LICH Rally in Brooklyn Monday at 11 a.m.

Actor Michael Shannon. NYSNA

Join Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez in a protest to save Long Island College Hospital (LICH) Monday at 11 a.m., at 339 Hicks St.

SUNY Downstate has been trying to illegally close the hospital down, despite restraining orders and massive community opposition.

And on Tuesday, yet another event to help keep LICH open for care:

Tuesday at 4 p.m: Join Brooklyn hospital supporters for the Race for Brooklyn Hospitals. Meet at Coffey Park in Red Hook and go by bus and by car to different Brooklyn ERs. Let's see how long it really takes! Green flag at 5 p.m.

More posts mentioning LICH here.

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Dangerous Dog in Prospect Park, and the Owner May Be Even Worse

A poster on the Brooklynian blog writes about the owner of a pitbull mix in Prospect Park who encourages his dog to attack other dogs.

The scariest part of the story? He then joins his dog in the fight, kicking the other other dog and stabbing it with an ice pick. He sometimes hits the other dog's owner with a cane or umbrella as well, Whynot_31 reports.

Here's the poster a fellow dog owner put up:

More information here.

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Beyonce's 'Mrs. Carter Show'; Vito Lopez; Bomb Prop Fail; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Woman drives from Queens to Brooklyn with man clinging to roof of her SUV. It doesn't end well. [ABC News]

- 15 thoughts on Beyonce’s 'Mrs. Carter Show' in Brooklyn. [Vibe]

-  NYC's health insurance company, EmblemHealth, has raised the city's rates every year for the last 15 years. Now they finally have to bid. [Brooklyn Eagle]

- Vito Lopez campaign mailer doctors photo featuring Hillary Clinton. [NY Daily News]

- Time Warner Cable may blackout CBS for weeks -- even online. [Gothamist]

- Instead of caring for maybe six patients, some nurses at Methodist Hospital in Park Slope have to care for more than 20 since LICH went on ambulance diversion. [ABC News]

- Playwright's suicide bomb prop put cops on alert, cleared Bedford Street. [Gothamist]

- Pregnant woman sits on bench in Queens park on Sunday. Tree falls on her and she dies. [NY Daily News]


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Cops Called In to Control Crowd on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn Early Monday

From the scanner:
At about 2:48 a.m. Monday morning, cops were called to 228 Duffield Street between Willoughby and Fulton, following a request for crowd control.

That's the address of the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Brooklyn.

More details if we get them.

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James Supports City Point, Gottfried Likes de Blasio's Health Plan, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Councilwoman Letitia James now supports City Point, even though nothing much has changed. [Crain's NY]

- Richard Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, applauds de Blasio's plan to form a Brooklyn Health Authority, but wishes he had this idea back in June.  [Brooklyn Eagle] 

- City gives $50 million -- more than three times what it gave to New York Aquarium to help it recover from Hurricane Sandy.-- to a new arts organization with close tie to Bloomberg. [Gothamist]

 - Woman who texted her mother that she was "scared" is still missing in Greenpoint. [Gothamist]

- Snowden will build a new life in Russia; already receiving job offers. [Reuters]

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Brooklyn Children's Museum Annex Headed to Brooklyn Bridge Park's Planned John Street Development

This rather gloomy rendering illustrates the new planned residential building at John Street in DUMBO's Brooklyn Bridge Park.

It was announced yesterday that BBP has chosen Alloy Development and Monadnock Development to design and develop the building, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The residential building will include 47 apartments and cultural and retail space on the ground floor, which will be occupied by the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

BP Marty Markowitz said, "DUMBO’s Johns Street will be on par with Sesame Street for the borough’s toddler and preteen set once the renowned Brooklyn Children's Museum opens its doors on the waterfront." The Museum annex will occupy 1,750 square feet.

According to NY1, the vote to move forward with the plan was not unanimous, with elected officials who sit on the board coming out against it. They sided with the construction trades, who showed up at the meeting demanding union labor be used.

Note to potential buyers and park-goers: Residents of DUMBO and other neighborhoods in Western Brooklyn no longer have access to a hospital or emergency medical care.

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New York State's Warrent Check System Is Down

Photo: MK Metz

Over the scanner, Wednesday night into Thursday morning:

NYPD cannot carry out warrant checks on people they are stopping on the streets.

