Brooklyn Today July 6: Stick It, Brooklyn

July 6, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Weather, Brooklyn Borough Hall (NWS): Day 78°, Night 68°, cloudy then slight chance showers

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THE LEDE: Good morning! The battle over the proposed Pier 6 towers atBrooklyn Bridge Park rages on, and the city will soon debut its first senior housing center that focuses on L.G.B.T.Q. residents. The Cosmos deliver an explosive game for the Fourth of July, and fireworks blaze out of control in several Brooklyn neighborhoods. We’ve heard plenty about how Uber and other ride-hailing apps are affecting the economy, but what about how they affect the environment? Plus, the old-timey game of stickball lives on in Brooklyn…and beyond. Finally, take time for a longform piece on NYC’s business of “massacring” geese, and the Brooklynite who’s trying to stop it.

IMPRINT: Good luck trying to pry your eyes away from Deepika Padukone’sVanity Fair cover.

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The Rundown

~BATTLE OVER PIER 6 TOWERS CONTINUES: Even before the court decision on Brooklyn Bridge Park’s proposed Pier 6 towers, the developers for Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation have filed to begin work the day after what will likely be the final court date. But the century-old neighborhood watchdog group Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA), alerted to the move, immediately countered. On Sunday, June 30, the BHA filed a motion in court seeking to halt the developers from starting construction of the two controversial towers right at the start of the park’s busy summer season. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

~ON INDEPENDENCE DAY, COSMOS LIGHT UP THE PITCH: It was America’s birthday and the country’s most famous soccer team put on a show that rivaled the excitement levels of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and the Fourth of July fireworks show. Hours after Joey Chestnutwon his 10th Mustard Belt by eating an all-time record 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes, the New York Cosmos battled to a 1-1 tie against Indy Eleven.“We’ve never been a club that looks for excuses if there are guys that are not here because of injuries or call ups with their national team,” said Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese. “We had a good team today. I thought we did some very good things; unfortunately, the little things could have put us on top of the game.” (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

~FINDING HOUSING FOR NYC’S SENIOR L.G.B.T.Q. POPULATION:Seniors aged 65 and older are NYC’s fastest growing group, and finding housing remains a struggle…especially for those who identify as L.G.B.T.Q., many of whom are single and and childless, and sometimes estranged from their families. “Many older L.G.B.T. adults remember the discrimination they faced in housing and other sectors, and they were silenced for far too long,”Donna Corrado, the commissioner of the Dept. for the Aging, told the NYT. Next month, work will begin in Fort Greene on a new public housing project that will focus on providing services to L.G.B.T.Q. seniors. “It would answer my prayers,” said Mary Ellen Green, a lesbian senior who has been living on the streets since March. “We would all look out for each other, be our eyes and ears. I think that understanding and awareness would be there.” (via the NYT)

~HOW UBER AFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT: NYC is typically lauded as a city with a relatively small eco-footprint–we live in small spaces that are close together, and most people use public transit rather than drive. The emergence of ride-hailing apps, however, throws some new data in the mix. Researchers are just beginning to study the environmental impact, and nothing is definitive…yet. For example, if they find that fewer people buy their own cars in favoring of hopping in an Uber, that wouldn’t be so bad for Mother Nature. But if people are forgoing the subway and hailing a Lyft instead, that’s some not-so-good news for the planet. One piece of data that is certain? Traffic in NYC has increased 3-4 percent, thanks to app-based ride services. (via DNAinfo)

~NEIGHBORHOOD TEMPERS EXPLODE WITH ALL-NIGHT FIREWORKS:From Bath Beach to Bay Ridge, some Brooklynites got a bit too excited about Fourth of July fireworks. Social media buzzed with frustrated residentswho heard illegal fireworks in their neighborhoods into the wee hours of the morning…and in Bed-Stuy, illegal fireworks resulted in a blaze that brought 106 firefighters to the scene. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and DNAinfo)

~STICK IT, BROOKLYN: The old-timey game with a rich tradition in Brooklyn will take center stage before a Cyclones game at MCU Park this Sunday for the second Stickball Day. Similar to baseball, stickball was played in the streets with a broomstick and a rubber ball, allowing kids without regulation bats and gloves to take a whack at the game. In fact, the game grew so beloved that Brooklynites took it with them when they moved away, and stickball thrives, among other places, in the streets of Palm Beach County in Florida. (via Brooklyn Paper and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
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Staff Picks:

LONG READ: Head still stuck in the long Fourth of July weekend? Revisit this piece about the “pyros” who build and launch grand-scale fireworks shows.(via VQR)

ANOTHER LONG READ: New York City has killed ~70,000 birds since U.S. Airways pilot Sully Sullenberger successfully landed an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River after a flock of geese struck the plane’s engines. One Brooklyn man is on a mission to save the birds. (via The Outline)

DISCUSSION OF THE DAY: Margaret Atwood and Junot Díaz talk about how to “Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again.” (via the Boston Review)
LOOK: “The Lurid Covers of 20th-Century Pulp Fiction.” (via Hyperallergic)

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NATIONAL BULLETIN: NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, and the internet thought the organization was calling for a political revolution…The NRA shifts to more litigation-focused tactics, andscores two wins in a rather unexpected place: California…The death penalty is nearing historic lows nationwide in 2017…Lyme disease is on the rise, likely thanks to a certain kind of mouse…A previously undiscovered photo reignites speculation about Amelia Earhart’s final days…And how do Americans order steak? Hint: it’s different than how wesay we like our steak cooked. (via HuffPost, the WSJ, the Houston Chronicle, the BBC and FiveThirtyEight)

FOREIGN FLASH: Australia will recognize domestic violence leave, but only unpaid…With 11,155 people killed since the start of 2017, Mexico’s drug war rages back…Increasing numbers of central Americans are putting off their immigration plans, saying that they’re “scared of what’s happening” in the U.S….And while tensions heighten over North Korea, take a look at how the country has been attacking America for decades–through postage stamps. (via the NYT, the WSJ and WaPo)

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ROYAL WATCH: Kate Middleton is ready for summer. (via NBC Chicago)
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BROOKLYN TONIGHT

5:30pm – Kayaking at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 2. Details.

6:00pm – Live at the Archway under the Manhattan Bridge. Details.

6:00pm – Movies with a View – Office Space at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6.Details.

6:30pm – Gone Fishin’: Brooklyn’s Favorite, Forgotten Pastime at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Details.

6:30pm – A Man’s Imagination: What Makes It Good or Bad? at Aesthetic Realism Foundation. Details.

7:30pm – Arguments & Grievances at Pine Box Rock Shop. Details.

7:30pm – Marriage Night: Ada Calhoun, Dani Shapiro & Julie Scelfo at Books Are Magic. Details.

7:30pm – Matthew Klam with Meg Wolitzer at Greenlight Bookstore. Details.

8:00pm – Law of the Land: The Supreme Court’s Year in Review at 92ndStreet Y. Details.

9:45pm – This Place at Dixon Place. Details.
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ON THE PITCH: Germany’s Confederations Cup win on Sunday was particularly impressive given the fact that the team featured mostly young rank-and-file players instead of larger names like Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos andJerome Boateng. Here’s at look why Die Mannschaft will be feared not only at next year’s World Cup in Russia, but for many World Cups to come. (via the NYT)
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MILESTONES

Happy birthday to Allyce Beasley, Ned Beatty, George W. Bush, Dalai Lama, Pau Gasol, Grant Goodeve, Kevin Hart, Hilary Mantel, Della Reese, Geoffrey Rush, Sylvester Stallone and Burt Ward!