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• NYC To Reduce Gas Usage in Effort to Go Green

  28 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Carolann Lowe

   

  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his intent to create a greener city through reduction of the city’s cars and to increase use of environment-friendly vehicles.

  One thousand city vehicles will be replaced with electric vehicles in efforts to reduce the use of gas. There will be electric vehicle chargers run by solar power installed all over the city. Four billion dollars will be invested in renewable energy, de Blasio said.

  De Blasio said many New Yorkers would rather commute by vehicle because of the unreliability of the MTA. Therefore, he plans to invest money in fixing and upgrading the MTA.

  

  Mayor Bill de Blasio. Credit: Carolann Lowe

  De Blasio spoke to the media in the empty parking lot of the Citi Field Stadium, which could be considered an usual venue for a press conference. He said, “I know the Mets are not here today…We wanted to be here specifically because we needed a really big parking lot to show you the impact of what today’s announcement would mean. All the cars that will disappear from the city fleet because of the actions we are going to take today.”

  Commissioner Lisette Camilo, of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, said the mayor’s plan involves reducing the number of SUVs in the city.

  New York City fleet vehicles will be equipped with new technology known as Vehicle Telematics, officials said. This technology will track where vehicles are going and when they are being used, which will help to identify patterns and provide information as to learn how vehicles can be used more efficiently.

  Vehicle Telematics will make sure that every “take home” vehicle is justified. If the vehicle is being misused or its driving patterns show that it is being used for purposes other than commuting to work, it will be pulled off the road, officials said.

  The executive order will also lead to he phasing out of SUVs, which are highly gas consuming.

  Although officials were not certain about the cost of the electric vehicles, de Blasio insisted that buying more electric vehicles will help reduce costs overall.

  “We have to shift into high gear to fight global warming and this has to be one of the leaders of this earth,” de Blasio said. The mayor intends for the reduction of traditional vehicles to be in effect by June 30, 2021.

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• Citi Bike’s Exploding Batteries Don’t Scare These Brooklynites

  28 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  

  Credit: Salamat Ellam

  By Salamat Ellam

   

  When it comes to the Citi Bike fire incident that happened last Sunday in Brooklyn, Brooklynites are willing to give Lyft, who’s the owner of the Citi Bike, a second chance.

  “It’s easier to rely on Citi Bike than the MTA,” said Joel McDowell. He said that even with the recent apps provided by MTA, sometimes he has to wait for trains and buses longer than expected.

  Some were disappointed but said they believed Lyft can rectify the issue — new batteries that caught fire — and make bikes safe for  everyone.

  “Citi Bike is a fairly new venture,” said Brittny Clark, 37 and a school teacher. “Mistakes are bound to be made – as long as no one gets hurt.”

  Some seemed more interested in the $2 increase in bike rentals than the safety aspect. Jaime Velez, who lives in the Bronx, has family in Brooklyn. When he goes to visit his family in Brooklyn, they all go riding. “It already cost me a penny to travel from the Bronx – I don’t need the extra cost,” he said.

  Carmen Carde explained how she used to rely on Uber but now uses City Bikes to commute to work. It’s all about changing New York, she said.

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• What a Great Day to be a Yankee Fan! In New York (and Alabama and Wisconsin)

  28 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Austin Santiago

  It was big day in the South Bronx as the New York Yankees officially kicked off their 2019 season, with a game against the Baltimore Orioles.

  Although Yankee Stadium is the place to be for opening day, the start of a new Yankee season is being celebrated with almost equal enthusiasm all over New York City. At Grand Central station, fans on their way to today’s game were offered the unique opportunity to ride a 1917 IRT Lo-V train.

  

  Unidentified fan. Credit: Austin Santiago

  The train was retired in the 1960’s, but for opening day, Yankee fans could travel to the game riding in a piece of history.

  Yankees opening day isn’t only for New Yorkers. Just ask the Hollis family, who came all the way from Alabama to see the Bronx Bombers. “It’s our first time here,” said Jason Hollis. “In New York you gotta go to Yankee Stadium.”

