Polar Bear Fashion; Cops Shoot Canarsie Man Wielding Knife; and More Brooklyn Briefs

#Brooklyn hospitals welcome first babies of 2017 https://t.co/VEB7jFx8rl @NYULutheran @nym_hospital pic.twitter.com/FCzFk9d1vi

— Brooklyn Daily Eagle (@BklynEagle) January 3, 2017

- An NYPD cop fatally shot a knife-wielding man in Canarsie Tuesday night. [NY Post]

- Blaze tears through two Kensington apartments, injures three. [Daily News]

- Polar Bears are sure dressing funny lately for their New Year's plunge. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Cops are asking the public’s help finding a 23-year-old driver accused of mowing down a pedestrian in Brooklyn and ditching his two passengers in his mangled Lexus. [Daily News]

- In Williamsburg, a range of luxury, beautifully designed hotels are opening, jostling for the attentions of fashionable travelers. [Daily Beast]

- Here are a few of the really gross things living on a dollar bill. [NY Magazine]

- The St. Ives Apricot Scrub controversy is headed to court. [Slate]


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Spumoni Gardens Lurker ID'd; Knockout Punch Victim Speaks Out; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Unveiled: @ComicaveStudios' 75th Anniversary #CaptainAmerica statue, to be installed in Brooklyn on August 10! pic.twitter.com/q0HZSBDYBU

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 21, 2016

- Police have identified the man seen outside the home of Louis Barbati prior to the L&B Spumoni Gardens co-owner’s slaying. [Daily News]

- Video shows brutal Brooklyn Heights knockout punch; victim gives advice to Heights residents. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- The 8 best pools in Brooklyn. [Brooklyn Magazine]

- Brooklyn junkyard fire blackens sky over East Flatbush / Canarsie. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- First-ever virtual reality concert coming to Prospect Park. [Time Out]

- The city has yielded to Red Hookers’ demands to place a planned neighborhood ferry stop inside the Atlantic Basin. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Time Out lists the 20 best restaurants in Brooklyn. #1? Semilla in Williamsburg. [Time Out]



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New Years Eve in DUMBO, Mystery in Williamsburg, and More Brooklyn Briefs

A sergeant at NYPD's 67th Precinct rescued a French Crevecoeur rooster named "Mo Justice" https://t.co/jANj1wTSsw pic.twitter.com/fRBUvKUnHE

— DNAinfo.com New York (@DNAinfo) December 27, 2015

- New Years Eve in Dumbo! Where to go, from $25 to $665. [DumboNYC]

- Mystery deepens: The Department of Buildings has no plans on file for a luxury rental in Williamsburg that experienced an emergency vacate order last month because of structural defects. The building at one time belonged to murdered developer Menachem Stark. [Brownstoner]

- New York Magazine's cover pictures a shrunken Mayor de Blasio. [NYM] 

- Cops have arrested a 40-year-old Jewish Brooklyn man who threatened four men of middle eastern decent Saturday night. He yelled, "I want to see blood in the street!" [JPupdate]

- TSA worker and friend wounded in crossfire after picking up Chinese take out in Canarsie. [NY Daily News]

- A Bushwick couple sort of made their apartment into a treehouse. [Racked]

- Brooklyn Magazine gives us suggestions for no-fail first dates in Brooklyn ... AND 10 Brooklyn bars with fireplaces.

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Brooklyn: Harris First African-American to Represent Majority White District; Persaud in Canarsie

Congrats 2 Assemblymember Pamela Harris. 1st #nonWhite 2 rep majority #White district ever in #NYS @MarkTreyger718 pic.twitter.com/0QRAIFSynm

— Jumaane (@JumaaneWilliams) November 4, 2015

Democrat Pam Harris enjoyed a "bigger than expected victory" in the race to succeed former Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny, the Brooklyn Eagle reports.

It had been expected to be a close race. But instead, Harris easily defeated Republican Lucretia Regina-Potter, 63 percent to 37 percent.

The 46th AD includes parts of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Coney Island.

Harris is the only African-American to represent a majority white district in New York City, the Observer says.

In another Brooklyn race, Democratic Assemblymember Roxanne Persaud won a landslide victory in the special election in the 19th state Senate District (Canarsie-Crown Heights-East Flatbush).

