I love this story, reported by NY 1, about a transit worker who wrote a screenplay called,” Brooklyn’s Finest”, which is being made into a film with Richard Gere.

Now, Martin is watching his words being turned into a major Hollywood movie called “Brooklyn’s Finest.” The movie is not about transit workers, but about Brooklyn police officers, with a cast that includes by Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and Ethan Hawke.

“When they first told me about the guy, you know they were saying he was a transit worker, and he didn’t have a car. And he wrote this great script,” said the film’s director Antoine Fuqua. “And it just goes to show you, in Hollywood, you just never know. If somebody has a story to tell and a passion for it, and of course the skill to do it, then anything’s possible.”

Amazingly, Martin continued to work as a transit worker even after his screenwriting career took off. He switched to a job as a construction flagger, alerting trains to the presence of track workers, but would often sneak in time to write.

I apologize to anybody that was on the train that got a weird delay, but when I had an idea, I had an idea, and I just had to write it down,” said Martin. “So that train that wasn’t moving, that was me.

New York 1 reports that the baby kangaroo at the Prospect Park Zoo has been named Riley. Names were submitted online by Brooklyn residents and Riley got 208 votes.

Riley it is.

I guess the ease of 24-hour shopping on the Internet is causing retailers to change the way they do business. New York 1 reports that Macy’s won’t be closing until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

‘Tis the season when holiday shoppers rush around for that last-minute
gift, and stores are staying open longer to help them out.

This year, more and more stores are staying open 24 hours a day, right through Christmas Eve.

Macy’s Herald Square opened its doors at 7 a.m. Friday morning and won’t close again until 6 p.m. on the 24th.

Macy’s is also going ’round the clock in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island…

Read more at NY 1. 

This from NY 1:

More than 20 blocks of so-called prime real estate in the DUMBO section
of Brooklyn are one step closer to being off-limits to developers,
after the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to
designate the area as the city’s 90th historic district.

Ninety-one 19th and 20th century industrial buildings on and around
John, York, Bridge and Main Streets will be preserved, pending approval
from the City Council.

The Landmarks Preservation Commissioner says the area was essential
to Brooklyn’s rise as a major manufacturing center and was home to some
of America’s most important industrial firms.

This from NY 1:

Authorities are looking for two men they say posed as police officers
before robbing a home Sunday night on 17th Street in Brooklyn.

The victims told police that the robbers claimed to be police officers and asked to speak with one of the residents of the home.

Police say the robbers then displayed a gun, before making off with money and jewelry.

This from NY 1:

The Brooklyn Bridge’s necklace lights will soon be replaced with energy-efficient bulbs in an effort by the city to reduce carbon emissions.

The project is one of 132 short term initiatives announced by the city, aimed at reducing the city’s carbon footprint by 30 percent within the next ten years.

“We are not just planning something for the future, we are starting it and we are demonstrating that we can do something about it short term,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “And, you know, if you do a little bit each day after a period, you will look back and you will be shocked at just how far you have come.”

Other projects include putting energy efficient bulbs in 25,000 street lights and replacing police and fire emergency response vehicles with new hybrid SUVs.

This from NY1:

In an attempt to reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2017, the Bloomberg administration unveiled 132 short-term projects Wednesday aimed at reaching the goal.

Among those projects are replacing police and fire emergency response vehicles with new hybrid SUVs, and replacing the necklace lighting on the Brooklyn Bridge with more efficient lamps to reduce carbon emissions.

“We are not just planning something for the future, we are starting it and we are demonstrating that we can do something about it short term,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “You know, if you do a little bit each day, after a period you will look back and you will be shocked at just how far you have come.”

The Bloomberg administration is dedicating ten percent of the city’s energy budget, or $80 million, to the initiatives. A comprehensive long-term energy reduction plan is expected to be announced this summer.

This from New York 1:

Subway officials and workers issued dozens of safety recommendations Tuesday following two deadly accidents on the tracks earlier this year.

NYC Transit teamed up with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 to release 63 safety measures they say should be implemented. This comes in the wake of the April deaths of track workers Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin.

Government studies and employee input were considered in making the recommendations.
They include a streamlined flagging system and quieter machines so workers can hear incoming trains.

Labor officials say it’s already a good sign that the union and the agency were able to cooperate.

“The exercise was a joint exercise between labor and management, and the emphasis was on changing culture and behavior rather then ascribing blame,” said TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint.

Boggs was killed April 24th while crossing the tracks at Columbus Circle. Five days later, Franklin was killed by a G train in Brooklyn.

This from NY 1:

The man who orchestrated the Brooklyn Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles will be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Walter O’Malley was among five old-time baseball figures elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee Monday.

He assumed control of the Dodgers in 1950, and oversaw the development of a team that won four pennants and its first World Series soon after.

