Navy Leap Frogs Parachuting in Queens Today (Watch Announcement in American Sign Language)

In conjunction with Fleet Week 2017, Thursday, May 25th at 1:00 PM, U.S. Navy Leap Frogs will conduct a practice parachute jump at Citi Field in Queens.

A planned aircraft flyover will therefor take place, according to NYC Emergency Management.

You can watch this announcement in American Sign Language above.

For more info, please visit www.fleetweeknewyork.com.

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Thursday: Coastal Flood Watch for Brooklyn, Queens (In Sign Language)

The National Weather Service has issued an advisory for Brooklyn and Southern Queens:

A Coastal Flood Watch was declared for Thursday, 5/25, from 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM Friday, 5/26.

The affected area includes the low lying coastal areas. Tidal departures of 1 - 2 feet above normal are expected.

During a Coastal Flood Advisory, minor flooding of the most vulnerable shore roads and/or properties is possible

You can watch this statement in American Sign Language, above.

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Brooklyn Prosecutor Wiretaps Boyfriend; Red Hoek Point, Revenge Porn and More Brooklyn Briefs

- A high-ranking prosecutor in the Brooklyn district attorney’s office was arrested on charges that she used an illegal wiretap to spy on a police detective and one of her colleagues in a love triangle. [NY Times]

- Representatives from Thor Equities, the company behind the planned 7.7-acre retail and commercial development "Red Hoek Point," will give a presentation on the project on Dec. 1. [Patch]

- Knicks superstar, Red Hook native Carmelo Anthony endorses BQX. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Brooklyn rapper Moise Morancy was honored by the NYPD’s 112th precinct for protecting a young woman from an alleged sexual assault on a Queen’s bus in October. [NYPD News]

- Meet the Brooklyn attorney fighting revenge porn. [The New Yorker]

- Family searching for missing teen with Asperger syndrome in Brooklyn. [ABC7]

- Former presidential candidate De La Fuente urges Republicans to fund their own recounts. Oy. [Brooklyn Eagle]

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Hillary Clinton Won Big In Brooklyn, Lost Big In Staten Island

Courtesy Clinton Campaign

Regardless of Hillary Clinton's performance nationally, she won solidly in Brooklyn.

According to NPR, Clinton won 79.7 percent of the Brooklyn vote, versus 17.9 percent for Trump. (Johnson got .9 percent of the vote while Stein won 1.5 percent. )

The ratio was roughly the same in Queens, with Clinton receiving 75.5 percent of the vote and Trump receiving 22.1 percent.

Clinton got even more of the vote in Manhattan (87.2 vs 10 percent) and the Bronx (88.7 vs 9.6 percent).

But the story was different in Staten Island, where Trump got 57.2 percent and Clinton received 40.4 percent of the vote.

In other races, Charles Schumer won re-election to the Senate, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The Eagle also tweeted that Nydia Velazquez has been re-elected to Congress.

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Last Week to Register for Make Music New York

 Make Music New York is a live, free musical celebration on June 21, with over 1,200 concerts on streets, sidewalks, and parks across the five boroughs.

Musicians -- this is the last week to register to be part of this fantabulous event!

Anyone and everyone can participate. Amateurs, part-time professionals, and established artists are all welcome.

If you have an outdoor location where you’d like to host a concert (such as the sidewalk outside of your building), this is also the last week to register. Event organizers will match up venues with musicians.

Musicians can also join a “Mass Appeal” event. MMNY organizes hundreds of musicians to band together to perform massive pieces written for a single type of instrument. Each performance works differently, depending on the genre, the instrument, and the location.

In another offshoot, MMNY will present Sousapalooza, a massive, brassy tribute to the March King in Bryant Park. They’ll be running through all the best-loved marches and fanfares by Philip Sousa and his contemporaries.

More information here.

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Meetings to Discuss L Train Repairs to Be Held in May, Starting in Brooklyn

Image courtesy MTA

 The MTA and elected officials have announced the first of two public meetings to discuss future work on the Canarsie Tunnel, which carries the L subway train under the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The first meeting will be held on Thursday, May 5 at 6 p.m. at the Marcy Avenue Armory at 355 Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn. A Manhattan-based public meeting to be held later in May will be announced soon, according to the MTA.