  And the reach of the Yankees not only goes to the Midwest as well as the South. Lifelong Yankees fan Sandy Winnard, sitting in front of the stadium, told this reporter she flew in from Wisconsin to see her beloved baseball team. Though she grew up in Wisconsin, a chance meeting with Mickey Mantle in 1957 made her forever loyal to the pinstripes. “I still have a ball,” she said. “It says, ‘my best wishes Sandy- Mickey Mantle.’”

  Thursday’s festivities marked Winnard’s first time at opening day, though for many New Yorkers opening day is a tradition as customary as Christmas and a birthday party.

  “This is my fifth or sixth opening day,” said Joe Petry, while waiting for the vintage train to arrive.

  

  Credit: Austin Santiago

  “The only thing better is game seven of the World Series.”

  

  Sandy Winnard, Yankees fan. Credit: Austin Santiago

  While the feeling of opening day is exciting in its own right, many Yankee fans already have their eyes set on October. One of those with forward vision is Jim Biggers, who was attending his seventh Yankee Opening Day.

  “The way they have played this spring, I’m expecting them to go all the way through to the end,” Biggers said.

  This high expectation proved to be one thing every fan in attendance had in common, no matter where they came from.

  “We are winning the pennant,” said Winnard. “I’m the good luck charm from Wisconsin.”

  With a team of heavy hitters, and a passionate fan base behind them, the attitude in the South Bronx was “World Series or bust.”

  Yankee baseball season is officially upon us. As Biggers put it: “It’s the start of our season, the season we love.”

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• Attorney General Letitia James Says Purdue Pharma is Killing New Yorkers

  28 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Joseph Leo and Milette Millington

  The opioid crisis in the United States is one of the biggest problems the country is facing, and New York City is right in the thick of it. Attorney General Letitia James announced on Thursday that New York State is filing a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.

  The suit details how systemic failures led to massive shipments of opioids to specific New York pharmacies that fill prescriptions written by providers who have been charged with or convicted of illegal prescribing.

  

  New York Attorney General Letitia James. Credit: Milette Millington

  Purdue is one of the major distributers of opioids, selling over seven million pills to New York pharmacies. “Each day more than 130 people in the United States, about nine of whom live in New York, died as a result of opioid related overdoses,” said James in a press conference.

  The attorney general wants to change the laws surrounding opioids—ultimately banning the distribution in the state of New York. “If you do not go into compliance with the law, we will not allow you to sell controlled substances such as opioids,” she said.

  According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (the CDC), almost 400,000 people died from an overdoses involving opioids, prescribed and illicit.

  Purdue Pharma, however, still claims that addiction related opioids is still small or non-existent. In 1996, Purdue launched Oxycontin. Marketed as providing 12 hours of pain relief, it packed a large amount of addictive narcotic into a single pill, becoming an instant market sensation generating billions of dollars. Purdue Pharma claims that patients that show signs of addiction are not addicted, but suffering from undertreatment of their pain.

  However, the addiction problem of the United States has steadily increased since 2015, with more than 3,200 New Yorkers dying from an opioid related overdose.

  The CDC also claims overdose deaths involving prescription opioids are five times higher in 2017 than they were in 1999.

  There was a survivor in attendance at Thursday’s press conference, Justin St. George, who spoke. St. George is one of the lucky ones who realized he had a problem before it was too late. St. George is in recovery at Youth Clubhouse in Staten Island. Referring to people like St. George, Attorney General James said companies like Purdue Pharma “chose money over the health and safety of their patients.”

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• Discussion Panel Held to Call for Banning of Solitary Confinement

  28 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Tywanna Webb

   

  The Fortune Society held a panel Thursday to discuss the effects of solitary confinement and advocate for prison reform policies that would eliminate its use.

  “The culture will never change because we are trying to change the culture from the bottom up when it needs to come from the top down,” said panelist Ismael Nazario.

  Nazario is a former Riker’s Island inmate who was arrested as a teenager and spent over 300 days in solitary confinement prior to ever being convicted of a crime. He now serves his community as a prison reform advocate.

