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LETTERS: Sound Off to the Editor

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Brooklyn Daily

To the editor,

I was most saddened to learn of the untimely passing of “Mr. Bay Ridge” Larry Morrish (“Ridge leader Larry Morrish dead at 71,” by Dennis Lynch, online Feb. 9).

The excellent piece on Larry was right on the spot, citing his long time devotion not just to Bay Ridge but to all the neighboring communities of Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, and Borough Park.

In my 16 years as an elected member of Community School Board 20 I found Larry to be that community connection who knew how to get things done. He knew how to network diverse and often competing religious and ethnic groups at a time — in the 1970s through the 1990s — when friction was commonplace and often expressed in terms that reflected blatant bigotry and anti-Semitism.

His firm hand and his gifted ability to listen to all and hear all resulted in the community harmony and peace we still benefit from to this very day.

All the above will surely serve as Larry’s legacy for many years to come. Thanks for the memories.

Alan Jay Gerber

The writer was a member of Community School Board 20 from1973 to 1989.

Text to Lenore

To the editor,

I enjoyed Lenore Skenazy’s column, “Ah, Walking the Sidewalks of New York” (Rhymes with Crazy,” Feb. 5), especially the part about the improv group that provided seeing-eye people to help people walk and text safely.

I do not believe that it is safe to walk and text simultaneously under any circumstances, especially in our crowded city, and have never done so. I have been almost trampled on by unseeing texters, and know I must always be on the lookout for ambulatory texters or cellphone users. Besides putting me and others at risk, texters frequently put themselves in danger. I cringe whenever I see a pedestrian trying to cross a traffic-filled street while texting. I don’t know if these texters know what color the traffic light is, or even if there is a traffic light.

I also cringe whenever I am sitting in a car and the driver is either texting or chatting away on a cellphone. When I am paying for a ride, I always ask the driver to turn off his phone, but most commercial drivers, who consider themselves professionals, become furious if you imply that they can’t keep their eyes on the road and drive safely while arguing on the phone with their bosses or their wives.

I recently saw a family with a mother, a father, and a little girl about 4 years old come out of the elevator in my building. The little girl had her eyes fixed on a tablet. Her parents were steering her around. When I was her age, tablets and cellphones had not yet been invented. My earliest childhood memories are of walking along beautiful, tree-lined streets with my father, streets filled with brightly-colored birds, flowers, and butterflies. I fear that we are raising a new generation of children who do not know what a real tree or bird looks like because their heads are always buried in tablets, viewing pictures of weird, animated figures that do not exist.

My wish for the future is to see all tablets left at home or in school, all cellphones kept in their owners’ pockets or the glove compartments of automobiles when the owners are walking or driving, and little children watching roses bloom or chasing real butterflies.Elaine Kirsch

Gravesend

‘Beneficient’ Shav

To the editor,

I read the letter from reader M. M. Abdullah about “A Britisher’s View” columnist Shavana Abruzzo with indignation (“Filthy Shav,” Sound off to the Editor, Feb. 12). What business is it of his (or her) to ask where Shavana is from, and denounce what she is doing in the U.S.?

Abdullah insults Shavana and calls her a racist, but I want to know what he or she is doing in the U.S.? Is he or she an anti-American who just wants to live here for the benefits?

Abdullah was so disrespectful about the World Trade Center bombing that it makes me wonder why he or she doesn’t move to a Muslim country. Abdullah says the head of the Islamic State is a man named Simon Elliott. I say Abdullah and his ilk helped to create the Islamic State of terrrorists and murderers.

Who Shavana Abruzzo is and where she is from is none of Abdullah’s business. She is performing a beneficence.Carina Gen

Brighton Beach

Political in-Justice

To the editor,

No sooner did the news hit the airwaves of the sudden passing of Justice Antonin Scalia than Republican and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a press release that President Obama should not nominate a replacement because this is the last year of his term in office, and we should have the next president nominate the new justice. Justice Scalia’s body wasn’t even cold when he made this statement.

With 11 months left in Obama’s presidency this is pure politics, and I would like to ask McConnell that if there was currently a Republican president in the White House who was term limited and the Democrats held the majority in the Senate, how he and his party would feel if someone like Harry Reid made the same statement. Of course we know they would be screaming bloody murder.

President Obama is and will do his constitutional duty and nominate a replacement for Justice Scalia, after waiting for Justice Scalia to be laid to rest. The Senate needs to do its constitutional duty and vet the candidate, and vote on them. They also need to remember that in 1988 Ronald Reagan, whose term was ending, was faced with the same situation. He got his candidate vetted and approved. Rosalie Caliendo

Gravesend

Safety first

To the editor,

While our police brass pads the crime statistics to show decreasing crime in the city, the bare truth is that crime is skyrocketing. Recent muggings, attacks, and slashings in the subway and the city streets bring to mind several safety tips learned over the years:

When walking the streets and encountering several rowdy minority students, check your surroundings and quickly walk across the street, looking for a safe escape route, getting away from the scene. This same advice holds true when you are on a subway platform or on a train. Move to another location or change cars at the next stop to get away. Look out for suspicious individuals standing or walking, checking the surroundings with rapid head and eye movements, as they are most assuredly looking for a target and trying to avoid police. Avoid sustained eye contact with these individuals at all costs. Don’t be a “vidiot” (video-idiot) engrossed in your cellphone or tablet while you are being watched and targeted for a theft or worse, a slashing.

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

B’walk blues

To the editor,

How bloody interesting that the Boardwalk in Brighton Beach and Coney Island may be landmarked. This is the first time that a concrete structure will be landmarked. To me and other residents of Brighton Beach and Coney Island this is just an insult, as if we are second-class citizens. I’d bet my last dollar that none of this nonsense would take place in Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights.

For the first time Brighton Beach and Coney Island have new public officials who truly work for the people who voted for them. Unfortunately it has taken all too many years for things to change. Fresh blood should make a great change for all.

Jerry Sattler

Brighton Beach

Warmongers

To the editor,

What I found so interesting between the Republican and Democratic debates was that the Democrats had a specific plan for the country, while all the Republicans did was insult one another. No Republican candidate had any plan to stimulate the economy. Many ethnics groups were insulted over and over again. This is not the way to include people that could contribute to the country as a whole.

Maybe we need to take back the country from the Republicans who won’t raise takes, want to cut each and every social program, and increase military spending, which is so out of control. They even talk about another war. The last war we and Europe won was World War II.

If these same politicians want to go to war, let them put on a uniform and enlist their children to fight along with them. It’s so easy to send others to fight.

Solomon Rafelowsky

Brighton Beach

‘Gentleman’ Horace

To the editor,

I read with great interest your articles regarding the late Horace Bullard, and his attempts to rebuild Steeplechase Park and the former Loew’s Shore Theater.

The comments, by people whom I know and respect, about “his revenge” and “bitterness” are not the Horace Bullard that I knew. Let me first state that my children are fourth-generation Coney Islanders, my family beginning with my maternal grandfather in 1902.

When Fred Trump was building Trump-Warbasse Houses I founded the Neighborhood Improvement Organization in1964, and by 1968 our group supported his plan to build luxury housing on the Steeplechase site. The Coney Island Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trades opposed him, and got the elected officials to turn him down. As a co-founder of the Astella Development Corporation we wanted to see Coney’s Amusement area rebuilt, and we saw that opportunity in Horace Bullard.

I met with him many times, and he was a gentlemen’s gentleman. His failure in Coney Island was not racial. It was because he was an “outsider” and the powers to be were not going to let him in on their “turf.” The Bullard family deserves every dollar they can get from their properties.

Ralph Perfetto

Brooklyn

Free therapy

To the editor,

I was very happy to read your article “New and improved rehab therapy” about the speech therapy services offered for seniors at NYU Lutheran (“Standing O,” online Feb. 11).

It sounds like a great program. Since speech therapy can help people at all ages in life, I would like to address a speech therapy issue that could benefit many children in Brooklyn with speech difficulties.

