January 3–9, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 3
Boro Pres has a bone to pick
Adams goes off at opening of affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors
OFF & RUNNING
Rescued chicken named Elizabeth Warr-hen
Industry City rezoning on edge
Letter from mayor pushes Menchaca towards ‘no’ vote
ADOPT A PET
TODAY!
A COOPERATIVE ADOPTION EVENT:
KOREAN K9 RESCUE &
NORTH SHORE ANIMAL
LEAGUE AMERICA
NYC PET
475 Driggs Ave.Brooklyn, NY
JANUARY 4
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
25 Davis Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050 • animalleague.org • 516.883.7575 • RR006 FOLLOW US ON:
2.00 8-MONTH CD SPECIAL
DONATE YOUR CAR
Wheels For Wishes
benefiting
Make-A-Wish®
Metro New York
* 100% Tax Deductible
* Free Vehicle Pickup ANYWHERE
* We Accept Most Vehicles Running or Not
* We Also Accept Boats, Motorcycles & RVs
WheelsForWishes.org
* Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. To learn more about our programs or
Call:(917)336-1254
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:
twitter.com/BrooklynPaper
Local TV and film production company, Broadway Stages, has spread holiday
cheer to thousands of North Brooklyn residents this holiday season.
To kick things off for the holidays, the company hosted the annual 94th Precinct
Community Council holiday party on December 8, at 100 Dobbin Street, which it
has sponsored for the last several years. Children and parents enjoyed arts & crafts,
danced to holiday music with Rudolph, Mrs. Clause, elves and a snowman, took in
a magic show and got their faces painted. Finally, every child got to meet Santa
Claus and choose from the hundreds of toys that were provided by Broadway
Stages, including games, Barbie’s, cars, basketballs and Marvel action figures.
Broadway Stages also provided catered food, including warm mac & cheese
with chicken nuggets and plenty of sweet treats, and of course, some cocoa to
warm everyone up during the holiday season.
Captain William E. Glynn of the 94th Precinct, Assemblyman Joe Lentol and CEO
of Broadway Stages Gina Argento were all in attendance.
On December 16, Broadway Stages was at it again, with their annual coat drive
at the 79th Precinct. The company collected brand new and lightly worn coats
to give away to local residents in need. They collected over 600 coats in all sizes
for all genders, which were given out at the 79th Precinct. Broadway Stages also
contributed coats to several other coat drives around Brooklyn, and handed coats
out in other locations around Brooklyn.
On December 26, in honor of Hanukah, Broadway Stages sponsored the menorah
lighting for Chabad of North Brooklyn on Bedford Avenue. The company has been
supplying lights for the menorah by the Williamsburg Hotel for the past decade,
but this year decided to sponsor the evening filled with singing, dancing, delicious
Hanukah treats, and of course the menorah lighting.
To wrap things up, the company purchased hundreds of toys that were donated
to the North Brooklyn Borough Patrol Sleigh Ride, which took place on December
21. The police handed out all of the gifts to ensure that thousands of children
throughout North Brooklyn received toys for the holidays. The company also
contributed to over a dozen other toy drives throughout the holiday season, in
total donating over 1,000 toys.
Broadway Stages believes that the collective efforts of community leaders,
businesses and volunteers make our neighborhoods stronger. The company looks
forward to continuing its tradition of giving back for many more years.
By Matt Tracy
Brooklyn Paper
Borough President Eric
Adams went on a bizarre rant
at the opening of the city’s
first affordable housing development
for LGBTQ seniors
on Dec. 17, when he invoked
slavery, and predicted that incoming
residents would clash
with locals at a nearby public
housing complex.
“I think about Frederick
Douglass and the conversation
about fighting for
the independence of America,”
Adams said. “He said
‘the arrogance of that those
want me to fight for independence
when I’m still a slave.’
I can’t celebrate a building
that is not inclusive.”
The beep’s tirade — which
was heard via an audio recording
obtained by this paper’s
sister publication, Gay
City News — came during a
ribbon-cutting ceremony for
Stonewall House, a newlyerected
residential building
at 112 St. Edwards Street on
land that also contains NYCHA’s
75-year-old Ingersoll
Houses.
Stonewall House is now
Borough President Eric Adams (shown here at an
unrelated event) delivered some unexpected remarks
at the opening of an affordable housing development
for LGBTQ seniors on Dec. 17.
Photo by Donna Aceto
home to seniors 62 years and
older, 77 percent of whom are
people of color. All residents
have incomes below 50 percent
of the city’s area median
income, 25 percent of
the apartments were set aside
for formerly homeless seniors,
and 54 of the 145 units were
reserved for residents of NYCHA
or those on the waiting
list for city public housing.
At the opening, Adams
griped that he is “concerned
about the diversity” of the new
development.
“I don’t want to see beautiful
floors like this and lead
paint over there,” he said. “I
don’t want to see rodents over
there and comfort here.”
He did not mention that
many incoming residents
are arriving from NYCHA
apartments.
Less than 60 percent of the
residents of Stonewall House
identify as LGBTQ, although
management did not — and
could not legally — screen
potential residents based on
sexual orientation and gender
identity, or ask for such information
on applications.
Adams also suggested that
the influx of new residents
into the neighborhood would
fuel problems with NYCHA
residents, saying, “If you have
a body of people over there
that feels as though this place
here is not for them, we are
going to have incidents in this
community that will be disruptive.”
