Brooklyn Leads the City in Chokeholds

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It turns out, Brooklyn leads New York City in chokehold complaints.  Brooklyn accounts for 37 percent of the complaints about police chokeholds, compared to 21 percent for Manhattan and 13 percent for Queens.

This was one of findings deep in a report released a few months ago by the Civilian Complaint Review Board a few months ago. I hadn’t noticed the report when it was released but scanned it after the grand jury decision.

In general, the report, which analyzed complaints about chokeholds from January 2009- June 2014, concludes that police punishment of these abuses dropped precipitously in recent years.  The practice is prohibited by department rules.

But there were some fascinating nuggets about the geography of chokehold complaints.

Central Brooklyn – which appears to include Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights — is sort of the epicenter of chokehold complaints. During this period, there were 118 complaints from Brownsville residents, more than 17 low-crime precincts combined.  East New York was the neighborhood second most likely to prompt chokehold complaints.

The report also indicated that a relatively small number of police account for a disproportionate number of complaints.

 

Residence of complainants, by zip code, January 2009 – June 2014 (21 or more)

Residence of complainants, by zip code, January 2009 – June 2014 (21 or more)

Lubavich selfies, a brazen dog thief, and the homogenization of BK

November 24-30, 2014

In the police killing of an innocent BK man, the key may be public housing decay as much as broken policing [New York Times]

Three separate hit-and-run traffic deaths devastate the same BK middle school [DNA Info]

“How wrong the right was on stop and frisk” [City Limits]

Manhattan getting 65% of new high-speed wi-fi plan; BK getting 12.8% [Daily News]

Video: thief took dog who was briefly tied up outside Park Slope market [FIPS]

Adorable kids, hunky dudes, lovely gals, and debonair dogs, all Repping the Nets [The Brooklyn Game]

 

By Dawnmarie via Instagram

By Dawnmarie via Instagram

Home and Hearth

Thanksgiving Facebook data reveals: South Carolinians give most thanks for “salvation,” Ohioans for “children’s laughter,” and New Yorkers for… “Apartment.” [Vox]

Why are BK neighborhoods getting so hard to tell apart? [NY Observer]

BK rents have plateaued! [Curbed]

There’s an idea: divert some Wall Street fines toward affordable housing [Crains NY]

rabbi selfie

2000 Lubavich rabbis take a selfie on Eastern Parkway AND they send up drone for an aerial video view! [CO Live]

 

Quotes of the Week

“Hugs should not cost money!”
–BK first-grade Kamila Filshtinskiy, leading a campaign to stop Elmo and other characters from charging kids for pictures [NY Post]

“The fact that they leave their hands and feet behind is, for me, the creepy fascination.”
–Greenpointer Karen Bachman, who has become an expert on spontaneous human combustion [Brooklyn Daily]

“I have it in me.”
–Women explaining that she stored an $8,000 Rolex in her vagina after DeKalb Ave hook-up [Daily News]

 “Brooklyn came roaring back, just like American will” [DNA Info]
–Sen. Charles Schumer of Park Slope after hearing Brooklyn is a finalist for the Democratic Convention

 

There Oughta Be A Law?

“Why I’m against a texting-while-cycling-law” [Brooklyn Spoke]

BK councilman urges ban on surges in Uber pricing [Daily News]

BK councilman wants traffic tickets to record the race of the recipient [NY Post]

 

Wither the “Circus-Based Arts Collective”?

Crossing Brooklyn, the BK’s major exhibit of BK artists is:

Red Hook is the next Venice [Metropolismag]

Artists begin squeezed out, says rep of “circus-based arts collective.” [Brooklyn Independent Media]

 

BK Innovation Isn’t Just About Artisanal Mayo

Aquaponic farms [Brooklyn Magazine]

Space robots [DNA Info]

Combo chocolate-bars / dog-rescue-propaganda [Brooklyn Makers]

Textbook-free classrooms [DNA Info]

Anti-bullying phone apps [Daily News]

 

Profane Crime

Vandals graffiti over Warsaw Uprising mural – and then return to take selfies [Nowy Dziennik, translated from Polish by Voices of NY]

Burglar hits 11 churches in southwest BK [Bensonhurst Bean]

 

Dull But Important

School custodians getting a raise in new contract [NY Post]

Feds claim Coney Island hospital spent Sandy aid on salaries instead of emergency repairs [Capital NY]

NY gears up to handle impact of Obama’s immigration order [NY Times]

Tenants protest that loophole allows landlord to hike rents in stabilized apartments [BK Brief]

 

