North Western Brooklyn

Council District 39 Council Candidates On Schools

The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly challenging for parents with school-aged children, who have navigated the perils of remote learning, shifting case-count regulations and changes to admissions processes. So it’s perhaps no surprise that candidates seeking to replace term-limited Council Member Brad Lander in Council District 39 [https://council.

affordable housing

What To Preserve And What To Develop – Some District 39 Council Candidates Can’t Seem To Make Up Their Minds About Park Slope

Does landmarking make neighborhoods more affordable or more expensive? Some Park Slope council candidates can’t seem to decide. At a debate on Sunday, seven candidates seeking to replace term-limited Brad Lander in the Council District 39 seat were asked if they would support expanding the Park Slope Historic District

Brooklyn Heights

District 33 Council Candidates Have Big Plans for Climate Resiliency

Though climate change and related environmental risks pose a threat to communities throughout New York [https://citylimits.org/2021/04/29/the-coast-the-climate-and-the-race-for-mayor/] , the question of how to build a more green and sustainable city is particularly resonant in North Brooklyn. The area is at the center of a fight over

Food & Drink

City Proposes Expanding Supermarket Zoning Incentive to More Neighborhoods, And It’s About More Than Just Fresh Food

The Lincoln Market supermarket in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, which was developed under the city’s FRESH zoning incentive program. (Image: Google Maps)Public review has begun on a proposal to expand the number of neighborhoods where developers can build bigger in exchange for providing ground-floor space for a supermarket. The Food

COVID-19

Opinion: I’m A Teacher and I Think It’s Time to Reopen the Schools

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter at Phyl’s Academy in Brooklyn on March 23, 2021. (Image: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office) By Briget Rein, current UFT employee and a candidate for New York City Council District 39. Throughout this pandemic, I have put my faith in

Business

A Noisy “Ghost Bodega” in Gowanus Delivers Headaches to Neighbors

A lot on 6th Street in Gowanus, where food refrigeration trucks operated Reef Technology and Fresh Direct are generating noise complaints from neighbors living in adjacent buildings. (Image: Billy Richling/Bklyner)A tech company’s effort to get into the food delivery game is delivering nothing but headaches to some

affordable housing

80 Flatbush Project Swaps Office Space for Mostly Market-Rate Housing in First Tower As It Begins Construction

The 80 Flatbush parcel from the corner of Flatbush Avenue and State Street, looking up Flatbush. A 44-story, 480-foot tower should launch within the next months. Photo by Norman Oder/BklynerThe 80 Flatbush project, in Downtown Brooklyn at the edge of Boerum Hill, is set to finally start construction on

Central Brooklyn

Senator Kevin Parker Floods Some Constituents with Mailers Before Election Deadline

Recent mailers from Senator Kevin Parker. (Image: Liena Zagare/Bklyner)Internet safety. NYPD entrance exams. Lupus Awareness Month. Anti-Asian hate crimes. Those are just four topics from a deluge of mass mailers from Brooklyn State Senator Kevin Parker that some constituents say have flooded their mailboxes in recent weeks. “I’

Bed Stuy

Opinion: Running For Office Should Not Be This Hard

Simmons, center, petitioning earlier this year. Campaign Photo.Running for New York City Council District 39 is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m an educational leader, a mom, a pandemic learning wrangler of a third-grader; I started a school, parented a colicky baby, and even survived sudden

Gowanus

Judge Pauses Gowanus Rezoning While City Provides Community Engagement Plan

The Gowanus Canal. (Image: Google Maps)A judge has temporarily stopped the clock on the contested Gowanus rezoning [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/gowanus/gowanus-framework.page] process, ordering the city to provide the court with details for a planned public meeting before the process can continue. On Friday,

affordable housing

CB8 Land Use Committee Votes Against Developer’s Revised Proposal For Tower At Atlantic & Vanderbilt

Developer’s argument that corner site deserves more density.The developers of 840 Atlantic Avenue [/?s=%22840+Atlantic%22], a proposed 18-story residential tower at the southeast corner of Vanderbilt Avenue, have for months sought Community Board 8 (CB8)’s support for upzoning a site occupied mainly by a drive-through

Central Brooklyn

Opinion: What We Can Do This Spring to have a Maskless Summer

Photo by Julie Ricard [https://unsplash.com/@jricard?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] on Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/s/photos/brooklyn-nyc?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] By Dr. Sanjiv S. Shah, Chief Medical Officer of MetroPlusHealth Before COVID, many of us would

News

As Red Hook Houses Without Gas Again, Residents and Elected Officials Push for Repairs and Rent Reduction

Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes and Council Member Antonio Reynoso at a press event on Thursday, May 6th, 2021. (Image: Billy Richling/Bklyner)Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes and Council Member Antonio Reynoso joined local residents outside NYCHA’s Red Hook Houses on Thursday afternoon to draw attention to ongoing cooking gas

