New York City Dismisses Haitian Workers After Loss of Protected Status The New York Times
Day: August 7, 2026
Danny Lynch, who would coach the Terriers of St. Francis College, said Don Landolphi’s team defense always seemed to be one step ahead.
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Our world in photos: August 7
Explore photos from around the world featuring sports, climate, culture and powerful moments from communities worldwide.
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“You can make a planter out of anything,” longtime gardener Perri Edwards told an admirer of her MoMA-inspired heads sculpted from milk cartons, with leaves of different shades and species sprouting like hair.
Edwards’ Lincoln Place stoop and front yard, like those of her neighbors, have become a cross between a whimsical garden, a tribute to New York City, and an educational display on upcycling and community greening.
On Aug. 4, Edwards and her neighbors, dubbed P.L.A.N.T. (Preserving Lincoln’s Abundant Natural Treasures), were recognized for those efforts. Lincoln Place between New York and Nostrand avenues was named Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Greenest Block in Brooklyn for the fourth time in the competition’s 30-year history. The block also took home the title in 2024, 2022, and 2019.
“There was a great excitement in the air for this block this year, I think people know this block now, so they come through,” Edwards said. “We never take that for granted. We really enjoy it, we enjoy it more than anything.”
The block’s theme this year, “When the Big Apple Goes Green,” inspired neighbors to create blooming tributes to New York City life, with nods to taxis, the subway, ferries, the Knicks, MoMA, the fashion industry, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, and more. Displays featured upcycled furniture and signs, haute couture crafted from leaves and reused materials, and an impressive variety of plants.
Althea Joseph, who helped establish P.L.A.N.T. with Edwards, is a semi-retired fashion designer who brought this year’s theme to life with couture dresses made from living and dried leaves.
“I never thought I would be doing plant dresses,” she said, laughing. One bodice was crafted from dried palm leaves, and a Knicks cheerleader dress was fashioned from dogwood leaves she had dried over the past year. A Chanel-inspired look featured vibrant greenery for texture.
“For us, ‘When the Big Apple Goes Green,’ it means you can put your greening into any aspect,” she said, adding it also highlights an urgent message.
“As we face climate change, the future of our city depends on embracing urban greening and building healthier, more sustainable neighborhoods. Our display represents more than beauty; it reflects hope, resilience, the power of nature to transform our surroundings. Every tree pollinator protected and green space reserved contributes to clean air, cooler streets, and stronger communities,” she said.
She said climate action and building more resilient neighborhoods starts locally. “Greening for us is not only plants, but it’s friendship and getting people to understand that it’s about community.”
This year’s 30th anniversary competition drew 139 entries, the highest number since the pandemic, including 47 first-time participants. It also marked the launch of the Greenest Block in Brownsville initiative, led by Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn borough president’s office, to encourage greening in a neighborhood that experiences some of Brooklyn’s most severe climate-related impacts.
“When we found out that the heat index was affecting Brownsville more than any other neighborhood in this entire borough, we wanted to do something about it,” Borough President Antonio Reynoso told the crowd gathered on the block this morning for the awards. Along with tree planting and other greening efforts, he said, the initiative is about strengthening community ties.
“What’s most important is that we do something that Biggie Smalls said every single time, to spread love. It’s about building community. It’s about the interactions that the folks that participate in doing this every single day have with each other.”
Several Brownsville blocks received recognition for taking part in this year’s competition, and Reynoso said he would continue supporting the initiative “until Brownsville wins the Greenest Block in Brooklyn.”
The Greenest Block runner-up was a tie between L&S Jefferson Avenue Block Association on Jefferson Avenue between Lewis and Stuyvesant avenues in Bed Stuy, and Bay Ridge Blooms on Ridge Boulevard between 71st Street and Ovington Avenue in Bay Ridge. Third place went to Canarsie Carailles on 92nd Street between Avenue A and Church Avenue.
Rookie of the Year went to East 91st Block Association in Canarsie, while Hsi Ling Chang Fine Woodworking in Boerum Hill won Greenest Storefront. The Sustainable Practices Award went to The Greene Garden in Fort Greene.
Sonal Bhatt, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s vice president of education and interpretation, said the Greenest Block in Brooklyn competition has always sought “not only to share horticultural materials, training, and on-site guidance, but also to learn from the knowledge and traditions already present in Brooklyn neighborhoods.”
“There’s nothing that shows talent like greenest block gardeners,” she said. “The Greenest Block creates space for intergenerational interaction for neighbors of all types to come together and create beautiful spaces that are safe for themselves, for pollinators, and for plants.”
She congratulated the P.L.A.N.T. team not only for their gardening skills and what they had reaped from them, but also for mentoring other blocks across Brooklyn. “They are not only creating this beautiful block in Brooklyn, but they are spreading beauty and knowledge throughout Brooklyn.”