Sports

Explaining the Nets’ lack of offense [The Brooklyn Game]

Nets Bullied By Chicago In Blowout [The Brooklyn Game]

BK welterweight vies for title at Barclays  [NY 1]
“Every time I go over the bridge I see the water and I just envision myself being a world champion”

 

Passings

By Our Times Press

By Our Times Press

Abdullah H. Abdur-Razzaq, 83.  Bed-Stuy resident was Malcolm X’s last chief of staff. [BK Reader].  Plus: His interview with Our Times Press

Fewer drunk Santas, amazing Verrazano photos and other civic good news

November 17-23, 2014

Happy 50th Birthday, Verrazano Bridge

Photo by  Dave Frieder, Bensonhurst Bean

Photo by Dave Frieder, Bensonhurst Bean

Amazing photos from atop the bridge [Bensonhurst Bean]

Gay Talese describes how it was built [WNYC]

Borough presidents boycott anniversary to protest tolls [NY Post]

 

By Teresabergenbasinrealty via Instagram

By Teresabergenbasinrealty via Instagram

And in Other Bridge Related News….

Another tourist scales the Brooklyn Bridge [DNA Info]

Pols: enough with the bridge climbing! [Brooklyn Eagle]

Amazing photos from atop the Williamsburg Bridge [Animal NY]

  • “You would think that when you’re sitting on top of the Williamsburg Bridge, looking down at the lights of New York City, the view of the skyline is overwhelming. And it is, but when I was up there, I was far more taken by the enormity of the century-old bulk I had just climbed.”
By Aymann Ismail in Animal New York

By Aymann Ismail in Animal New York

DeBlasio’s Shifting Support

New marijuana policy popular but he’s losing white voters [DNA Info]

  • “Black voters think the mayor is terrific. White voters don’t approve. And the racial gap gets wider every time we ask”

Bratton gets only 47% approval rating in poll. Sharpton’s fault? [NY Post]

 

Violence

In separate incidents, stray bullets injure 71 year old woman on way to doctor and 54 year old man driving on Eastern Parkway

Video: Cop clubs turnstyle jumper [Pix11]

78-year-old woman charged in hit-and-run killing of 14  year old boy in Windsor terrace [NY 1]

Nervous police rookie accidentally kills unarmed man [Daily News]

The dilemma of East NY: fearing crime AND police [BKLYNR]

  • ‘We want more police, but we want them to be more respectful’

15-Year-Old arrested for hate crime attack against Jewish man [DNA Info]

 

Dull But Important

Brooklyn Community Foundation does sweeping assessment of borough’s concerns [BK Community Foundation]

  • Main problems:  “Consequences of gentrification; opportunities for young people; the criminal justice system; immigrant communities; and racial justice”

Most jarring BK facts:

  • 3rd most economically unequal county in NY State
  • 30% of Brownsville youth not in school or employed
  • 5 of 10 poorest NYC census tracts are in BK
  • Black and Latinos = 57% of BK youth but 95% of those in juvenile detention
  • 50% of households speak a language other than English at home

Report has mostly negative view of gentrification: “Escalating housing costs and displacing tens of thousands of long-term residents from their homes…People feel they have lost agency and voice in their own neighborhoods, and are exacerbating inequities in housing, transportation, education, health, public safety and other areas of community life.”

 

“Bursting at the Seams”

BK wants more bikes [BK Ink]

Illegal home conversions have Dyker, Bay Ridge schools bursting at seams [Brooklyn Daily]

“C train is garbage” [Brooklyn Magazine]

 

History

Bushwick burning [Brooklyn Magazine]

  • In the 1970s, “fires lit every night by crooked landlords, bored teenagers, and desperate residents alike…”

Guide to Coney Island’s honorary walks and places  [Amuzing the Zillions]

 

Sports

Nets fall to Jason Kidd’s Bucks in triple over time thriller [The Brooklyn Game]

Snap losing streak in nail-biter against the Thunder [The Brooklyn Game]

What if the Ray Rice Standard were applied to Jason Kidd’s gruesome history of domestic violence? [The Brooklyn Game]

 

 

The fine art of toxic sludge, the herring explosion, and BK’s dubious distinction on homelessness

November 10-17, 2014

 

gowanus3

The fine art of toxic Gowanus sludge [NY Mag]

4 BK neighborhoods lead the city producing homeless people [City Limits]

Interactive map: NYC traffic fatalities, block by block [NYC]

Brooklyn herring explosion fueled by non-Jews hungry for Omega-3s [Daily News]

Interactive crime map, block by block [McBrooklyn]

Wheelchair bound. Homeless. Honor Student. [Daily News]

 

BK Real Estate Cooling?