As dispatchers have explained over and over to police officers trying to call in names that they read from the IDs of people they have stopped, "The entire New York State warrant check system is down!"

No word on what officers are doing with those people who can't be checked for priors.

This same problem with the statewide system occurred several weeks ago as well.

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Ten Things We Learned About Anthony Weiner Today

Anthony Weiner, Brooklyn Eagle

With all the stink about Anthony Weiner's private indiscretions, the little details -- like where he stands on the issues -- have been kind of lost.

As of yesterday, Weiner was still intent on running for Mayor of New York City. That being the case, the Brooklyn Eagle interviewed him, and oddly enough, the interview focused on political issues.

Here are ten things we learned about Weiner:

1. He wants to experiment with a city-administered single-payer health insurance plan.

2. He thinks the city never should have closed all those hospitals.

3. You know Bill de Blasio’s plan to save healthcare by forming a Brooklyn Hospital Authority? Weiner says he thought of that first.

4.. He's OK with selling air rights over libraries and senior centers to developers.

5. He's OK with Atlantic Yards, but thinks the affordable housing and public benefits should have come first, before the arena.

6. Brooklyn's Tech Triangle is all well and good, but we really need middle class jobs.

7. He looks forward to "an open and confrontational relationship" with the City Council.

8. Giving Mayor Bloomberg a third term was “a low point in the city’s history.”

9. His administration will be more fun than Mayor Bloomberg's.

10. People are following him.

Read the full interview at the Eagle.


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Bird's-Eye Views of Downtown Brooklyn

Photos by MK Metz

From a high perch, we saw Downtown Brooklyn from a perspective we don't usually get. Above, Cadman Plaza Park.

The Post Office and Courthouse, all the way across Downtown Brooklyn to Barclays Center.

The top of the tall building across the street from the St. George Tower.

The weird glass atrium atop the Post Office.

Fulton Street, with the Williamsburg Bank and Barclays on the left.

Flying around the towers of Downtown Brooklyn.


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Three Days of Rallying for LICH in Brooklyn

Photos by MK Metz

We've been trying to get to as many rallies for Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill as we can. Guess you've heard that SUNY Downstate is pulling every illegal trick in the book to close LICH down, including ignoring court restraining orders.

In their rush to dump patients, SUNY administrators put an 81-year-old senile LICH patient on a bus to Florida; police had to issue a Silver Alert to find him. They tried to kick an 11-month-old baby having breathing problems out of the hospital. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Assemblywoman Joan Millman had to step in and enforce the law.

On Friday, de Blasio rallied with community activists and staff from Interfaith Medical Center and LICH  at Brooklyn Borough Hall (photo above).

De Blasio and the other leaders called for the state Dept. of Health to get off its friggin butt and try to keep a Brooklyn hospital open for a change. He didn't put it exactly that way.

On Sunday another emergency rally was held at LICH, on Hicks Street across from the hospital. Cars honked in support of the protesters the entire time.

Speaking were Congresswoman Nydia Valezquez (wearing black), Jo Anne Simon, President of the Boerum Hill Association (blue); Borough president Marty Markowitz (not visible), patients and nurse leaders.

On Monday, de Blasio released a plan that calls for the creation of the Brooklyn Health Authority, with power "to transform hospitals and provide healthcare to the entire borough." You can read more about the plan here.

We have to commend Brooklyn's representatives who have been on fire lately trying to rescue the boroughs' hospitals. We especially applaud de Blasio, who is filing lawsuits, getting arrested, walking the walk, rallying the troops, and leading the charge for healthcare in Brooklyn.

Looking a lot like a Mayor, come to think of it.

LICH looks like Afghanistan, by the way. There are maybe 100 armed police and security guards stationed around the entire block, blocking the doors, on the streets and inside the hospital, terrorizing the patients. SUNY Downstate will get this real estate if they have to kill every citizen in western Brooklyn.

Previous:
- Emergency Rally at LICH in Brooklyn on Sunday at Noon
- Scenes From Brooklyn Healthcare Funeral March
- Judge: SUNY Must Offer Same Services at LICH As It Did This Past Friday 
- SUNY Tries to Sneak Patients Out of LICH; LICH Calls Cops

More on LICH


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