I just want to mention the little-known fact that every child in the U.S. has the right to free speech therapy. This amazing benefit of free speech therapy covers all speech problems and is open to all children, as it is not an entitlement based on family income. The result of federal legislation 42 years ago, the free therapy can begin as early as preschool and run through high school. All children are eligible as it is not an entitlement based on family income. The free therapy covers all speech problems. The best source for parents to gain information on this right to free speech therapy is a brochure entitled “Special Education Law and Children Who Stutter” on the website of the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.org). This website also offers many free resources to people who stutter of all ages and there is a Spanish-language version at www.tartamudez.org.

What is sad is that during the heated national debate on national healthcare policy over the last seven years, not once did the media ever make mention of this long-standing gem in our national healthcare policy. The U.S. has by far the best policy in the world for helping children with speech problems, and is a role model for the rest of the world. It is a shame that few people in the U.S. know about this amazing benefit of free speech therapy for all kids.

Ed Herrington

Longmeadow, MA

Tricky Hill

To the editor,

Hillary has to be one of the luckiest people on earth. Could you imagine winning six coin tosses in a row for the Iowa delegates? Wow! What are the odds? She should play the stock market or commodities market. Oh, wait, she did — almost 40 years ago she turned $1,000 into $100,000 in no time, lucky her.

I think she might have flimflammed poor Bernie the Socialist, maybe they used some double-sided coins she supplied them with, in case a coin toss was necessary or maybe he agreed to the old “heads-I win-tails-you-lose” trick. I could just picture her having him pick the cup the little ball was under while she scrambled them around, or the old odd finger trick throwing out the whole hand and telling him that was wild, she wins. Or even the old eenie-meenie-minee-moe trick, and tell him “and out goes you!”

However she did it, I guess we’ll never know — she is a pro.

Cronin Miller

Midwood

‘Bulldoze’ Brownsville

To the editor,

I’ve been living in Brooklyn in and around the Brownsville section for nearly 35 years. This neighborhood is terrible. I’ve heard stories about how many years ago this was a great place to live with some of the best shopping anywhere. Brownsville was a predominately Jewish neighborhood for many years, made up of hard-working, poor residents.

This neighborhood like most others always had a criminal element, but nothing like it is today. This small area — the birthplace of Murder Inc., — is full of public housing that is also full of gangs, drugs, guns, and crime. Young people in this area don’t have much of a chance of living a peaceful or long life. Either the gangs or the drugs will get you at a young age, and hold onto you until you’re either in jail or six feet under.

I wonder what the heck is going on here. Everyday there are gunfights, rapes, robberies, no respect for anyone, especially not for anyone in authority — not for teachers, not for cops, not for neighbors, not for friends, not for family, not even for themselves.

The only thing to do in this area would be to bulldoze it and make a cemetery out of it, as a reminder to everyone around here that the people who lived here killed a neighborhood and everyone in it.

Shanequa Johnson

Crown Heights

Sean Penn-alty

To the editor,

Sean Penn who was never a stranger to controversy really crossed the line meeting with El Chapo. I’m not a lawyer, but this egomaniac had to break some serious laws interviewing probably the biggest drug kingpin on the world, not to mention the thousands of murders and thousands of families destroyed because of his greed and complete disregard for human life. They don’t get much worse than this monster.

I guess Sean Penn would also have met with Osama bin Laden after he killed thousands of innocent people on 9-11, and promised not tell authorities where he could be found so that he could get the interview and movie deal of his life. I guess fame and fortune is more important to El Chapo and “El Pompous Culo” than life itself.

Maureen Parker

Gravesend

STEM ed

To the editor,

I applaud the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in South Korea for taking the steps to promote S.T.E.M. Education to the students in the Far East District in South Korea (“Sparking Engineering Interest in Kids,” Jan. 15).

As educators we are always looking for ways to empower our youth. I came across a wonderful quote by Michael J. Fox that really gives meaning to the word educate: “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”

All students learn differently. You have verbal-linguistic, word-smart learners. These students learn best through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. You have the logical-mathematical learners. These students learn best by classifying, categorizing, and thinking abstractly about patterns and numbers. You have the visual-spatial, picture-smart learners that excel at drawing and visualizing things. You have the auditory-musical students that thrive on singing and listening to music. You have the bodily-kinesthetic learners that do extremely well when they work with their hands. You have the interpersonal learners that learn through relating to others and sharing ideas. You have the intrapersonal- intelligent students that work best alone, setting up their own goals. You have the naturalistic learners that love working with nature. These students excel in the sciences and are very passionate about our environment.

Let’s model the success of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and collaborate with its north Atlantic division at Fort Hamilton to help empower Brooklyn students and map out a plan for STEM education initiatives in our local schools. We need outside resources — such as the Office of Naval Research, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers — to help explore and discover education leading to successful career opportunities in the army and navy.

Scott Krivitsky

The author is a teacher at PS 188 in Coney island.

English first

To the editor,

Jeez, it is bad enough that whenever I go into stores and into the subway I see all signs in English and Spanish. Now I’m seeing Spanish as first choice for a comic strip’s language, and English is written below the strip in fine print.

Jump Start in the Daily News is the comic I am referring to. What a bummer! Stop this baloney now. Why are you kowtowing to those who refuse to learn English? Do not grovel to non-English speakers, nor be servile to them. Thirty-one states have made English their official language. I’m sorry to say that New York still has not done this.

When I buy an English-language newspaper, and have done so since the 1950s when my dad was a linotype operator at the Daily News, I do not expect — and absolutely object — to seeing a daily cartoon written in Spanish. This upsets me to no end, seeing this as I am eating my breakfast. If this intrusion continues, I will be ending my “lifetime subscription” to New York’s hometown paper. That is a promise. Cross my heart.

The Courier (a weekly and delivered neighborhood newspaper) suits me fine!

Joan Applepie

Mill Basin

Nuke mook

To the editor,

So now it’s the little fat guy with the bad haircut from North Korea trying to shakedown America by pounding his chest like a gorilla to show his strength so he doesn’t have to fight another gorilla. We used to call this “selling woof tickets” when we were kids growing up in Brooklyn — it was all for show.

Obviously President Obama, who is said to be a poker player, probably isn’t a very good one because he can be bluffed over and over again. I doubt Obama ever read Trumps’ book “Art of the Deal” or Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” a book written more than 2,000 years ago, and still used today by generals and leaders all over the world. Obama telegraphs his intentions to our enemies, telling them when we are sending troops and when we are leaving, complete with date and time. He traded five hardened terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl, a deserter whom he praised and who is now being court marshaled.

Obama made a deal with the devils of Iran, a country whose mantra is “Death to America,” giving them billions of dollars and withdrawing sanctions so they won’t continue making a nuclear bomb. They went back on their word and broke the agreement before the ink was even dry. So now the little fat guy with the bad haircut is going to see what he can get from Obama, like some other tyrants will certainly be doing soon because they only have about another year before he leaves office. They have to work fast, but they also know that if the new president has some cojones, like a Trump for instance, they will be out of luck.

Let’s not forget Iran held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the Carter administration. Jimmy Carter — a good, decent and very intelligent man, but a poor president in many ways — wasn’t respected at all by the Ayatollah of Iran at the time. Yet only hours after Ronald Reagan was sworn in, the hostages were released. Any guess why?

Maybe Trump is pounding his chest with his fists like the others who have been shaking Obama down, and maybe he isn’t, but either way I really don’t think those who bully Obama will try their crap on a Trump.

Peter G. Orsi

Marine Park

Reader wars

To the editor,

In response to J.J. Lauria (“Elliott Kibosh,” Sound Off to the Editor,” Dec. 18, 2015), I proposed sodium pentothal (truth serum) for terrorists and other violent criminals and suspects because I regard America to be very hypocritical in trying to preach and teach justice abroad when we can’t practice it at home.

Are not the members of the Ku Klux Klan — whose ranks included late President Harry Truman, late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W-Va.), and late Supreme Court Judge Hugo Black — and the American Nazi and Communist parties terrorists? Yet the First Amendment guarantees them the right to speak freely within the confines of reason.

Supreme Court Judge Abe Fortas, who served from 1965 until 1969, was a member of the Community Party, and even his most vocal critics — Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) — did not even bother to bring this issue up during his nomination because he was a hawk on the Vietnam War.