Chairman Thomas F. Prendergast said the public meetings will mark the official start of a "robust community engagement effort in which we will detail the need for the project, solicit feedback from the public on the potential construction options and begin a collaborative process to develop an alternative service plan to mitigate impacts on L Subway train riders.”

Any 24/7 closure of the Canarsie Tunnel’s two tubes is unlikely to begin before January of 2019, the MTA said.

The public meetings will include a discussion of the potential construction approaches currently under consideration. They will also include an open house at which community members can discuss their concerns with MTA staff; a presentation from MTA and NYC Transit leadership and technical staff; and a question and answer period.

More.

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One Thousand Still Without Power in NYC, Most of Them in Brooklyn

Courtesy Con Ed

Following this weekend's blizzard, roughly 600 Brooklyn Con Edison customers were without power as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

According to Con Ed's outage map, the dead spots were scattered across the borough, with Central Brooklyn registering slightly more outages.

Most notably, 115 customers (individual units or homes) were without power in Prospect Lefferts Gardens; 58 in the South Slope; 34 near Eastern Parkway; 67 in Bed-Stuy; 25 in Homecrest; 36 in Ridgewood; 17 near the Navy Yard, 22 in Boerum Hill and more.

About 300 customers lacked power in Upper Manhattan; 100 customers in Queens were also in the dark Tuesday evening.

Depending on the location, Con Ed says many of these repairs will be completed either by 11 p.m. tonight or early tomorrow morning.

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Thousands in Brooklyn and Staten Island Lose Power Monday Night

Con Ed's Mobile Command Post. Photo by Con Ed

 It was a hot and sticky night for more than 9,000 Con Edison customers in Brooklyn and Staten Island Monday night into Tuesday.

Staten Island was hardest hit, with approximately 19,000 customer outages in the Fresh Kills and Fox Hills neighborhoods losing power. 

By 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, the situation had improved on Staten Island, to just over 3,000 customers without power. For roughly 2,600 of them, Con Ed says the power will be restored by 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. The power prognosis for hundreds of other Staten Island customers is "pending."

Roughly 1,000 Con Ed customers were without power Brooklyn as of 1:30 a.m.. Con Ed says the power won't be back on in Brooklyn until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Con Ed has asked affected neighborhoods to conserve energy while company crews work to repair equipment problems.  Con Edison has also reduced voltage in those areas as a precaution.

Early Tuesday morning, about 100 customers in Manhattan and the same number in the Bronx were without power.

Con Ed issued an alert at 9 p.m. Monday night. It said:

Due to the extremely hot temperatures, Con Edison wants to remind all customers citywide to conserve energy. Con Edison is asking customers to limit use of washers, dryers, air conditioners, and other energy-intensive equipment, and to turn off lights and televisions when not needed.

Customers can report outages and check service restoration status at www.conEd.com or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).


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2 Alleged Female Terrorists Arrested & Arraigned in Brooklyn Court

Two women allegedly into violent jihadist ideology were arrested in Queens on Thursday by the Joint Terrorism Task Force after an undercover investigation discovered they were trying to build homemade bombs.

The women wrote terrorist poetry, were “obsessed” with pressure cookers and the science of bomb making, and discussed killing cops and military targets, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in Downtown Brooklyn.

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Monday: High Wind, Rain, 70 Degrees! In Brooklyn, Queens & Nassau

NOAA

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind advisory for Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau for Monday morning, from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m.

* WINDS...SOUTH 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH.

* IMPACTS...WINDS WILL BE CAPABLE OF BRINGING DOWN LIMBS...VULNERABLE TREES AND POWER LINES.  DRIVING MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES.

Rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 11 a.m. The high today will be 70 degrees!

The Weather Service also warns of the possible of coastal flooding along low-lying shorelines.

TIDAL DEPARTURES...1 TO 1 1/2 FT ABOVE ASTRONOMICAL TIDES.