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner.
The Brooklyn Democratic Party Executive Committee voted to nominate four candidates for the New York State Supreme Court at their nominating convention held on Aug. 6.
The nominees will appear on the general election ballot on Nov. 3. In all, 170 judicial delegates selected the four nominees through a vote held at the Marine Park Golf Course before a crowd of roughly 250 attendees, according to the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
One of the roles of the Brooklyn Democratic Committee is to select candidates to run for Civil Court and the New York State Supreme Court. The process involves extensive vetting and approval, including meetings with district leaders and a review of each candidate’s qualifications before the candidates are presented to the County Committee Body for a vote. Typically, this vote takes place after each candidate participates in a judicial candidate forum that is open to the public and to voters from the candidate’s respective district.
According to a report by Legal Clarity, the NY Supreme Court has a keen and attentive election process unlike any other judicial election. It utilizes a nominating convention rather than a standard primary election. Rather than voters electing these judges in a primary election, Judicial Delegates vote to nominate the judges to the ballot at the convention.
Judicial Delegates are significant because they can make sure voter preferences are represented in the nominating process. The report further noted that “the convention system dates back to a 1921 change in the Election Law that replaced direct primaries for these seats with party-run nominating conventions.”
“The idea was that a group of locally elected party representatives would vet candidates more carefully than a low-turnout primary could. In practice, the system concentrates selection power in a relatively small deliberative body rather than the general electorate,” said the report.
But the Brooklyn Democratic Party sees the election of judges as vital to protecting the courts’ integrity.
“Over the past decades, we have seen a degradation of our judicial system on the federal level where we don’t have the opportunity to vote for who actually gets to be our judges on that Supreme Court. And we see what it has done to our rights across this county. Fortunately for us as residents of Kings County and Democratic members of the party, we do have the opportunity to vote for judges,” said District Leader Josue Pierre of the 42nd Assembly District, in an interview.
District leaders have an important role in selecting judges as representatives of their constituents, which further echoes the report findings.
“I take a lot of pride personally with my club and the 42nd Assembly District, when we have candidates that do come and meet with the people, connect with them, share their stories and have a common bond with the community,” Pierre added prior to casting his vote for the candidate of his respective district.
The judicial delegates cast their votes in support of Hon. Betsey Jean-Jacques, Hon. Lola Waterman, Hon. Hemalee Patel, and Hon. Sherveal Mimes. Prior to the convention, each of these candidates had the opportunity to contest their candidacy at the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s virtual candidate forum on July 29.
“Our courts are the bedrock of our community, and the people of Kings County deserve justices who lead with unshakeable integrity and profound legal insight,” said Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. “I am incredibly proud to champion this phenomenal slate of candidates, knowing they will bring a deep commitment to equal justice and fiercely protect the rights of every Brooklynite.”
The nominees expressed gratitude to the party leadership and the committee for approving their candidacies.
They included Waterman, a highly experienced legal professional and community advocate with a diverse, robust background in estate planning, immigration, and elder law. She took office as a judge for the New York City Civil Court in Kings County in 2024.
Waterman earned her Juris Doctor from New York Law School after completing her undergraduate studies at Arizona State University, and currently serves as a board member for the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, alongside her involvement with the Association of Black Women Attorneys and the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“To all of the district leaders, judicial delegates, alternate delegates, thank you for all that you do.” said Waterman, in her speech after her confirmed nomination.
Mimes has been on the Kings County Civil Court bench for five years and has built a strong reputation for fairness, efficiency, and judicial integrity, according to the Democratic Party.
“I understand and I know that this endorsement and nomination process requires a lot of your time, your thoughts, it means listening to your communities and your delegates, it means accessing the qualifications and experiences of many of us who were presenting ourselves for this nomination,” Mimes said.
Jean-Jacques brings nearly two decades of dedicated legal experience to the bench. She officially assumed office as a judge of the New York City Civil Court in Kings County in 2024. She is an active and respected leader in the local legal community, notably serving as the president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Kings County.
“I am the daughter of a Haitian immigrant. I cannot express how blessed I feel and how happy I am that you chose to support me,” Jean-Jacques said. “In today’s climate, to be a Haitian child of first Haitian immigrant when sometimes not everybody gets to dream, and today I am living that dream.”
Finally, Patel — born in India and raised in New York City — was first seated on the Civil Court bench in Kings County in 2025. She previously served as a court attorney-referee on Staten Island, and received her judicial degree from Brooklyn Law School.
“This is such an amazing display of democracy of work and I am so honored to be a part of it. I am so honored by this nomination,” said Patel.
A SATELLITE POST OFFICE on the border of two neighborhoods will remain open, thanks to intervention from Assemblymember William Colton.
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