Brooklyn Today March 22: Brooklyn Today: Greenpoint sounds off on mega-development

The Lede

Universal pre-K is one of the mayor’s signature achievements, but plans to expand it could imperil the city’s most important service providers: the scores of NYC Early Education Centers around the city. These community-based schools provide the majority of pre-K seats and have been the foundation for accessible pre-K long before the de Blasio administration. Directors of these centers told the Eagle that the continued expansion of universal pre-K is siphoning off too many students, threatening their sustainability. Could the administration’s latest pre-school push backfire?

Seen something you think we should cover? Let us know! Also, if you like what we’re doing, tell a friend, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Rundown

UNIVERSAL PRE-K EXPANSION THREATENS CRITICAL PARTNERSHIP

Community-based NYC Early Education Centers service the majority of the city’s pre-K students. Their directors say expanding UPK threatens their viability.

GREENPOINTERS SOUND OFF ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD MEGA-DEVELOPMENT

Greenpoint Landing is going to be big. As in 23 acres big. As in 5,500 apartments big. Is it any wonder people in Greenpoint talk about it a lot?

PLAYABLE ART: INSTALLATION OF HAROLD ANCART’S PAINTED HANDBALL COURT STARTS IN CADMAN PLAZA

Contemporary art and recreational sport will soon come together as one. The piece, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, opens on May 1.

BROOKLYN ATTORNEY FACES UP TO 20 YEARS FOR HELPING A CLIENT AVOID PAYING OFF A PENALTY

She received a bag that contained $33,100 in cash in exchange for one of her client’s properties. She took a $8,100 broker fee and gave the rest to her client. It was entirely illegal.

ARTIST BEHIND TORCHED ‘MITZVAH BUS’ FINDS NEW FOOTING AFTER ARSON

Almost two years after the brightly painted bus Lev Schieber used as a studio was torched and destroyed, the Crown Heights-based artist looks back on the arson not as a tragedy, but as a harbinger of business.

ASK A HISTORIAN: WHY IS WASHINGTON PARK STREET FAR FROM WASHINGTON PARK?

It’s by Fort Greene Park, and the reason is complicated. (Also, don’t forget to submit a question!)

BROOKLYN DA PARTNERS WITH CUNY TO IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY

Just days after revealing the details of his Justice 2020 initiative, the DA announced that a major piece of that plan is already underway.

LISTEN: WHERE DO WE STAND WITH THE BQE REHAB PLAN?

The most recent plan to fix the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway would turn the triple cantilever into cliffs of parkland over Brooklyn Bridge Park. On this week’s episode, we speak with the people behind the two latest ideas: Mark Baker and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

More Brooklyn News

Calls to 911 reporting “emotionally disturbed persons” have nearly doubled over the last decade, rising every year and in every precinct. (The City)

Why New York’s lettered subway lines are ‘cursed.’ (The New York Times)

Mary Arndt is looking for two special women who unselfishly came to her aid at a time when she really needed a helping hand. (Brooklyn Reporter)