* TIMING...DURING TIMES OF HIGH TIDE BETWEEN 8 AND 9 AM MONDAY MORNING.

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Time to Repaint Fading Bike Lanes in Brooklyn

Painting the bike lane on Clinton Street. Photo by MK Metz

Workers repainted the faded green bike lane on Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights late last week. Cyclists had complained that this and other painted bike lanes were becoming almost invisible, and cars were "disrespecting" the lane.

Vehicles driving in the bike lanes no doubt hasten the fading, but salt and snow plows also take their toll.

Scott Shaffer of streets.mn has an excellent post about faded bike lanes. It reads in part:

"A bike lane isn’t just a physical thing — it’s a social construct. Like money, it only matters because we all act like it does . . . The fading of the paint, and the cause of the fading, erodes this foundation. It erases confidence in the bike lane, not just the paint." 

_______________________________________

A Few Bicycle Statistics from the Department of Transportation:


Half of all of NYC's bicycle fatalities are in Brooklyn, according to DOT data. In 2013, 12 cyclists died in crashes citywide. Six of these were in Brooklyn.

Thousands of cyclists are injured in crashes -- and this happens more in Brooklyn. In 2013, there were 1,574 bike crashes which resulted in injuries to riders in Brooklyn. (Also, 21 motorists were injured in these crashes.)

     - During that same period in Manhattan, 1,169 crashes resulted in cyclist injuries, and 3 died. (In these crashes, eight mororists were injured.)

     - In Queens, 772 cyclists were injured in crashes in 2013, and 2 died. (Four motorists were injured.)

     - In the Bronx, 316 crashes resulted in injuries to cyclists, and one died. (Five motorists were injured.)

     - In Staten Island, 41 cyclists were injured in 2013. None died.

Pedestrians are getting hurt by bikes as well. In 2013 in Brooklyn, 73 pedestrians were injured by bikes (one died). The most dangerous precincts in Brooklyn for pedestrians getting hit by bikes (in order of injuries) are the 90th, 78th, 84th, 94th, 79th and 72nd.

Pedestrians are even worse offf in Manhattan, with 198 of them injured by bikes. The Bronx had just 15; Queens had 29; S.I. had one.

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2015 NYC Michelin Guide Highlights Brooklyn and Queens Restaurants

11 out of 20 new one- and two-starred restaurants in the Michelin Guide come from Brooklyn and Queens in the next edition, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The prestigious Michelin Guides have been published by the French tire company Michelin for more than one hundred years. 

Brooklyn Fare

Earning three stars is Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, at 200 Schermerhorn St. in Downtown Brooklyn.

Check out the Journal for the list of one-, two- and three- star restaurants.


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Two Girls Missing on the G Train, Early Tuesday A.M.

From the scanner:

Two girls, ages 14 and 12, were went missing while riding on the G train headed possibly southbound from Flushing at roughly 12:50 a.m. early Monday morning.

Their mom told 9-1-1 that their names are Jolie and Ocean. One is wearing pink, one is wearing black.


There is no further information about where they are headed, but it may be towards Bedford and Nostrand.

Their father became seperated from the girls at the Flushing station.  If you see them please tell a conductor, NYPD or a station clerk.

 1077

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Boat Sinks, Marine Unit Rescue Person in Jamaica Bay

From the scanner:

* At 11:25 p.m., a Marine Unit was dispatched to follow up on a report of a misssing 25' boat north of the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge (formerly the North Channel Bridge) in Jamaica Bay.

Marine 3 reported no visual contact.

* At 11:34 p.m., contact was made with a boat on the east side of Broad Creek Marsh. Marine 3 reports, "Not sure if them."

* At 11:43 p.m., Marine 3 requested EMS from FDNY. Individual(s) taken to the Bungalo Bar.

* At 12:28, Marine 3 reports, "The boat sank prior to our arrival."


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All Hands Fire in Queens Friday Night

A & S Window, Queens, may be on fire. Google Maps 2014

At roughly 11:30 p.m. FDNY was called to 76 Avenue at 88 Street in Queens, to fight a fire in a window factory.

