Library Rally; Tobacco Warehouse; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- “Kids for Libraries” rally this Saturday at the Brooklyn Heights branch library. [BHB]

- Outdoor exhibition ‘THE FENCE’ opens Thursday at Brooklyn Bridge Park with tour and refreshments. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- LPC endorses plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park Tobacco Warehouse. [TRD]

- Expanded Native Flora Garden opens at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. [NY Times]

- For real? People are holding stationary "spin classes" on docked Citi Bikes. [Gothamist]

- DONE DEAL: Brooklyn Nets hire Jason Kidd. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Anthony Weiner could win the election by default. [Brooklyn Magazine]


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'Atlantic Frantic' Fundraiser for LICH on Friday, June 14

SUNY Downstate is removing all residents from Long Island College Hospital in its latest (possibly illegal) move to force LICH to close.

The Concerned Physicians of Long Island College Hospital and the Nurses Association invite everyone to a fundraiser on Friday to raise money for the continuing legal battle.

If you can't be there, send a donation. Time is short; nurses are quitting in protest and the residents will soon be gone.

[Previous LICH posts here.]

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BPL Crumbling, Boro Park Perv, Adoptees May Get Birth Certificates, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Brooklyn Public Library branches are in even worse shape than we thought; $300 million needed for  repairs. [NY Daily News]

- Alleged Borough Park perv claims self defense in shooting. [Failed Messiah]

- Bill would give NY adoptees access to birth certificate, medical history. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Thief stole a cellphone and credit cards from a stroller in a store on Fulton Street. [Brooklyn Paper]

- Another "vomit comet" coming to Coney Island. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Gizmodo caves, finally admits PlayStation 4 better than Xbox One. [Gizmodo]

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Problems at NYC Citi Bike Docks Become Apparent

Photo: MK Metz

The bikes work OK, but 10 percent of Citi Bike stations fail each day because of buggy software and battery problems, according to New York Magazine.

One of the problems: Citi Bike’s solar-powered docking stations don’t get enough electricity on cloudy days, according to the NY Post.

The malfunctioning kiosks are causing Citi Bike members to have second thoughts, according to the Boston Globe.

Complaints about poor customer service poured in to Citi Bike's Facebook page on Friday.

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Brooklyn Pol Vito Lopez Fined $330,000

The state Legislative Ethics Commission has fined Brooklyn (former) Assemblyman Vito Lopez $330,000 over accusations he sexually harassed women staffers.

The commission concluded Lopez took "inappropriate actions and (made) offensive comments of a sexual nature" to staffers, reports WNYT.

Lopez resigned in May after a legislative ethics panel censured him.

The fine is the largest ever issued by the Legislative Ethics Commission, and results from at least 33 episodes of violations, according to the NY Times.

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Mayor Bloomberg Unveils $20 Billion Storm Plan

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Tuesday, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a $20 billion plan designed to protect the city against future storms like Superstorm/ Hurricane Sandy.

The mayor's 430 page report  contains more than 250 recommendations, many involving Brooklyn.


(The mayor's presentation starts around minute 7 in the video above.)

Proposals include offshore dunes, beach widening, tidal barriers, wetlands, elevated homes, new high-level sewers, strengthening building codes and more.

The plan includes 37 coastal defense projects, including restoring natural wetlands to lessen waves on the South Shore of Staten Island, and throughout Jamaica Bay.

* One storm surge barrier would be at Newtown Creek (between Brooklyn and Queens), where the storm surge pushed floodwaters into the surrounding neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Long Island City.

* A tidal barrier across Coney Island Creek is also proposed, and the city could build new parkland across the barrier itself, connecting two existing local parks.

* A surge barrier at the mouth of Jamaica Bay could help protect the communities of Gerritsen Beach, Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Canarsie and Mill Basin.

* In Breezy Point, the city is proposing a new double-dune system that would offer two layers of defense, a strategy that could eventually be rolled out across the Rockaways.

* In places like Red Hook, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, East Harlem, Hunts Point, and in front of Bellevue Hospital and along Hospital Row, and possibly down to the Battery, a system of floodwalls, levees and other features would provide a defense against flooding.

The plan also calls for strengthening other areas of weakness like utilities, fuel and food supply, healthcare, transportation, and telecommunications.

The plan can't be completed during Bloomberg's term but it seems like a good start.

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Bloomberg's Hurricane Speech Today; NYPD Gay Beating? And More Brooklyn Briefs

- Tuesday Mayor Bloomberg will deliver a speech at the Brooklyn Navy Yard about how to protect New York City from future hurricanes like Sandy. [Crain's]

- Cops from Brooklyn's 76th Precinct accused of beating gay man outside station and using homophobic slurs. [Village Voice]

- Joseph M. Sullivan, retired Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, died on Friday, died at age 83 in a car accident. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Newlywed actress Lake Bell (Boston Legal; Miss Match) buys home on Fort Greene border for $1.5 million. [Celebuzz]

- Who even knew Green-Wood Cemetery had catacombs? [Gothamist]

- Corcoran has distributed flyers in Bedford-Stuyvesant trying to persuade brownstone owners to part with their valuable townhouses. [TRD]

- A business group wants to have a ferry run from Manhattan to Coney Island. [Brooklyn Daily]


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Townhouses Going In at 55 Pearl Street, DUMBO

Google Maps

There goes the neighborhood! The warehouse/ garage at the corner of Pearl and Water Streets (across the street from the Pearl Street Triangle) in DUMBO will soon be replaced by five identical townhouses, each with four beds,three baths, private parking and a private roof decks, according to Curbed.

Dumbo Townhouses

They will share a common facade made of a super-concrete called ductal. The houses just hit the market for $4.1 million each, Curbed says. More at DumboTownhouses.com.

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New York Citi Bike Is Hiring

Need a job? New York's Citi Bike share program is hiring.

According to the Citi Bike website, a number of positions are open: call center manager, outreach ambassadors, bike mechanics, customer service agents and more.

Citi Bike better hurry -- Sunday was their busiest day so far, with 22,399 trips of 25 minutes each. 4,524 day passes were sold.

Meanwhile, complaints about poor customer service poured in to Citi Bike's Facebook page on Friday:

* "I sent an email several days ago and still no reply. The stations will not let me rent another bike and your phone does not work..."

* "Can we pick up our keys in person?!"

* "I second that. Would really like to pick my key up!"

* "Did u route the calls to India?"

* "Hoping to receive my key soon... I signed up on April 15 and I haven't received anything yet."

* "Still waiting for my freakin' key!!!!!!"

It would seem that customer service agents need to be hired right away.

Photo by MK Metz

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Soulful Juneteenth at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights

Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens thrilled the audience at Plymouth Church Sunday night for the outdoors Juneteenth celebration.

Shelton's rich gospel voice echoed over Brooklyn Heights and brought curious onlookers to applaud the show from the street.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas in 1865.

Plymouth Church was a leader in the abolitionist movement, home base for Henry Ward Beecher and champion of the Fisk Jubilee Singers – who were credited with the early popularization of the Negro spiritual. 

Photo by MK Metz

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