Brooklyn Today August 15: Charlottesville Fallout Hits Brooklyn
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THE LEDE: Happy Tuesday, Brooklyn! As the borough’s elected officials speak out against the violence in Charlottesville, several other lawmakers across the country want to make it legal for drivers to hit protesters blocking roads. One writer says women have better sex under socialism, and six American lighthouses are for sale. Plus, Big Ben is about to go silent, another body washes up in Red Hook Channel, and a Chinese woman tries to send her baby through the mail.
IMPRINT: Bloomberg Businessweek’s latest cover brings us to Moscow for its Cities Issue.
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~CHARLOTTESVILLE FALLOUT HITS BROOKLYN: The fallout from the tragic events in Charlottesville over the weekend could be felt hundreds of miles north, in Brooklyn, as lawmakers on both sides of the political aislecondemned the violence that led to the deaths of three people. Democratic lawmakers blasted President Donald Trump for not making a more forceful statement condemning white nation nationalists for the violence and two elected officials, U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, reviewed calls they had previously made for the U.S. Army to remove the names of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jacksonfrom street signs on the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Hamilton in Bay Ridge. “What occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, was an act of domestic terrorism committed by white supremacists whose despicable beliefs represent the worst of American history,” Clarke said. (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
~EL CHAPO DEFENSE IN LIMBO: Private lawyers seeking to representJoaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in his U.S. drug-trafficking case failed to get assurances Monday that they’ll get paid, leaving the Mexican drug lord’sdefense in limbo. During a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan told the lawyers that if they took the case, there was no guarantee that prosecutors wouldn’t later seize their fees if they could show that the money came from his estimated $14 billion in drug profits. “I’m not going to pressure the government to create a carve-out for counsel fees,” Cogan said. Guzman smiled and waved at family members as he was led into the courtroom, but he didn’t speak during the brief appearance. (AP via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
~5 SCHOOL HEALTH CLINICS IN BROOKLYN SAVED FOR 1 MORE YEAR:After 10 days of determined advocacy from parents, nurses, school administrators and elected officials, SUNY Downstate reversed its decision to close five School Based Health Centers serving more than 4,000 students in Brooklyn when school opens in September. Despite a looming cut in state funding, last week Downstate informed the principals at the schools located inPark Slope, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and East New York that the clinics will remain open for one more year. “It’s a great victory,” AssemblymemberRobert Carroll told the Eagle. Carroll said he had never seen such a group — nurses, school administrators, parent coordinators, PTA members and elected officials, including his fellow Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon — “act together and within about ten days get such a great, great success.” (via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
~RED HOOK CHANNEL’S UNSETTLING TREND: Police officers made agruesome discovery on Saturday afternoon when they found a 23-year-old man’s body in Red Hook Channel. The body washed up around 1:45 p.m. The news comes a week after a Brooklyn kite surfer was recently found washed up on the shore of Long Branch, N.J. In June, we wrote about Jennifer Londono’s decomposed torso that was seen floating in the vicinity of Gowanus Bay and Buttermilk Channel off the shoreline of Red Hook. (via Daily News, NBC 4 News and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
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EAT: Here are the 11 best places to eat lunch in Downtown Brooklyn. (via Brooklyn Magazine)
SPORTS: Is the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry dead? (via NYT)
REFLECTION: “Making America White Again” by Toni Morrison (via The New Yorker)
OPINION: Did women have better sex under socialism? One writer says, ‘Yes.’ (via NYT)