brooklyn fashion held on the eve of the exclusive Met Gala, co-curated by producer Souleo and hosted by actress Delissa Reynolds and stylist Robert Verdi. The evening featured performances by drag legend Kevin Aviance and DJ Spinna, as well as a tribute to the New York Times style photographer Bill Cunningham, who would have turned 95 this year.

“This event celebrates the true spirit of democracy and reminds us that fashion and creativity belong to everyone, and you really don’t need much to be a relevant part of it — just imagination, inspiration, courage, and a zest for life,” said László Jakab Orsós, BPL’s Vice President of Arts and Culture.

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LEGAL AID SOCIETY DEMANDS THOROUGH REPORT
ON NYPD CAMPUS PROTEST ACTIONS

CITYWIDE — THE NYPD’S RESPONSE to the pro-Palestine campus protests is now the subject of an investigation with the Department of the Inspector General, according to an announcement made on Wednesday. DOI has launched a probe into NYPD officials’ social media use as well. Earlier this week, the Legal Aid Society had urged the OIG-NYPD to review what is believed to be the police force’s problematic crackdown of protests at local universities and colleges that led to widespread violations of protesters’ constitutional and statutory rights. Legal Aid also urged OIG-NYPD to investigate reports of the NYPD slamming protesters to the ground, pushing others, and throwing one protester down the stairs, as well as indiscriminately using pepper spray on protesters as well as legal observers and journalists. Legal Aid on Wednesday issued a statement that, while praising the investigation being opened, still “implores” them to “review the NYPD’s disproportionate use of force during the crackdown, as well as to examine why New Yorkers charged with low-level crimes were illegally detained and processed through the system instead of receiving an appearance ticket.

The prolonged detention of demonstrators violated “New York’s long-standing 24-hour arrest to arraignment requirement,” the statement pointed out.

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BPL LIBRARIAN WINS PULITZER PRIZE
FOR ILLUSTRATED REPORTING

BOROUGHWIDE — BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY’S MEDAR DE LA CRUZ, who provides library books to persons who are incarcerated, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. Mr. de La Cruz is an artist who is also an integral part of the Brooklyn Public Library’s Justice Initiatives program, which provides library services to persons who are incarcerated on Rikers Island. His illustrations, drawn from memory after returning home, were published in The New Yorker in May 2023. Because photos are not allowed on Rikers Island, the illustrations give witness to the people behind bars and the importance of books while incarcerated.

Brooklyn Public Library’s Justice Initiatives program provides services to incarcerated New Yorkers and their families including library service in prisons. The program’s Welcome Home series provides one-to-one support with the library’s trained re-entry navigators and monthly dinners for previously incarcerated patrons.

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RENTAL MARKETS NEAR SUBWAY STOPS
SEE PRICE SURGES: RENTHOP REPORT

CITYWIDE — APARTMENTS NEAR CERTAIN SUBWAY STATIONS in Brooklyn experienced the largest rent hikes, according to a new report from RentHop. A site that organizes rental listings by quality, RentHop uses metrics from GIS data for subway stops compiled by CUNY/Baruch College and NYC Open Data. RentHop examined at least 20 non-duplicated rental listings within 800 meters (half a mile, or several city blocks) of a subway stop and then calculated the median rents. Brooklyn stations seeing large rent hike percentages were those where multiple neighborhoods intersect, including the Avenue P stop on the F line (17.44% rent hike), Atlantic Avenue/Barclays Center in Boerum Hill (3.65%), and Broadway Junction (12.5%). Stations near newly renovated apartments, such as Sutter Avenue-Rutland Road, serving East Flatbush, Brownsville and Canarsie, saw rent hikes as well.

Not surprisingly, some existing tenants with below-average rents may have opted to stay put more often in the past year.

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HALL ST. MEGA-SHELTER CAUSING MAJOR PROBLEMS,
SAY CLINTON HILL RESIDENTS

CLINTON HILL — A MEETING ABOUT THE ADVERSE IMPACTS of a homeless shelter complex attracted a standing-room-only crowd to Brown Memorial Baptist Church Monday night, where Clinton Hill residents expressed their concerns, reports The City. The 200-plus attendees were airing their grievances about quality of life issues such as sanitation, loitering and panhandling that they say have been exacerbated since the city opened a mega-shelter complex in a set of formerly industrial warehouses. The residents said these shelters actually worsen homelessness when people are kicked out for various reasons, and that their neighborhood lacks the resources to manage these problems.