  Other speakers on the panel included Vincent Schiraldi, an American juvenile justice policy reformer and former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, and Albert Woodfox, a former inmate and criminal justice reform activist. Woodfox served more than 40 years in solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison and has recently released his memoir Solitary.

  The panel was moderated by David Rothenberg, founder of the Fortune Society. The nonprofit helps former inmates reintegrate into society after their release.

  Solitary confinement is the practice of isolating inmates in a small cell for 23 hours a day. Many argue the use of solitary confinement leads to the development of mental health disorders.

  Nazario says policies must be implemented to ban inhumane treatment of prisoners.

  “We have deputies, wardens and other higher positions in the Department of Correction and their mentality is ‘If you get out of line, we’re going to throw you in solitary confinement’,” Nazario said. He said dismissive, aggressive mentality is on display throughout the Department of Corrections, despite some of the recent training policies trying to limit the use of solitary confinement.

  Woodfox said correction officers feel invincible because there is no accountability.

  “They feel that they can do what they want to prisoners and nothing will happen,” Woodfox said. “There will be maybe a few headlines in the paper or on the news, but they know that in the end, nothing will happen to them.”

  Woodfox called for the implementation of laws that would hold correction officers accountable for mistreating inmates.

  The panel was attended by dozens of former inmates who believe that the prison system needs a complete overhaul.

  “Correction officers don’t listen to you and they just treat you like animals,” said Queens resident Troy Arjune. Arjune, who spoke from the audience, became tearful when touching on his incarnation experience. He spent over a year on Riker’s Island and was released on March 18.

  His passion was echoed by William McKeatan, another former inmate released earlier this month after spending 27 years incarcerated.  McKeatan also spoke from the audience and talked about how he was often sent to solitary confinement for minor infractions such as not eating fast enough.

  “It had a devastating effect on me to the point where I almost felt like I couldn’t even speak sometimes,” McKeatan said in an interview. He says that his longest consecutive stay in solitary confinement was a little over a year.

  “I understand that the reason why we are in there is because we committed crimes,” McKeatan said. “However I think that while were are in there, we should receive some type of treatment that gives us a sense of humanity and an opportunity to redeem ourselves.” He called for a prison system that focuses more on rehabilitation.

  The discussion was held at The Fortune Society’s office in Long Island City.

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• Una Clarke, Political Pioneer, Receives Shirley Chisholm Award From United Negro College Fund

  22 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Charlene Carlies

   

  Una Clarke was honored Thursday with the Shirley Chisholm Award given by the United Negro College Fund, at The Lighthouse on Pier 61 in Manhattan.

  Clarke was born in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, West Indies. She migrated to the United States as a foreign student in 1958.

  Clarke was the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the New York City Council.

  When asked how she feels receiving the award, Clarke said: “Like Shirley Chisholm, I believe in public service. In so many ways I’ve admired her so much that when I was in public office myself many of her values I tried to expound upon and to build upon as a community person who knew her personally.”

  Clarke was elected to the City Council in 1991, and during her 10-year tenure she sponsored more than 300 pieces of legislation on a wide range of issues, including child welfare, education, health and mental health issues, economic development, public safety and transportation.

  An educator by profession, Clarke acquired funds to upgrade schools in her district; making them technologically ready, with computer labs and multimedia instruction.

  Clarke also fought to expand services for the elderly, rebuild parks and playgrounds and increase quality childcare programs.

  In June of 2015, Mayor Bill De Blasio appointed Clarke to the Board of Trustees of CUNY (the City University of New York.

  Clarke’s daughter, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, has followed in her mother’s footsteps.

  “My daughter was my successor in the New York City Council and she went on to become the congressmember for the same area in which Shirley Chisholm was the congressperson,” Una Clark said. “So we have a lot of commitment to public service, and we can attribute that to the values of Shirley Chisholm and the example that she set for us as women.”

  Una Clarke believes that her children became inspired through seeing her work of civic engagement. She took her children along with her to college since she couldn’t afford a babysitter.