The fire was called "all hands" by the dispatcher.

FDNY reports the fire is on the first floor. At 11:36 p.m., two lines were stretched.

UPDAATE: It's possible the fire is at A & S Window, located a half block from the intersection.

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DUMBO Goats Survive; Bossert Delayed; Goodbye to Cars with Pink Mustaches

Welcome to Brooklyn! Still fixing our falling bridges... MK Metz

- The DUMBO goats live! [Gothamist]

- The re-opening of the Hotel Bossert — once known as Brooklyn's Waldorf — has been delayed again, this time until 2015. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn building super named Unk is trying to solve his building's rat program with cat power, but tenants aren't satisfied. [NY Post]

- The city is searching for engineers to study the feasibility of tidal barriers for the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek. [TRD]

- Hang on: Crumbs' giant cupcakes could be saved. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Well, so much for Lyft, and it's pink-mustachioed cars. [Gothamist]


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Did You Hear Fireworks in Queens (or Brooklyn) on July 10, 2014?

MK Metz, McBrooklyn

Those fireworks you may have heard tonight in were shot off in Cunningham Park Field in Queens as part of a performance by the New York Philharmonic's free Concerts  in the Park.

The program included works by Strauss, Smetana, and Tchaikovsky.

You can hear some of the music here.

Yesterday, on July 9, the New York Philharmonic played in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow Ballfields in Brooklyn -- and also lit up the sky with fireworks.


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Sunday night: Unconscious Person On Boat Near World's Fair Marina in Queens

From the scanner: Rescuers from the Marine Batallion were rushing towards Pier 1 at the World's Fair Marina in Queens at 9:48 p.m. Sunday night.

The report came in first as a drowning. Further reports discusses an unconscious person on a white boat near Pier 1.

Marine Batallion said the tide was incoming and estimated their ETA for 5 minuts.

UPDATE: Oddly enough, at 10:38 p.m. on Sunday, FDNY was called again to the World's Fair Marina for a report of an odor of gas, on the Marina Road.


PHOTO: Imagery 2014 Blue Sky, Sanborn, USDA Farm Service Agency, Google Maps

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A $16 M Home in Brooklyn Heights; $25 Million for 25 years in Jail; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Getting ready for Easter in Bensonhurst. Photo: MK Metz, McBrooklyn.com

- A single-family home is on sale for $16 million in Brooklyn Heights, apparently a record. Norman Mailer once had a "private writing aerie" on the fifth floor. [Curbed]

- A million a year: Man falsely imprisoned 25 years sues state for $25M. [NY Post]

- Here's the video of the rally and reading for Chinese literary freedom at the Brooklyn Public Library.  Celeb writers included Sergio De La Pava and Jennifer Egan. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- A Brooklyn school janitor has been arrested, accused of raping a woman on campus in Clinton Hill/Fort Greene. [CBS]

- 26 displaced after flames rip through 3-story in Sunset Park. [pix11]

- Odd but true: Borough President Adams meets with mayor of Amsterdam to talk "international business." [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Do we have to cover the small penis contest? [edge]

- Queens is the second fastest growing county in the state. [NY1]

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800-Plus Con Ed Customers in Brooklyn Without Power Early Monday; 248 in Queens

Mr. Con Ed

 Early Monday morning, 838 Brooklyn Consolidated Edison customers were in the dark, a result of 149 power outages scattered across the borough.

Some big problem areas: On Third Street near Seventh Ave., 161 customers are experiencing a partial outage; on Eighth Ave. near President Street, 55 customers are out of power. A burning manhole took out 91 customers on W. 10th Street near Kings Highway. 28 customers have no power at 16th and Cropsey Avenues.

Manholes are blowing all over the place, causing small power outages all over -- in Vinegar Hill, Prospect Lefferts, Flatbush, Midwood, New Utrecht, Dyker Heights, etc.

In Queens, 248 Con Ed customers were without power.

On Saturday afternoon, more than 7,500 Dyker Heights customers were left in the dark for just an hour or so, after problems with overhead wires.

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