The 200-plus attendees also expressed anger at what they view as absence and silence from their City Councilmember, Crystal Hudson (D-35), although she pleaded in writing with the mayor for more resources, saying that she’s stretched thin.

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STUDY: MOST PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS IN NYC PUBLIC HOSPITALS DENIED ACCESS TO OUTDOORS 

CITYWIDE — DESPITE LAWS MANDATING THAT PATIENTS in psychiatric wards be allowed access to the outdoors, an investigation by mental health organizations found that the majority of public NYC Health and Hospitals “continuously deprive patients of all access to fresh air and the outdoors.” The study “Denial of Fresh Air Access for Psychiatric Patients: A Report on NYC H+H Hospitals,” released Monday by Mental Hygiene Legal Services and Disability Rights Advocates, documented the distress experienced by patients subjected to uninterrupted indoor confinement. One patient held at Bellevue for over a year told researchers, “I live here in this bed.” MHLS attorney Leonard Simmons said in a statement that people in prison receive more outdoor access.

While Bellevue allows no outdoor access at all, at Woodhull in Brooklyn, patients are allowed access to an outdoor courtyard two days a week during short therapeutic sessions. At Kings County, patients are allowed on outdoor terraces if they have “appropriate footwear.” At South Brooklyn Health, a new policy starting in Spring 2024 would allow patients to go onto an outdoor terrace two times a week.

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THREE GREEN NYC ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE STATE GRANTS

CITYWIDE — THREE NYC ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS have received grants for projects that foster the environment and conserve open space, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday. The funding is awarded through the Conservation Partnership Program, which supports not-for-profit land trusts across the state. The Brooklyn Queens Land Trust will receive a Professional Development Grant of $100,000; Open Space Institute will receive a Catalyst Grant of $82,000; and Green Guerillas will receive a Capacity Grant of $45,500.

“The Conservation Partnership Program grants are a critical component to preserving our State’s natural beauty and enhancing local communities,” Hochul said in a release.

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ADAMS: NYC READY TO JAIL TRUMP, IF IT COMES TO THAT

CITYWIDE — MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAID THAT NYC WILL BE PREPARED  to jail Donald Trump if he is again found in contempt of a gag order, Patch reported. Adams made the comment during his regular Tuesday open-topic news conference. “We have to adjust whatever comes our way, but we don’t want to deal with a hypothetical,” Adams said. “But they’re professionals. They’ll be ready.” Trial Judge Juan Merchan this week found Trump in contempt of court for the tenth time for disparaging jurors; even as porn star Stormy Daniels took the stand in Manhattan on Tuesday in Trump’s hush-money trial.

Daniels testified that her sexual encounter with Trump was “brief” and awkward, and it ended with her shaken, Patch reported.

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NYPD INVESTIGATES BOMB THREATS TO SYNAGOGUES AND THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM

CITYWIDE — AUTHORITIES ARE INVESTIGATING bomb threats emailed over the weekend to more than two dozen synagogues, Jewish institutions and nonprofits in the New York City area, including two synagogues and a museum in Brooklyn, news sources reported. “Hello, if you see this email just have notice of a bomb I have set inside of your building,” an email read, according to the New York Post. A similar threat was emailed to the New York Landmarks Conservancy. According to Pix11, a Remsen Street synagogue in Brooklyn Heights and the Brooklyn Museum were among those threatened. During Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security has further expanded capacity-building services to synagogues, community centers and Jewish day schools, among other actions.

President Biden spoke Tuesday at the commemoration hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, reaffirming the nation’s  commitment to the Jewish people following the Holocaust: “Never Again.”

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EDC TO PRESENT PLANS FOR SUNSET PARK’S PIER 6 REDEVELOPMENT

SUNSET PARK — NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP. will give a presentation about the planned redevelopment of Pier 6 in Sunset Park, at Community Board 7’s Economic Development & Small Businesses Committee on Tuesday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. The redevelopment of Pier 6 “is crucial to support the public space and operations of the adjacent Bush Terminal Piers Park and the upcoming Made in NY Campus at Bush Terminal,” EDC says on their website. The redesign plans to stabilize the pier while honoring the site’s rich history and create a resilient and sustainable waterfront.

The meeting will take place at 4201 4th Ave. (enter on 43rd Street & 4th Avenue) and virtually (register at https://bit.ly/3UZLACZ). 

