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Community Corner

🌱 Mothers Against Masking + ISIS Sniper + BK's Job-Making Tortilleria

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Brooklyn.

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Hey, friends. It's Friday in Brooklyn and I'm back in your inbox with everything you need to know about what's happening in town. In today's Daily, you'll find news about these stories and more:

  • The city investigates how exactly taxpayer's money is being used in private yeshivas school
  • Brooklyn father turned ISIS sniper exposed in federal court footage
  • Two mothers field legal attack against BK school district for enforcing masks

But first, today's weather:

☀️ Sunny, windy and colder. High: 31 Low: 10.

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Here are the top stories in Brooklyn today:

1. NYC has barred education firms serving primarily private yeshiva schools amidst fraud allegations. Twenty companies, all with connections to executive Martin Handler, have been barred from offering their services after Handler was arrested last month for stealing millions of dollars in public funding intended to pay for early education for low-income children. The companies whose business has been temporarily halted together received $60 million last year to provide special education, all of them primarily to Jewish private schools (yeshivas) in "fervently religious" Hasidic communities. Handler's indictment has spurred a serious of investigations into education providers in Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic communities — one Times report found that close to $1 billion in taxpayer's money went to scores of Hasidic boys' yeshivas across Brooklyn, despite the schools' failure, in recent years, to provide a basic secular education. Learn more at the link below.

Subscription / The New York Times

2. A new video was played in federal court exposing the tactics of a Brooklyn resident turned ISIS sniper. Naturalized U.S. citizen Ruslan Asainov, 46, became a "warrior, sniper and sniper trainer" for the jihadis in 2013 when he left his wife and child in Brooklyn and made his way to Syria via Turkey. In federal court on Wednesday, prosecutors presented a wealth of evidence against the ISIS sniper trainer, including video footage that showed Asainov breaking down the theory behind his unique approached to weaponry and shooting instruction. Jail officials also said they had difficulty confiscating a small makeshift ISIS flag from Asainov's cell: "What's the big deal? It's mine. It's religious. It has to do with my religion," he asked the official at the time. In fact, religion is at the heart of Asainov's defense case — according to his lawyers, the accused only went to Syria because "he wanted to live as a devout Muslim under Sharia law."

Subscription / New York Daily News

3. New mothers have accused a Brooklyn school district for 'emotional distress' caused by an enforced mask mandate. Riverhead Central School District has come under fire at the hands of mothers Monique Parsons and Jennifer Venth who claim their children experienced emotional distress induced by face covering rules at Pulaski Street School and Riverhead Middle School. Their indictment alleges that the children could not "medically tolerate" the masks they were forced to wear at school, masks they should not have needed in the first place because they had not been diagnosed with COVID-19. They also claimed that the masks were not fit for children, that they were faulty, and that the use of mandates were "cruel, unusual, and illogical." The mothers and their lawyers claim that the school district's mandates were never intended to further public health but were rather an imperious tactic enforced by "bullies with degrees."

Fox News

Today in Brooklyn:

  • Mommy & Me Cooking Class — Potato Gnocchi, Speakitaly NYC Brooklyn, Today @ 10 - 11 a.m. | Details
  • Free Vinyasa Yoga, Major R. Owns Health & Wellness Community Center, Today @ 2 - 3 p.m. | Details
  • Family Movie Night: "Night at the Museum II," Park Slope Library, Today @ 3:30 p.m. | Details
  • Industry City Ice Rink, Industry City Courtyard 56, Today @ 4 - 8 p.m. | Details
  • Prospect Park Board Gaming Club, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Today @ 6 p.m. | Details

🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:

  • Get movin' and groovin' at BATM! Black-owned roll skating business The Roller Wave is one of BK's latest pop-up experiences: "The business is set to open a 9,000-square-foot rink in Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal Mall to celebrate the influence of Black culture on the historic rise of Brooklyn's roller disco scene. The celebration begins on Feb. 11 and continues until June 4." (AMNY)
  • 🌮 The governor makes a delicious announcement: A tortilleria is opening in Brooklyn, as "Gov. Kathy Hochul today announced the completion of Tacombi's new food manufacturing facility at The Whale Building in Sunset Park...Tacombi has committed to creating at least 90 new full-time jobs as part of this expansion, supported by up to $1 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits from Empire State Development." Read more at the link! (ny.go)

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You're all caught up for today! I'll see you 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 Daily? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

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