Brooklyn Today January 24: Brooklyn Today January 24: Poly Prep Students Demand Changes to Combat Racism

The Lede

Happy Thursday! Poly Prep students demand changes to combat racism, a heroic dog saves its owner’s life, and a Brooklyn foundation distributes a record $7 million. Plus, MTA police report the lowest crime rate in history, a teen’s sentencing upsets the police force, and the NYPD introduces a new crime-fighting initiative. Finally, tenants are coming to Grand Street in Williamsburg, the F train is going rouge, and we recommend the best coffee shops in the city

Imprint

IMPRINT: American actress Brooke Shields poses in pink on the latest cover of Stella.

The Rundown

POLY PREP STUDENTS DEMAND CHANGES TO COMBAT RACISM

A video depicting two Poly Prep students making animal noises and jumping around in blackface went viral over the weekend, putting a spotlight on race relations inside the elite private school in Dyker Heights. The two students depicted in the video have since left the institution as a result of the controversy, but it’s unclear if their departure will cool racial tensions at the school. Leaders of Emoja, a black affinity student group, charged that the video was just the latest example of a long history of racial insensitivity at the school and wrote an impassioned letter to the head of school. “This is not an isolated incident,” the students wrote. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

HERO CANINE SAVES OWNER’S LIFE FROM EAST NEW YORK FIRE

A fire destroyed a private home and damaged two others in East New York on Tuesday, and the destruction could have been much worse if it weren’t for theheroic actions of a canine. Joel Rojas was sleeping in his basement apartment when his dog Goliath, a 4-year-old boxer, began to alert him of trouble. “Goliath started barking, so I looked out the window in the rear, and someone jumped out the window,” Rojas said. “I saw the smoke and fire. I got my laptop, my coat and my dog and ran out of here.” (via Brooklyn Eagle)

BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION DISTRIBUTES RECORD $7 MILLION IN 2018

As Brooklyn does better, so do its nonprofits. Brooklyn Community Foundation — the first and only public foundation totally dedicated to Brooklyn — distributed a whopping $7,068,413 in grants to local charities and nonprofits in 2018. “This is a record-breaking total in the Foundation’s nearly 10-year history and a huge milestone for our growth,” BCF said. This amount is up from $5.4 million in 2017. Since 2009, the foundation has distributed more than $45 million to more than 300 organizations in Brooklyn.(via Brooklyn Eagle)

MTA POLICE REPORT LOWEST CRIME RATE IN AGENCY HISTORY

New Yorkers may not be safe from delayed trains, but at least they’re safer from crime. Overall crime in 2018 reached its lowest rate in the 20-year history of the MTA Police, dropping more than 13 percent from 2017, the agency reported on Tuesday. Robbery, which the MTA calls a “a bell weather for violent crime,” dropped by 41 percent, from 44 incidents in 2017 to just 26 incidents in 2018. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

TEEN’S MINIMAL SENTENCE UNLEASHES NYPD ANGER

A judge’s decision inside a Brooklyn courtroom enraged almost 100 NYPD officers who packed two separate rooms on Wednesday for the sentencing of a teenager convicted for causing permanent damage to one of their fellow officers. After a jury trial in December, Justin Murrell was acquitted of attempted murder charges but convicted of first-degree assault. The injuries Dalsh Vevesustained crippled him to lifetime in a wheelchair. On Wednesday, Justice Ruth Shillingford sentenced Murrell to four years in prison. (via Brooklyn Eagle)

NYPD UNVEILS NEW CRIME-FIGHTING INITIATIVE IN STUBBORN AREAS

The NYPD will devote additional resources to six precincts, including two in Brooklyn, with violent crime rates that are more than twice as high as the rest of the city, Commissioner James O’Neill said Wednesday. O’Neill saidthe initiative is aimed at ensuring every neighborhood benefits from the city’s historic overall drop in crime, regardless of income level, location or demographics. New York has seen crime numbers fall dramatically over the past three decades. The city had fewer than 300 homicides last year, compared with 2,245 in 1990. (AP via Brooklyn Eagle)

TENANTS SIGN LEASES FOR GRAND STREET IN, POINTING TO A BUSIER SHOPPING STRIP

Two retail store transactions point to Grand Street in Williamsburg becoming a busier commercial strip, especially with several large residential developments nearby. The first is Johnny’s Chop Shop, a London-based men’s hair salon, which is opening its first U.S. outlet there. The other is Kitsby, a company that sells prepackaged dessert recipes and ingredients. “These tenants definitely see a big rise in demand because of projects like the Domino Sugar Factory development,” said leasing brokerPeter Schubert. (Crain’s via Brooklyn Eagle)

THE VALUE OF LAND: ANALYSIS USES PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN HEIGHTS AS EXAMPLES

When analyzing a new study by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that examines the ramifications of land value, the Washington Post used two upscale Brooklyn neighborhoods as examples. The reason an acre of residential land in Brooklyn Heights or Park Slope costs about 7,500 times as much as an acre in Western Arkansas is demand — the two Brooklyn neighborhoods are close to the subway, food-co-ops and high-paying jobs. Areas like the Slope or the Heights also “tend to have higher taxes and zoning restrictions.” (WaPo via Brooklyn Eagle)

TAKE THE F TRAIN—BUT IT MAY NOT STOP AT YOUR DESTINATION

Many F train riders in Brooklyn are saying that the train has been running express with little notice, inconveniencing people whose destinations are local stops. For example, one recent F train skipped stops from Jay Street-MetroTech to Seventh Avenue, then skipped more stops to Church Avenue. The MTA said this is done to shorten gaps in service after problems result in backed-up trains, but riders say the announcements are often made when riders are already on the train. (CBSNewYork via Brooklyn Eagle)