Pool of foreign buyers drying up? [DNA Info]
Continue reading →

BK Captured, November 16, 2014

By Ballerinaproject, Williamsburg
ballerinaproject willisamburg

 

By Graceland Brooklyn, Williamsburg tattoo parlor
gracelandbrooklyn williamsburg tattoo

 

By Sean Virgo
sean virgo

 

By Brooklyn Botanic
brooklynbotanic

 

By Frankston, The Way Station
frankston the way station

 

By Stephen Hirsch, Gowanus
gowanus4
By PeculiarPetiteFemme, Greenpoint

 

By Krysthall, “I was Googling an address in Brooklyn and became fascinated with the satellite views of Green-Wood Cemetery.”
krystlhall i was googling an address in brooklyn and became fascinated with the satellite views of greenwood cemetery

 

By Lauramoneta
lauramoneta 3 brooklyn we go hard

 

By BethanyMichaela
bethanymichaela

 

By Stephen Hirsch, Gowanus
gowanus3

By Architect Interior Designer, Shrimp and Grits
architect interiordesigner shrimp and grits

 

By Sean Virgo, East New York
sean virgo 11207 east new york

The BK Bridge Newsletter, November 9, 2014

Zagats declares that almost all NYC’s best pizzerias are in BK [Brooklyn Magazine]

Obama nominates BK prosecutor to be Attorney General; prosecuted Abner Louima’s torturer and Michael Grimm [NY Observer]

Brooklyn produces 400,000 pounds of maraschino cherries each week [NY Daily News]

Gowanusites sue to block parole center, which would draw 526 parolees per day, across from Whole Foods [Brooklyn Eagle]

11% of Bay Ridge’s population suddenly died from Yellow Fever. That’s when the artists moved in. (A history of BK’s first gentrifiers) [BKLYNR]

Is a real estate boom about to hit Southwest BK? [Brooklyn Magazine]

Nets thrash Manhattan Knicks [The Brooklyn Game]

Quotes of the Week

“In New York City, if you don’t speak Spanish, you’re going to clean your own house.”
–Principal of a BK “gifted and talented” school on the importance of learning a second language [FIPS]

“You get to choose what house you’re in. The books taught us that.”
–Nets Center Brook Lopez, on why he would choose Hufflepuff [The Brooklyn Game]

Continue reading →

BK Captured, November 9, 2014

By Risingwaters100, NY Festival of Lights, Dumbo
risingwaters100 best seat in the house ny festival of lights dumbo

 

By Katebieliakova, Brooklyn Bridge
katebieliakova brooklyn bridge

 

By Effortlessbyme
effortlessbyme

 

By Bigmoon620, “Playground friends,” Ditmas Park Argyle Tot Lot
bigmoon620 playground friends ditmas park argyle tot lot

 

By Brooklyn Theory, Skateboarding near the Cobra Club
brooklyntheory skateboarding the cobra club

 

By Cordilordi
cordilordi

 

By Wordly Citizen, Bay Parkway, Bensonhurst
worldly citizen sometimes your camera will do surreal things bay parkway in bensonhurst

 

By Urbanflyguide, “Rockaway Proud”
urbanflyguide rockaway proud

 

By Tdawgcronicbotz
tdawgcronicbotz

 

By Domlen, Williamsburg Bridge
domlen williamsburg bridge

 

TheHavengastrochef, Robertas
havengastrochef robertas

 

 

By Qsylver
qsylver

By Manny084
manny084 engagement photo dumbo

 

By Megankwasniak, Fort Green Park

megankwasniak fort greenep ark

Brooklyn Halloween, 2014

By Calibrooklyndesigns2
calibrooklyndesigns

By Mr.Influential
nets mr.influential

By Kyre1117
kyre1117

By Mega burn, “Even Supermario has to do laundry sometimes”
mega burn even supermario has to do laundry sometimes

By Haasenpfeffer
haasenpfeffer

By Craftedtay
craftedtay

By Mawhitman
mawhitman

By Bethbristow, “Somany Elsas,” Park Slope Halloween parade
bethbristow so many elsas parkslope

By Jonesofnyc, Park Slope
jonesofnyc park slope

Onehungrymama, “Kitty Perry, Harlem Globetrotter, ninja, bumble bee, transformer”
onehungrymama kitty perry harlem globetrotter, ninja bumble bee transformer

By Mawghitman
mawhitman

By Brandondetres
nets brandondetresthisgirlalexaa