I would also like to point out to J.J. Lauria that if we engage in waterboarding what will our enemies do to our imprisoned soldiers? Remember, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Elliott Abosh

Brighton Beach

Republi-CONS

To the editor,

How interesting when the Republicans running for president talk about taking back our country. They must have amnesia, since it was our government that signed peace treaties with the Indians, and broke each and every one of them. Then it pushed the Indians out of their lands, making them less then second-class citizens. All the stolen land should be returned to each Indian nation — pronto.

So what is the Republican agenda, besides each one attacking the other candidate? All I hear is how they want to cut every social program. What they seem to want is another war. Since we can’t seem to get out of Iraqi and Afghanistan, why would we want to send more American soldiers in harm’s way? I often wonder if these Republicans would encourage their children to join the military.

In Israel you have two options: military service or community service. Let’s stop this madness of war once and for all, and for once save lives.

Jerry Sattler

Brighton Beach

Gov. Gavone

To the editor,

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie showed his true colors when he showed disdain for the young woman in the audience who asked why he wasn’t in New Jersey, but campaigning, while the snowstorm and flooding devastated his state. A lot of people might think Christie’s tough guy talk is cool, but in this case I think a lot of people think he’s a “gavone” — an Italian word for disrespectful and ill mannered.

That lady asked a sensible question and she deserved a reasonable answer. Don’t forget, Chris, you work for the people who your salary. To say to her, “What, do you want me to do go down there with a mop,” is as insulting and sarcastic as Hillary’s comment about wiping her server with “a cloth of something” while smirking.

If Christie wants to be known as the tough guy from “Joyzee,” try it with someone your size — if you can find someone. You just lost any slight chance you ever had of getting elected. The “I was only joking” doesn’t cut it. That’s what bullies say when someone finally stands up to them. You, governor, are a bully.

Peter G. Orsi

Marine Park

Chapter and verse

To the editor,

I am writing to convey my dismay at my treatment at a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, where I went to replace a lost card. When I attempted to inquire about a new card at a room marked “staff” I was rudely told that I was in a staff work area. Someone vaguely gestured toward a hidden information desk, without standing up. At least four staffers were drinking coffee from large painted mugs.

I am a semi-retired, visually impaired senior citizen who has lived in Sheepshead Bay for 59 years. Two days after my family moved to the neighborhood in 1956, my father took me to the library to show me a place of “learning and safety.” He would be very surprised at the way library consumers are treated there today. When I reached the information desk and asked about renewing my card I was met with blank stares from two staffers. After repeating my question two times I was told to go to the computer behind the desk. A staffer expressed impatience when the computer was slow to reboot. She said she did not have time to hold my hand and said I should “just fill in the blanks and press send.” I asked how long it would take to obtain a new card and she clearly said one to two weeks.

I returned to the library in the given time period to inquire about my card. Two staffers ignored me until I asked to see a supervisor. Within five minutes I had a new card. One of the unnamed staffers asked me why I had waited so long to come back to the library. When I asked the supervisor what she was going to do about the way I was treated, she said she would meet with the staff “sometime in the future.” I returned to the library a few days later to pick up a book for my wife and asked a staffer about the supervisor that I had spoken to. I was told that she was at an all-day meeting. I went back to the library the next day and asked to talk to a supervisor. I was told they were off until the following month.

That Saturday I went to the library to read a newspaper. The supervisor I originally talked with suddenly appeared and asked to speak with me. With her voice raised so that all of my friends and neighbors in the room could hear, she said she hoped that we could be good friends and that I could be a “star” of the library. I told her that I had called the New York City Human Rights commissioner to lodge a complaint for discrimination. She said loudly that was my right. As she continued to talk to me in a raised voice she was joined by two other staffers. I left the library immediately because I felt embarrassed and confronted.

Martin Adelstein

Sheepshead Bay

****LARRY PENNER****

Off-track Andy

To the editor,

There is more to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority- New York City Transit will increase rehabilitation for subway stations to a state of good repair by 10-percent to 50-percent from originally 20 planned in the proposed 2015-2019 capital plan. The original $34 billion plan announced in Oct. 2014 proposed $448 million for bringing 20 subway stations to a state of good repair. The plan was cut by $6 billion to $28 billion. The MTA Board approved this revision. That was prior to Cuomo’s declaration about increasing the number of stations (or dollars) for New York City Transit’s renewal program. This plan still needs approval by the State Capital Program Review Board. It also requires the State Legislature to find $8 Billion promised by Gov. Cuomo. The City Council must also come up with $2.5 billion to meet commitments made by Mayor Bill DeBlasio to fully fund the capital plan..

If you increase the number of stations, the overall station renewal program would grow by $224 million to $672 million. Just what other transit capital projects and programs would have to be cut to support finding $224 million? Cuomo was silent on this key question.

According to a New York City Citizens Budget Commission report released several months ago, it will take 52 years or until 2067 for all 468 city subway stations to reach a state of good repair. Cuomo’s math just doesn’t add up. He reminds me of the cartoon character Wimpy who famously said, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” When the bills become due, taxpayers will end up paying Cuomo’s bill.

Larry Penner

Great Neck. N.Y.

Tarnished Silver

To the editor,

The legacy of former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the area of transportation leaves much to be desired. Consider the schedule, budget, and the cost for four major transportation projects that he took great pride in promoting.

Washington paid twice with your tax dollars for building the new South Ferry subway station. First, for almost $600 million in 9-11 funding, a second time with more than $300 million in Hurricane Sandy funding to rebuild what was damaged. The downtown Manhattan Fulton Street Transit Center was first paid for with 9-11 funding. Cost overruns of several hundred million were covered by American Recovery Reinvestment Act funding.

Fourteen years after 9-11, the Cortland Street World Trade Center subway station is still several years away from being back in service. If there are no new delays, perhaps the station will reopen by December 2018. Transit officials fought for years over budget, funding sources, scope, and schedule. Construction for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority portion of the project just started a few months ago.

There is no funding in the agency’s propose 2015-2019 capital program to initiate construction for the second segment of the Second Avenue subway, north from 96th Street to 125th Street. It will take several decades and $20 billion more for completion of the next three segments of the Second Avenue subway, north to 125th Street and south to Hanover Square downtown in the financial district. The project was originally proposed in 1929!

Silver claimed to be a friend of both commuters and the 99 percent. In reality, he lived the life style of the one percenters. He frequently traveled around town with a personal driver at taxpayers’ expense. I doubt if he ever purchased a MetroCard or rode the subway, like several million New Yorkers do daily.

Larry Penner

Great Neck, N.Y.

Two-fare drone

To the editor,

The proposal by state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) to offer two free transfers for those who have to ride two buses before boarding a subway is wishful thinking. People who moved to Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach and Gravesend — areas represented by Golden — knew full well that they would be living in a two-fare (bus to subway) and sometimes three-fare (bus to bus to subway) zone with longer commutes to and from work.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority services continue to be one of the best bargains in town. Since the 1950s, the average cost of riding either the bus, subway or commuter rail has gone up at a lower rate than either the consumer price index or inflation. The MetroCard, introduced in 1996, affords a free transfer between bus and subway. Prior to this, riders had to pay two full fares. Purchasing either a weekly or monthly pass further reduces the cost per ride. Many employers offer transit checks, which pay even more of the costs.

For years, local politicians would stir the pot on this issue. Now the latest cause is the cost for those handful of people out of several million daily riders who have to pay two fares versus one. An overwhelming majority can afford and already purchase either a weekly or monthly unlimited MetroCard, which makes the “double fare” issue moot.

Residents, taxpayers, and commuters in Golden’s district would be better off if he worried more about how the State Legislature will find the $8 billion Gov. Cuomo promised to bridge the $8.3 billion shortfall in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-proposed $28 billion, five-year capital plan when they reconvene in January.

It all comes down to the availability of increased funding for additional transportation service to serve residents of two fare zones in the outer boroughs. Operating subsidies are required to increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, late night and weekend service.

Larry Penner

Great Neck, N.Y.

MTA delay

To the editor,

No one should be surprised by the recent news from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that the Second Avenue Subway won’t be open by next December. The agency reminds me of Capt. Renault from “Casablanca” when he said, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on!”

