Day: January 28, 2025

NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS WILL HONOR THE LEGACY of ‘Mama Joy’ Chatel’s work to preserve 227 Duffield St. at a gathering on Sunday, Feb. 2,

The post Celebration of Brooklyn abolitionist landmark, 227 Duffield St., Sunday appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

A giant, rare and notoriously stinky flower bloomed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden over the weekend, drawing hundreds to smell something “putrid.” 

The Amorphophallus gigas, known as the “corpse flower,” bloomed for just three days, prompting residents to brave frigid temperatures for a chance to see and smell the botanical oddity. Wait times to experience the rare bloom stretched to more than two hours.

Nicknamed “Smelliot” by garden staff, the bloom is extremely rare — only nine other botanical gardens have reported having the plant, according to BBG’s website. Brooklyn’s plant, a seven-year-old specimen originally sourced as a seedling from Malaysia, blooms only once every seven to 10 years.

When asked to describe the small, visitors used words like “gross,” “earthy” and “bad gym clothes.” Some even compared the plant to “mildewy socks.”

Roommates Nadia S. and Alexa Cardamone called BBG every day last week, waiting to hear if the flower had opened.

When their turn came to experience the pungent plant, the pair took a “deep inhale” and said they noticed a distinct “funk” even as they approached.

“We’re thrilled to be here,” Nadia S. told Brooklyn Paper. “We brought our friends, who had no idea what it looked like before. They just came along for the ride and waited graciously in two-and-a-half hours of the cold, but yeah, totally worth it.”

The corpse flower bloom emerged sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to Chris Sprindis, a botanical gardener at BBG. He said he smelled the pungent odor before seeing the flower had opened.

Sprindis, who has been caring for the plant, first noticed signs of a bloom in late December.

“I love watching parents holding up their kids to smell it and see their reactions,” he said.

Keeping the plant happy and healthy is not too tricky, said Sprindis. The plant likes a moderate 70-degree climate with humidity, and while in its growing stages, it wants to stay moist.

The corpse flower emits a noxious odor to attract pollinators such as flies and beetles, which typically lay their eggs in decaying flesh, Sprindis said.

The bloom was never expected to last beyond the weekend. By Sunday, its pungent smell had already started to dissipate.

But for those lucky enough to get a whiff, the smell will be burned into their memory forever.

A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL and her 79-year-old grandfather were both struck by a school bus at Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue Friday morning.

The post Child and her grandfather struck by school bus in Crown Heights appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

LIDL IS SET TO OPEN its newest Brooklyn store at 459 Gateway Dr. in East New York this Wednesday, Jan. 29.

The post Lidl expands with new Brooklyn location in East New York appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

From the moment I was sworn in as your mayor three years ago, our primary mission has been to create safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for New York families. That means tackling the issue of gun violence head-on and working to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals before they can cause more harm.

The numbers are in, and I am proud to say that our administration made significant progress in getting guns off our streets and out of our communities. As of last week, we have confiscated more than 20,000 illegal firearms since we first took office. That is 20,000 weapons that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, our families, and our children; 20,000 fewer chances that a New Yorker is shot or killed; and 20,000 rivers of violence dammed up before they flood our city. This statistic is more than just a large number — it’s a major milestone for our city and a clear shift in the right direction.

We’ve also taken 3,000 more guns off our streets from 2022 through 2024 than in the previous three-year period. And of the 20,000 guns we have seized, more than 1,400 of them have been identified as ghost guns — the untraceable firearms that are far too easy to obtain and assemble. We are removing dangerous guns off our streets and keeping our communities safe — and our strategy is working. 

For three years in a row, the number of homicides and shootings have both declined by double digits: homicides are down by almost 23 percent, and shootings are down by more than 42 percent. That means we’ve saved 268 additional lives and seen 1,500 fewer shooting victims. 

And last year saw the lowest amount of gun violence in the history of Brooklyn, while overall crime plummeted by 15 percent in December across the entire city. Because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America.

As we begin the New Year, our priority remains the same: keeping New Yorkers safe by continuing to address gun violence and removing illegal firearms from our city. NYPD officers have already confiscated over 350 firearms in the first few weeks of 2025. But we can — and we will — go further.

