Day: March 12, 2025

The New York City Bar is hosting a virtual webinar next week in response to questions regarding the high-profile resignations.

The post Webinar will discuss strong commitment to ethics that prompted lawyers to quit federal government appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

BROOKLYN D.A. Eric Gonzalez announced Karla Espinal, 26, was indicted for allegedly holding her daughter’s head under water in a bathtub.

The post Mother indicted over child’s drowning death appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

THE BILLIE HOLIDAY Theatre will next weekend present the next edition of its new theater series, “Black Narrative.”

The post Billie Holiday Theatre to present Black storytelling series appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The city medical examiner has not determined Foster’s cause of death and police are still investigating.

As concerns grow over youth mental health, more than 30 public schools — including 12 in Brooklyn — will gain access to expanded mental health initiatives through the New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) school program.

The Learning and Enrichment After-School Program Supports (LEAPS) grant has accelerated efforts to expand the organization’s mental health programming, which focuses on emotional regulation and mental health first aid.

NYJTL is among the organizations supported by New York State’s $100 million LEAPS grant, which funds after-school programs in high-need areas. The organization also receives funding from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

One of the largest after-school program providers in New York City, NYJTL serves more than 3,000 students through tennis training and competition, tutoring, wellness and nutrition, arts instruction, educational field trips, STEM education, and literacy activities.

“Overall, sports is mental health,” said Grace Bodenmann, NYJTL’s chief education officer. “It develops teamwork. It develops character, [and] a connection with other peers no matter how strong you are at the game.”

Bodenmann told Brooklyn Paper that the grant will help “deepen the work” that NYJTL has already done.

“We’re being really purposeful [by] providing training to our staff who are going to implement the connections that they build with the kids,” she said, “but we need to give them the tools to be able to know how to do that appropriately.”

The 2024 State of Mental Health of New Yorkers report reveals that between 2019 and 2021, approximately 15% of children ages 3 to 13 were formally diagnosed with a mental health condition, with anxiety and depression identified as the top issues.

The report also found that 48% of teenagers reported experiencing depression, including 27% with mild symptoms and 11% with severe symptoms.

Emily Haghtalab, NYJTL’s head social worker, leads a cohort of social work interns and uses restorative mental health practices as the core of her work with students in grades K-12.

“Fostering healthy conflict resolution, relationship building, emotional expression, it can reduce behavioral incidences,” Haghtalab said. “It can improve staff engagement; it can create a culture of trust.”

Haghtalab has trained more than 100 staff members in childhood mental health support. Last week, she completed her Youth Mental Health First Aid training at PS 93 in Bed-Stuy and PS 289 in Crown Heights.

Youth Mental Health First Aid focuses on assessing mental wellness in real-time, incorporating emotional self-regulation techniques, and supporting students’ self-esteem.

“ I would really hope to expand and strengthen what it means to be a trauma-informed organization for our students and staff, and I really want to focus on training more staff and restorative approaches,” Haghtalab added.

Brooklyn public schools with access to NYJTL and its new mental health initiatives include JHS 383, PS 184, PS 325, IS 211, PS 197, PS 215, PS 009, PS 289, PS 191, PS 012, PS 093 and PS 270.

Police in Brooklyn shot a man Wednesday afternoon after he allegedly ran at them while armed with a box cutter, sources said.

According to sources familiar with the incident, detectives came across two men having an argument in front of the Brook Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Center near Utica Avenue and Avenue K in Flatlands at around 2 p.m. on March 12. The location is within the confines of the 63rd Precinct.

When officers attempted to break up the altercation, sources familiar with the case said, a 33-year-old man allegedly charged at the cops with a box cutter.

Police opened fire on him, wounding him in the chest. The individual was rushed to a local hospital, where he is undergoing emergency surgery. He is expected to survive.

The NYPD is asking the public to remain clear of the area as the investigation continues. Police are expected to release more details in the coming hours.

This is a breaking story; check amNY.com later for updates.

Police shot a maniac after he lunged at them with a box cutter in Brooklyn Wednesday, leaving him clinging to life, sources said.

The United Senior Center of Sunset Park at 475 53rd St. is facing potential closure due to rising rents.

The post Sunset Park senior center faces closure due to rent increase appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Attorney General Letitia James is suing a woman her office says has fraudulently taken over a low-income housing co-op in Williamsburg for her own financial gain.

In a 19-page lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, James said Florida resident Jessica Vargas falsely claimed ownership of the 13 Scholes Street Housing Development Corporation for years and stole “hundreds of thousands of dollars” meant for the HDFC. 

“What was meant to be affordable housing for New Yorkers has now been manipulated into a Floridian’s personal piggy bank,” James said in a statement. “That is unacceptable. We are suing to take this building out of Vargas’ hands and ensure it remains available to low-income New Yorkers.”

James’ office asked the court to “permanently enjoin” Vargas from engaging in fraudulent practices, including collecting money on behalf of 13 Scholes Street HDFC or selling the building; and to force her to repay the more than $400,000 she has allegedly illegally collected on behalf of the HDFC. 

Brooklyn Paper was not immediately able to reach Vargas for comment. 

All in the family

Per court documents, the residents of the three-family residential building — including Vargas’ mother and father, Frances and Albert Rivera — incorporated the HDFC in 1996. The co-op was created “exclusively” to provide housing for low-income people, and each shareholder was given an equal number of shares – the Riveras held 250 each. 

In 2009, after the deaths of the other shareholders, the Riveras allegedly created fraudulent documents that claimed they had been elected as directors of the HDFC.

In the years leading up to his death in 2018, Albert “tried to sell [the building] to enrich himself personally] the suit claims, and agreed to lease the entire building to a private company, Scholes Residence LLC, for six years and $6,500 per month.  

But Albert did not have the authority to sign onto a lease agreement or sale on behalf of the HDFC, the suit says, and collected all the rent money himself. 

After Albert’s death, Vargas allegedly successfully moved to become the administrator of his estate, but did not disclose any assets related to 13 Scholes Street HDFC, and started collecting the rent money, which she split among herself and her siblings. 

Vargas kept the arrangement up even when Florida courts closed Albert’s estate, according to the suit, and did not report any of the earnings from the building to the states of Florida or New York or the Internal Revenue Service. 

As of March 11, the AG said, 13 Scholes Street HDFC owed more than $41,000 in unpaid property taxes and more than $3,000 in unpaid water and wastewater fees to New York City.

The suit further alleged that Vargas created fraudulent documents that falsely showed her as owner of the HDFC in an effort to sell the building, though the sale never went through, and falsely testified about her position in two separate court cases. 

One of those cases sparked the Attorney General’s investigation, documents show. 

Scholes Street residents suspected fraud

In 2024, Scholes Residence LLC moved to evict several tenants from 13 Scholes Street HDFC. One of those tenants accused the company of fraudulently claiming ownership of the building, and showed documents that seemed to prove the sale and lease of the building had been illegal. 

“After learning of [those] facts, the OAG opened an investigation into the attempted theft of title to 13 Scholes Street and into whether the 2017 lease agreement was the result of fraud,” court documents state. 

The eviction case was paused when the investigation began, but later that year, Scholes Residence LLC filed a separate lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Court, claiming the company was the rightful owner of the property, that there had “been no alleged fraud regarding the deed or title to the Premises,” and urging the court to evict one of the tenants.

A judge later tossed that case, saying all of its complaints were already being addressed in the paused eviction case, and accused Scholes Residence LLC of “forum shopping in an attempt to evade the stay order from Housing Court.”