Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Circus Elephants Will Dance in DUMBO on Wednesday; PETA Will Be There, Too

 The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to Brooklyn on March 20 and naturally the elephants will be parading through DUMBO before the show opens at the Barclays Center, the NY Daily News reports.

Gothamist provides more details: "The elephant walk for Brooklyn... is going to be an Elephant Dance Party with the elephants and performers, as well as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz." (OMG it's just like my dream...)

The party will take place under the Brooklyn Bridge (at Old Fulton and Furman, with street closures on Water, Main and Front streets) on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The DUMBO event will also showcase performers from Ringling Bros. — including basketball unicyclists, King Charles Troupe and Ringling Bros. clowns.

UPDATE: Don't worry, elephant fans -- The event will also include protesters from PETA and other animal rights groups drawing attention to what they say is abusive treatment of the elephants used by the circus.

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Lightstone Group, a Brooklyn Heights Record, and More Brooklyn Briefs

From #NYPDonTRIAL
- Lightstone Group's Gowanus plans approved by City Planning, but developer still needs Waterfront Certificate. [PMFA]

- Lincoln Restler has decided against challenging City Councilman Steve Levin. [NY Daily News]

- Brooklyn Heights "power couple" ties neighborhood real estate record. [Observer]

- Assemblyman Boyland has been charged with mail fraud. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- NYU is launching a new videogame center in Brooklyn.[WSJ]

- Google Glass will probably give creeps more ways to be creepy. [Gizmodo]

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Monday, March 18, 2013

SUNY's Upstate LICH Hearing a 'Slap In the Face'

Last Thursday Judge Baynes criticized the way the SUNY board violated the Open Meetings Law in their rush to shut down Long Island College Hospital (LICH). Looks like they're at it again:

SUNY going to hold its new public hearing on closing LICH in Purchase, New York (that's at least  40 miles away, in Westchester).

Not only that but the new hearing "was announced too late to allow interested parties to sign up to for a reserved slot to comment on the closure," the Brooklyn Eagle reported on Friday.

State Senator Daniel Squadron calls this "a slap in the face."

More here.

From Wikipedia: Hubris, from ancient Greek ὕβρις, means extreme pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power.

Previous posts:
- Brooklyn's LICH Closure on Temporary Hold; SUNY Says They'll Redo Illegal Meetings
- More LICH posts here.


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Montague Street Cosplay; Sequester Scare at Lutheran Hospital; and More Brooklyn Briefs

Calko Medical Center
- Protect Brooklyn’s coastline with … Navy ships? [Brooklyn Paper]

- NYPD cop was arrested on Friday and charged with using a surveillance camera to spy on a young woman in his apartment building. [Gawker]

- Cosplay on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. [BHB]

- Brooklyn man beaten into coma recovers to finish NYC half-marathon. [Gothamist]

- Orthodox Jewish leaders leaders want a backroom deal in their dangerous circumcision ritual, and mayoral candidate Thompson appears to be willing to play. [Failed Messiah]

- Sequester scare hits Brooklyn's Lutheran HealthCare system. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Grand opening of the Calko Medical Center (shown above) at 6010 Bay Parkway on Wednesday. The doctors/owners say their system will be more efficient and save money. 

- NYPD will now run background checks on domestic abuse victims. That'll teach 'em! [Gawker]


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Friday, March 15, 2013

Fourth Night of Brooklyn Protests Over Kimani Gray Shooting

Thursday night. Captnick on Ustream
 Thursday was another scary night in East Flatbush as protesters reacted to the shooting of Kimani Gray by police.

NYPD helicopters reportedly buzzed and officers circled the streets on motorcycles as crowds marched; some were kettled and arrested.

NYPD arrested at least 46 people late Wednesday during the third night of angry protests and some looting. An autopsy showed that Gray, who had a criminal record, was hit by bullets seven times, three times in the back. Cops say he pointed a gun at them and they displayed a gun recovered at the scene.

On Wednesday Councilman Jumaane Williams complained about "outsiders" agitating the community. On Thursday, one of the agitators, Jose LaSalle, of End Stop and Frisk, led half of the marchers off to protest at the Precinct house while Williams "wanted to lead people into a church to have a discussion on the issues they'd been protesting," according to NY Magazine.

Videos on Ustream: Captnick is one videographer who recorded the action on the street marching to the Precinct on Thursday night.

Another, On the Front Lines recorded the community forum (shown below) attended by Williams,  during which a resident said, "The problem we are deal with specifically in this community are these rogue police units that are not bound by boundaries. They come in like ghost riders, they hit up the community, and then they leave. They're not bound by the normal organizational structure of the NYPD . . . The ones that are tied into the special tactical units . . .they come in, terrorize, and leave."