  Clarke was in for a surprise as she learned who would be presenting her with her award on Thursday. It was her daughter, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

  “This is something that I didn’t know about until two days ago,” Una Clarke said, speaking to The Brooklyn News Service. “I found out that she accepted to go out and give me the award, which I think is really just heartwarming.”

   

   

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• Detective Testifies in Howard Beach Murder Retrial

  22 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Shanika Carlies

   

  Testimony continued Thursday in Queens Supreme Court in the retrial Chanel Lewis, 22, accused of murdering Karina Vetrano, 30, while she was jogging in Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach on August 2, 2016.

  Vetrano was beaten and sexually assaulted before she was brutally murdered.

  The first trial ended last November with the judge declaring a mistrial, after the jury could not agree on a verdict.

  Karina Vetrano’s parents, relatives, and friends were present in the court room, quietly listening to the testimonies.

  Assistant District Attorney Brad Leventhal, the prosecutor in this case, asked questions of witnesses who said they saw Chanel Lewis wandering suspiciously around the Howard Beach neighborhood late May in 2016, a few months before Vetrano’s murder.

  John Russo, a lieutenant commander part of the detective bureau with the New York City Police Department, testified that Lewis had been walking around homes in the Howard Beach neighborhood where (Russo) lived.

  “I saw on the opposite side of the street someone walking away from me. I took a drive following him. He stopped in front of several houses, going back and forth,” Russo. Russo called 911 afterwards, and Leventhal had the jury listen to a recording of the call. After police conducted an investigation, it was learned that Lewis was a resident of East New York, and he was let go.

  A few months later, Russo became part of the investigation team for the Vetrano case, which lasted six months, until the arrest of Lewis.

  Lewis is charged with 13 counts of murder and sexual abuse. If convicted, Lewis will face 25 years to life in prison.

  Testimonies will resume Monday morning.

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• Interact with the Ultimate Predator, at the American Museum of Natural History

  21 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Carolann Lowe

   

  The T-Rex: The Ultimate Predator is a new exhibition at The American Museum of Natural History. The exhibit consists of displays of massive life-size dinosaur models, artifacts, and animated features that help visitors gain knowledge about the T-Rex and other dinosaur species in a fun and interactive way.

  The exhibit consists of fun interactive features such as the T-Rex wall projection, which is a big screen with motion sensors displaying a T-Rex and its offspring. The animated dinosaurs react to visitors standing in front of them, giving them direct eye contact and movement from left to right, following the direction of anyone who walks within their path.

  The “Getting Virtual” puzzle game involves the use of virtual reality headsets and handheld devices. This multipl

  

  Caption: Model of the tyrannosaur group Proceratosaurus bradleyi that is on record to have lived 68-66 million years ago. Credit: Carolann Lowe

  ayer game allows players to have a virtual experience in a fantasy white room consisting of a disconnected 66-million-year-old T-Rex fossil. Three players maximum must work as a team to connect the T-Rex’s body parts together to bring the creature to life. There are also floor and wall projections with shadows of moving T-Rex figures, with some attacking others.

  Mark Norell, the curator of ‘T-Rex: The Ultimate Predator’, joined the Museum in 1989 and has led a number of scientific investigations into the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs and other theropods, the group of dinosaurs most closely related to modern birds.

  Ever wonder what color a T-Rex may have been? Unfortunately, nobody knows for sure, but its skin color is depicted in the exhibit as a dull light brown, similar to crocodile. The “Color Interactive” station allows visitors to choose from a range of colors for the feathers and stripes, and thus visualize the possibilities of what a T-Rex may have looked like.

  The exhibit opened on March 11 and runs through August 9.

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• Many in Big Apple (the City) Appreciate Apple (the Company). But Some Progressive Amercians Want to Control It

  21 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  

  Apple Downtown Brooklyn. Credit: Jonathan Wilson.

  By Salamat Ellams, Alexander Parisel and Jonathan Wilson

   

  Consumers have had enough of tech companies like apple, google and amazon having more power than they should, including using our private information as profits. Just a little over two years ago, many believe, Russia used Facebook to help take control the 2016 Presidential election.

