Day: August 5, 2026

A 6-month-old boy was found dead in Brooklyn early Wednesday, cops said.  The unresponsive newborn was found just after midnight in a home near Flatlands Avenue and East 99th Street in Canarsie, police said.  The unresponsive newborn was found just after midnight in a home near Flatlands Ave. and E 99th St. in Canarsie, police…

Constructed in the 1850s, the South Bushwick Reformed Church was designated as a New York City Landmark in 1968.

The post Brooklyn man arrested, charged with setting church fire appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

A 24-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday and is facing arson charges for allegedly “intentionally and maliciously” setting the fire that decimated the South Bushwick Reformed Church on June 19.

John Jones is accused of starting the blaze that tore through the 1853 Greek Revival structure at 855-867 Bushwick Ave., according to a complaint unsealed in Brooklyn federal court on Aug. 5. The fire toppled the landmarked church’s iconic steeple and destroyed its sanctuary.

Defendant John Jones is expected to appear in Brooklyn federal court in the coming days, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said Wednesday. 

Investigators allege in the complaint that surveillance footage links Jones to the church at the time the fire was set, including showing him buying a lighter at a nearby store on Broadway and being on the church site shortly before the blaze started. “The individual appears to make several unsuccessful attempts to enter the church and then departs,” the complaint reads.

The complaint says Jones was arrested on June 28 in relation to a “separate property destruction incident” and investigators recognized him as the suspect in the church fire case.

Jones was arrested on Aug. 5 after allegedly shoplifting food in Manhattan, and on June 28 for supposedly smashing a TV at DOC Wine Bar in Williamsburg, according to the New York Post.

Last month, a neighbor said surveillance video showed a person acting suspiciously around the church minutes before the fire broke out. A few days later, the FDNY confirmed the blaze was being investigated as arson.

Bushwick residents and preservationists have been “heartbroken” by the fire and the loss of the iconic local landmark.

Since the blaze, the church and preservationists have been scrambling to save what is left of the iconic Greek Revival building, raising funds from the public, and negotiating with a developer over an air rights deal, they have said.

The original 1853 church building at 855 Bushwick Ave., a country-style Greek Revival in white clapboard with its iconic steeple, was completely demolished by the city in the weeks after the fire. An attached addition known as Fellowship Hall at 867 Bushwick Ave. has been spared. With a striking pediment and pilasters, the Greek Revival addition was completed in 1881 as a Sunday school building. Church engineers said it is stable in their June 24 report. The entire structure was landmarked in 1968.

The city in July halted its demolition and turned over the site to the church, which in recent days has been performing asbestos remediation on Fellowship Hall in advance of shoring and stabilizing the structure, Dina Alfano of the Bushwick Historic Preservation Association said Monday.

This week the church announced a $5,000 donation from the Harlem Abyssinian Baptist Church to help with the restoration.

This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner. 

RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE Todd Taylor will give a presentation and live DJ demonstration geared toward at-risk youth.

The post Brooklyn-born retired NYPD detective’s DJ program keeps youth on the right ‘track’ appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is putting more than 40 online retailers on notice, alleging that they are illegally selling motorized two-wheeled devices they falsely market as e-bikes — and giving them until Aug. 18 to halt the practice or risk facing up to $2,000 fines.

The mayor announced on Wednesday that city Corporation Counsel Steve Banks sent the 42 online stores a cease-and-desist letter. The missive demands that they immediately stop selling devices that can go above legal New York City e-bike and e-scooter speed and power limits to residents of the city’s 175 ZIP codes. It comes after recent deadly incidents involving the illegal two-wheelers, one of which claimed the life of a 17-year-old boy near City Hall last month.

Among the 42 firms that received the letter are large-scale retailers that sell a variety of items, such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, as well as firms that specialize in electric micromobility devices, such as Deepower, Segway, and Wilson’s.

The action aims to stop the continued proliferation of devices that can exceed legal speed and power limits for e-bikes and e-scooters, which are far more likely to cause deadly crashes on city streets.

Mamdani, during an Aug. 5 City Hall press conference in which he announced the action, said the responsibility for ensuring that illegal devices are not hitting the roads should be on the companies selling them rather than riders looking for a fast and cost-efficient means of transportation. He charged that those companies know the law and are choosing to break it anyway.

