What's News, Breaking: Friday, August 11, 2023

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KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE OFFERS PARENTING PROGRAMS TO YOUNG DADS

MANHATTAN BEACH — YOUNG FATHERS CAN RECEIVE TRAINING on responsible parenting and economic stability through a program that Kingsborough Community College is offering, according to a notice posted via Community Board 16. The Kingsborough Community College CUNY Fatherhood Academy, a free and comprehensive program, is geared toward unemployed and underemployed young fathers up to age 30 who can enter a high school equivalency track or a college preparation program. Kingsborough is currently recruiting for its Fall cohort, starting Tuesday, Aug. 29. Applications are online or by calling (718) 368-6784.

The high school equivalency exam preparation runs 3 days per week for 16 weeks. The college preparation program runs 3 days per week for 8 weeks.

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IN MEMORIAM: RHODA HENDRICK KARPATKIN, 93, LED AND EXPANDED CONSUMER REPORTS

BENSONHURST AND MIDWOOD — BROOKLYN-BORN RHODA HENDRICK KARPATKIN, who as the longtime publisher of Consumer Reports expanded readership and maintained its integrity, has died at age 93, reports the New York Times' Sam Roberts. At the time she was selected as the Consumer Union's first woman executive director, Ms. Karpatkin had served as counsel to the non-profit organization and was an attorney and civil rights advocate. The Consumer Union's name was later changed to Consumer Reports, to match the magazine, and she became the publisher, reinforcing its trusted name in product testing and wise comparison shopping. Karpatkin more than doubled the subscription base — to 4.3 million — for the magazine, which does not accept paid advertising.

Rhoda Hendrick, before her 1951 marriage to Marvin Karpatkin, graduated from Lafayette High School in Bath Beach and then Brooklyn College, deciding on law rather than journalism as a career. Her leadership of Consumer Reports handed her accomplishments in both fields.

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NABBED: BROOKLYN MAN CHARGED IN HIT-AND-RUN OF BEAUTY SALON OWNER

EAST FLATBUSH — A CANARSIE MAN WITH A BAD DRIVING RECORD had a surprising reckoning in court this week when he was charged with the hit-and-run death of a local business owner, appearing in court for a different violation, reports the Daily News. Neal Small, whose appearance in court on Aug. 8 was to answer a violation of driving with a suspended license, got a surprise when he was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident on Nov. 5, 2022, after hitting 79-year-old Verna McKnight on Church Ave. and East 52nd St. in East Flatbush. Because he was within the speed limit, Neal was not originally charged with vehicular manslaughter, when booked last November at the 84th Precinct station house, the Daily News indicated.

Ms. McKnight, who owned a local beauty salon, had just exited her own car and was walking to a grocery store when Small ran her over.

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ASSEMBLYMEMBER COLTON INSPIRES YOUTH FOR NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANUPS

BATH BEACH TO DYKER HEIGHTS — Teams of area students in southern Brooklyn will participate in a neighborhood cleanup that Assemblymember William Colton is organizing for this Saturday, Aug. 12. Dozens of students will fan out from their starting point at 11 a.m. in front of 29 Bay 25th Street to spruce up portions of the 86th Street, Bay Parkway and 18th Avenue shopping strips, as well as the Belt Parkway underpass on Bay Parkway near the entrance to the Caesar's Bay Shopping Center. Assemblymember Colton (D-47) and Susan Zhuang (who is currently on leave as his chief of staff) regularly organize neighborhood cleanups focusing on local commercial areas in his district (which encompasses Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Gravesend), with another work day scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 26.

"Helping to keep the neighborhood tidy is an important aspect of maintaining quality-of-life for residents," Assemblyman Colton stresses. "We are very appreciative of the efforts of these dedicated young people who understand that civic participation is a key to having a strong community."

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GOTHAMIST: CENTRAL BROOKLYN AN EVICTION 'HOT SPOT'

CITYWIDE — AFTER A PANDEMIC-SPURRED MORATORIUM ON EVICTIONS ended last January, certain sections of the city are emerging as eviction hot spots, according to Gothamist, which has launched an online eviction tracker. City marshals have carried out more than 10,000 residential evictions so far this year, Gothamist says. Hotspots include Central Brooklyn, the central and South Bronx, and northern Staten Island.

In one census tract within Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood, 35 households have been evicted this year amid hundreds of eviction filings. The vast majority of the filings come from a single landlord, the owner of the large Flatbush Gardens housing complex, according to city records.

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NYC LAUNCHES LEGAL ASSISTANCE NETWORK FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

CITYWIDE — THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS said Thursday that the city has launched the Asylum Seeker Legal Assistance Network, a $5 million investment to expand immigration legal assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers. This is in addition to the over $65 million the city already invests in legal services for immigrant New Yorkers. Services will be provided remotely, by CUNY students overseen by CUNY School of Law, and at community-based organizations citywide serving as Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Centers.