Education

Opinion: Schools are Overdue an Equitable Recovery

Photo by Kelly Sikkema [https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] on Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/s/photos/remote-learning?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] By Shahana Hanif, a lifelong public school student and candidate for City Council in District 39

Central Brooklyn

First Poll of Brooklyn Borough President Race Finds Reynoso and Cornegy Atop Close Field

The first formal poll of the Brooklyn Borough President’s race shows Council Members Antonio Reynoso and Robert Cornegy Jr. on top in a tight race where several candidates polled within the margin of error and half of surveyed voters remain undecided. The poll [https://www.studentsfirstny.org/sfnycharter_poll]

Navy Yards

Lime Launches Electric Moped Service in New York City

Lime’s moped showcased at a Brooklyn Navy Yard press event on Friday, April 30th. (Image: Billy Richling)The micromobility company Lime [https://www.li.me/] has launched an electric moped service in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, adding another two-wheeled transportation option to city streets. Lime rolled out a fleet

Central Brooklyn

After Vandal Hits Prospect Park Trash Cans, Staff and Volunteers Partner for a Clean-Up

(Image: Prospect Park Alliance)After dozens of trash cans in Prospect Park were overturned on Tuesday night, covering the green space with garbage and detritus, park workers, volunteers and community members teamed up to get the park back into shape. “Prospect Park Alliance was saddened by a significant act of

Downtown Brooklyn

Brookfield Presents Plan to Refresh One Pierrepont Plaza Space in Downtown Brooklyn

A rendering of the redesigned plaza at One Pierrepont Plaza. (Image: DLANDstudio Architecture)Brookfield Properties is planning a fresh look for a Downtown Brooklyn public space it controls. The developer presented its plans to revamp the privately-owned public space near its building One Pierrepont Plaza [https://www.brookfieldproperties.com//en/

Carroll Gardens

OPINION: We Should Have Paused the Gowanus Rezoning Until After COVID

By Briget Rein, Candidate for Council in D39. [https://www.brigetrein.com/] It has finally happened: Judge Katherine Levine lifted the temporary restraining order and the ULURP process has begun on rezoning Gowanus [/gowanus-rezoning-proceeds-to-public-review/]. The rezoning is inevitable. I want to make myself abundantly clear: I was never against the

Gowanus

Gowanus Rezoning Proceeds to Public Review

A sketch of thre Gowanus canal bridge crossing with waterfront development and pedestrian activity. (Image: Department of City Planning)The bitterly-contested Gowanus rezoning plan [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/gowanus/gowanus.page] took two crucial steps forward on Monday. First, State Supreme Court Justice Katherine Levine lifted a

environment

Mayor de Blasio Joins Opposition to Gowanus Peaker Power Plant

The Gowanus Generating Station (Image: Astoria Generating Company)Mayor Bill de Blasio has joined climate activists and several lawmakers in announcing his opposition to the controversial replacement of two peaker power plants using fracked gas, including one in Gowanus. The Astoria Generating Company (AGC), which operates two power plants located

Columbia Street Waterfront

Skate Garden, Prospect Park Children’s Corner and PS131 Bathroom Reno Among District 39 Participatory Budgeting Winners

The winning projects for this year’s participatory budgeting cycle in Council District 39 include a down payment to create a “Brooklyn Skate Garden,” a restoration of the Prospect Park Carousel’s historic wurlitzer organ and a renovated bathroom for PS131 in Borough Park. Those and other projects were selected

Arts & Culture

Rejuvenation, Celebration and “Ridiculous Emceeing” at BAM’s First Live Virtual Spring Event

Image: BAMRejuvenation, celebration and “ridiculous emceeing.” That’s what BAM has on offer for its first live, virtual concert of the spring, which will take place on the evening of April 23rd: an interactive hip-hop showcase featuring music, spoken word poetry and dance performances, along with live visual design that

Announcements

City Announces New, Free Summer Education Program for All Students

At the reconstructed Betsy Head Park in Brownsville, Brooklyn on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography OfficeSchool and camp are getting rolled into one “holistic” youth experience this summer, in an attempt to improve the student experience after a challenging academic year. The city’s departments of Education

affordable housing

Developers Propose Two 17-Story Towers in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights. CB 8 Says Whoa, Gets Backing From Cumbo

Auguring a striking remake of dowdy, underutilized Atlantic Avenue east of Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights, developers have proposed two 17-story residential towers, one nearly adjacent to the previously proposed 18-story tower [/proposed-tower-at-mcdonalds-site-faces-pushback-questions-over-ownership/] planned for a site occupied mainly by a drive-through McDonald’s. A view of