Persaud will take the seat formerly held by Democrat John Sampson, convicted.



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7-Year-Old Girl Brain Dead After Choking at School; 'Dwight Schrute' Coming to DUMBO; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Watching the World Series Game 1 at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Photo: MK Metz

 - A 7-year-old Brooklyn girl has been declared brain-dead after choking on her public-school lunch. The EMT who tried to save her was suspended from his job. [NY Post]

- Velázquez introduces gun bill that would tax sales, and fund anti-violence and mental health programs. The NRA is going to hate it. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Police are looking for a Canarsie man wanted for allegedly shooting his wife in the face. [NY1]

- A man was charged Tuesday night in a shooting in Bushwick that left one man dead and two others hurt. [CBS]

- Rainn Wilson -- beet farmer Dwight Schrute on “The Office” -- is coming to DUMBO to talk up new book. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- After a surge in ridership, Coney Island’s elected officials are calling on the MTA to restore F train express service. [Sheepshead Bites]

- A "mixed-race" wedding in 1907 in Bed-Stuy attracts unwanted attention. [Brownstoner]

- A list of all the weird things that happened during the first game of the World Series last night. [Slate]

- Florida man is in a coma after e-cigarette explodes in his face. [Daily News]

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Court/Smith Street BID, and More Brooklyn Briefs

Photo: MK Metz

 - Court and Smith Street BID in the works; another meeting planned. [PMFA]

- Brooklyn non-profit to convert 285 Schermerhorn St. into a 14-story tower. [WSJ]

- Comptroller Stringer in Brooklyn calls for more interpreters, language help in Housing Courts. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- $2,000 reward for info leading to arrest of gunpoint robbery suspect in Homecrest. [Sheepshead Bites]

- Man found shot to death in Canarsie. [NY Daily News]

- Bill O'Reilly threatens NY Times reporter. [Politico]


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Man Shot in Canarsie, Midnight Wednesday

Brooklyn: 9910 Seaview Ave Crime scene being established in regards to a male shot, EMS requested on a rush.
— NY Scanner (@NYScanner) July 17, 2014

Another shooting in Brooklyn, this time in Canarsie.

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Williamsburg's Fashion Weekend; Brutal Stabbing; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Williamsburg's Fashion Weekend: "Semi-nude models writhing around onstage under red lights," T-shirts worn as pants, and mini-dresses made from scarves. Gothamist

- Woman brutally stabbed to death, reportedly nearly decapitated in Canarsie, Brooklyn. CBS

- Submissions now open for Greenpoint Film festival. Greenpointers

- NYC homeless shelters kicking out homeless families on freezing nights if they cannot prove they have nowhere else to go. NY Daily News

- Signs spelled wrong in Prospect Park. WYDNKBYANM

- Public Advocate says Christine Quinn’s affordable housing plan mainly benefits developers. TRD

- Brooklyn Botanic Garden is open today and admission is free. Examiner

- No, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)does not want to round up people, put them into camps and send them back to Mexico. That was a typo. The Blaze

- Science: You should fart on planes. Gawker

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Oil That Spilled Into Paerdegat Basin Has High level of PCBs

Oil spilled into Paerdegat Basin was found to be contaminated with PCBs. Photo: NYC Parks Department

The good news: Most of the oil that spilled into the Paerdegat Basin bordering Canarsie on September 28 has been collected, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Coast Guard said yesterday.

The bad news: A test of a sample of oil from the pipeline that caused the spill showed a highly hazardous level of PCBs -- 10,000 parts per million (ppm) -- at one location, DEC said. (PCBs at levels greater than 50 ppm are said to “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health.” )

PCBs in water build up in fish and marine mammals, and can reach levels thousands of times higher than the levels in water, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
 
What this means: The PCBs in the Basin may pose health risks to people with direct contact to the oil through swimming, wading, or fishing, or by eating fish or shellfish from the Basin. This may go on for years.

This could be bad news for the Sebago Canoe Club on Bergen Avenue, the four yacht clubs, and those who launch their canoes and kayaks from the Basin's launch sites.

