News, developments: Tuesday, July 18, 2023

CHARITABLE GROUPS IN SOUTHEAST BROOKLYN RECEIVE OPERATING GRANTS

SOUTHEAST BROOKLYN: State Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud (D/SD-19) has secured more than $500,000 in operating grants of the newly enacted fiscal year 2023-2024 state budget for local institutions and nonprofit charities in its southeast Brooklyn district, which stretches from Brownsville and East New York to Howard Beach in Queens. Senator Persaud’s program grant recipients include, but are not limited to, JCC Canarsie, Millennium Development, Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn, Fresh Air Fund, Center for Employment Opportunities, Good Shepherd Services, New York Legal Assistance Group, CAMBA and East Flatbush Village. Inc.

Senator Persaud will announce additional grants for capital projects at a later date. District organizations are encouraged to review “How do I submit a proposal guide” online.

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STUDENTS CAN CREATE APPLICATIONS AS PART OF THE CONGRESS CHALLENGE COMPETITION

BAY RIDGE/DYKER HEIGHTS: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-11/Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island) will participate in the 2023 Congressional App Challenge, a national level competition to inspire students to explore STEM, coding and computer science through hands-on practice. The Internet Education Foundation sponsors this annual event that encourages students to design an app on any topic. Entrants must be in middle or high school as of Nov. 1 and can only compete in a congressional district that hosts an App Challenge. Students can use any programming language (eg C, C++, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, “blockcode”, etc.), on any platform (eg PC, web, tablet, robot, mobile).

Ten years ago, the US House of Representatives outlined plans (through House Resolution 77) by which members of Congress would hold district-by-district computing or “app” competitions for students each year. By unanimity, the bases were approved that authorized each representative to organize this competition. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-8/North, East, South Brooklyn) led this first initiative; being the only other district participating in the 2023 Challenge.

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PILOT PROGRAM: A FREE BUS ROUTE IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD IN NYC

IN THE CITY – Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that the MTA will test a free bus pilot program on five routes, one in each municipality, at the end of September. The pilot will last between 6 and 12 months. In Brooklyn, the B60 bus route, which operates between Williams Avenue/Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie and Williamsburg Bridge Plaza, was chosen as the free route. The B60 serves the neighborhoods of Canarsie, Brownsville, Ocean Hill, Bushwick and Williamsburg.” I was immediately on board with the pilot program, as soon as I heard about it,” said Assemblywoman Latrice Walker.

Other free routes will include the M116, Bx18A/B, Q4 LCL/LTD and S46/96.

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MISSING 14-YEAR-OLD BROOKLYN GIRL

GOWANUS – Police are seeking the public’s help in locating 14-year-old Asha Roberts who was last seen on Saturday, July 15 at her residence near Bond and Douglass streets in Gowanus, within the jurisdiction of the 76th Precinct. Asha is described as 5’3″ tall, weighing approximately 200 pounds, with brown eyes and braided black hair. She was last seen wearing an orange T-shirt, black pajama pants and multi-colored sneakers, and was leaving home on a blue Razor scooter.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at

Asha Roberts, 14, is missing. Photo: NYPD.

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NEW REPORT ON YOUNG GUN OWNERS CITE FEAR AND SURVIVAL AS MAIN REASONS

CROWN HEIGHTS – The Center for Justice Innovation on Monday, July 17 released a new milestone report that details the nuanced reasons why young people carry guns. Titled “‘Two Battlefields’: Opps, Cops, and NYC Youth Gun Culture,” and based on interviews with more than 100 young gun-carrying people in Crown Heights, the report sought to answer fundamental questions about youth gun culture. The report found that self-preservation and fear were the prevalent reasons: fear for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. Young people identified two groups they fear the most: police and “opps”, a term that refers to members of rival (or opposition) gangs, people involved in the street economy or other adversaries.

Most interview participants have experienced or witnessed gun violence: 89% have had a friend or family member shot; 80% have witnessed someone being shot; and 76% have been shot or narrowly missed by bullets.

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THE MAYOR APPOINTS THE CITY’S FIRST LATIN POLICE OFFICER

CITY HALL — Mayor Eric Adams on Monday, July 17, officially appointed Edward A. Caban as the 46th Commissioner and Tania Kinsella as the 45th First Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD. Caban becomes the first Latino to serve as NYPD commissioner in its 178-year history, and Kinsella is the first woman of color to serve as the first deputy commissioner in NYPD history York, though not as a top cop, since Keechant Sewell, the previous commissioner, is also a woman of color. A 32-year veteran of the NYPD and the son of a traffic police detective, Caban has served in various precincts throughout the five boroughs, where he held nearly every position within the police department before his promotion. to commissioner of Monday. He has also served as an assistant at Brooklyn North. First Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kinsella, a 20-year NYPD veteran, was promoted to sergeant in 2008 and assigned to the 68th Precinct in Brooklyn at the time; since then, he has received several more promotions before Monday’s ceremony.

Caban was appointed acting police commissioner by Mayor Adams on July 1, 2023, following the resignation of Keechant Sewell last month.

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THE STATE’S TAX RECEIPTS ARE LOWER IN COMPARISON WITH DEBITS FOR THE YEAR OTHERS

STATEWIDE: Although state tax receipts exceeded Budget Division expectations in the first quarter of the 2023-24 state fiscal year (SFY), actual collections were billions less than the year-ago amount, according to state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s latest monthly state cash report. State tax receipts totaled $27.6 billion, $450.8 million more than estimates released in the Division of the Budget’s (DOB) Budget Financial Plan. However, collections were $6.8 billion lower than last year through the quarter ending in June 2022. And while personal income tax receipts totaled $14.5 billion, this amount was $128.4 million below DOB’s financial plan projections for the first quarter.

Also, year-to-date consumption and use (sales) tax collections totaled $5.4 billion, up 5.9%, or $302 million, from the same period last year, but $9.5 million less than the DOB forecast.

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