Monday, March 20, 2023 – Brooklyn Eagle

NEW YORK STATE SAW 14.1% INCREASE IN LOCAL SALES TAX COLLECTIONS DURING FEBRUARY

STATEWIDE — Local sales tax collections in New York State increased by 14.1% in February compared to the same month in 2022, according to an analysis that State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Friday, March 17. Overall, local collections totaled $1.64 billion, up $203 million compared to the same time last year. New York City’s collections totaled $718 million, an increase of 11.6%, or $74.5 million, over February of 2022. All counties experienced strong increases in February collections,

The report was itemized by county in all regions of the state except New York City, for which it showed a collective amount for the five boroughs; sales for Nassau and Suffolk Counties were itemized separately.

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NYC FREE TAX PREP HELPS NEW YORKERS KEEP FULL REFUND

CITYWIDE — Speaking of taxes, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection reminds New Yorkers under a certain income bracket that they can avail themselves of NYC Free Tax Help. Single-filing New Yorkers who earned $56,000 or less in 2022, or families who earned $80,000 or less are eligible for NYC Free Tax Prep, which has enabled people to keep their full refund including valuable tax credits like the enhanced NYC Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), without having to use it to pay a professional tax preparer.

Services are available in person, online, and drop-off, and in multiple languages. For more information about NYC Free Tax Prep, tax credits and more, visit nyc.gov/TaxPrep or call 311 and say “Tax Prep.”

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NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS WILL CONTINUE OFFERING COVID TESTING AND TREATMENT

CITYWIDE — The city’s public hospital system, NYC Health + Hospitals, on Friday, March 17, announced plans to ensure New Yorkers continue to have access to COVID-19 testing, vaccination and treatment, as well as services to address Long COVID, after the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency funding expires on May 11. NYC Health + Hospitals and the NYC Test & Treat Corps will transition its remaining emergency-level operations from hospital-based walk-in testing tents and mobile Test to Treat units to permanent services inside the city hospitals and community-based outpatient care centers, including several throughout Brooklyn — with COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccination remaining available at NYC Health + Hospitals’ locations by appointment.

The health system will also continue to manage the City’s 212-COVID19 hotline, connecting New Yorkers to COVID-19 treatments through NYC Health + Hospitals/Virtual ExpressCare and Long COVID resources through its AfterCare program and COVID-19 Centers of Excellence.

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BROOKLYN CONGRESSMEMBER LAUNCHES BILL TO MAKE E-BIKE BATTERY CHARGING SAFER

NATIONWIDE — New legislation that Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-7) introduced in Congress on Friday, March 17, aims to prevent fires caused by lithium-ion batteries (LIB) by creating publicly-accessible safe charging infrastructure for e-bikes and e-scooters in communities nationwide. The Safe Charging Electric Bikes and Scooters Act directs the Department of Transportation to create grants for local governments to install charging and storage stations with fireproofing measures for e-bikes, e-scooters, and other mobility devices. The bill also creates DOT educational programs to perform public outreach on best practices for lithium-ion battery safety.

Daniel Murray, the FDNY’s chief of hazmat operations, told the New York Times in a March 6, 2023 article that although one finds lithium-ion batteries in computers, cell phones and some household devices, it is the larger micro-mobility vehicle batteries, “…subject to a lot of wear and tear and weather, which tends to damage them,” Mr. Murray said. “So that’s why we are seeing a lot of fires specifically in the bikes and scooters.”

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JUSTICE DEPT. INVESTIGATES TIKTOK PLATFORM’S SPYING ON U.S. CITIZENS, JOURNALISTS

WORLDWIDE — The Justice Department is investigating the social media video platform TikTok’s surveillance of American citizens, including journalists, according to breaking reports on Friday from Editor & Publisher and The New York Times, as well as from a reporter who disclosed being among those tracked. The NY Times report pointed out that the investigations are apparently linked to ByteDance’s admission of having obtained the personal data of U.S. TikTok users.

One famous Brooklyn TikTok user, 7-year-old Tariq, is potentially an ideal firewall against espionage with his heroic story: he’s the little boy from Sunset Park who loves corn so much that he participated in the donation of almost 90,000 cans of Green Giant vegetables to City Harvest.