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BOY SCOUTS PROGRAM, NOW COED, GETS NEW NAME

NATIONWIDE — THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is undergoing a name change for the first time since the organization’s founding on Feb. 8, 1910. The 114-year-old youth development program will become Scouting America as it re-brands itself after emerging from bankruptcy brought about by sexual abuse-claim lawsuits. The Boy Scouts organization has also in recent years expanded its membership to welcome gay youth and girls, focusing more on inclusion, reports the Associated Press on Tuesday, May 7. The organization officially becomes Scouting America on its 115th birthday, Feb. 8, 2025.

Angelique Minett is the organization’s first woman chairperson. Brooklyn has several Boy Scout troops, many of them part of faith-based groups, such as Troop 23 at Our Lady of Angels Church in Bay Ridge.

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SEN. GOUNARDES INTRODUCES BILL TO REQUIRE ‘SPEED LIMITERS’ FOR REPEAT-OFFENDER DRIVERS

ALBANY — AS PART OF ADVOCACY FOR A BILL he is sponsoring, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes joined street safety advocates and other lawmakers on Tuesday, May 7 to test drive a car with cutting-edge intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology, that limits the maximum speed a vehicle can travel. Also known as “speed limiters” or “governors,” these devices are already standard-issue in new vehicles sold in Europe, and the federal National Safety Transportation Board has recommended the same in the U.S. Senator Gounardes’ legislation (S.7621/A7979) would require the installation of ISA technology on the vehicles of repeatedly reckless drivers that accumulate 11 or more points on their license in an 18-month period, or that receive six speed camera or red-light camera tickets in a year. The devices would prevent drivers from traveling more than 5 mph over the local speed limit.

The State Assembly’s version of the bill, currently in committee, has Brooklyn Assemblymembers Jo Anne Simon (D-52) and Emily Gallagher (D-50) as sponsors. 

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STARBUCKS TO CLOSE UNIONIZED W’BURG STORE

WILLIAMSBURG – COFFEE CHAIN STARBUCKS IS SET TO CLOSE ITS NORTH 7th Street location in Williamsburg at the end of June, reports Greenpointers, citing poor store performance; the branch in 2022 became the fifth Starbucks store in NYC to unionize. Starbucks in a press statement said it was reaching out to the Workers United union to discuss next steps for the 14 workers at the closing location, including possible transfers to other stores.

Starbucks has been previously accused of purposefully shuttering unionized locations in order to disrupt labor organization efforts, including in a National Labor Relations Board complaint last year; the Supreme Court in April began hearing arguments over the firing of seven unionizing Tennessee Starbucks workers that the NLRB ruled retaliatory.

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ABOLITIONIST PARK OPENS IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – THE LONG-AWAITED PARK AT ABOLITIONIST PLACE opened to the public on Monday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, reports Brownstoner, marking the culmination of a decades-long effort. The new park offers rolling lawns to relax on, as well as a fountain, a small dog run and a children’s playground. Art installations celebrating the location’s historical ties to the Underground Railroad are in the works, including tributes to Brooklyn abolitionists and a large dome-shaped sculpture memorializing enslaved Black people as points of light in the night sky. 

The park is the result of years of community activism to bring green space to the neighborhood while paying tribute to the past; the art installation was delayed following a late change in the artist chosen for the project.

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LAWSUIT OVER RIGHTS TO ‘BROOKLYN HALF MARATHON’ NAME

BROOKLYN – THE NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS HAVE FILED A LAWSUIT against the NYCRuns running club, reports the Brooklyn Paper, seeking to stop NYCRuns from using the name “Brooklyn Half Marathon” for its annual April race – an event that the Road Runners say misleads consumers and degrades the value of its longer-running annual May Brooklyn Half Marathon race. The two half-marathon events are frequently confused with each other, according to court filings, and the similar names have resulted in volunteers and racers mistakenly signing up for the wrong races; NYRR, which also hosts the exclusive New York City Marathon, has policies that grant preferential admission to race volunteers. 

NYRR reportedly trademarked the “Brooklyn Half Marathon” name in the 1980s; NYCRuns began hosting its Brooklyn Marathon in 2011 and its Brooklyn Half Marathon in 2018. ✰✰✰

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Our world in photos: May 28

May 28 | Brooklyn Eagle Staff

A Brooklyn milestone: Domenick Napoletano to be sworn in as NYSBA President

May 28 | Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Latest Decisions from the Appellate Division, Second Department

May 28 | Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

From first Asian American judge to legal icon: The Hon. Randall T. Eng Award program shines

May 28 | Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

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