Community Corner
🌱 7th Grade Scientists + The Mayor's Historic Budget + Ruth's Refuge
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Brooklyn.
Hello again, everybody! Carlie Houser here with your fresh copy of the Brooklyn Daily, filled with all the local information you need to know right now. In this issue, you'll learn about:
- Brooklyn 7th graders get innovative on the playground
- Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a record high budget for next year
- A Jewish nonprofit offers refugee aid in the form of furniture
But first, today's weather:
☁️ Breezy and colder. High: 39 Low: 31.
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Here are the top stories in Brooklyn today:
1. At a Brooklyn junior high school, 7th graders are helping NASA scientists gather climate information. Sarah Slack is a science teacher at J.H.S. 223, and in her classroom lab has built a living ecosystem full of plants, fish, and edible greens. Slack tasked her students with measuring the temperatures of various surfaces and materials on their playground — pavement, concrete, dirt, and grass — with the intention of uploading her students' findings to a database that NASA scientists can access. Slack's students knew that pavement would be easy to find and measure, and grass probably more difficult to come by, but they might not have realized what these truths signal about climate and temperature regulation in their area. In fact, the neighborhood in Borough Park where J.H.S. 223 is has been ranked high on its "heat vulnerability" index — the neighborhood is an example of what scientists call an "urban heat island." Researchers have found that low-income areas are more likely to be urban heat islands because they lack lush greenery, lawns, and parks — all surfaces that cool down quickly, unlike the pavement at. J.H.S. 223. As an educator, Slack hopes that teaching her students to think like scientists can be a catalyst for change right in this neighborhood.
2. Despite announcement of a record-high $102.7 billion budget for 2024, Mayor Eric Adams gets criticism from peers for cutting back. On Thursday, Adams unveiled the city's 100-billion-dollar budget for 2024 in a 20-minute speech that left the nitty-gritty details for another day. The main takeaway was that, despite the whopping price tag, the proposed number signposts as "a bare-bones budget with a few new investments in services." Adams said that as mayor, it's his responsibility to streamline spending given the anticipated fiscal challenges ahead — the growing asylum seeker crisis and economic slowdown, to name a couple. Controversy over those cuts reemerged hours before Adams put forward his preliminary plan, as Council leaders like Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation) and finance chair Justin Brannan argued that the mayor's conservative projection undermines the city's health, safety and recovery, as well as offers a "false choice" between cuts to city agencies or cuts to nonprofit funding. In a preemptive retort, the mayor said in his speech, "I know there would be those who say we should do things differently... that we should extend ourselves further, save less and spend more. But, as mayor, the buck stops with me: it's my responsibility to keep our city on a stable path."
3. A Jewish nonprofit in Crown Heights is supporting refugees by helping them furnish their homes. Ruth's Refuge is helping the city's refugee community jumpstart their new lives by filling their homes with essential comforts. The nonprofit emerged from a task force at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope that started in 2016 as a response to an influx of refugees fleeing Syria. Since then, they've acquired a volunteer base of 120 and three full-time staff dedicated to meeting the needs of thousands of refugees who arrive to NYC's shores. Just last year, Ruth's managed to furnish over 100 households — that's more than $150,000 worth of home goods and furnishings, the majority of which were accumulated from individual donations. At the links below, read more about Ruth's Refuge and stories from some of the folks they've helped, and donate to the cause if you can!
JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency / Donate Now To Ruth's Refuge
Today in Brooklyn:
- STREET / ART Brooklyn Gowanus Art Walk, Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Boathouse, Today @ 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. | Details
- Brooklyn Wine Fest, City Point BKLYN, Today @ 1 - 4 p.m. | Details
- In Person Cooking Class [Ages 4-16], Speakitaly NYC Brooklyn, Today @ 2 - 3:30 p.m. | Details
- Launch Party Comedy Show, Starr Bar, Today @ 6:30 p.m. | Details
- [Free!] House Party Cafe Comedy, 1178 Bushwick Ave., Today @ 7 & 9 p.m.| Details
🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:
- A Deli is Park Slope shames shoplifters with 'Thieves of the Week' video: "I think now everyone learned their lesson, and hopefully they don't do it again," said store owner Majeed Elbahri. "But if they do it again, of course, I'm going to put it back, thieves of the week. Because they have to be embarrassed about it." (NBC New York)
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That's it for today! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow with your next update.
— Carlie Houser
About me: I'm a recent grad based in Brooklyn, NY. I love to write, run, read, and find new restaurants and venues around the city.
Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Brooklyn Daily? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com