“We’re going to go after those websites and retailers that are willfully selling illegal vehicles to New Yorkers,” he said. “It should not have to be up to each New Yorker to know every single line of New York City law. We know the law very clearly. These retailers know the law very clearly, and if they don’t, they have two weeks to learn it before we start to hold them accountable.”

The mayor said the letter also calls on the companies to meet with officials from the NYPD, the city Department of Transportation, and the Law Department to end their sale of the illegal devices in the city.

Companies that do not comply by Aug. 18, the missive warns, risk facing up to a $2,000 fine for each individual infraction.

But Banks, who was also present at the event, said the administration will also weigh whether to take those who continue to flout the law to court.

“If we get to the deadline and everybody complies, that is a great result,” Banks said. “If people want to not follow up and comply, we’ll take legal action. That could include fines. That could include bringing litigation to stop the advertisements that are resulting in people purchasing things they think are legal.”

Mamdani said the letter is a direct response to the death of Gabriel Nacato last week. The 17-year-old was killed when he collided with an SUV driver while riding an illegal e-moto device in Lower Manhattan.

Nacato was riding a Deepower QS7, which the company describes on its website as an e-bike, despite it not legally qualifying as one in the city. The device weighs 100 pounds, can reach a top speed of 30 mph, and has a 1500-watt motor — exceeding both the 25 mph top-speed limit and the 750-watt power limit for e-bikes in the five boroughs.

During the event, City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn said such devices are “motorcycles being marketed to New Yorkers as bicycles.”

“They’re heavier and faster than e-bikes and more difficult to control,” he added.

Following the crash, state Attorney General Letitia James, who joined Mamdani on Wednesday, issued a consumer alert last week reminding companies selling the devices and consumers alike that they are illegal.

Both Mamdani and Flynn also referenced an incident earlier this year on the Queensborough Bridge during which the rider of an illegal motorized scooter capable of reaching 53 mph collided with a bicycle rider — killing them both. Legally, e-scooters in the city cannot exceed 20 mph and cannot weigh more than 100 pounds.

“We’re talking about vehicles that can go sometimes more than double the legal limit of the speed. It’s not one or two miles over,” Mamdani said.

Illegal devices have been involved in the majority of e-book and e-scooter fatalities over the past several years, according to DOT.

Between 2017 and last year, 45 rider deaths involved unlawful e-bikes that could surpass the legal top speed of 25 mph, representing 54% of all e-bike deaths during that period. Similarly, 14 e-scooter deaths over the same period involved devices that could go past the 20 mph legal top speed — accounting for 52% of all e-scooter deaths over that time.

Safe streets advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which has been leading the charge for cracking down on the sale of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, lauded Mamdani’s cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday.

“Online retailers have been preying on unwitting customers. It is cruel and unacceptable to sell dangerous, illegal high-speed electric motorcycles or scooters to New Yorkers who think they’re buying something legal,” said Ben Furnas, the group’s executive director, in a statement.

“As we’ve seen as recently as last week, this shady business practice has had deadly results. It has to end,” he added.

Mamdani’s announcement comes on the heels of the City Council unveiling a suite of legislation that also aims to stem dangerous crashes involving e-bikes. One such bill would ban the sale of e-bikes that can reach 25 mph with throttle assistance, known as Class Three e-bikes, while others seek to better regulate app companies that employ e-bike riding delivery workers.

Asked about the legislative package, Mamdani did not comment on any specific proposal, but said, “We are looking at a wide variety of avenues of how to take action on this issue, and that includes working with the council on legislation that has been introduced prior, as well as on the legislation that was recently introduced.”

“How to Interact with the Police” will take place Thursday, Aug. 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with retired and current police officers.

The post Black law enforcement group to educate Brooklyn interns appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Вместо порядка на улицах — охота на платежеспособных продавцов

Главный смысл объявленной кампании Мамдани заключается не в немедленном удалении опасных устройств с улиц Нью-Йорка.

Администрация выбрала гораздо более удобную стратегию: преследовать крупные, известные и платежеспособные компании, которые можно найти по юридическому адресу, вызвать на переговоры, проверить и оштрафовать.

Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Temu и другие торговые площадки получили ультиматум: прекратить определенные продажи до 18 августа или столкнуться со штрафами до $2 000 за каждое нарушение, судебными исками и запретительными постановлениями.

Сам мэр признал, что непосредственное уличное enforcement сейчас не является главным направлением кампании. На вопрос о находящихся на улицах незаконных устройствах Мамдани ответил, что давление на продавцов представляет собой только первый этап, а следующие меры будут объявлены позднее.

Получается характерная система: не останавливать нарушителя там, где нарушение происходит, а найти легальный бизнес, у которого есть банковские счета и имущество, и сделать его ответственным за поведение покупателя после продажи.

Сертифицированный товар не обязательно разрешен для движения

Многие продаваемые устройства могут иметь сертификаты электрической и пожарной безопасности. Однако город смешивает в публичной дискуссии несколько разных вопросов.

UL-сертификация подтверждает, что электрическая система или батарея прошла испытания на безопасность. Она сама по себе не означает, что устройство разрешено использовать в велосипедной полосе или регистрировать как обычный электробайк.

Высокоскоростное устройство может иметь безопасную сертифицированную батарею, но по своим характеристикам юридически считаться мопедом, электрическим мотоциклом или устройством, которое вообще нельзя использовать на дорогах общего пользования. Именно поэтому правильнее говорить не о продаже заведомо опасного и несертифицированного товара, а о споре вокруг его классификации, маркировки и законности использования на улицах Нью-Йорка.

У Нью-Йорка нет таможенной границы

Даже если все 42 компании полностью подчинятся требованию мэрии, вокруг Нью-Йорка не появится физическая граница.

Покупатель может приобрести устройство за пределами пяти боро, заказать его через другую площадку, купить подержанный байк или ввезти его из соседнего округа.

Город может регулировать продажи и доставку жителям Нью-Йорка и наказывать компании, которые неправильно рекламируют устройства. Однако остановить физическое перемещение каждого байка через условную границу города невозможно.

Законность покупки и законность последующей эксплуатации — это также не одно и то же. Некоторые устройства можно законно приобрести для частной территории или использования за пределами дорог общего пользования, но нельзя законно использовать в велосипедной полосе Нью-Йорка.

Следовательно, реальная безопасность зависит прежде всего от соблюдения правил на самих улицах: скорости движения, езды по тротуарам, движения против потока, наличия регистрации и номерных знаков у мопедов, а также от действий полиции в отношении опасного поведения.

Кого администрация решила не преследовать уголовно

Контраст особенно заметен на фоне мартовского решения Мамдани прекратить выдачу уголовных повесток велосипедистам и водителям электробайков за мелкие нарушения правил движения.

Администрация не отменила ответственность полностью: такие нарушения должны оформляться гражданскими повестками, как у автомобилистов. Однако мэрия публично представила изменение как защиту курьеров и велосипедистов от чрезмерно карательной системы.

Теперь тот же подход выглядит иначе.

Рядового участника движения администрация называет работником, которого необходимо защищать от чрезмерного наказания. Крупного продавца она рассматривает как источник штрафных поступлений и объект судебного давления.

Это и есть политически удобная модель enforcement: социально близким группам — обучение, объяснения и смягчение наказаний; платежеспособному бизнесу — ультиматумы, проверки, штрафы и судебные запреты.

Штрафовать проще, чем управлять городом

Опасные электромотоциклы действительно не должны двигаться по велосипедным дорожкам со скоростью 30, 40 или 50 миль в час. Но письма Amazon и Walmart не заменяют порядок на улицах.

Если полиция не контролирует очевидные нарушения, если незаконные мопеды ездят без номеров, а скоростные устройства продолжают использовать тротуары и велосипедные полосы, запрет нескольких интернет-объявлений не решит проблему.

Он лишь создаст для администрации удобную демонстрацию активности и потенциальный штрафной механизм против компаний, у которых гарантированно есть деньги.

Вместо сложной работы — регулярного патрулирования, понятных правил, проверки VIN, контроля скорости и изъятия действительно незаконно используемых устройств — социалистическая администрация выбирает наиболее простой объект давления: легальный бизнес.

Не потому, что продавец обязательно является главным виновником уличного нарушения, а потому, что с него проще взыскать деньги.