News, News: Wednesday, June 21, 2023

THE ELECTED ARE ASKING FOR PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BQGREEN PARK

WILLIAMSBURG – Several Brooklyn elected officials are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to move forward with BQGreen, a long-standing plan for a platform over a ditch on the BQE section that goes below street level in Williamsburg and turns it into park space. The plan, which has been in the works for more than a decade, would combine and expand Marcy Green and Rodney Park into 3.5 acres of open green space, which would be revamped with a flower garden, a children’s playground, a diamond baseball, barbecues. , grassy and wooded areas, an indoor pool and a water play area. Then-Councilwoman Diana Reyna, for whom Borough President Antonio Reynoso served as chief of staff, conceived the project in 2010. After succeeding Reyna in 2014 as the councilwoman representing District 34, Reynoso has continued championing the project with the support of the Williamsburg community.

Reyna and Borough President Reynoso were joined by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Councilors Jennifer Gutierrez, Lincoln Restler, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and community groups St. Nick’s Alliance, Los Sures and El Puente.

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MAKING MUSIC NEW YORK DAY

BOROUGHWIDE — The popular Make Music New York Day will return on Wednesday, June 21, bringing to the first day of summer a series of live music performances in more than 15 different public spaces across the five boroughs. It was announced by the commissioner of the New York Department of Transportation, Ydanis Rodríguez. The DOT will also partner with Concerts in Motion to offer performances from 2 to 8 p.m. in five additional public spaces throughout the city. The concerts will be held for free at outdoor venues, including five in Brooklyn: Jitu Weiusi Plaza in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Kensington Plaza near Beverley Road and East 2.n.d St., New Lots Plaza near the Triangle, Osborn Plaza in Brownsville and Parkside Plaza just outside the SE corner of Prospect Park.

NYC DOT’s Public Space Programming initiative offers free activities in public spaces, such as squares and open streets.

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KAVANAGH FIRE COMMISSION TO PRESIDE GRADUATION OF 156 PROBATIONARY EMTS

FLATLANDS – A cohort of 156 probationary emergency medical technicians (EMTs) will graduate Wednesday, June 21, in a ceremony to be led by Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh at the Flatlands Christian Cultural Center. During their 13 weeks at the FDNY EMS Academy, EMTs were trained in FDNY operations and procedures, including CPR; patient trauma and medical assessments; oxygen and ventilation skills; management of hypotension and fractures; spinal immobilization and emergency delivery; and, operation of the emergency vehicle.

The new EMTs will be assigned to city units.

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MISSING WOMAN IN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

BOROUGH PARK – Police are searching for missing woman Bobbie Jo Jones, 43, who was last seen the morning of Tuesday, June 13, at her workplace on 16th Avenue in Borough Park. Jones is described as a female, white, approximately 5’8″, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes; she has a piercing on her left eyebrow and was last seen wearing a black hat, black shirt and a red sweatshirt tied around her waist, with the word “Ace” printed on the back in white letters.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57- TRACK (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

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NURSE PRESENTS BILL ON CRIMINAL CLOSET BILL FOR JUNE SUNDAY

IN THE CITY — Councilman Sandy Nurse earlier this month introduced a bill as part of the council’s June 19 legislative package that would require the city to highlight the ugly history of several of its most notable names. Nurse’s bill would require posters detailing the crimes of people who profited from slavery or committed heinous acts against Native Americans to be placed in public artwork or schools depicting or they were named after these individuals; or that any such artwork be removed from the exhibition.

“While some may see this bill as an erasure of history, it is actually an act of remembrance. It affirms that the stories we tell and the art we display must reflect the values of equity, inclusion and recognition of the struggles endured by marginalized communities,” Nurse wrote in a public statement. Those posters could soon adorn Stuyvesant High School, whose namesake Peter Stuyvesant housed 15 to 30 enslaved people. according to City and State NYor statues of Christopher Columbus, whose brutality against the native population of the island of Hispaniola led to his arrest and dismissal by the Spanish government.

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MTA OPENS PORTAL FOR FARE INCREASE COMPLAINTS

The MTA has opened a online feedback portal for its much-criticized changes to rates and tolls ahead of four public comment hearings later this week; the MTA board will vote on the changes in July. Under that proposal, which the authority says is in line with pre-pandemic standards, fares would rise on subways, buses and Access-A-Rides to $2.90, on express buses to $7 and for il cards ·limited between 1 and 5 dollars. Monthly and weekly commuter rail tickets would increase by 4%, and single journey and specialty tickets could also rise or change, although increases would be limited. On bridges and tunnels, the MTA is considering two options: One would raise all tolls by 7%, while the other would raise tolls by 6% for local E-ZPass users and 10% for everyone else of customers

On the positive side, OMNY’s fare caps would be changed to apply over a continuous seven-day period instead of the current fixed Monday-Sunday period. The MTA also plans to introduce a discounted $7 maximum ticket between the city’s commuter rail stations, as well as a special Far Rockaway ticket; as a result, the current Atlantic Ticket could be discarded.

The hearings will be held and broadcast live on Thursday, June 22, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., on Friday, June 23 at 10 a.m., and on Monday, June 26 at 6 p.m. All speakers will have two minutes; speakers who pre-register on line or call 646-252-6777, you can join online or by phone. Additional comments may be submitted online, by email, by regular mail, or by telephone; More detailed information about the changes and hearings can also be found on the MTA website.

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THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD HELPING THE SEARCH FOR THE TITAN SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL

The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing has been dispatched to assist with the US Coast Guard’s race against time in a search and rescue operation for a missing submarine. who had been exploring the remains of the Titanic. Based at FS Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Long Island’s Westhampton Beach, the 106th is one of three Air National Guard search and rescue units in the country and the only one based on the East Coast. The 106th flies fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft and rescue helicopters and has a unit of rescue jumpers who are trained to rescue people at sea and on land.

The submersible, unlike a submarine, does not have its own power source or other components to make it self-sufficient, and on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20, there were less than two days of oxygen left to to the five passengers on board. The submersible, named Titan, had been in the area to explore the Titanic shipwreck when it also lost contact Sunday morning with a chartered research vessel at the dive site.