Today’s Links: Watering the Transit Deserts in Brooklyn, Running Out of Oat Milk & More

(Photo by Carly Miller)

Ditmas Park made the top of the Time’s New York Today section, part of a series on “Suburbs in the City.”

The building of Brownstone Brooklyn wasn’t only men’s work—check out a brief history of the women who designed, developed and built the borough. And don’t forget Emily Warren Roebling, who helped oversee the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge!

Now that the City Council has voted to cap the number of rideshare and for-hire vehicles, take a look at how the restrictions will affect Brooklyn.

As a companion piece: an op-ed from a Cornell professor on how New York should address transit deserts in the outer boroughs—especially those that have come to rely on Uber and Lyft.

Criminals might already be feeling a transit squeeze, because there’s been an uptick in stolen bikes, mopeds and motorcycles across the borough—especially around Clinton Hill.

While bicycle thieves might be relatively small-time, one major criminal player is staying in Brooklyn courts: El Chapo. Requests from his lawyer to move his trial to Manhattan have been denied—so the high-security motorcade may keep snarling traffic as he heads to Brooklyn.

Formerly incarcerated pizza deliveryman Pablo Villavicencio made his return to Brooklyn, dining with local Councilmember Justin Brannan at Bridgeview Diner in Bay Ridge, catching up with the politician who quickly amplified his struggle when he was detained making a delivery to Fort Hamilton army base.

It looks like the iconic Watchtower sign won’t be coming back to Downtown in any new iteration—because it was illegal all along? The Buildings Department announced their ruling recently as the conversion of the former Jehovah’s Witness Building into offices and retail continues.

The more things change, the more residents want them to stay the same: more than 1000 people have now signed a petition to create the Prospect Heights Historic District, which would protect 89 buildings built in the 1920s, mostly just north of Eastern Parkway.

On a lighter note: the sky is falling for one resident of Prospect Lefferts Garden after Pompom, her 1-year old Polish bantam chicken escaped—keep an eye out for the distinctive bird!

Also, get ready to re-live history, as the anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn is coming up, and Green-Wood Cemetery will be celebrating with parades and reenactments!

And finally, regarding alternative milks, Williamsburg coffeeshops and nostalgia—a delightful piece on the disappearance of oat milk.