It is uncertain for what this means for the Paerdegat Basin Park Preserve, 161 acres of Grassland and Salt Marsh, declared "Forever Wild," home to black- and yellow-crowned night herons, clapper rails, ducks and other wildlife.

PCBs can cause cancer, brain damage and learning deficits in children, liver disease, fertility problems, and more.

DEC is requiring National Grid to: complete an environmental investigation and perform any additional required cleanup.

How the spill happened: National Grid decommissioned an underground gas pipeline and was pumping concrete into the pipe to plug it when the spill occurred in the early morning of Sep. 28. Oil, containing several hazardous substances, was spilled onto the ground and entered storm drains during fire department response operations. Approximately 800-1,400 gallons of oil spilled into the Basin.

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Chaos in Brooklyn Supermarket; Jewish Magazine Says 'Gentiles Are Evil'; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Occupy Wall Street heading to East New York, Brooklyn, on Tuesday. NY Daily News

- A Hasidic Jewish monthly magazine, Der Blitz, based in Borough Park, Brooklyn has begun blotting out the faces of non-Jews in its photographs because "gentiles are evil." Failed Messiah

- The Seddio family has opened their 48th annual no-holds-barred holiday display in Canarsie. The display  includes lights, animated figures, a hot air balloon, Ferris wheel and talking animatronics. Brooklyn Eagle

- Brooklyn man sues mother-in-law for spreading rumors that he is infertile and ridden with so many venereal diseases he will be dead in a few months. Gothamist

- Courageous cops rescued a dangling worker from death after a scaffold collapsed in Crown Heights on Saturday. NY Daily News

- Brooklyn artist sculpts "Futurama" characters in 3-D. Technobob

- Video: SUV crashes into Brooklyn supermarket on Nostrand Avenue, causing chaos and injuring man buried under wall of canned goods. Looters rush in, strip store. Gothamist

- Changing demographics in Downtown Brooklyn: Battles over evictions continue at Willoughby Square, the planned park that would displace the only remaining rent-regulated apartments in the neighborhood. The Brooklyn Bureau

- The U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail that will eliminate next-day delivery. The Street

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DOE Spares Canarsie's P.S. 114; Was a Deal Cut?

 Last night the Department of Education reversed its plan to shut down P.S. 114 in Canarsie, reports Gotham Schools, after parents, teachers, elected officials and the media spoke out loud and often against the injustice of the plan. 

Parents complained that they had tried to get DOE to remove an incompetent principal for four years, but DOE let her run the school into the ground -- and accumulate $180,000 in debt -- before finally getting rid of her in 2008. After one bad school report card, DOE decided to close the century-old school and replace it with a charter school and a new public school.

Councilman Lew Fidler told the Brooklyn Eagle that P.S. 114 “had been a terrific school in the past, until it was shot in both feet by a DOE principal. This school should succeed. I know this city’s agenda is charter schools — but they sent one principal in to wreck it, one to chronicle it and one to close it.”

The charter school will still be moving in, which could create space and resource problems in the long run. But for now, parents celebrate their school's survival.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio broke the news to teachers and parents last night at a protest rally.

According to NY1, which brought the P.S. 114 issue to the fore with a three-part special report, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black says education officials will come up with a plan to give P.S. 114 an opportunity for success.

The Wall Street Journal says that Senator John Sampson, a Democrat "who could be a big player in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's push to change the teacher layoff law in the state," was influential in the Mayor's decision.

A Sampson spokesperson told the Journal that the senator "hasn't taken a public position on seniority-based teacher layoffs, but will after he's had an opportunity to review the legislation before the senate."

Photo by Google Maps

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Brooklyn in Brief -- Weekend Edition

- The horrid condition of the boardwalk in Coney Island is still in the news, as the lawsuits ratchet upward. Gowanus Lounge

- The Parks Department opens New York's second surfing-only beach in the Rockaways. Gnarly, dude! New York Magazine

- A Brooklyn woman is too traumatized to return to work after steam pipe blast. Brooklyn Eagle

- Out-of-control-car on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. OTBKB

- West Nile virus is back. Here are some steps to take. GerritsenBeach.Net

- A backlash against the Brooklyn building blitz. Canarsie Digest/ Courier Life