Briefing 5/26: Some Reopenings, Small Landlords Want Relief & Doctor’s $10,000 Heirloom Stolen

Photo: Zainab Iqbal/Bklyner

It’s Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend. I took a stroll outside and saw many people didn’t have masks on. Please remember to put on a face covering when you leave the home to protect yourself and others– especially since the weather is getting more and more beautiful. Here are some new numbers as of this afternoon:

  • There were 525 new confirmed positive coronavirus cases in NYC, bringing the total number of cases to 196,623.
  • There were 83 new confirmed coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 16,565 in NYC, with 4,749 probable deaths.
  • A 29-year-old doctor was staying at the Brooklyn Hotel on Atlantic Avenue and had gone back home to Texas to visit family over the Memorial Day weekend. While she was gone, someone broke into her room and stole clothes and jewelry, including a family heirloom valued at $10,000, the Daily News reported.
  • Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Kensington has re-opened, but with social distancing requirements put into place. The NY Post reported that it looks like a crime scene. “Photos showed the house of worship plastered with bright yellow police-style ‘CAUTION’ tape, sealing off pews and chapels so that the maximum of 10 worshippers allowed in at any one time can be kept safely apart,” the Post reported. “‘No mask, no entry,’ other signs cautioned, with numerous yellow warnings reminding parishioners to ‘maintain social distancing’ of at least 6 feet.”
  • The Brooklyn Nets were New York’s first professional sports team to reopen a practice facility, ABC7 reported. Players can voluntarily workout at their training center in Sunset Park.
  • On Memorial Day, parishioners at Bethany Baptist Church on Marcus Garvey Boulevard honored 78-year-old Levi Faulk. “Faulk was a Vietnam veteran, a father of four, and the lead usher of their church. He recently died of COVID-19,” Pix 11 reported.
  • On Saturday, The Brother’s BK, Snaps NYC, and the Barbara Simmons Tenant Association got together to give out food, hand sanitizers, and Personal Protective Equipment for the second annual Community Giveaway in East Flatbush, NY1 reported.
  • Small landlords want relief, Curbed NY reported. “I can’t go on without paying my mortgage, but I don’t want to kick out my tenants either. We need relief, and we need [the government] to redirect it to the people who actually need it the most,” one landlord said.
  • NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan “targeted the justice system in Brooklyn Tuesday for allowing too many people arrested for gun possession to walk out of court without bail set in their cases — even as shootings spike throughout the city,” the Daily News reported.
  • As of today, ALL veterinarian service is allowed to start.
  • Alternate side parking rules will be suspending for two weeks through June 7.
  • We profiled another incredible mutual aid group. Brooklyn Immigrant Community Support provides aid for undocumented people in Southern Brooklyn. “The only way to show love is by taking care of one another.”
  • Mayor Bill de Blasio today signed seven pieces of legislation providing relief for tenants, commercial establishments, and restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the legislation takes effect immediately, some on June 2, 2020, we reported.
  • Brownsville’s Collective Fare is feeding thousands of food insecure New Yorkers, we reported. Have you read it yet?