Crime Stats, Hamantaschen Doughnuts, Diners, Upside-Down Tree, And More Brooklyn News
Politics
- Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is investigating 82 payments, totaling almost $200,000, to Excelsior Waste and Recycling LLC, a company founded by former Bensonhurst Assemblymember Peter Abbate's staffer Joseph Brady, who led an upstate biker gang while serving as Abbate's top legislative aide, THE CITY reports.
- Councilmember Ari Kagan was removed from Finance and Land Use committees and moved to a windowless office in what he believes is retaliation for switching from a registered Democrat to a Republican ahead of this year's council race. Kagan was redistricted out of the district he currently represents and says he did not leave the Democratic party, the party left him.
- Councilmember Justin Brannan, who faces yet another close election to keep his redistricted Bay Ridge-Coney Island council seat, left the City Council's Progressive Caucus. He may face off with CM Ari Kagan if the latter wins the increasingly crowded Republican primary.
- As the council elections kick into gear, with primaries scheduled for June, the first endorsements are starting to come in:
We need a strong New York City Council ready to push the kind of policies that will make life better and more affordable for working families, especially with a Mayor intent on cutting public services. Today we're proud to endorse 16 candidates for NYC Council. pic.twitter.com/3efk6eFOwx
— NY Working Families Party (@NYWFP) February 16, 2023
Alligator Update
You almost definitely saw the news of "Godzilla," the 5-foot alligator rescued from the lake in Prospect Park the other week. We now know Godzilla is a "she" and had eaten a 4-inch wide bathtub stopper. NYT has done a story on the history of alligators in NYC, informing that "five were captured in Brooklyn and Staten Island in 2018 and 2019 alone. The past three years have been a dry spell." And Slate dug in on "Why she couldn't survive in the wild in Brooklyn—and why you (really) can't have an alligator as a pet." You know, just in case.
Fast Ferry
A new weekday rush hour express ferry service will take riders from Bay Ridge to Wall Street in 21 minutes, stopping to pick up passengers at the Atlantic Avenue Pier 6, starting on March 8. Hours will be 6:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., the ticket will be $4, and the service is part of a "Faster Connections" pilot. You may want to follow @nycferry to make sure it's running as expected.
BQE
The saga continues - Should it be two lanes or three? Will happen next? How soon? Who's saying who said what? And who's talking behind closed doors?