But O’Malley, who passed away in 1979, is best known for moving the team out west when he could not secure funding for a new stadium in Brooklyn.

Among the Brooklynites who are steaming over the news is Borough President Marty Markowitz. He says even 50 years later, the loss of the Dodgers is still a sore subject.

“This is the way the Baseball Hall of Fame shows respect to Brooklyn? I just would say ‘fuggetaboutit!'” said Markowitz. “The truth of the matter is that Robert O’Malley along with Robert Moses were the major reasons why our beloved team was taken out of Brooklyn, thereby hurting and breaking the hearts of Brooklynites for generations to come.”

As a compromise, Markowitz suggests that the Baseball Hall of fame also admit Gil Hodges, the Dodgers first baseman. Hodges hit at least 30 home runs for five consecutive seasons and played in six World Series with the Dodgers.

This from New York 1:

he Brooklyn Navy Yard will be adding four more acres onto its 300 acre
area as part of the greatest expansion there since World War II.

The project will happen through a process called dredging, where
silt and other sediments will be used to fill an unused basin off Kent
Avenue in Kimball.

Officials say the new land – in addition to an adjacent 12 acres
used by city agencies – will house space for industrial, commercial and
retail space, creating some 3,000 new jobs.

Earlier this month Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans for the
Brooklyn Navy Yard Historical Center, which will be housed in the U.S.
Marine Corps Commandant’s residence.

This from NY 1:

The city has agreed to hire an additional 1,300 teachers in order to cut class size in half across the city.

The deal, reached Monday, means the city will have one teacher for every 16 students.

The move follows a drawn out fight between the teachers union and
the schools chancellor. Chancellor Joel Klein had repeatedly said he
wouldn’t agree to a citywide cap on class size.

Senate Democrats pushed the measure.

“There are many inputs that make a difference. We think class size
is a uniquely important one, but we’re working with the mayor with the
chancellor to use the money wisely,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer.

The city plans to spend $258 million overall on reducing class
size, teacher training, additional classes and longer school day

.

Prospect Park Playground will be named for a Brooklyn police officer who was killed in the line of duty.
This from NY 1:

The city will dedicate Prospect Park playground to Officer Dillon Stewart at a ceremony Monday morning.

The five-year veteran of the force grew up in Brooklyn.

He was shot dead while trying to stop a car for a traffic violation in East Flatbush in November 2005.

Allan Cameron was convicted of killing Stewart.

He was sentenced to life without parole earlier this month.

This from NY 1:

Under the plan proposed by the mayor, Coney Island would be reborn
as a year-round destination with amusements and a comprehensive
rezoning of the neighborhood for new housing, hotels, stores and park
space.

“We all recognize that Coney Island just isn’t what it could be,”
said Bloomberg. “Its amusements haven’t kept pace with changing times
and tastes, and for much of the year, activity in the area lags badly.”

The plan calls for rezoning the northern end of Coney Island for
hotels, residential and retail space, and transforming the streetscape
on the west. On the east, the city wants to rezone 21 acres as
parkland, much of which is now privately owned. It would be designated
as a giant amusement park, with a looping, high-speed roller coaster
spanning the area.

The famed cyclone and the parachute jump, as well as the wonder wheel, would stay put.

The city says it is searching for a new developer to lease the
amusement area, challenging the role of current developer Joe Sitt of
Thor Equities. The city has blocked his mega-proposal because of
objections to his plans for time shares and luxury condos.

This from New York 1:

The Brooklyn Navy Yards will soon be transformed into a place to learn
about the neighborhood’s past, Mayor Michael Bloomberg formally
announced Wednesday.

Come 2010 the building, which once was a U.S. Marine Corps
residence, will be turned into a Historical Center in a $15 million
renovation project.

“We felt like the history of the navy yard and what’s going on
today needed to be better told,” says Brooklyn Navy Yard Development
Corporation president Andrew Kimball.

The center will pay tribute to the time between the early 1800s and the 1960s when the navy built ships at the Navy Yard.

There are also plans for an addition that would house non-profit organizations, and meeting rooms for local community groups.

"When this facility opens, we envision bus loads of kids coming
through our local partners – the Brooklyn Center for the Urban
Environment and the Brooklyn Historical Center – to learn about naval
history, the evolution of manufacturing technology, the integration of
our country’s workforce, today’s use of sustainable building practices
and what is fast becoming the nation’s greenest industrial park,” said
Andrew Kimball, president, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.

The Brooklyn Naval Yard Development Corporation has teamed up with
the Brooklyn Historical Society to oversee the creation of exhibits for
the center.

This from New York 1:

The polls are open for Election Day in New York, but with most of the
races to select judges and three District Attorney races on the ballot,
it’s shaping up to be a quiet one…

…As for City Council seats, two names New Yorkers heard a lot about
in the last special election are back to defend their seats. Republican
Vincent Ignizio is running unopposed and Brooklyn Democrat Mathieu
Eugene has to win again.

