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Brooklyn Today April 25: Take Me Out to the Ballgame Before It’s Too Late, and more

April 25, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Weather, Brooklyn Borough Hall (NWS): Day 56°, Night 53°, rainy and breezy

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THE LEDE: Good morning, and happy World Penguin Day, Brooklyn! In today’s briefing, the Jehovah’s Witnesses deactivate one of their not-so-secret underground tunnels in Brooklyn, and Assemblymember Joe Lentolchats about the (very) long road to passing the “Raise the Age” bill. Plus, Brooklyn gives Nashville a run for its money, and America’s favorite pastime rapidly dwindles in NYC. Meanwhile, John Oliver drops several Brooklyn references in his latest Trump family evisceration, and 6-year-oldsponder the meaning of life at the Brooklyn Public Library.           

IMPRINT: A major fashion faux pas on the cover of Italy’s IL Mag.

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The Rundown

~NO TUNNEL OUT: The Watchtower, which has sold off many of itsBrooklyn Heights properties, is starting to shut down the tunnels that connect them. Last week, the Jehovah’s Witnesses poured concrete into one of the tunnels connecting their big Brooklyn Heights residential buildings. The Watchtower’s pedestrian passageways form a not-so-secret underground network extending from 124 Columbia Heights, which overlooks the Promenade, to The Towers, a former hotel on the corner of Clark and Willow streets. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

~CALLING ALL 3-YEAR-OLDS: Mayor de Blasio aims to beef up his signature universal pre-K initiative by expanding the program to 3-year-olds. Tots in Brooklyn’s District 23 will be among the first to reap the benefits of the expansion over the next two years. However, officials caution that the rollout will be tough…and pricey. The city anticipates that the program will require state and federal funding to become a reality. (via Chalkbeat)

~CAN BROOKLYN BECOME NASHVILLE NORTH?: Well, no one said it exactly that way, but new data released by the Mayor’s Office at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg yesterday notes the hefty economic impact of music production and consumption in NYC. The music industry in NYC supports nearly 60,000 jobs, accounts for $5 billion in wages and generates $21 billion in total economic output for the city. Rock on, Brooklyn. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

~HOW “RAISE THE AGE” CAME TO PASS: It took 12 years for Assemblymember Joe Lentol to drop the “Raise the Age” bill on Gov.Cuomo’s desk. Until then, New York was one of only two states that treated 16 and 17-year-old offenders as adults. Lentol sat down with the Eagle for a long chat about the the bill that paved the road for “the most satisfying legislative session [he’s] ever had.” (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

~TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME (BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE): As little league season kicks off in Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach, a heavy atmosphere descends on the diamond. Youth baseball programs across the city are shrinking. Amittyville Little League of Brooklyn took a loss of about 70 percent in player enrollment…and that’s been the trend for the past 4-5 years, as more kids get smartphones and soccer swells in world popularity, among other factors. (via City Limits)

~MAP OF THE DAY: The Stonewall Inn has long-staked its claim among historically significant LGBTQ landmarks in NYC…but many LGBTQ rights groups were organizing across the river in Brooklyn Heights and beyond as well. The NYC Historic Sites Project maps notable LGBTQ sites across the city from NYC’s founding in the 17th century through 2000. (via DNAinfo)      

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Staff Picks  

HEAVY READ: Meet the Argentine grandmothers who have spent four decadessearching for 500 babies born in torture centers during the country’s military dictatorship. (via the California Sunday Magazine)

LIGHT READ: Philosophizing with 6-year olds at the Brooklyn Public Library. (via the New Yorker)   

WATCH: Did anyone else catch all the references to Dumbo Heights in this video clip of John Oliver skewering Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner?

EAT: Snag a patio seat at Armando’s on Montague St. when the weather warms up again at the end of the week.

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NATIONAL BULLETIN: POTUS indicates that he will relax his demand that the budget deal include money to build the border wall, lessening the chances of a partial government shutdown…in the scurry to carry out a slew of capital punishments before the state’s lethal drugs expire, Arkansas executed two men last night, a first for any state since 2000…and a new, reorganizedsurvey on abortion reveals the nuances in the way Americans think about the issue. (via the the NYT, the AP and WaPo)

FOREIGN FLASH: Russia’s Supreme Court banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “extremist” group, and ordered the group to liquidate its national HQ…a decades-old system of household registration binds many Chinese to where they were born, widening the country’s already gaping wealth discrepancy…and Russia appears to be supplying the Taliban with weapons. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the WSJ and WaPo)

ROYAL WATCH: Check out these pics of Queen Elizabeth’s head photoshopped onto Rhianna’s body. It’s just as weird as it sounds. (via VH1)  

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BROOKLYN TONIGHT

5:00pm – Wontons & Dumplings at Brooklyn Brainery. Details.

6:00pm – 27 Years in the Alps at Tabla Rosa Gallery. Details.

6:30pm – Michael Cannell: Incendiary at NYPL Mid-Manhattan Library.Details.

7:00pm – How I Got Over: Lynn Nottage, Kate Whoriskey and ‘Sweat’ on Broadway at The Greene Space. Details.

7:00pm –  LIVE from the NYPL: Elif Batuman with Mary Karr: Playing the Fool at NYPL Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Details.

7:00pm – Transplanted Cuisine: A talk with Food Mavens Sarah Lohman and Eve Jochnowitz at the Museum at Eldridge Street. Details.

7:30pm – Imagining Men & Women: Caitlyn Jenner on Transgender Identity and Courage at 92nd Street Y. Details.

8:00pm – Sunwatchers at Union Pool. Details.

8:00pm – #WeThePeople Live at The Bell House. Details.  

8:30pm – Le Boucher at Francesca Beale Theater. Details.       

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ON THE PITCH: On a night where fans were given collectable Pelé T-shirts, the New York Cosmos put on an impressive performance that the Brazilian legend himself would have been proud of. Not only did the Cosmos earn their first point of the season at their new home, but they also ended first-place Jacksonville Armada’s shutout streak, courtesy of a goal from La Liga veteran Javi Marquez. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)


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