Video streaming by Ustream

The only eye witness told the NY Daily News that Gray did not have a gun.

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Brooklyn's LICH Closure on Temporary Hold; SUNY Says They'll Redo Illegal Meetings

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Johnny L. Baynes issued a ruling on Thursday vacating the State University of New York's vote to close Long Island College Hospital (LICH) — but SUNY quickly said it would hold a redo hearing next week and put LICH back on its death march, says the Brooklyn Eagle.

An analysis of the judge's decision here.

More at the NY Daily News

Previous posts:
- Rally for LICH Friday Morning in Downtown Brooklyn
- LICH Forum at Kane Street Synagogue, Brooklyn, Draws Hundreds
- Community Forum About LICH on Thursday, Feb. 14 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
- Broken Hearts: Brooklyn's LICH Closing
- SUNY's Hearing on Killing Off LICH: Real Estate, Fraud, and Politics
- What's Happening with the LICH Closing Thursday and Friday
- Brooklyn's LICH Is Closing -- UPDATED
- Will LICH Be Taken Private? Cuomo's Budget Calls for Brooklyn's First 'For-Profit' Hospital 
- Brooklyn's LICH On the Verge of Closing - Endowment Drained?
- Unexpected: Head of Brooklyn's LICH Stepping Down
- LICH Is Now UHBLICH
- Donald and Mildred: We're Sorry About Losing All Your Money, and the Hospital, Too
-
Gov. Paterson Announced LICH /SUNY Deal in Brooklyn Today 
- Insurance Trouble at Brooklyn's LICH 
- Petition to Save LICH
- Sucking Long Island Collage Hospital Dry?
- Long Island College Hospital In Big Trouble

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Tish James Gets Union Endorsement in Run for Public Advocate

Tish James. Photo: MK Metz
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Letitia "Tish" James has scored the endorsement of 32BJ/SEIU in the race for Public Advocate, her first labor endorsement.

Letitia James represents District 35: Clinton Hill, Fort Greene; parts of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant.

James faces Democratic primary rivals Cathy Guerriero, a professor and consultant; Reshma Saujani, a former deputy to outgoing Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; and state Sen. Daniel Squadron, according to the NY Daily News.

State Senator Daniel Squadron announced Wednesday that he’s raised more than $2 million in the race for public advocate.

Bill de Blasio, who currently holds the office, is running for mayor.

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What to Do When Google Shuts Down Their RSS Reader?

Google's Reader users got this message Wednesday
Like millions of other Google RSS Reader fans, we're bummed that they've decided to dump Reader, starting July 1, 2013.

Google says:

"There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.

"To ensure a smooth transition, we’re providing a three-month sunset period so you have sufficient time to find an alternative feed-reading solution. If you want to retain your Reader data, including subscriptions, you can do so through Google Takeout."

Reditters have started taking suggestions on alternate RSS feed readers, managing to crash quite a few in the rush. (Here is the link to the entire conversation.)

Here are some RSS feed names that have popped up at the top of the list:

http://www.netvibes.com/en

http://www.feedly.com/

http://theoldreader.com/

http://www.feedafever.com/

http://www.bloglines.com/

http://www.rssowl.org/

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1a8ygk/official_google_reader_blog_powering_down_google/


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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Brooklyn GOP Boss Eaton May Endorse Catsimatidis for Mayor

Photo by MK Metz, McBrooklyn
 Brooklyn Republican boss Craig Eaton said Tuesday that he may withdraw his support for Adolfo Carrion and instead endorse billionaire John Catsimatidis for mayor, the NY Daily News reports.

Without Eaton’s backing, Carrion will be unable to obtain the necessary approvals.

Catsimatidis “has the financial wherewithal to self-fund the race for mayor, and also has crossover appeal with Democrats and independents due to his various political and business relationships," Eaton said. More here.

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BB Park Contest Cancelled; Speed Cameras Coming; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Contest to name Brooklyn Bridge Park lawn cancelled after it becomes personal. [NY Times] 

- Looks like "speed cameras" are coming to the streets of NYC. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Tish James gets 32BJ endorsement in Public Advocate race. [City and State]

- LIU Brooklyn earns berth in NCAA tournament. [Washington Post]

- It's news when Republicans come to Brooklyn to talk to African-Americans. [Brooklyn Eagle]. . . Here's how it went down. [Daily Beast]

- Mayor Bloomberg added $5 billion to his net worth last year alone. [Brooklyn Ink]

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