The Beep’s tirade belies the
housing development’s very
high standard for inclusivity,
which has drawn support from
local tenant leaders, including
Ingersoll Houses Tenant Association
president Darold Burgess,
who spoke enthusiastically
about the social services
offered by SAGE. Furthermore,
hundreds of NYCHA
residents were consulted regarding
the project throughout
its multi-year stages of development.
The borough president’s
comments didn’t end there.
Adams, a former cop,
continued his us-versusthem
narrative, saying that
he “didn’t put on a vest for
22 years to protect the children
and families of this city
to watch us be divided.”
Several ceremony attendees
voiced concerns about the
potentially unsettling effect
the borough president’s warnings
about “disruptive” “incidents”
and division might
have had on Stonewall House
residents who were on hand
for the ribbon-cutting.
SAGE CEO Michael Adams,
when reached for comment,
reiterated the innovative
nature of the new building and
stressed that it “represents the
very best of what New York
City should be providing in
terms of inclusive housing and
providing services for low-income
New Yorkers.”
Adams did not return calls
seeking comment.
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
She has a plan for that
chicken!
A kind-hearted Park Sloper
rescued a wayward rooster she
discovered strutting along
Union Street on Thursday,
before sending her to live
on a farm in Vermont — but
not before she named the bird
Elizabeth Warr-hen!
Molly Sandley found the
chicken — which is male, despite
being named after the
female presidential candidate
— between Sixth and Seventh
avenues in Park Slope
at 6 pm.
Sandley scooped up the left
winger and took him home —
where she provided it with safe
haven in her bathroom, she
told the Brooklyn Paper.
“He was cold and very hungry,
but basically healthy,”
she said.
The Brooklyn bird hero kept
the the fancy Mottled Houdan
rooster in her bathroom overnight,
and got to work trying
to find his owners the next day
by posting signs around the
neighborhood and in online
social media groups.
But despite Sandley’s best
efforts, no owners came forward
to claim ownership over
Elizabeth Warr-hen.
Sandley’s adoption of
Warr-hen came as a relief for
the bird, who’s been spotted
waddling around the borough
for several days.
On Dec. 17, Fort Hamilton
residents uploaded a
video of the same breed of
chicken on the crime-reporting
app Citizen — five and a
half miles away from where
Sandley scooped him up two
days later!
“It’s the same chicken, but
very far away from that location!!
Omg. How did he get so
far?” Sandley wrote about the
Fort Hamilton rooster.
Park Sloper Molly Sandley
found a home for a
wandering chicken who
she named Elizabeth
Warr-hen.
Photo by Molly Sandley
Because of the bird’s long
time on the lam, Sandley decided
to give up on trying to
find his owner, and gifted
him to a friend who lives in
Vermont.
“Since he’s apparently been
out on the streets of Brooklyn
for at least three days and
he can’t get re-homed to any
of the local community gardens
since roosters aren’t legal
in the city, a friend in Vermont
has agreed to take him,”
she said.
Hopefully, the Elizabeth
Warr-hen’s new owner will
have the good sense to rename
the Brooklyn bird turned Vermonter
“Birdie Sanders” upon
his arrival to the Green Mountain
State.
Representatives of Massachusetts
Senator Elizabeth
Warren’s presidential
campaign did not respond
to requests for comment.
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
The city has declined to
bow to a list of demands that
Sunset Park Councilman Carlos
Menchaca laid down to secure
his approval for an application
to rezone Industry City
— increasing the lawmaker’s
resolve to vote down the controversial
rezoning scheme,
according to a top aide.
“It’s entrenching his skepticism
that the best thing that
could happen for the neighborhood
could happen through the
ULURP that kicked off in October,”
said Anthony Chiarito,
the councilman’s Director of
Communications.
Menchaca — whose support
is necessary for Industry
City’s rezoning application
to succeed — said he would
only approve the maker space’s
aggressive 12-year, $1 billion
expansion plan if Mayor Bill
de Blasio committed in writing
to provide funding for a
high school, affordable housing,
and tenant programs benefiting
Sunset Park residents.
However, in a Dec. 13 letter
from the Department of
City Planning, a rep for hizzoner
claimed that the city
would not provide the type
of fiscal support Menchaca
demanded in support of a private
development through the
city’s Neighborhood Development
Fund, a $1 billion
funding pool used to support
neighborhoods earmarked for
city-backed rezoning efforts,
such as the Gowanus Neighborhood
Plan being pushed
by the Department of City
Planning.
But Menchaca claims that,
whether public or private, the
Industry City rezoning would
have profound consequences
on the surrounding neighborhood
and that the city must
extend its support to Sunset
Park.
The letter comes nearly two
months after Industry City executive
Andrew Kimball submitted
the rezoning proposal
to the city, which kickstarted
the city’s seven-month land
use review procedure.
Prior to the application’s
submission to the
city, Menchaca announced
his conditional support of
the rezoning application, as
long as Kimball bent to his
demands. Menchaca requested
that Kimball eliminate hotels
from the application, limit retail
space, and hold off on submitting
the application to the
city until the mayor had promised
funding for local initiatives
and a group of residents
had formed a legally-binding
community benefits agreement,
among other asks.
Kimball initially said he
would bend to Menchaca’s
demands, only to submit an
application to the city on Oct.
28 that ignored many of the
lawmakers requests, prompting
the councilman to say he
would vote down the rezoning.
File photo
Councilman Carlos Menchaca’s
approval is critical
to the rezoning of
Industry City.
/animalleague.org
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/WheelsForWishes.org
/BrooklynPaper