Eugene went through two special elections after questions were
raised about his residency status. Now, he’ll try to keep his seat,
which is being challenged by Republican Clarence John.

Polls will remain open until 9 p.m.

Since it’s Election Day, government offices and public schools are closed.

There is no garbage or recycling pick up or street cleaning and alternate side parking is suspended.

But mail delivery is on a regular schedule.

This from New York 1:

An informational meeting is being held for parents of students at a Brooklyn elementary school after a student was found to have contracted a drug-resistant staph infection.

A letter was sent home with students at P.S. 3 in Bedford-Stuyvesant yesterday, informing parents that a student at the school had MRSA – the same potentially deadly staph infection that took the life of a 12-year-old in Canarsie earlier this month. The school principal says she learned of the case Monday morning.

The letter says most cases of MRSA aren’t fatal, that the bug is treatable and preventable with frequent hand washing.

This from NY 1:

Police say a black administrator at Canarsie High School received a string tied into a hangman’s noose in the mail along with a letter containing racist remarks.

Police haven’t made any arrests and are continuing to investigate.

The hate crimes unit has their hands full with similar incidents across the city. Last week investigators said copycats are imitating the high profile Columbia University noose incident earlier this month.

In the wake of that incident, lawmakers in both in Albany agreed Monday to make it a felony to display a noose on public property.

This from NY 1:

Time is running out for homeowners and businesses to apply for disaster assistance to repair property that suffered tornado damage earlier this year.

The August 8th storm was particularly strong in Brooklyn and Queens.

FEMA officials say nearly 2,900 businesses and households in Brooklyn and Queens have applied for disaster assistance and over $5 million has already been doled out.

The deadline to register for aid is Tuesday, October 30.

For more information call 1-800-621-3362 or 1-800-462-7585

This from New York 1:

The City’s Economic Development Corporation has issued a
request for proposals for ferry service to the Williamsburg and
Greenpoint waterfront. The agency is currently reviewing the proposals.
New York Water Taxi is one company that wants in.

"The city provides a base level of operating subsidy. Together you
can make the system work, at a cost, that will bring people to the
water,” says New York Water Taxi President Tom Fox.

The Water Taxi already docks at the Schaefer Landing Condo Complex
in South Williamsburg and goes to Midtown and Wall Street. But there is
no city subsidy, so a one way ticket to Wall Street is $5.50, to East
34th Street is $4.50, compared to $2 for the subway. One rider says
it’s still worth the cost.

This from New York 1:

John Fox was convicted Friday of robbery and manslaughter as hate
crimes for his role in the death of Michael Sandy. The jury, however,
stopped short of a murder conviction.

Fox faces up to 25 years behind bars.

Sandy was hit and killed by a car last October while running away from Fox and several other suspects who were chasing him.

Prosecutors said the men used the Internet to lure Sandy to an
isolated parking lot near Sheepshead Bay with the promise of a sexual
encounter.

But when Sandy arrived he was attacked and chased onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck and killed by a car.

This from New York 1:

Drivers on the Manhattan Bridge got a pleasant surprise Monday morning
when the lower roadway reopened today, two weeks earlier than expected.

The reopened lanes will also benefit the upper roadway, which now
has the first regular carpool lane into Lower Manhattan over an East
River bridge. The carpool lane will be in effect weekdays between 6
a.m. and 10 a.m.

This from New York 1:

The Pacific walrus calf was born in June, weighing in at 115 pounds
at birth. His weight has more than doubled since then, making him
Brooklyn’s biggest baby.

"We are very fortunate that two of our walruses, male Ivek, 13
years old, and 13-year-old Kalusik, and who were rescued orphans from
Alaska, successfully mated last year,” said Hans Walters of the New
York Aquarium.

"Like a lot of Brooklyn babies, this little 269 pound walrus may
look cute now, but just wait until he’s a teenager, and weighs in at
1,000 pounds. Talk about a Brooklyn attitude, big time!” said Brooklyn
Borough President Marty Markowitz.

The baby hasn’t been named just yet. Instead, the public will get to choose one of four names from a Siberian language.

This from New York 1:

Two people were killed when they were crushed by a dump truck in Brooklyn early Wednesday morning.

The accident happened around 5:30 a.m. at Atlantic and Washington Avenues in Prospect Heights. Police say a dump truck jack knifed and tipped over on top of a car, crushing it.

The two passengers in the car were killed. No charges have been filed.

This from New York 1:

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to bestow
landmark status on the three connected buildings, which in their prime
produced three-million pounds of sugar a day.

The new status will most likely send the site’s owner, Community
Preservation Corporation Resources, back to the drawing board on their
plans to develop the area. The famous Domino sign would also be
integrated into the development.

