🌱 Brooklyn Banks + Bed-Stuy Bus Fuss + The Green Knight Of Greenpoint

Hey, everybody! Carlie Houser here with your fresh copy of the Brooklyn Daily, full of everything you need to know about what's going on in town. Today you'll read about:

• Brooklyn Banks may finally be getting the attention it deserves 🛹
• MTA gets heat from Bed-Stuy residents over plans to change bus routes in the area
• A Brooklyn eco-warrior dies after decades of community activism

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But first, today's weather:

🌤 Times of clouds and sun. High: 42 Low: 34.

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Here are the top stories today in Brooklyn:

1. One of NYC's most famous skateboarding meccas could rise from the dead thanks to newly announced mayoral plans. Back in the 1980s, the grimy plaza under the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge would fill up with skateboarders after dark — the only time they'd have it to themselves. Enthusiasts from as far away as Japan and Australia would make pilgrimages to visit the nerve center, newcomers and pros alike. However, in 2010, Brooklyn Banks closed due to construction on the bridge. Now that the space is open again, skateboarding legend and champion of the sport Tony Hawk is leveraging the power of his nonprofit, The Skatepark Project, to make Brooklyn Banks an officially sanctioned skateboarding site. Thanks to Hawk, and a grass-roots movement that started three years ago, Brooklyn Banks has become part of a larger urban plan to turn the area under the Brooklyn Bridge into Gotham Park. Not only would the Gotham Park project preserve Brooklyn Banks as an official skateboarding destination, it would also feature basketball courts, playgrounds, art installations, and a pedestrian boulevard.

Subscription / The New York Times

2. Bed-Stuy residents aren't happy about MTA's plans to change major bus routes in the area. Five routes in Bed-Stuy are poised to change, but attendees at a community workshop to address the changes last week were focused mainly on changes to the B15 and B43 routes. The draft changes would remove buses from Tompkins and Lewis avenues and replace them with a shared stretch of Throop Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. Residents expressed concern that this change will create two transit deserts, each nearly a half-mile wide, on either side of the consolidated route. MTA's plans would make transportation for disabled people, seniors, and children in the area more difficult, and more dangerous: "We're rat infested. We're crime infested. And now we don't have the proper transportation," said resident Audrey Vaughn. "It's just not fair." To learn more about the MTA's proposed route changes, as well as how to participate in future community feedback workshops, visit the link below.

Patch

3. Greenpoint remembers a "fearless" environmental leader who died last week at the age of 94. Activist Irene Klementowicz passed away on Jan. 20 after a lifetime of championing important causes that affected her community. Klementowicz was one of the first passionate environmental activists in Greenpoint, a neighborhood greatly affected by its industrial history. In 1958, Klementowicz moved her four children to Greenpoint from The Bronx — there, she soon noticed a fine black dust on her family's clothes when she went to grab them from the line. Ever since, Klementowicz has been front-lining almost all major environmental charges in the neighborhood. "I can't even name anything in Greenpoint that she wasn't part of," said Laura Hoffman, a longtime Greenpointer and friend of Klementowicz. "She was involved with every and any environmental issue that you can name in Greenpoint, she was a part of, or spearheading the organizing for it." At the link below, read more about the life and legacy of Irene Klementowicz, a Brooklyn legend.

Brooklyn Paper

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Today in Brooklyn:

• Tour, Tasting, and Egg Cream Reception, Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, Today @ 1 - 2:30 p.m. | Details
• Australia Day Party, Isla & Co., Today @ 6 p.m. | Details
• Oyster & Mushroom Cooking & Cultivation, Brooklyn Grange [Navy Yard], Today @ 4 - 6:30 p.m. | Details
• Brooklyn Poets Friday Night Open, 14 Montague St., Today @ 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. | Details
• The Machine Stops, The Mark O'Donnell Theatre at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center, Today @ 7:30 p.m. | Details

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🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:

• East New York's Fusion East Restaurant is bringing back live music: "The live music series was really taking off into high gear just before the pandemic hit us all, but this is the right time to bring it back," said Andrew Walcott, owner of Fusion East. "Just Another Band with Roy Bennett are always crowd favorites. Roy is amazing and he always brings a top-notch band with him." Visit the link for more. (eastnewyork.com)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll see you around!

— 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