Riders who have been waiting since construction restarted in 2007 with an original service date of 2013 may not be able to pick up their “winnings” until 2017 or 2018. The project was originally proposed in 1929!

Larry Penner

Great Neck, N.Y.

****ROBERT LOBENSTEIN*****

Crooked pols

To the editor,

First Shelly, then Skelos, then others. So our dear New York State democratic leader, Shelly Silver, has been convicted on all counts of bribery and other misdeeds of directing clients’ money to his own pockets. Shelly lamented in his defense that it is standard practice by all legislators in Albany to do what he did.

A few months ago the State Senate refused to fund an expansion of jails. It was sad to hear that, as the good citizens of New York are eagerly waiting to hear about the next round of indictments and convictions of crooked politicians who infest Albany. Their next stop should be a few years in this fine state’s overcrowded jails.

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

Hill-n-Donald

To the editor,

Hillary Clinton was complaining that the Muslim terrorist groups were using Donald Trump for video recruitment purposes. That lie was quickly exposed and Hillary wound up with egg on her face. Then a video surfaced where Muslim terrorists actually were using footage from Trump’s campaign to recruit new terrorists. I wonder how much Hillary paid them to do this?

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

Pie in the $ky

To the editor,

Our dear Gov. Cuomo has been on a media blitz unveiling grandiose building schemes — rebuilding the old Pennsylvania Station to an almost former glory, expanding the Javits Center to house the world’s largest ballroom and exhibit center, and other fantastic municipal works endeavors.

One thing that was silently spoken about, off camera, was the way the multi-billion-dollar projects will be paid for. Yes, it will be you and I, and our children and future grandchildren, who will be paying off his follies for decades to come. To build any project on time and within budget is a pipe dream, knowing the ineptness of state and city governments. After these clowns leave office, we all will be saddled for years with the debt load created by their schemes.

Maybe most of these plans should be voted down until Albany straightens up its own corrupt financial mess though, as these politicians are busy picking our pockets, I doubt it.

Robert W. Lobenstein

Marine Park

*****ED GREENSPAN****

Roving Randi

To the editor,

It’s bad enough when elected officials are running for other offices and they are away from their official positions. It is just as bad when people, such as American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten will be criss-crossing the country for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Randi, you have responsibilities that await your urgent attention. In the city more teachers are resigning than ever, they’re throwing the towel in because of the discipline procedures you and other liberal lunkheads have created. Hillary does not need you directly, but teachers throughout the country do, as they struggle with burgeoning class sizes, unruly pupils, overly aggressive administrators, and parents who rule the teacher and principal.

If Randi Weingarten and other officials can’t fulfill their responsibilities, they should take a leave of absence without pay.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Get a grip

To the editor,

There is always an excuse for outrageous behavior. As the years have gone by, the new one is that the perpetrator was off their medication. In a recent case, several women were slashed by someone in and out of hospitals for mental illness. Why was he always released after each episode, only to cause additional mayhem? Same thing in school. Any teacher can tell you which of their students will go on to commit crimes. No one bothers to listen to them as children, when they are literally crying out by acting out for help. Instead, we either play their friend or just pass them on.

Since the family of the slasher knew what he was capable of, it was their responsibility that this individual be looked after. That is what families are all about. Don’t throw your problems on society and expect them to clean up the mess.

I just love when they say that the recalcitrant was in the process of getting his or life together. It is time for individual initiative and responsibility for one’s actions to rest on the individual and family members. Sure, many of these recalcitrant people and family receive welfare benefits and therefore they feel that everything is coming to them.

Ed Greenspan

Sheesphead Bay

Classroom sham

To the editor,

Politicians have conveniently ignored the problem of discipline in our schools. The lack of discipline is the major cause for teachers leaving the public school system within five years of starting to teach, or retiring as soon as they are eligible to do so.

No matter how good a teacher you are, you can’t teach without effective discipline and everyone knows that. Discipline problems start as early as kindergarten and with nothing done, the child goes from year to year in elementary school and will only cause havoc. If a parent doesn’t sign for special education placement, the child remains in a regular classroom and the disorder continues. As important as class size is, all you need is for one child to be continuously disruptive and little to no learning results. Years ago the 600- school concept for disruptive children was done away with. At least hard core troublemakers were kept out and sent to alternative settings.

When a disruptive child enters intermediate school (grades 6-8) the situation worsens because the child now has the added freedom of roaming the halls during change of periods. The problem is exacerbated now by principals who never taught a day, but are now rating teachers. If these principals taught they would see directly what is going on and change their attitudes about blaming teachers for everything. No matter how much money you pump into the school system, without discipline, the results will be the same, year after year.

The mayor and schools chancellor should be ashamed for weakening disciplinary codes. Lord only knows what else is covered up on a daily basis. Our deteriorating schools have become schools for scandal. Where is the union? It’s so happy to be out of the classroom that it couldn’t care less. Union officials get in overwhelmingly each time they come up for reelection, and the hierarchy within the union collects double pensions.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Mitt’s a hit

To the editor,

Given the current crop of Republican presidential candidates for 2016, a new “three Rs” should be in vogue — “Run, Romney, Run.” Millions of voters now realize the mistake that was made in 2012, and many will cross party lines and vote for him. Why not? Richard Nixon came back from defeat in 1960 to win the presidency in 1968.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Teaching trenches

To the editor,

As Warner Wolfe used to say, “Let’s Go to the Videotape,” when he would want something investigated further. Similarly let’s go to the school records of violent criminals, or better yet, do something with them in their formative years so that they don’t resort to such violence. If you opened the school records, you would see evidence of cutting class, constantly disrupting the class, roaming through the hallways, cursing, screaming, fighting, and causing all sorts of mayhem.

The city’s school system has failed these students and others by their complete refusal to deal with disruptive youth. As a result, the latter become more emboldened with each passing year, and their deviant behavior worsens until an innocent life is lost.

We keep such students in regular classes if the parent refuses to sign for special placement. As a result, chaos results as teachers desperately try to keep order with burgeoning class sizes. When are we going to face this problem head on and not keep sweeping it under the rug? This is not a racist problem. Disruptive pupils come in all races, religions and all backgrounds.

Empty out the regional and district offices and get teachers back in the classroom. We need more psychologists and psychiatrists in the schools. Less suspensions will not solve anything.

So-called staff development is a complete joke and everyone knows it. Let all the militants, ultra liberals and critics of teachers get themselves teacher licenses and get a taste of what it is like in the trenches.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

‘Demagogue’ Donald

To the editor,

It has become apparent to me that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would be absolutely perfect in still another remake of the great film, “All the King’s Men.” After all, as demagogue Willie Stark, Broderick Crawford received a well-deserved, best-actor Oscar. Trump could easily pass that, if not do even better in the part. He gives new meaning to the term demagoguery. Hollywood should definitely take notice.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Pledge allegiance

To the editor,

Of course the Pledge of Allegiance should be recited in schools. As a student of public schools in the 1950s, I remember “the lord is my shepherd” being recited from the Bible in the auditorium until someone finally realized that this was a violation of separation of church and state.

Religion does not belong in our public schools. This means that all symbols representing a religion should not be in the school either. After all, by doing this, we are doing a disservice to those students not of a particular religion, as well as students who are atheists.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

Bernie Panders

To the editor,

Bernie Sanders, what’s so bad about living in a rent-controlled building? You bemoaned that fact about living in such a building in Brooklyn at the last debate.

The rent-controlled buildings on Kings Highway were, and are still, lovely buildings with affordable rents. Ditto for rent stabilization. You’ve been away so long that you probably don’t know that since 1970, if a rent controlled apartment is vacated, it becomes rent stabilized. May the Lord bless rent control and rent stabilization.

At the first sign of any change, you and so many other phony liberals are the first to move out of neighborhoods. Your remark about rent control shows that you’re a landlord’s man. Without rent control or rent stabilization, rents would be over the roof and this would lead to more homeless.

Apparently in Vermont, where you fled to, no such problems of homelessness exist to the degree we’re facing in New York.

Ed Greenspan

Sheepshead Bay

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IT’S ONLY MY OPINION: Why are Dems berning Hil?

