Brooklyn Today February 4: Brooklyn Today February 4: Prosecutors Indict Hammer Attack Suspect With ‘Very Strong’ Evidence

The Lede

THE LEDE: Happy Monday! Prosecutors indict the hammer attack suspect, Black Lives Matter Brooklyn pushes education reforms, and we tell you what would happen if the high-stakes exam was eliminated for the city’s specialized high schools. Plus, the El Chapo case is called “a fantasy,” rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine pleads guilty in federal court, and prisoners at a Sunset Park jail were without heat. Finally, a Greenpoint staple announces it’s closing, we look back at the storied history of a Williamsburg eatery, and the city’s hottest restaurants are revealed.

Imprint

IMPRINT: Model Gisele Bündchen graces the Spring cover of Porter.

The Rundown

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HIGH-STAKES EXAM WAS ELIMINATED FOR NYC SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOLS?

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools ChancellorRichard Carranza proposed last June that the grueling, high-stakes test for admission to the city’s top eight high schools, including Brooklyn Tech and Brooklyn Latin School, be eliminated. Using one test as the sole criterion for admissions has been called unfair and discriminatory, especially to kids of color with access to fewer educational resources. The Independent Budget Office released a simulation on Friday showing what the incoming 9th grade class in 2017-2018 would have looked like. (via Brooklyn Eaglec

PROSECUTORS INDICT HATEFUL HAMMER ATTACK SUSPECT WITH ‘VERY STRONG’ EVIDENCE

A Brighton Beach man faces the rest of his life in prison for bludgeoning three men to death, a crime instigated by his racial bias against Asian men. Arthur Martunovich was arraigned through a closed circuit video feed from Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward on Friday on a 21-count indictment for three murders. “It is an understatement that the amount of evidence we have is very strong,” said Assistant District Attorney Howard Jackson. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

BLACK LIVES MATTER BROOKLYN PUSHES EDUCATION REFORMS

Students in New York’s public schools should be taught African-American history year-round, not just during Black History Month, according to Anthony Beckford, who is leading an effort to change the state’s education laws to make teaching the curriculum mandatory. Beckford, president and founder of Black Lives Matter Brooklyn, said improving the education system is the foundation for achieving racial equality. “It will eventually result in reducing racism,” he said. “It all starts with education. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

DEFENSE LAWYER: GOVERNMENT CASE AGAINST EL CHAPO ‘A FANTASY’

A defense attorney for Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman assailed the federal case against the Mexican drug lord as “a fantasy,” telling a U.S. jury Thursday that the prosecution relied on a parade of cooperating witnesses who “lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people” for a living. In an impassioned closing argument, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said prosecutors failed to address a “600-pound gorilla” of reasonable doubt in their bid to convict one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)

BROOKLYN RAPPER 6IX9INE PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT

Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine is cooperating with federal prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple felonies and saying he joined a violent New York City gang and helped others try to kill a rival gang member. Information regarding the plea bargain was unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday. During the plea, 6ix9ine, 22, said he joined the Nine Trey Blood Gang in fall 2017. He says he helped gang members try to kill a rival last March. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)

PRISONERS AT SUNSET PARK’S FEDERAL JAIL REPORTED SUFFERING FROM LACK OF HEAT, HOT WATER

More than a thousand federal prisoners at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park are said to be freezing in their cells after outages left the jail with very little heat, hot water and electricity. These conditions were told to The New York Times by six lawyers and paralegals with Federal Defenders of New York, about three dozen inmates at the facility, two union leaders and one employee. A shocking video showed inmates banging on the windows for help. (NYT via Brooklyn Eagle)

ENID’S, WELL-KNOWN GREENPOINT RESTAURANT, SET TO CLOSE

Enid’s, a moderately priced Greenpoint restaurant that’s been serving Southern comfort food for 20 years, announced on Friday that it will be closing at the end of March. Manager Andy Siebert said the owners informed him that the impending closure of the restaurant was not caused by rent increases or any outside factors. “We’ve been here 20 years, a lot of us who work here have been here over a decade, and we’ve done our thing – it’s time to make some room for new pioneers,” he said. (Gothamist via Brooklyn Eagle)

DINER, PIONEER WILLIAMSBURG RESTAURANT, CELEBRATES 20TH BIRTHDAY

Many of the elements of Williamsburg’s well-publicized culinary scene can be traced to one restaurant – Diner, which opened in January 1999. The casual restaurant that serves simply prepared, locally served food in a former railroad dining car helped turn “a neighborhood full of artists’ lofts and not much else into a culinary destination,” according to The New York Times. Diner was founded by Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth, two friends who were living in a Williamsburg loft. (NYT via Brooklyn Eagle)