  Some people are more than fed up. They may in fact decide to support a presidential candidate – um, perhaps like Mass. Senator Elizabeth Warren – who makes a commitment to go after the tech companies and make their share their off-the-chart profits.

  Democratic presidential candidate Warren has seen the writing on the wall – or in the tweets – and she has come out and said she will try to break up large tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook. Apple, too, of course, is part of Big Tech.

  Warren argues that these companies have abused their power. In taking her get-back-tech- position, she is channeling those who believe big tech companies have too much power over the economy, over our society and over our democracy. Give the small companies a chance, they say.

  For many Americans, and many New Yorkers, Apple is the tech giant that critics would like to bite – bite so that it shouts ouch.

  The Apple store in Downtown Brooklyn, off Flatbush Avenue near the Barclays Center, doesn’t like journalists asking people if they think Apple is a good retailer. A reporter for The Brooklyn News Service (that being the Jonatha

  

  Inside Apple Soho. Credit: Alexander Parisel

  n Wilson with a byline here) visited the Apple store to see how Apple consumers felt about Apple products. As he began to ask questions of the customers, he was kicked out by an employee and was told he should go outside if he wanted to question people.

  So he did just that. He learned that while presidential candidate Warren and countless other Americans have strong concerns about Apple and other companies, Apple does in fact try to offer personal services to those who like i’s with their phones.

  He spoke with Kat Lopez, an illustrator with the Fashion Institute of Technology. She got her first iPhone in 2010.

  Lopez said that her father’s love for Apple is the reason she herself got their products, “My dad is obsessed with Apple,” she said. “He wanted everyone to have one.”

  Lopez said believes no company is perfect. “I believe every company has their flaws I can’t think of one that’s flawless,” Lopez said.

  Another Brooklyn News Service reporter, Alexander Parisel, whose byline is also here above, went to Apple Soho in Manhattan, where he met consumers like Jacob Wallace. Wallace is a freelance artist who likes to spend time at Apple stores to get inspiration. (Besides, Apple Soho seems more hospitable than Apple Downtown Brooklyn, when it comes to visitors who want to ask questions of customers. Parisel was not kicked out.)

  When asked what he liked about Apple products, Wallace said, “Their products look so cool. I love how Apple uses the white color and emphasizes modernity and progress through it. They’re so beautiful. I mean have you seen the hideous products of other companies. Apple is just on another level. Besides, you don’t have to be afraid that an iPhone blows up in your face.”

  Wallace was asked about Apple’s new software updates not working well on iPhone 7. He said, “No I don’t like that either, but at the same time what can you really do? . . . Just make sure to save some money to buy the new iPhone when it comes out . . . Besides that, I think Apple is fair to their customers. I mean c’mon I get to stay here all day and use their computers without a soul coming to bother me. Can’t beat that. If they’d serve coffee here, they’d run Starbucks out of business.”

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• De Blasio Demands New York State Help Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses

  21 Mar 2019 by journalism / No Comments

  By Milette Millington and Austin Santiago

   

  In a press conference Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson and others, called on the state to help New York City give better opportunities to small businesses run by minorities.

  “We are pushing today for changes at the state level that would help us empower small businesses. We see tremendous opportunity if we can just get the tools we need from the state of New York,” said the mayor.

  “It’s time for the state to help us go farther.”

  

  Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, left, and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Credit: Austin Santiago

  Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson said, “This is about creating real opportunity, not for a handful of people or a minority. Eighty-five percent of New Yorkers are women or people of color, so this is an 85 percent program.”

  The mayor wants the state to allow the city to award more contracts by allowing them to increase their limit “from $150,000 to $1 million.”

  The mayor said that for small business owners, this means that they “will spend less time filling out paperwork and more time growing their businesses and jobs.”

  He added, “The doors of opportunity close in the city and this nation because of structural racism,” de Blasio said. “The game is rigged.”

  The goal, according to the mayor, is “to see a whole lot of New Yorkers benefit.” He went on to say that “we cannot do it alone in the city of New York – we need the state to support us.”

  The mayor added, “We will be the fairest big city in America. And there is nothing more fair than putting money in the hands of communities who for so long didn’t get their chance. Now they will.”

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