Briefly Noted: Coney Island Scandal, Bus Service Cuts, Cops Behaving Badly & More
- Three Luna Park Housing Corp. Officials Indicted for Conspiring to Receive Bribes, Forge Documents to Corrupt the Process by Which Mitchell-Lama Apartments are Acquired – Brooklyn DA. 78 count indictment included accepting approximately $874,000 in bribes to get apartments for ineligible applicants.
- The MTA recently announced service cuts to 11 bus routes including the B3, B11, B24, and B74 routes in Brooklyn, while commuters who take the B4 and B63 lines will see increased service. The bus schedule changes are slated to begin this summer.
- A second police officer has filed a complaint accusing cops at Brooklyn’s 66th Precinct of racist and sexist behavior. Detective Ileen Estevez said she “experienced racist and sexist treatment” by the same two officers accused of harassing Detective Michael Moy, who has been put on modified duty since filing a civil rights complaint last month. A lieutenant at the precinct was stripped of his badge and gun over an alleged corruption scandal in 2016.
- NYCHA is moving its Office of Impartial Hearings from Lower Manhattan to 803 Atlantic Avenue (at Vanderbilt) in Fort Greene. The office handles tenant eviction hearings for “late rent payments or problematic conduct,” according to The City. The article also reports that the agency has failed to inform its 400,000 residents about the move. A tenant could be evicted if he/she misses a hearing without a valid excuse.
- Administrative employees and cinema staff are looking to unionize at BAM. The workers signed a petition to join Local 2110 UAW (United Auto Workers) last month claiming “the reduction of benefits, 401k matching, and healthcare, in addition to transforming full-time jobs to hourly part-time jobs” which would make staffers ineligible for benefits.
- Author Emma Straub and her husband, Michael Fusco-Straub, are successful booksellers. The couple’s shop, Books Are Magic, made more than $1 million in its first year and sales are up 20%. The pair opened the bookstore at 225 Smith Street in May 2017 following the closure of the beloved BookCourt.
- High rents are forcing some Brooklynites to move to the Rockaways, according to the New York Post.
- And finally, check out some cute pups at Mr. Bones & Co‘s 7th Annual Rescue the Runway adoption event held at Berg’n Beer Hall this past weekend.
