NEWS STORIES OF 2020
COURIER LIFE, DECEMBER 25-31, 2020 3
fatally struck two children
and injured three others in
Park Slope in 2018. Despite being
signed into law by Mayor
de Blasio, the program was
not funded in the 2021 budget
due to coronavirus-related
budget craters, and currently
remains in limbo.
MARCH
First coronavirus case
and death: The severity of
coronavirus pandemic began
to hit home in early March
when the fi rst fi rst Kings
County case was confi rmed
on March 5, and the fi rst death
in Brooklyn was confi rmed on
March 14, when an 82-year-old
advanced emphysema patient
in Bushwick passed away.
Road rage leads to fatal
shooting in Park Slope:
A gunman shot a 31-year-old
man to death in broad daylight
in Park Slope during a
fi t of road rage. First responders
found the bloodied man inside
his car, just steps from PS
321, with multiple bullet holes
littering the windshield. The
victim later died at Methodist
hospital, and police have not
yet found the shooter.
Brooklynites foster pets
en masse amid COVID-19
outbreak: Pent-up Brooklynites
started fostering fourlegged
friends en masse during
the COVID-19 quarantine, with
some Kings County shelters
having to turn away some furcrazy
would-be pet owners due
to the high demand.
Ample Hills fi les for bankruptcy:
Prospect Heights-born
Ample Hills Creamery fi led
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on
March 15. Shortly after selling
the bankrupt creamery to
an Oregonian manufacturer
in June, its husband-and-wife
founders announced they were
leaving the company. Schmitt
Industries closed the $1 million
purchase of the chain on
July 10 and promised to keep
open the scoop shop’s 13 locations
and Red Hook factory.
APRIL
Coney Island Hospital
workers given one face mask
per week: Emergency room
workers at the city-run hospital
in southern Brooklyn said
that they were given only one
face mask per week and little
to no other protective gear
while COVID-19 was spiking.
Some healthcare workers
claim they had to come
in even when they didn’t feel
well, because of the increase
in patients.
Woman arrested for killing
elder over social distancing:
Cops collared a Crown
Heights woman for manslaughter
after she allegedly
shoved an 86-year-old woman
for not keeping a distance of
six feet at Woodhull hospital.
The victim hit her head on the
ground and later died inside
the hospital.
Non-binary political candidates
sue Brooklyn Dems:
A group of non-binary political
candidates sued the Brooklyn
Democratic Party and the
city’s Board of Elections because
their ballot petitions
only allowed for male or female
gender designations, demanding
the party drop gender parity
rules originally intended
to bring more women into the
political sphere. The judge
tossed the petition on a technicality
later that month, but the
action prompted Democratic
Party Boss Rodneyse Bichotte
to convene a task force to address
the gender issues.
Park Slope do-gooders
pay for hospital staff meals
at local bagel shop: Healthcare
workers in Park Slope
were welcomed to stop by La
Bagel Delight for a free meal
paid for by good samaritans
who wanted to pay it forward at
a time when hospitals were taking
in patients at overwhelming
rates. The idea began after
one generous community
member called the Seventh
Avenue bagel shop — located
across the road from Brooklyn
Methodist Hospital — and
asked if they could foot the bill
for a delivery of food to fi rst responders
and healthcare workers
across the street.
Brooklyn cemeteries
struggle to keep up as
COVID-19 deaths mount:
Cemeteries across the borough
struggled to keep up with
the substantial increase in
deaths due to the COVID-19
pandemic, which prompted
an influx of burials and cremations.
Some cemetery operators
started limiting the
number of graveside attendants
for ceremonies, while
others advised people to
stream services online in order
to stem soaring coronavirus
infection rates.
Gov. Cuomo declares Ltrain
shutdown/slowdown
over: After more than a year
and regular closures, the
MTA’s extensive repairs of the
L-train tunnel between Brooklyn
and Manhattan fi nished
months ahead of schedule and
under budget. The Superstorm
Sandy repairs were originally
slated to close down the busy
line for 15-months, earning it
the nickname “L-pocalypse,”
but Cuomo intervened at the
eleventh hour with a team of
experts and an alternative
plan requiring only partial
closures, mostly on nights and
weekends.
MAY
Over 200 arrested as protesters
clash with police over
George Floyd killing: The
end of May marked the start
of the protests in reaction to
the killing of George Floyd,
a Black man whom a Minne-
Continued on page 4
(Clockwise from above) A woman
receives a test for COVID-19 (top
left), Huck was one of hundreds
of shelter pets who were fostered
as Brooklynite hunkered down
in April, and a drag race led to a
multi-car pileup on Fifth Avenue in
Park Slope in Febuary..