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By Stanley P. Gershbein

Brooklyn Daily

I was sitting at the table reading today’s newspaper when, from the next room where Carol was watching television, I heard a shout: “Bernie, I love you!”

What? I dropped the paper and ran into the room and did a bit of shouting myself. “Bist du mishiga? Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? How can you love that guy? He’s an old-time socialist. He wants to take your money and give it away. What goes with you loving him?”

“Oh, don’t get so nervous,” she replied. “It’s not Bernie Sanders I love. It’s Bernie Goldberg. He’s handsome. He’s intelligent. And he just had a terrific, smart comeback to Bill O’Reilly. I just love him.”

Whew. That’s a relief. I thought she was expressing her affection for the presidential candidate who, by the way, is doing better and better in the polls. Do you think that is so because more and more people love him? Besides the college crowd who actually believe that they will have their tuition abolished, who else really thinks he will make a great president? Oh, sure, there are always the something-for-nothing crowds who pull the lever with their right hand and hold out that left hand for the Socialist freebees, but it isn’t because more and more people love him. It is because more and more Americans are learning to dislike that other candidate, and Sanders is the only alternative for a large portion of the life-long Democrats. Many will only vote for a left-winger. They actually believe that if they voted for a candidate on the right — any candidate on the right — a bolt of lightning will flash from above, strike them, and inflict that voting hand with a painful, permanent case of rheumatoid arthritis. Hence the results will equal better numbers for Bernie — plus a lot of panic in Hillary’s entourage.

The headline of a story on the internet shouts, “Cocky and evil Hillary is 100-percent sure her e-mail scandal won’t hurt her!”

Really? It already has. Look at the polls. Bernie was 50 points behind her, and they were tied in Iowa. Tied? He may even have won in the Hawkeye State. The leading newspaper there, the liberal Des Moines Register (whose editorial board endorsed Hillary) now says that something in the count smells. Many voters are saying, “It sure does. Hold your nose” • • •

I just received a copy of the food prices at the recent Super Bowl — $8 for a hot dog, $13 for a regular beer, $8 for fries, $15 for a bucket of popcorn, $10 for a slice of pizza, and here’s the one that really stings — $7 for a bottle of water. Seven bucks for a bottle of H2O? For $7 I get two cases. After some very interesting calculations, I figured out that the guests in my living room consumed snacks worth $1,000 dollars. Next year I’m charging.

• • •

These Republican candidates are pretty foolish attacking each other. Trump attacks Jeb. Christie rudely goes after Rubio — he destroyed the senator but it did nothing for him. They all beat up on Obama, who isn’t even running. There’s still an excellent chance that Hillary will be the nomination. I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net asking, “Instead of fighting each other, why don’t they show us how they will win over the Lyin’ Queen?”

Read Stan Gershbein's column every Monday on BrooklynDaily.com.

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DUMBO: I is for innuendo: Kids’ book drips with double meaning

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By Allegra Hobbs

Brooklyn Daily

Finally, a sexy way to learn your ABCs!

A Bedford-Stuyvesant writer has penned a sneakily subversive children’s book that teaches kids the alphabet with dirty double-entendres. But the author of “P is for Pussy” says that the double-meanings are totally lost on the innocent — or at least, they should be.

“If your children know all these sex and drug references, you have a bigger problem,” said Elissa Blount-Moorhead, who will celebrate the launch of her picture book at Dumbo’s Powerhouse Arena on Feb. 29.

The book pairs potentially dirty words with innocent illustrations, such as “A is for ass” — accompanied by an image of a donkey — and “C is for cock,” depicting a guy holding a rooster.

She dreamt up the idea while trying to keep her youngsters — and herself — entertained during a long road trip, and started spouting off a naughty but kid-friendly alternative alphabet to mix up the ho-hum “A is for apple.”

The former Pratt professor and mother of two, who splits her time between Brooklyn and Baltimore, decided the current kids’ book market could use more low-key adult humor to keep parents laughing while putting the little ones to bed.

“I spent a lot of time trying to find more subversive and visually arresting books, and I was completely bored with what was being offered at the time,” she said.

The adult alphabet book can potentially be read to kids, unlike the similar work “Go the F--- to Sleep,” which aped the form of a children’s book while being aimed solely at adults.

In addition to the naughty double-meanings, mature female readers may get a kick from the book’s decidedly sex-positive, feminist voice, said Blount-Moorhead. Many of the words and images, like “V is for vixen” and the more dicey “H is for hoe,” were carefully rendered to depict sexually-liberated women in full control of their bodies.

Local artist Wangechi Mutu — known for her bold, colorful collages of female figures — is currently visiting Nairobi, but will join the author at the launch via Skype to chat about feminist themes across their work.

“P is for Pussy” book launch party at Powerhouse Arena [37 Main St. at Water Street in Dumbo, (718) 666–3049, www.powerhousearena.com]. Feb. 29, 7 pm. Free.

Reach reporter Allegra Hobbs at ahobbs@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–8312.

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DOWNTOWN: Thousands rally for ex-officer who fatally shot Akai Gurley

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By Ruth Brown

Brooklyn Daily

Protesters faced off Downtown on Saturday over the conviction of a rookie police officer who fatally gunned down an unarmed Red Hook man in an East New York in 2014.

Some 10,000 supporters of Peter Liang filled Cadman Plaza two weeks after jurors found him guilty of killing Akai Gurley, claiming the death was an accident and that politicians and prosecutors are using the Chinese-American former cop as a “scapegoat” to placate public anger over shootings by white officers who have gone free.

A smaller group of Gurley supporters held a counterprotest across the street to support the conviction, waving signs that read “jail killer cops” while police separated the two groups across Cadman Plaza West.

Liang — a Bensonhurst resident who shot Gurley while patrolling a stairwell of a public housing building with his gun drawn — is facing up to 15 years behind bars, and will learn his fate next month.

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BRIGHTON BEACH: Dead on Brighton Beach sidewalk

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By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

Police found a dead man they suspect overdosed on a Brighton Beach sidewalk on Feb. 19.

Officials recovered the body on the corner of E. 11 Street and Banner Avenue around 9:30 am after someone called 911, police said.

Emergency responders pronounced the 29-year-old man dead at the scene, cops said. He showed no signs of trauma, and officials suspect died of a drug overdose, law enforcement sources said.

The man’s body was in front of a derelict house that squatters frequent, neighbors said. It is a known drug den, police said.

Locals lodged 14 complaints against the Banner Avenue building between March 2011 and November 2015 — including one for a homeless encampment, according to city reports.

The medical examiner will give the official cause of death, and police will release the victim’s name after they notify his family, officials said.

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 260–4577 or by e-mail at jcuba@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.

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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: South Shore holds on for Milrose relay crown

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By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

Keyshon Toussaint was ready and delivered.

The South Shore junior runner vindicated his 4x400 relay team’s last-place finish in the Milrose Games last year by taking the Vikings from worst to first on Feb. 20. Toussaint, an anchor, was leading coming into the final turn, but expected rival and top-seeded Boys & Girls to get close — so he saved a little energy for one last push.

“I already had a gap on him, so he already had to use his kick to cover the ground I already made,” Toussaint said. “I’m waiting for him to be shoulder to shoulder. Then I just kicked it, and that was it.”

The surge was enough to secure the Vikings’ first Public School Athletic League 4x400 relay crown at the Milrose Games crown since 2007. Toussaint and teammates Richard Kettle, Theodore Westcarr, and Ramone Newland won the race in 3 minutes 19.64 seconds at the Armory.

Toussaint was better prepared for the big stage after running at Milrose and outdoors in the Penn Relays and the league’s city championship meet last season. His confidence is growing, according to Vikings coach Paul Schneider.

“He’s not scared of anything anymore,” the coach said. “He knows what he needs to do.”

Toussaint didn’t win alone. Newland ran the third leg to a T — the team’s top runner moved the Vikings into the lead for good shortly after grabbing the baton.

For Newland, it’s all in a day’s work.

“My coach expects me to pass the other guy to get a lead,” he said.

South Shore also placed second in the Eastern High School 4x200.

Robeson girls win two

Springfield Gardens closed BryaAnn Sandy’s 75-meter lead to about 20 in the back straight of the Public School Athletic League’s girls’ 4x400-meter relay. The junior was able to hold off the surge and allow anchor Amanda Crawford to do what she does best.

