Briefly Noted: More Measles, Fewer Plastic Bags, Tallest Politician & More
- The measles outbreak that’s been plaguing Williamsburg and Borough Park has now spread to Crown Heights, with the area’s first case confirmed by the Department of Health this week.
- Though Governor Cuomo nixed a bill in 2017 to charge a 5-cent fee on plastic bags, calling it “deeply flawed,” a new bill has been proposed to ban single-use plastic bags in retail shops. If passed, the ban would begin next year.
- April 1st is the deadline for NYS lawmakers to decide whether drivers will be charged when they enter Manhattan from 60th Street down to the Battery. Fix NYC released the congestion pricing proposal last year which could generate billions of dollars to go towards fixing the MTA. Both the Governor and the Mayor have said that New Yorkers with “an identifiable hardship” should be exempt from the proposed tolls.
- A Brooklyn Supreme Court judge has ruled that six Brooklyn properties (in Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, Bushwick, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, and Williamsburg)—seized by the city under HPD’s Third Party Transfer (TPT) program—be returned to their owners.
- Actor Tracy Morgan worked with non-profit groups GrowNYC, City Harvest, and Feeding America to bring upgrades to a Bed-Stuy park.
- Brooklyn District 36 Council Member Robert Cornegy has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records! At 6’10”, the Bed-Stuy/Northern Crown Heights representative is the tallest male politician in the world.
