YEAR IN REVIEW
oral candidate Andrew Yang
held a press condference at
Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza to
criticize his one-time opponent
Eric Adam’s use of parking
placards to allow his staff
to park in illegal spots in the
park. Yang never specifi cally
mentioned the borough president,
despite using his offi ce
as the press conference’s backdrop—
claiming the location
was chosen to support Councilmember
Steven Levin’s bill
to curb illegal parking.
Classic chophouse Gage
& Tollner fi nally opens in
Downtown Brooklyn: The
highly-anticipated reopening
of the famed Downtown
Brooklyn steakhouse Gage
and Tollner arrived in April
— 13 months after its relaunch
was postponed due to the rise
of the pandemic in March
2020. A trio of Brooklyn-based
restauranteurs restored the
nearly 150-year-old chophouse
that opened in 1879 serving
ritzy Brooklynites.
Judge lifts temporary
restraining order on Gowanus
rezoning: The highly
controversial Gowanus rezoning,
which would make way
for some 8,000 units to be built
along the toxic Gowanus canal,
was allowed to move forward
under public review in
April, when a judge lifted a
temporary restraining order
on the project. The plan had
been held up in a monthslong
court battle over the legality
of virtual public hearings
amid the pandemic.
Hundreds join demonstration
COURIER LIFE, DEC.4 31, 2021-JAN. 6, 2022
celebrating Chauvin
conviction: Hundreds
gathered outside of the Barclays
Center to celebrate the
conviction of Derek Chauvin,
the Minnesota police offi cer
who killed George Floyd in
Spring 2020. The crowd paled
in comparison to the thousands
that marched in the
streets after Floyd’s death, but
the protestors expressed relief
in April that a fi rst step towards
justice wass served.
Mayor announced composting
will resume after
nearly yearlong pause:
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
at an April press conference
that the city composting
program will resume in
the fall after nearly a yearlong
pause due to budget cut onset
from spending during the
Covid-19 pandemic. New Yorkers
who are interested had
to re-enroll for the program
through the online portal.
City starts construction
on long-awaited 50 Kent
park in Williamsburg: The
city Parks Department started
building Willamsburg’s soonto
be newest park at 50 Kent
Avenue in late April. The space
one home to a manufactured
gas plant will soo be a 2-acre
lawn opened next spring.
MAY
Bay Ridge tortoise makes
safe return home: A tortoise
residing in the rolling hills
of Bay Ridge safely returned
home to her family after a 10-
day journey to the far-away
isle of Staten. Doris, a brown
African Leopard Tortoise escaped
from her home when the
gate was left open for only 20
minutes, and was found when
a concerned Staten Islander
thought the reptile escaped
from the Staten Island Zoo.
Subways return fulltime
to the city that never
sleeps: Around-the-clock subway
service resumed in mid-
May after closing throughout
the pandemic in the early
hours of the morning to clean
the trains. While the subways
still operated through the
rails when overnight service
was paused, commuters were
not allowed to ride.
Two Charged for killing
1-year-old at playground:
Two suspects were charged for
the 2020 murder of 1-year-old
Davell Gardner at a Bedford-
Stuyvesant playground. The
charges were part of a 63-count
indictment that named 18 members
of the Hoolie Gang.
Brooklyn cop shot three
times in Bedford-Stuyvesant
survives: A cop from the
81st Precinct survived a brush
with death after he was shot
three times when stopping a
26-year-old near Saratoga Park
in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The
suspect also fi red at the offi -
cer’s two colleagues when they
approached him about acting
suspiciously near the park.
Brooklynites rally
A Bay Ridge family was reconnected with their beloved runaway tortoise in May (left), subway service was
restored to 24 hours each day in May (middle), and former mayoral candidate Andrew Yang blasted now-Mayorelect
Eric Adams over placard abuse in April (right).
Continued on page 6
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