In Brooklyn, Navigation Centers include Coalicion Mexicana, 480 59th St, Suite 2L, Brooklyn, NY 11220; and Mixteca Organization, 245 23rd Street, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

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BIDEN TO SEND LIAISON FOR MIGRANT CRISIS

CITYWIDE — PRESIDENT BIDEN IS EXPECTED TO DISPATCH A TOP WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL to have a sit-down with Mayor Adams over the migrant crisis, reports the New York Post, after the mayor on Wednesday delivered a speech begging for federal aid and breaking down the high costs of the city's efforts to house and care for the large influx of people, now projected to reach $4.7 billion by June 2024 and $12 billion by June 2025; the administration had previously promised to appoint a liaison during Adams' trip to DC last month. While the state has helped with the costs thus far to the tune of $1 billion, the federal government has only granted a relatively paltry $142 million — an amount barely sufficient to cover just two weeks of the city's current expenses of $9.8 million a day on migrant services.

The new estimates, calculated by the NYC Office of Budget and Management, reflect a trend of increasing immigration to the city, rather than predicting current steady levels as previous reports have.

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ADVISORY SCHOOL COUNCIL VOTES IN FAVOR OF ADMISSIONS TESTING

CITYWIDE — A PARENT COUNCIL ON HIGH SCHOOLS VOTED 7-1 on Wednesday, in favor of several recommendations supporting reintroducing tight admissions standards for some of the city's selective high schools, reports Chalkbeat, another battle in the hot war over the public school system between advocates for integration and parent groups in favor of merit testing. The seven members who approved the advisory-only motion were all endorsed by controversial parent group PLACE, which advocates for screened admissions, in the most recent election, while the lone opposed member was appointed by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who favors overhauling admissions procedures in city schools to more accurately reflect the city's racial makeup — a policy that opponents have cast as pitting white and Asian students against Black and Latino students, but that supporters say would allow more disadvantaged students to have access to quality education.

The meeting turned hostile, according to Chalkbeat, with parents and advocates on both sides of the conflict accusing their opponents' favored policies of creating additional stress and unfairness for families and children.

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DINAPOLI: NYC FACES BUDGET-BUSTING ASYLUM, SHELTER COSTS

NEW YORK — NYS COMPTROLLER DINAPOLI'S OFFICE on Thursday detailed the risk of a budgetary shortfall of $4.8 billion in New York City's budget in FY 2025, with unfunded expenses ballooning each year until reaching a potential $16.2 billion by FY 2027. While the city's 2024 budget appears solid, potential risks include unfunded expenses for overtime, charter schools, MTA subsidies, class size and special needs mandates. The most significant budget gaps, however, are associated with asylum seekers and expanding the CityFHEPS rental assistance program, which together could cost $5.4 billion or more by FY 2027.

The influx in asylum seekers has grown beyond the city's ability to manage without a comprehensive federal policy response including funding, DiNapoli said in the report, issued the same day a White House aide was scheduled to meet with Mayor Eric Adams to discuss the issue.

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PRISONER ON THE LAM AFTER ESCAPING FROM HOSPITAL WITH BEDSHEETS

MANHATTAN — A PRISONER THAT WAS RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital on 1st Avenue in the Lower East Side escaped from a fifth-floor window by rappelling down the edifice of the building with bedsheets, then hailing a cab and getting away. Yechun Chen, 44, identified by the New York Post and other press outlets, escaped shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and was still at large Thursday, a police spokesperson said. Chen was arrested on July 31 for criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was brought into care at Mount Sinai Beth Israel because of a cardiac issue last Friday. The police and correction departments were looking for him as of press Thursday, Aug. 10.

According to the New York Post and its sources from the Department of Correction, a nurse approached Chen to help him into the shower, when he appeared to be using tied-up bedsheets to rappel himself out the fifth-floor window and onto a roof at a lower level. He then used a ladder to get onto the street and hailed a cab on 2nd Avenue.

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BROOKLYN TEEN DIES IN APPARENT DROWNING AT UPSTATE FAWN'S LEAP WATERFALL

GREENE COUNTY — A BROOKLYN TEEN DIED WHILE JUMPING off a waterfall ledge into a swimming hole in upstate New York on Tuesday, reports the New York Post. The 16-year-old youth, whose name and neighborhood the NYPD have not yet released, was playing with another New York City friend at Fawn's Leap — a popular waterfall in the Catskill Mountains — when he got caught in a hydraulic current and drowned. Another swimmer who tried to rescue the boys could save only one, the Greene County Sheriff's office told the New York Post. The boy's body was later recovered.

Within the past month, other adventurers have also had close calls and incurred injuries at the waterfall site, which is a popular spot for thrill-seekers, who often take selfies or videos of their feats, the Post reported.

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INSURANCE COMPANIES BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE FOR YEAR'S VIOLENT WEATHER

SOUTHERN BROOKLYN AND NATIONWIDE — THE WAVES OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS so far this year across the U.S., such as a violent July 25 storm that hit Brooklyn and knocked down trees, has cost $34 billion in insured losses, an unprecedented level of financial damage for a six-month period, the Associated Press reports. Several reinsurance industry executives — the companies that indemnify insurance groups — spoke with AP and pointed out that climate change contributes to the frequency and severity of these storms. Swiss Re Group estimated that damages from convective storms (with hail, lightning, heavy rain and high winds) accounted for nearly 70% of the $50 billion in global catastrophic damages so far this year and that 10 of the severe storms caused more than $1 billion or more in damage. Parts of Brooklyn sustained tree and flooding damage from the July 25 storm, including rain gushing into the New Utrecht subway station.

However, some National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientists disagree, asserting that convection storms are typical of any summer.