The senior — one of the best runners in New York City — ran a blistering final leg, allowing Robeson to cruise to a second-straight crown in the event. Crawford, Sandy, Latoya Stewart, and Alysaa Sandy won in 3:50.53. It was the second victory of the day for the Eagles — the team also won the Eastern High School 4x200 with a time of 1:39.09.

“I knew this was a really big meet, so I just wanted to come out and do my best and trust my training even though the two races — the 4x200 and the 4x400 — were close together,” said Crawford.

Having all of the runners except for Stewart also compete in the 4x200 may have kept the team from its ultimate goal. The Eagles had to push to win by .68 seconds.

Robeson already owns the third fastest time in the nation this year (3:48.95) in the 4x400 and was looking to move into the top spot by beating the 4:46.68 record that Maryland school Bullis School set.

“We were looking for U.S. No. 1 today, but because we ran the 4x200 really hard,” Crawford said. “It showed us, even though we performed already, our training is working and we are getting better.”

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On Point: Former Ford star Lewis finding scoring touch for Red Storm

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By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The opposition cannot take Aaliyah Lewis for granted any longer.

The guard delivered 20-point nights in high school at Bishop Ford, and St. John’s named the college junior a starter last season. But opposing defenders weren’t taking her seriously — they’d focus on threats such as Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant — so Lewis stepped up her off-seasons practice routine.

“Basically people were just disrespecting me and leaving me open,” Lewis said. “I just had to stop that and work on my game at let people know that I can shoot and get some respect.”

She spent countless hours recreating scoring situations and working the shooting machine during the off season — now she is finally seeing the fruits of her labor. The 5-foot-5 junior is averaging 7.7 points per game — up from 6.0 last season. She’s scored two more points this year than last in seven fewer games. Her empowered playing style is catching opponents off guard, she said.

“My confidence is totally sky-high,” she said. “Coming into this season a lot of teams probably thought I would be the same player as I was last year.”

Some of her added aggressiveness comes from being a veteran now, but much of it stems from seeing results. Lewis found her confidence in an 18-point game to help the Red Storm beat Creighton on the road on Dec. 29. She shot five of nine from the field, made two treys, and was a perfect six-for-six at the free-throw line. It was a breakout game in her mind.

“I just saw the ball going through the net constantly,” Lewis said. “From there, I knew I could do it.”

Lewis continued her improved scoring by tallying a career-high 22 points in a win over rival Seton Hall on Feb. 7. Some of the team’s top players were out with foul trouble in the first half, and she took it upon herself to pick up the slack.

The new mindset was even evident in a home loss to Villanova, where Lewis managed just seven points to go along with five assists. Lewis took the Red Storm’s second shot, made her first two jumpers — including a three to end the first quarter — and was aggressive attacking the basket. Lewis’s shot selection has improved, and her aggression is becoming an asset.

“I think she needs to continue to put pressure on the other teams, because they just leave her,” Red Storm coach Joe Tartamella said. “The improvement has been spectacular since she has been a freshman here.”

Getting points from Lewis is bonus to the strong play he has always gotten from her. She is the teams’ leader in assists and has 109 helpers to 56 turnovers. Lewis and the Red Storm are in a battle for second place in the Big East and a National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament berth, and Lewis sees her impact growing.

“My confidence it just going up now,” she said. “When I get it and I am open, I just know I am going to knock the jump-shot down.”

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Late heroics keeps Seton Hall’s tourney hopes alive

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By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

Winning was the only thing on Isaiah Whitehead’s mind on Sunday — because Seton Hall had more important things than one game on the line.

The Pirates team was down three to last-place St. John’s with National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament berth on the line at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 21, so the former Abraham Lincoln guard put a dismal shooting night — and the Hall’s blown 19-point lead — behind him and helped his team rally to a 62–61 victory over the Red Storm. In the space of 58 seconds, Whitehead made three of four free throws, including two after stealing a rebound away from St. John’s forward Kassoum Yakwe during a scramble in the paint. He just saw the ball and went after it.

“It was just about the will to win and just really attacking the ball,” Whitehead said.

Thanks to his late-game heroics, the Pirates team (19–7, 9–5) is third in its conference — and remains in full control of its postseason destiny. Whitehead isn’t letting the close call take away from the win.

“It’s a huge win — if we lost, it would have damaged our resume,” Whitehead said. “I’m proud of us being down with seconds left and coming out and winning the game.”

Whitehead, who is averaging 16.6 points per game, had a rough shooting night and sunk one of 12 from the field. He had 10 points, including eight from the free-throw line, on Feb. 21.

But the sophomore heated up in the end — Whitehead went five of seven at the free throw line and made three of his six steals in the final three minutes.

Former Bishop Loughlin star Khadeen Carrington added 12 points, including a huge jumper with 42 seconds left to cut the St. John’s lead to one point. Willard has a lot of trust in the duo.

“I always have the feeling that I just have to let them play and make plays,” he said. “I thought they did a great job, even though they weren’t having a great night.”

Carrington and Whitehead took care of business late in the game, but they were reclaiming lost ground after the Pirates gave up a 19-point lead that former Lincoln standout Desi Rodriguez helped build in the first half, when the sophomore scored 19 of his career-high 24 points — including four three-pointers.

“I felt great,” Rodriguez said. “My teammates set me up great. I was able to knock down shots.”

Rodriguez is no stranger to big games at Madison Square Garden. As a high-school junior, he was the most valuable player in Lincoln’s city championship victory over Jefferson with 16 points and 17 rebounds.

The Garden seems to motivate the best in Rodriguez, Whitehead said.

“I wish we could play our home games here, that way he is playing [here],” he joked.

Rodriguez got the team off to a hot start, but he credited Whitehead with finishing what he began.

“That shows how much he is growing,” Rodriguez said. “Last year he would have gave up.”

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BOROBEAT: Bag that! Students make plastic bag chain to raise environmental awareness

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By Zach Jones

Brooklyn Daily

Sheepshead Bay students want to change the way their school thinks about environmental issues.

About 30 high-school environmental science students created the longest chain of plastic grocery bags in Brooklyn history around the perimeter of James Madison High School on Feb. 9 attempting to draw attention to the careless use and discarding of plastic bags.

“This event caused students to ask questions,” said special education teacher Brian Schoenfelder. “If even a few students stop using plastic bags, then my students succeeded.”

Schoenfelder asked his class to research possible solutions to an environmental problem it saw and design an event that would bring awareness to the issue in question, he said.

Schoenfelder and Jeanne Quarto, a fellow special education science teacher at Madison, brought their sections of an environmental science class together last semester to begin discussing research topics. Schoenfelder said that the class also discussed how to cultivate awareness and get peers’ attention on environmental issues.

One student in particular came up with the idea to collect grocery bags and make a chain around the school after the class discussed plastic bags’ negative effects on the environment last December, said Schoenfelder.

“It was really great to see the all-hands-on-deck approach by the school,” he said. “I had students across the whole school tell me that they would never use plastic bags again.”

The group collected more than enough plastic bags from students and staff to wrap around the school, which occupies about half a block.

Students handed out 100 reusable canvas grocery bags at the event to encourage peers to be more environmentally conscious.

The demonstration was totally their bag, students said.

“I thought it was a really cool event,” said James Madison High School student Richard Devita of Bergen Beach. “You don’t usually see kids taking time out of their classes to do something for the environment.”

Students strung together the bags they had collected over the course of the weeks preceding the event. Participants, including staff, teachers, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, stretched the almost half-mile long chain around the border of the school that Tuesday morning.

The chain was ceremoniously cut in an expression of the students’ desire to break the chain of environmental mistreatment, officials said. Students planned the event to coincide with “Harmony Day” of the school’s “Respect for All” week, hoping that the special day would bring even more awareness to the issue.

The school will continue to collect plastic bags once a month for recycling or re purposing, Schoenfelder said.

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CANARSIE: Canarsie college student died after hazing, school says

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By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

A Buffalo State College student from Canarsie died on Feb. 18 in what officials believe was a hazing ritual.

