Brooklyn’s biggest stories of the week: eight people died when a building collapsed in Flatbush; Brooklyn Prospect High School opened its new Downtown Brooklyn campus above Macy's; a fundraiser for four Bay Ridge children who lost both parents; Brooklyn Children’s Museum got $7 million for an earth science garden; Brooklyn Public Library announced a new Sheepshead Bay Library; and NAKO opened in Carroll Gardens.
A three-story building at 1321 Flatbush Avenue collapsed just after 4pm Wednesday, killing eight people, six adults and two children, and injuring 18, including four firefighters. The cause has not been determined; the Buildings Department and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office are investigating, and the city is inspecting about 100 construction sites linked to the companies behind the project next door at 2625 Bedford Avenue (amNY). The city lists ways to give and get help on its relief page. Our guide lists how to help families after the collapse.
A grand jury indicted Sayed Mohassib, 27, a teacher’s aide, on a second-degree murder charge in the October 30 stabbing of Katie Suarez on the Belt Parkway bike path in Bath Beach. She died November 3 (amNY).
The Council passed a bill on Thursday that stops companies from using New Yorkers’ personal data and algorithms to charge different customers different prices for the same goods or services. It also passed a full property tax exemption for the homes of permanently and totally disabled veterans (City Council).
Prospect Schools celebrated the opening of Brooklyn Prospect High School’s new campus on Thursday at 181 Livingston Street, with science labs, a library, a regulation-size gym and arts spaces. The free public charter school serves 965 students and plans to grow to more than 1,200 over three years (Prospect Schools).
More than 138,000 New York City public school students lived in temporary housing last school year, one in eight, according to an Advocates for Children report. Brownsville’s District 23 and Bushwick’s District 32 were among the districts named (Chalkbeat).
A GoFundMe is raising money for four siblings whose parents were killed in a car crash on November 7. The fund pays rent and basic needs so the children can stay together at home (our story).
Brooklyn Children’s Museum gets $7 million in state funding, announced October 30, to turn its courtyard into an Earth Science Garden, a year-round, hands-on learning space. The same state package gives HITN at the Navy Yard $5 million and BAM $2 million for repairs to its Peter Jay Sharp Building (Governor’s office).
Council Member Lincoln Restler visited on November 4 with a $475,000 check for Williamsburgh Library to fund an HVAC replacement and modernization. The branch, more than 100 years old, served more than 53,000 people in the first nine months of this year.
Brooklyn Public Library will build a new, permanent library at 2685 Coney Island Avenue to replace the Homecrest and Sheepshead Bay branches. It will be fully ADA-accessible and larger than either, and is expected to open in 2030 (BPL).
Cast members of “NCIS: New York” handed out free slices to veterans and active-duty service members at Prince Street Pizza in Carroll Gardens on Veterans Day, raising money for the American Red Cross (CBS New York).
A petition asks NYC Parks, the City Council and Community Board 6 to make permanent sports lighting at the newly renovated Red Hook athletic fields a capital budget priority, so they can be used after sunset (Change.org).
The rink at Domino Park in Williamsburg opened Monday and runs to February 21 (where to ice skate with kids).
Gap is now open on Level 1 of Atlantic Terminal, 139 Flatbush Avenue, with clothing for the whole family. Open Monday to Saturday 10am–8pm and Sunday 11am–7pm.
NAKO, the coffee and snacks cafe on Columbia Place in Brooklyn Heights, opened its second location at 385 Smith Street, at the corner of 3rd Street, on Wednesday (Instagram).
