2019 REVIEW
ties, where nearly 300 people
fell ill. The mayor’s statement
required residents of four Williamsburg
zip codes to seek
vaccination or alternately
face Department of Health violations
and fi nes costing as
much as $1,000 per unvaccinated
person.
Steely span: Brooklyn
Bridge Park honchos unveiled
renderings in April that show
the future of the embattled
Squibb Bridge. The span, connecting
Brooklyn Heights to
the waterfront lawn will one
day be reborn as a sturdy steel
pathway, with a $6.5 Million
price tag. The steel rebirth of
the walkway will be just another
chapter in its long, expensive
saga. The old wooden
bridge, which cost taxpayers
$4 Million and was long offlimits
for safety concerns,
was demolished in October
to make way for its hopefully
safer second coming.
May
Rest in peace: Former
Sheepshead Bay Councilman
Lew Fidler died on May 5 at
the age of 62. The longtime
Democratic political operative,
who represented Bergen
Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Marine
Park, Mill Basin, and Canarsie
in Council from 2002
until 2013, was found unconscious
in Queens on May 4,
and died of natural causes, according
to the medical examiner.
Disgraced: A federal judge
sentenced State Sen. John
Sampson (D–East Flatbush) to
fi ve years in prison for stealing
$440,000 while working as
a court-appointed referee for
foreclosure proceedings. The
senator, who was found guilty
for embezzling the money in
2015, had served as the senate
minority leader and chairman
of the Ethics Committee
New face: City Councilwoman
Farah Louis won the
special election for the southern
Brooklyn council seat vacated
by Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams on May 14.
Louis — who served as Williams’
deputy chief of staff for
six years but was passed over
for his endorsement— took
home 42 percent of the vote
against two other candidates,
Monique Chandler-Waterman
and Silvia Hinds-Radix.
No shelter: Park Slope
residents reacted with fury to
COURIER LIFE,4 DEC. 27, 2019-JAN. 2, 2020
plans for a new homeless shelter
that would serve families
on Fourth Avenue at a meeting
in May. Locals shouted
down and booed city offi cials
and nonprofi t shelter operators,
who they accused of bailing
out developers with pricey
city contracts. Many Slopers
expressed concern about the
shelter affecting property
values in the ritzy, liberal
neighborhood, leading some
to accuse them of being fauxprogressives.
Toxic tides: Toxic bluegreen
algae infested Prospect
Park in late May, forcing locals
to take extra precaution
to avoid the hazardous material
— which can give you a
rash, and even kill furry canines,
according to offi cials
with the State Department
of Environmental Conservation.
This infestation marked
the fi fth consecutive summer
that the algae was spotted in
Brooklyn’s Backyard. The
substance lives relatively dormant
in Prospect Park Lake
during most of the year, but
blooms during the summer
— causing a blue-green tint to
appear on the water’s surface.
No-moratorium: Utility
company National Grid instituted
a months-long moratorium
on new gasoline customers
in Brooklyn, Queens, and
parts of Long Island in May
after state regulators nixed a
plan to build a massive pipeline
off the coast of Coney Island.
Hundreds of customers
were left without gas — including
would-be businesses
that couldn’t open — because
of the power struggle between
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
administration and the British
based utility, which operates
under a state-granted
monopoly. National Grid eventually
caved, agreeing to hook
up new customers in late November
— and pay a hefty fi ne
to affected businesses.
June
LaBelle of the ball: Legendary
gospel singer Patti La-
Belle kicked off Bric Celebrate
Brooklyn! at the Prospect
Park Bandshell on June 4. Locals
waited in massive lines
to catch the iconic American
singer’s concert — which was
the fi rst in the series of summer
concerts hosted by the organization,
and was attended
by a number of high-profi le
politicos, like Councilmembers
Brad Lander and Laurie
Cumbo, and First Lady Chir-
Continued from Page 3
Continued on Page 6
Legendary gospel queen Patti LaBelle opened the 2019 season of Celebrate
Brooklyn in Prospect Park. Photo by Trey Pentecost
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