The firm has said it does not see the need to save other buildings on the site.

This from New York 1:

MTA officials on Monday unveiled plans for their proposed fare hike,
including one scenario that sounded a lot like congestion pricing for
transit riders.

"The policy objective here is to try to spread the peak by getting
riders that have some flexibility in their schedule to shift,” said MTA
Chief Operating Officer Susan Kupferman of the proposal to raise fares
on the city’s subways and buses.

Under the plan, which was one of two options proposed, the cost of
a single ride would go up to $2.25. But by putting a minimum of $6 on a
MetroCard, straphangers could still ride for a discounted rate of $2 at
peak hours and an off-peak rate of $1.50.

This from New York 1:

Thousands of the city’s taxi drivers were expected to go on strike at 5 a.m. this morning, causing the city to implement a plan increasing taxi cab fares and encouraging group ridership.

Members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance have planned a 48-hour strike against the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s plan to place GPS tracking systems and credit card machines in their 13,000 cabs.

The city and the TLC say the technology will help passengers, but drivers are worried it will be used to monitor their whereabouts.

“Enough is enough,” said one cab driver. “We can’t take any more pressure. We don’t want any GPS.”

As part of the contingency plan, the city is encouraging group rides to and from LaGuardia and JFK airports, where people may be most affected by the strike. The city has also implemented new flat fares to those locations.

The following taxi fare changes were scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. unless the city deems the plan unnecessary:

Throughout the five boroughs, drivers will be required to pick up any additional passengers who are hailing them. All passengers will be subjected to the same zone charges.

Passengers will be charged $10 per person to take a cab within one zone. Passengers will be charged an additional $5 per each zone travelled through.

The zones are as follows:

Zone A – Manhattan – South of 23rd Street
Zone B – Manhattan – 23rd Street to 60th Street
Zone C – Manhattan – 60th Street to 96th Street
Zone D – Manhattan – North of 96th Street
Zone E – Brooklyn
Zone F – Bronx
Zone G – Queens
Zone H – Staten Island

Flat rate and zone charges include bridge and tunnel tolls.

These modified fares only apply to adults. Children under 12 years old traveling with adults are free.

This from New York 1:

A group that represents cab drivers is calling a strike this week over the city’s plan to make taxis more high-tech.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which claims thousands of
members, is set to announce a two-day strike beginning 5 a.m.
Wednesday.

The drivers are protesting new technology approved by the Taxi and
Limousine Commission, including a GPS tracking system and a television
monitor in the backseat. A credit card reader will also be installed –
which would charge drivers a 5 percent fee for transactions.

Drivers NY1 spoke with appear to be split on the idea of a strike.

"Very few people use the credit card in response to the cash or
credit option. Most people do the cash anyway,” said one driver. “It’s
miniscule, the 5 percent.”

“I’m going on strike because I’m just aggravated with Taxi and
Limousine Commission about this GPS,” said another. “We don’t need that
and it’s not fair."

The TLC says the technology is fair and part of deal made in 2004 when drivers got a 26-percent fare increase.

The city is downplaying the strike threat, and another drivers’
group, the Federation of Taxi Drivers, says its members will remain
behind the wheel.

From New York 1:

At St. Ephram’s Church in Brooklyn, the parish of Joseph Graffagnino’s
family, noon mass took place without their head usher, Graffagnino’s
father. Instead, the family spent the Sunday after Joseph’s death in
their home on 78th Street in Dyker Heights, where Pastor Donald Berran
consoled them before heading to the church.

“The family are hanging in there – they’re all together. It’s a
large family. They’re very close,” said St. Ephram’s Church Pastor
Donald Berran. “The mother told me she feels like she lost not just her
son, but her best friend. He was always there for her. He was always
sharing everything with her. They really are in shock right now.”

Pastor Berran says Monday would have been Joseph’s 34th birthday.
Now, family, friends and neighbors who grew up with the kid they knew
as "Joey" must prepare for his funeral.

“I just feel for the family now, you know. He’s in God’s hands, but
the family’s the ones that are going to feel it,” said neighbor Sonny
Soave.

New York 1 reports that the submarine was part of a an elaborate art project and not a stunt. Hey, what’s the difference?

Read an interview with the artist, Duke Riley, here.

This from New York One:

As of Sunday evening, the Coast Guard and the NYPD were still searching
for a man who fell off a tanker ship off the coast of Brooklyn Sunday
morning.

The incident happened at around 10 a.m. as the ship made its way to
the Ambrose Channel in Brooklyn, about 23 miles from the south end of
the borough.

Crew members were able to throw the man a life ring and they say he was wearing an inflatable vest.

Authorities have not disclosed the crewmember’s name, or how he fell of the ship.