🌱 Libraries Challenge Budget Cuts + Teacher Support + Fresh Frames

Hi all. I'm back with your fresh edition of the Brooklyn Patch newsletter. Here are all the things you need to know about what's happening in town, including...

• Pushing back against budget cuts, some of Brooklyn's most beautiful libraries are working to prove their worth.
• How Brooklyn schools are grappling with the reality of teacher mental health issues.
• A young eyewear designer (and medical assistant) puts in the work for her latest launch.

But first, today's weather: 🌨 Windy with snow and rain. High: 40 Low: 35.

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🗞 Top stories today in Brooklyn:

1. Amid funding cuts for parks and libraries, New York's readeries are working hard to show their value. Mayor Eric Adams is slashing the budget for parks ($46 million) and for libraries ($13 million this fiscal year, more than $20 million next) in a fiscal effort to regulate dining sheds which became a city staple during the pandemic. So, what do cuts like this mean for the city's libraries? Take the Brooklyn Heights branch, for example, whose beautiful architecture and bespoke furniture have made the three-story space a neighborhood hotspot for children and adults alike. The new library wouldn't have been possible without city funding, and the same goes for upgrades to other branches in Fort Green, Greenpoint, East New York, and Sunset Park. (Subscription/The New York Times)

2. A wave of teacher resignations in Brooklyn's charter schools' network has administrators scrambling to address their staff's mental health pose-pandemic. A new, experimental staff position has been introduced this year in charter schools around the borough: a social worker responsible for supporting educators. The experiment at Brooklyn Lab is part of a growing acknowledgment that many teachers are still struggling with mental health challenges three years into the pandemic and need more support — returning to full-time, in-person lessons has proven difficult as teachers and staff are still grappling with personal trauma and loss. According to a new study, educators "during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 reported higher levels of anxiety than any other profession, including health care workers." Now, schools and teachers' unions are going so far as to partner with healthcare organizations and teacher assistance programs to address a mental health crisis that's beginning to come into focus. (Chalkbeat New York)

3. A 27-year-old designer from Canarsie is making glasses cool again. Kadayalee Washington is putting 80-hour weeks into her eyewear company Kleechi, all while maintaining a full-time job as a medical assistant. “I’m in my Steve Jobs phase,” she told Brooklyn Reader, referring to the endless to-do list familiar to any 21st-century entrepreneur. Washington cuts down on advertising costs by being her own "walking billboard," donning Kleechi eyewear styles as the centerpiece of her everyday outfits. Most recently, Washington launched her mythology-inspired collection, "Rise of the Sun," which features the vermillion red frames she's wearing at the link, among others — all frames can be swapped for prescription lenses. The launch kicking off with a marketing event at Carver Federal Savings Bank on April 28, in Crown Heights. (Brooklyn Reader)

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📆 Today in Brooklyn:

• Celebrate Pi Day with an introductory fusing lesson taught by Kelsie McNair at UrbanGlass (6:00 PM)
• Carroll Hall is putting on Flower Power Comedy Hour hosted by Rachel Kenaston and Heather Denae (7:00 PM)
• Meet some fellow game-changers at the Big Professional Networking Affair at The Williamsburg Hotel (7:00 PM)
• You could meet 'the one' at Crystal Lake Brooklyn's speed dating event for singles ages 24 to 38 (7:00 PM)
• Don't miss The Moth (the ultimate battle of wits and words) today at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (7:30 PM)

🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:

• 💃 "On a recent Saturday at Silo, a new dance club in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an aerialist was dangling above the crowd, doing flips on a hula hoop in front of hundreds of people, while hypnotic house music boomed through the venue’s world-class sound system. It was 1 a.m. and the party was just getting started. Alex Neuhausen, a 39-year-old Jewish musician-turned-club owner, told the New York Jewish Week that this experience of starting the night well past most people’s bedtimes is inspired by Tel Aviv, the beachside Israeli city famous for its club culture." (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
• 🇳🇱 "Little Caribbean is home to one of the largest and most diverse Caribbean communities outside of the West Indies. Located on the corridors of Flatbush, Church, Nostrand, and Utica avenues, Little Caribbean contains dozens of restaurants, stores, cultural centers, and religious institutions, from Trinidadian bake shops to Jamaican churches [...] Shelley Worrell, the founder of caribBEING, led the initiative to designate the Little Caribbean neighborhood, helping compile and promote a list of Caribbean-owned businesses. Worrell, alongside program manager Kenya Cummings, collaborated with Untapped New York to curate this list of top spots throughout Little Caribbean for New Yorkers to explore!" (Untapped New York)
• 🐶 "Want to add to your family? Look no further than these Brooklyn animal shelters for a pet available for adoption. Many animal shelters in Brooklyn and environs are still working to find forever homes for dozens of cats, dogs and other adorable critters coming through." (Brooklyn Patch)
• ♻️ "Green Guerillas began in 1973 with a group of individuals who decided to turn vacant lots throughout New York City into community gardens. Since then, Green Guerillas has expanded into a nonprofit organization that has helped to cultivate more than 600 community gardens, and actively promotes youth leadership development and food and environmental justice." (NYC Food Policy Center)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning with another 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 Patch newsletter? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com