Bradley Doyley, 21, became sick following an off-campus hazing incident involving the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, according to a statement from the school.

Police are investigating for criminal activity, said Buffalo Police chief of detectives Dennis Richards. He is not aware of similar incidents within the fraternity, he said.

But the college and the frat’s national governing body have suspended its activities during the investigation, the school’s statement reads.

Doyley graduated from the High School for Sports Management in Gravesend in 2012. He was set to graduate Buffalo State this spring as a business major. He also played for the men’s basketball team during his first two-and-a-half years at the college.

His parents lived in Canarsie before moving to Florida two years ago, according to a Daily News report.

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 260–4577 or by e-mail at jcuba@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.

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DINING: Winter beer taste test

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

Winter may have officially started back in December, but the chill is only now starting to hit. So four of the beer-loving reporters at this newspaper sought out a brew to warm us after a trek in the blustery cold weather. We did a blind taste test on three winter beers brewed in the borough. Here are our findings.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.

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DINING: Cold brew: ‘Insulated Lager’ goes beyond winter beer

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

The weather and the mugs are frosty!

Brooklyn drinkers seeking an antidote for winter weather can discover a new option on the shelf. Brooklyn Brewery has switched up its seasonal offering this year, replacing its usual Winter Ale with an Insulated Dark Lager. The new brew was designed for drinking from late fall through early spring, but it truly shines now that winter grips the borough of Kings, said the brewery’s founder.

“Insulated is a lighter in body, but it’s got much more pronounced roasty and chocolatey flavors to it,” Steve Hindy said. “We were looking for a little more of a richer beer — something nice and bracing when you’ve just come into the house after walking home in 20-degree weather.”’

The brewery’s previous cold-weather brew, the Winter Ale, had been in production for 10 years, and Hindy felt it was time for a change.

“We like to change things up and give our customers something new,” said Hindy. “And of course our best selling beer is Brooklyn Lager, so I’ve always wanted to do a dark lager.”

Generally lighter than ales, lagers are a Brooklyn tradition. There were four dozen breweries in Brooklyn in the 19th century and most were run by Germans making a strong, traditional lagers for their fellow immigrants, said Hindy.“We based Brooklyn Lager on what they were brewing here, and Insulated Dark Lager is in that tradition,” Hindy said. “They are great companion beers.”

Words like “insulated” and “dark” may evoke thoughts of a heavy-in-alcohol brew, but Insulated Dark Lager’s 5.6 percent alcohol by volume content is right on par with most of the brewery’s year-round brews, and it is lower than the Winter Ale’s 6.1 percent. So even if you fill up on a few, you can trek into Brooklyn’s wintry wilderness while still being quick on your feet.

But Hindy does not have to venture into the snowy streets to get some of the new brew. He has Insulated Dark Lager on tap at his Gowanus home and is making good use of it — he is on his second keg of the winter.

Brooklyn Brewery’s Insulated Dark Lager is available at basically every grocery store in Brooklyn.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.

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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT: Praising the bar: Bed-Stuy reverend runs booze-free cocktail lounge

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By Allegra Hobbs

Brooklyn Daily

Be filled with the spirit — but not the spirits.

A Bedford-Stuyvesant reverend is running an entirely booze-free cocktail lounge, which the barman of the cloth says is just as much an alternative to his church as it is to the common dive bar.

“The lounge is to help people engage and become more social and intimate and build relationships, rather than a lounge that will get people drunk or another church that will separate people based on their spirituality,” said Reverend Robert Watermann of the Antioch Baptist Church, who has been slinging mocktails at neighboring Canticles Sober Lounge since 2008.

Other than the lack of ethanol in the drinks, the dry watering hole is just like a regular bar, Watermann says — the good reverend himself shakes up virgin pina coladas, margaritas, and daiquiris, while patrons enjoy live music and spoken word performances at open mic nights.

And the barstools are open to people of all — or no — faiths, he says.

“I’ve had Jewish people walk in and buy a can of Coke and sit there and listen to the music,” he said. “It’s not just geared towards spirituality.”

Watermann says he created Canticles — another word for “hymns” — after noticing that holy houses in the Borough of Churches were struggling to attract new faces, while the streets were buzzing with activity. He figured the community could use an all-inclusive place to come together outside the shadow of the cross.

“It came to me — why don’t we build a space where people can come and don’t have to fight with religion, but can come together and talk about what they have in common?” he said.

But he also witnessed the toxic affects of alcohol on the neighborhood — two of his loved ones died from liver failure, and he often saw teens boozing on the Antioch steps at night — and didn’t want to add more of the demon drink to the mix.

Watermann has a strong history of trying to exorcise booze from Bedford-Stuyvesant’s streets — the nix-ologist is a member of the local community board, and says he consistently votes down liquor license applications from new businesses, fearing they put profits over public health.

“Small businesses and entrepreneurship is a great thing,” he said. “But what about the people we destroy?”

In the future, Watermann hopes to expand Canticles by serving coffee and pastries, and add a recording booth for artists looking to immortalize their works.

Canticles Sober Lounge (207 Lewis Ave. at Lexington Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant). Open nightly 9 pm–1 am.

Reach reporter Allegra Hobbs at ahobbs@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–8312.

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BOROBEAT: Bay Ridge celebrates ‘Danish Mardi Gras’

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

It was the storm before the calm!

Scandinavian-blooded Brooklynites danced, played games, and stuffed their faces for Fastelavn — the Danish Mardi Gras that comes before the Lenten season of fasting — at Vesuvio restaurant in Bay Ridge on Feb. 20. The celebration is a cross between Halloween and “Fat Tuesday” — but steeped in the Lutheran traditions common to Scandinavia. Bay Ridge — once heavily Norwegian — celebrates the party to keep tradition alive, according to one reveler who dressed up as Olive Oil to her husband’s Popeye.

“It’s sort of like a Halloween tradition — in the old days, they dressed up as trolls and gods and things from old Scandinavian myths,” Barbara Bernsten said. “Bay Ridge used to be full of Scandinavian people, now there’s quite a few left but the area is becoming very, very diverse, so we’re trying to keep a few activities going that are very Norwegian.”

The celebration goes down before the Christian fasting season of Lent — much like Mardi Gras.

Accordionist Ellen Lindstrom played popular American and Scandinavian tunes for the crowd, and organizers held traditional games for party-goers, including one similar to musical chairs.

Some revelers took turns “hitting the cat out of the barrel” — a traditional piñata-type game. The one who knocks out the bottom of the barrel is crowned “queen of cats” and the person that finishes off the barrel is declared “king of cats.”

No cats were harmed during the party, officials said.

The Scandinavian East Coast Museum and Brooklyn Lodge Sons of Norway sponsored the event.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.

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Sean Marks the spot: Nets net top-choice general manager

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By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The Nets organization hit its Mark.

The team ended its search for a general manager by landing its first choice — former San Antonio Spurs assistant general manager Sean Marks, the officials announced before a win over the Knicks at Barclays Center on Feb. 19. Negotiations reportedly went into the night on Wednesday before the two sides agreed to a deal. Marks played two of his 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association with the Spurs and worked in the team’s front office for the last five years. Leaving Texas was a tough choice — but Marks thinks it was the right one.

“Any time you’re having to get out of your comfort zone isn’t easy,” Marks said. “But at the same time, my time spent with [owner Mikhail] Prokhorov and the rest of the Nets group here during the interviews led me to believe we have a similar vision.”

The New Zealander brings an excellent pedigree to a team trying to regain stability and lay out a clear plan of where it going — things Prokhorov said have been missing.

“One big mistake we had was the lack of vision,” he said at the opening for the team’s new practice facility. “You need to know what is now, what is tomorrow, but also what is medium-term and long-term.”

Marks’ time in San Antonio gave him a taste of what a first-class organization is like. He won a title playing for the Spurs in 2005 and was an assistant coach on their 2014 championship squad.

The former forward and center ran San Antonio’s development league affiliate and some thought coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford were grooming him to take the helm. Marks believes he can apply what he learned to the Nets.

“We are all in this together — that’s the way it was done where I basically grew up on San Antonio,” Marks said. “The relationship that Pop and R.C. had — nothing was done without the other one knowing.”