In the last few months, we have seen random acts of violence that have shaken many New Yorkers. We all know safety is about more than just statistics — people must be safe and they must FEEL safe. Nothing does a better job in translating perception to reality than the presence of that familiar blue uniform. So, we are putting hundreds of additional police officers out on patrol, including two officers on every single subway during the overnight hours to keep New Yorkers safe. 

That was my promise to you three years ago and continues to be my promise to you today. When others wanted to defund the police, I defended them, because fighting for your safety is what you elected me to do. And the NYPD will keep working hard — seizing guns, dismantling trafficking pipelines, and preventing shootings before they happen — to make New York City even safer.

We are also supporting efforts to stop recidivists from committing more crimes, building stronger bonds between the police and the communities they serve, and creating opportunities for young people to stay safe and find purpose. With initiatives like our Neighborhood Safety Teams and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we will continue to make the smart, upstream investments that dam the rivers of violence and prevent crime from happening in the first place.

As I said in my State of the City address earlier this month, we must make New York City the best place in the world to raise a family — and that starts with safer streets for our families to walk down, safer transit to ride on, and safer parks to play in. Every gun we take off our streets gets us another step closer to that goal. And every day, I will continue to work to end gun violence in our city and our nation.

From the moment I was sworn in as your mayor three years ago, our primary mission has been to create safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for New York families. That means tackling the issue of gun violence head-on and working to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals before they can cause more harm.

The numbers are in, and I am proud to say that our administration made significant progress in getting guns off our streets and out of our communities. As of last week, we have confiscated more than 20,000 illegal firearms since we first took office. That is 20,000 weapons that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, our families, and our children; 20,000 fewer chances that a New Yorker is shot or killed; and 20,000 rivers of violence dammed up before they flood our city. This statistic is more than just a large number — it’s a major milestone for our city and a clear shift in the right direction.

We’ve also taken 3,000 more guns off our streets from 2022 through 2024 than in the previous three-year period. And of the 20,000 guns we have seized, more than 1,400 of them have been identified as ghost guns — the untraceable firearms that are far too easy to obtain and assemble. We are removing dangerous guns off our streets and keeping our communities safe — and our strategy is working. 

For three years in a row, the number of homicides and shootings have both declined by double digits: homicides are down by almost 23 percent, and shootings are down by more than 42 percent. That means we’ve saved 268 additional lives and seen 1,500 fewer shooting victims. 

And last year saw the lowest amount of gun violence in the history of Brooklyn, while overall crime plummeted by 15 percent in December across the entire city. Because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America.

As we begin the New Year, our priority remains the same: keeping New Yorkers safe by continuing to address gun violence and removing illegal firearms from our city. NYPD officers have already confiscated over 350 firearms in the first few weeks of 2025. But we can — and we will — go further.

In the last few months, we have seen random acts of violence that have shaken many New Yorkers. We all know safety is about more than just statistics — people must be safe and they must FEEL safe. Nothing does a better job in translating perception to reality than the presence of that familiar blue uniform. So, we are putting hundreds of additional police officers out on patrol, including two officers on every single subway during the overnight hours to keep New Yorkers safe. 

That was my promise to you three years ago and continues to be my promise to you today. When others wanted to defund the police, I defended them, because fighting for your safety is what you elected me to do. And the NYPD will keep working hard — seizing guns, dismantling trafficking pipelines, and preventing shootings before they happen — to make New York City even safer.

We are also supporting efforts to stop recidivists from committing more crimes, building stronger bonds between the police and the communities they serve, and creating opportunities for young people to stay safe and find purpose. With initiatives like our Neighborhood Safety Teams and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we will continue to make the smart, upstream investments that dam the rivers of violence and prevent crime from happening in the first place.

As I said in my State of the City address earlier this month, we must make New York City the best place in the world to raise a family — and that starts with safer streets for our families to walk down, safer transit to ride on, and safer parks to play in. Every gun we take off our streets gets us another step closer to that goal. And every day, I will continue to work to end gun violence in our city and our nation.

PERMITS HAVE BEEN FILED to demolish a small, single-family home at 280 19th St. between 5th and 6th avenues in Greenwood Heights.

The post Single-family to be replaced with 5-story apartment building in Greenwood Heights appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.