Wednesday, Sep. 1: J'Ouvert, Homeless, College Minor in Cannabis, and more
Another week, another tropical storm. Today what remains of Hurricane Ida that pummeled Louisiana earlier this week is making its way up the coast, and is expected to dump up to 6" of water on Brooklyn. There will be localized flooding and the potential for flash floods. You know what to do.
As we wrap up our reporting projects ahead of stopping publication next week, I really hope someone continues to keep an eye on just how much money is spent on developing temporary solutions to homelessness rather than building permanently affordable housing. This new 145-bed homeless shelter in Greenpoint that is yet to be built will cost over $5k per bed per month over the next 8 years. More on why it is so hard to build affordable housing here.
A new cannabis education program could take college students to new heights.
“Safe Haven” Shelter Planned for Apollo Street in Greenpoint
Billy Richling, Liena Zagare • 3 min read
A new 145-bed shelter is coming to Greenpoint, and it will cost the taxpayer $5,273 per bed/month over the next eight years and two months.
This weekend is traditionally when J’Ouvert celebrations take place, leading up to the West Indian American Day Parade on Labor Day every year. While the formal J’Ouvert celebrations and parade on Eastern Parkway have been postponed till 2022, NYPD will be out there, keeping people safe, Mayor Bill de Blasio said this morning.
"We do anticipate several non-sanctioned cultural events throughout the weekend," said NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison outlining their safety plan.
"We plan on deploying additional police officers and resources, which will include uniformed officers on foot posts, as well as putting them in response vehicles to provide security during the weekend-long celebration. Commands to be covered will include the 63 Precinct in Marine Park; 67, which is East Flatbush; 69 in Canarsie; 70; the 71 Precinct, which is Flatbush; 77, Crown Heights; and the 78, which is in Park Slope. We will have hundreds of light towers, which will aluminate the streets and increase visibility, as well as vehicular traffic on Eastern Parkway will remain open."
"Officers will be out there to enforce quality-of-life conditions – under-age drinking, excessive noise, and hazardous crowd conditions," Harrison noted, adding that sidewalk barbecues will not be prohibited, and urged residents to use 311 to report quality of life conditions.
Higher Education: Medgar Evers College Launches New Cannabis Minor Program
Billy Richling • 2 min read
A new cannabis education program could take college students to new heights.
Medgar Evers College, located in Crown Heights, has announced the launch of a new cannabis minor degree program. The first such program in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, the school’s leaders frame the program both as an opportunity to develop new leaders in the burgeoning industry and as an extension of the civil rights work of the college’s namesake.
“Oftentimes, communities of color are the last to benefit from emerging economic opportunities,” Dr. Patricia Ramsey, president of Medgar Evers College, said. “The science faculty and the business faculty collaborated in developing the minor in cannabis education, thus exposing the students to the science, health, technical and business aspects of this new industry.”
Bed-Stuy Tenants Bemoan Deterioration and Vagrants in Complex Run By Ex-Met Mo Vaughn
Gabriel Sandoval|THE CITY • 5 min read
But 11 years later, residents of the four buildings on Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant say that living conditions have slumped to an all-time low, reports Gabriel Sandoval for THE CITY.
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