He takes over a Brooklyn team that is 15–41 and second-to-last in the Eastern Conference. The Nets don’t have any first-round draft picks until 2019. Marks, who cut power forward and center Andrea Bargnani, on Saturday, said he understands the challenge ahead.

Marks’s personality and his eagerness to build a winner in Brooklyn impressed Nets management — he is a rare combination of modern-day player and experienced executive, and his pedigree made him an easy choice, an official said.

“It was unanimous decision by our decision-making committee,” Nets chief executive officer Dmitry Razumov said. “We knew immediately this was our guy.”

The team still has to replace head coach Lionel Hollins, who Prokhorov fired last month, and organization is looking for someone to bolster the squad’s defense, Marks said.

“Whoever we bring in here, they are going to play team basketball,” Marks said. “The coach is going to have a defensive mindset and a system that gets them playing well and accustomed to where I’ve come from.”

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BAY RIDGE: A coup is brewing! City will force Prince Hotel’s sale, pol says

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

They want to depose this royal pain.

The city will make the Prince Hotel’s owner sell the Bay Ridge flop house to pay $400,000 in building fines he has racked up over the last decade, a local pol said. Sheriffs have posted up there since Wednesday night, when they raided the register and pledged to seize future income. The forced sale could take half a year, but that’s faster than skimming the till, according to an area councilman.

“If you just sit at the desk, you’d be there for 60 years,” said Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge). “And given the history of this place, it’s just another incentive to go do it.”

Owner Moses Fried has $400,000 in unpaid fines for a litany of buildings and safety violations, officials said. Neighbors say the hotel is a hotbed of drug use and prostitution. The community board’s district manager has a binder full of complaints and letters about the hotel that is literally the size of a phone book.

Mayor DeBlasio, who is proposing a pre-K just doors from the hotel, apologized during a town hall at Fort Hamilton High School last week for not taking action sooner and promised results. Sheriffs raided the 93rd Street boardinghouse a day after the mayoral mea culpa.

They seized roughly $7,000 in the raid and the days since, Gentile said.

Prince Hotel owner Moses Fried could ask a judge to block the ongoing seizure, but his lawyers have yet to file, the councilman said.

The Department of Finance is drawing up papers to force the sale, Gentile said.

Community Board 10 members have been advocating enforcement against the Prince for years, and they’re ready to help the city any way they can — but they remain cautious, the group’s leader said.

“We’re going to continue as if nothing happened, because I think that’s the only way we can be sure that we will get the final result — the place is run properly or it changes,” said board chairman Brian Kieran.

Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.

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MARINE PARK: New stop a go! Traffic signal coming to Marine Park intersection

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By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

This traffic signal got the green light!

Marine Park is getting a new stop light at the intersection of Avenue R and E. 34th Street, hopefully aiding pupils from nearby PS 222 to cross the street more safely and alleviate some traffic concerns, local leaders say.

“It will help kids go back and forth more safely,” said Councilman Alan Maisel (D–Mill Basin).

There is already a stop sign on the one-way E. 34th Street but no traffic controls on Avenue R at the intersection.

The area buzzes with cars parents pick up and drop off their kids at PS222 — a block away on Quentin Road and E. 34th Street — and the traffic light will calm things down, another official said.

“It’s a very busy location, especially during the school hours when children are getting dropped off and causes a lot of back up,” said Sen. Martin Golden (R–Marine Park). “It will slow traffic down and err on the side of safety and is just a good thing to do.”

There have been four crashes at the intersection since 2009 — one stating a disregard for traffic control, according to city records.

The Department of Transportation expects the it will finish installing the light by the end of March, a spokeswoman said.

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 260–4577 or by e-mail at jcuba@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.

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CONEY ISLAND: Burglar robs home and locks out tenant

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

60th Precinct

Coney Island—Brighton Beach—Seagate

Locked out

A burglar cleared out a Brighton 12th Street apartment on Feb. 17, according to a police report.

The victim told police she returned to the home near Ocean View Avenue around 1:30 pm to find someone had locked the chain on her front door from the inside.

Once inside she saw someone had crawled in through her unlocked front kitchen window and stole a trove of cash and jewelry to the tune of $30,000, police said.

Car break-in

Someone broke into a man’s car in his business’s parking lot on W. Fifth Street on Feb. 18, police said.

The victim returned to his vehicle parked near a loading dock at the lot near West Avenue just after 4 pm and saw someone had grabbed a purse and debit and credit cards left in the car.

Fast theft

A thief stole a man’s wallet from a counter at a Harway Avenue fast food joint on Feb. 21, according to police.

The man left his wallet containing $120 and various bank and identification cards on the counter at the eatery near Stillwell Avenue around 3:20 pm, he told police. He returned to the counter to grab the wallet but someone had taken it, police said.

Sacrilegious

A heathen huckster scammed a W. 17th Street church with fraudulent checks on Feb. 17, police said.

A person in charge of funds at the church near Mermaid Avenue noticed someone had cashed two checks totaling $5,000 around 7 am that morning, police said.

— Dennis Lynch

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SHEEPSHEAD BAY: Masked armed men storm into home for $30

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By Julianne Cuba

Brooklyn Daily

61st Precinct

Sheepshead Bay—Homecrest— Manhattan Beach—Gravesend

Masked marauders

Three armed brutes donning ski masks and gloves pushed their way into an Avenue W home on the night of Feb. 15, stealing money, a smartphone, watch, and keys.

The victim told police someone knocked on the door of his house near Nostrand Avenue at about 8:40 pm asking for his older brother, but when he let the stranger in, two more men wearing masks forced their way inside.

Two of the bandits pulled out handguns, pushed the victim, and ransacked the house for $30, a Cricket HTC Desire 520 smartphone, a Raymond and Charles Watch, the victim’s house keys, and keys to his 1999 Toyota Avalon, according to a police report.

The victim told police the three robbers then ran out of the house around 9:40 pm.

Tool thief

A burglar stole tools from a Knapp Street construction site sometime overnight on Feb. 15.

An employee told police he left the site near Voorhies Avenue at 3:30 pm with the door locked, and returned at the next day 8:30 am to find it was unlocked. He also noticed a toolbox’s lock had been broken.

The guy told police the bandit stole a devalt hammer drill, a ramset nail gun, a pipe bender — one half size and one three quarters size — a box wire, and a greenlee electrical tester.

Technology snatcher

A bandit removed a laptop and cellphone from a guy’s home on E. Second Street on the night of Feb. 21.

The victim told police the burglar entered his house near Avenue T through the back door at some point between 12:30 and 6:30 am, and took his MacBook Pro and Samsung Galaxy S6.

Police reported that the thief also went into the man’s car, but he could note tell if anything was taken. The victim also told police he may have left his rear car door unlocked and there was no forcible entry.

— Julianne Cuba

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BAY RIDGE: Bogus lottery official scams elderly lady

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By Dennis Lynch

Brooklyn Daily

68th Precinct

Bay Ridge—Dyker Heights

Lottery scammer

A phony lottery official scammed an elderly Shore Road woman out of $5,000 on Feb. 12, police said.

The woman received a call at her home near 91st Street around noon from a man calling himself “Mr. Nvivi” who told her she won the lottery but had to send $5,000 to claim her prize. She did, but never received her supposed big payout, police said.

Not so warm welcome

A trio of brutes assaulted a Connecticut man visiting an ex-girlfriend at her Bay Ridge Parkway apartment on Feb. 16, police said.

The man was in the hallway of the building near Third Avenue when the three surrounded him and started beating him, he told police. One grabbed his smartphone in the chaos and all three fled in a green sport utility vehicle.

Grab-illac

A pair of masked thieves stole a set of rims and tires from a limousine service’s Cadillac Escalade parked in its Seventh Avenue lot on Feb. 17, according to a police report.

An employee parked the luxury sport utility vehicle in the unlocked parking lot near 80th Street around noon. Surveillance video from that night shows an unmarked white van pull into the parking lot around 3:45 am and two men jump out.

One acted as lookout on the corner as the other jacked the rims from the Cadillac, the video shows. Once they had the goods loaded in the van they fled in it on Seventh Avenue towards 81st Street, police said.

— Dennis Lynch

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