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LEGAL AID SOCIETY: COURT MUST BRING BAR ADMISSION TEST QUESTION INTO COMPLIANCE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

CITYWIDE — The Legal Aid Society has applauded with caution a New York State Appellate Court decision to amend a question on the Bar Admission Test dealing with encounters with law enforcement. Their focus is on Question 26 of the Bar Admission test, which relates to prior encounters with law enforcement. Calling the Appellate Division’s move a step in the right direction,” the Legal Aid still criticized it for not going far enough. “By continuing to require Bar applicants to divulge information about most sealed arrests and even some favorably terminated criminal proceedings, the Appellate Division continues to violate the New York State Human Rights Law. The Appellate Division must go further and bring Question 26 into compliance with New York’s anti-discrimination statute.”

Access the “Appellate Division Announces ‘Fairness’ Change To Bar Exam Questionnaire” online.

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2023 CONGRESSIONAL ART CONTEST OPENS FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS

BAY RIDGE & DYKER HEIGHTS — Budding high school artists in Brooklyn are invited to apply for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition that members of the U.S. House of Representatives sponsor each year. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ office has already opened the competition in New York’s 11th District, which includes Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, as well as Staten Island. Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors this nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Aspiring artists should contact their local congressmember to confirm that district’s participation and obtain specific guidance.

Since the competition’s inception in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.

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LOWER MATH SCORES BECOME ‘THE NEW NORMAL’

STATEWIDE — Following a report last week from the State Comptroller’s office about plummeting math scores from 2022, New York State is calling these lower scores “the new normal,” and will change the criteria for proficiency in both math and English, reports the Times Union. New York will change what it takes for students to reach “proficiency” on state math and English language arts tests, calling last year’s lower scores the “new normal.” Blaming COVID, and the suspension of classwork during the pandemic for a learning loss, a scoring committee for the state Board of Regents must now reconsider what content is essential for students to know, and then reorganize the tests, ranking the facility of questions based on the percent of students who answered correctly.

One committee member questioned the validity of the tests, given the students’ learning loss, expressing concern that some schools were bringing lower test scores than others in more affluent neighborhoods.

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‘CITY OF YES’ MEETINGS PLANNED FOR CARBON NEUTRALITY STAGE

BOROUGHWIDE — The next City of Yes public information sessions on the climate, will be held Monday, March 20, and Tuesday, March 28, remotely via ZOOM, Brooklyn Community Board 9 has announced. NYC Department of City Planning will conduct these online public information sessions, which will focus on the first of three zoning text amendment proposals in the City of Yes Initiative. The City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality supports the quest to make New York City a greener, healthier city: specifically, carbon-reduction efforts by enabling clean energy and other sustainable practices in both new and existing buildings.

The other two City of Yes proposals focus on Economic Opportunity and Housing Opportunity, to be addressed later this year and by mid-2024, respectively.

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POLICE SEEK MISSING TEEN IN OCEAN HILL

OCEAN HILL — Police are asking the public for help in finding missing 14-year-old Vanessa Sanchez, last seen on the afternoon of Monday, March 13, leaving her Ocean Hill residence. Vanessa is described as 5’0” in height and approximately 100 pounds, with long straight brown hair.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782); or, to log onto the Crime Stoppers website or Tweet @NYPDTips.

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PARK SLOPE ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE ON SUNDAY

PARK SLOPE — The 48th annual Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade is set to kick off on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a Rededication Ceremony in honor of the heroes and victims of 9/11 at Bartel-Pritchard Square, led by Parade Grand Marshal Mike Coyne, before officially setting off at 1:30 p.m. on its route through Park Slope. The parade will march in a circle, heading from the square down 15th Street to 7th Avenue, then down Garfield Place back to Prospect Park West, and ultimately finishing back at Bartel-Pritchard Square.

The parade will be preceded by a Catholic mass service at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Park Slope; more information about parade proceedings can be found on the website of the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Parade organizers.

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SEARCH FOR MISSING GIRL IN GRAVESEND

GRAVESEND — Police are searching for missing 12-year-old Nicole Ni, last seen on Thursday, March 16, at approximately 7:40 a.m. inside her Gravesend home. Nicole is described as 5’0″ in height and approximately 95 pounds, and was last seen wearing a pink coat, pink/purple pants, black sneakers and a blue backpack.

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APPELLATE DIVISION ANNOUNCES ‘FAIRNESS’ CHANGE TO BAR EXAM QUESTIONNAIRE

STATEWIDE — The Presiding Justices of the Appellate Division – Hon. Rolando T. Acosta, Hon. Hector D. LaSalle, Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry and Hon. Gerald J. Whalen – jointly announced on Thursday that the four Departments of the Appellate Division have amended Question 26 of the Bar Admission Questionnaire “to better promote equity and fairness in the character and fitness interview process,” according to a press release. Question 26 previously required prospective lawyers to disclose any and all criminal justice system involvement except for parking tickets and certain traffic violations, but now allows applicants to exclude matters that were adjudicated in noncriminal juvenile delinquency proceedings; as well as tickets, arrests and other encounters with law enforcement that did not result in formal criminal charges or further legal actions.

“By this change, the Appellate Division seeks to advance the diversity of the bar by reducing the possible chilling effect the previous Question 26 had on law school applicants due to the disproportionate rates of policing and prosecution experienced in communities of color… the mere fact that an applicant’s past includes any interactions with law enforcement is not, by itself, a basis for denying admission to the bar,” the Appellate justices wrote in their statement.

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MAYOR GOES GREEN FOR ST. PAT’S

MANHATTAN — Mayor Adams was set to paint the town green on Friday in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, kicking off the morning with a breakfast reception and morning mass before visiting a number of Irish restaurants and pubs across the city. In the afternoon, the mayor will march in the 262nd annual New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, before attending a lunch thrown by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current archbishop of New York.

The NYC St. Patrick’s Parade is a tradition that dates back to 1762, before the American Revolution, and was originally organized by Irish military units, but since around 1851 has been run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic fraternal organization; the parade has traditionally marched past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, both at its original location in SoHo and its current location on 5th Avenue.

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MAYOR GOES GREEN AGAIN FOR EARTH DAY

CITYWIDE — Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick on Thursday announced two public information sessions on Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality initiative to create a greener New York City. The City of Yes plan – which is set to enter public review on April 24, the Monday after Earth Day — is designed to help NYC reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 and to help limit global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius; and involves changes to zoning codes to allow more solar panel installations and energy-efficient construction methods, city support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and micro-mobility solutions like bikeshares and e-scooters, and updates to current rules to allow for reductions in trash and stormwater wastage.

The information sessions are set for March 20 and 28, and will discuss the proposed zoning changes; members of the public can attend via Zoom or via phone call and can find instructions for attending on the city’s website.

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ARTIST TO ERECT COLORFUL ‘REMEMBRANCE COLUMNS’ IN HIGHLAND PARK

CYPRESS HILLS — NYC Parks announced on Thursday that artist Rose DeSiano has been awarded the $25,000 Highland Park Art Grant to create her proposed artwork, “Public Continuum.” DeSiano’s winning proposal, based on 19th-century cinema precursors the praxinoscope and the zoetrope, will feature three seven-foot-tall luminous sculptures in the form of “eternal remembrance columns” placed in a triangular formation and covered in rainbow-colored plexiglass panels, reflective mirrors and historic photographs of Highland Park and the surrounding neighborhood.

“Public Continuum” is set to be displayed at the corner of Highland Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue in Lower Highland Park from summer 2023 to summer 2024.

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FBI ISSUES WARRANT FOR BROOKLYN EDITOR WHO STORMED CAPITOL

WASHINGTON — The FBI on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Elliot Resnick, former editor of the Jewish Press, on charges related to his conduct at the Jan. 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C., reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Resnick and the Jewish Press, for which he no longer works, previously claimed he had attended in a purely journalistic capacity, but the FBI alleges that Resnick grabbed the arm of a police officer attempting to repel rioters inside the Capitol and attempted to open doors inside the Capitol to allow more rioters access, citing video evidence, police testimony and Resnick’s own social media statements in support of former President Trump and the “stolen election” conspiracy theory.

Resnick was arrested on Thursday, reports ABC News, and was due to appear in court late Thursday afternoon.

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BIDEN APPOINTS LEAH DAUGHTRY AS WILSON CENTER VICE CHAIR

WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday announced several key appointments to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Board of Trustees and the National Museum and Library Services Board, including the selection of Brooklyn bishop and activist Leah D. Daughtry as vice chair of the Wilson Center. Daughtry, a fifth-generation clergyperson and the child of Rev. Herbert Daughtry of Brooklyn’s House of the Lord Church, is also a longtime political figure and staunch Democrat who led the 2008 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions, and currently serves as Principal of a strategic planning firm, On These Things.

The Wilson Center, chartered by Congress in 1968 as the official memorial to President Woodrow Wilson, is a non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue to inform actionable policy ideas; board trustees serve six-year terms on various committees with functions including executive, finance and investment policy, as well as strategic planning and programming.

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St. Patrick’s Day rites: parades, bagpipes, clinking pints