🌱 Suitcase Homicide Ruling + Hasidic Safety Patrol Beating Verdict

Hello again, Brooklyn! I'm back in your inbox this morning with your new edition of the Brooklyn Daily. Here's everything you need to know about what's happening in town today, including...

• Suitcase homicide ruling
• Landlord busted for fatal fire
• A warm welcoming in Prospect Heights
• New eats ideas

But first, today's weather:

🌤 Times of clouds and sun. High: 72 Low: 54.

Here are the top stories today in Brooklyn:

1. A young woman's dismembered body parts were found in two suitcases in a Cypress Hills apartment last week along with a bloodied meat cleaver. The case has been ruled a homicide after authorities confirmed the cause of death was two stab wounds. The victim, believed to be a resident of the building (to be confirmed), was abused repeatedly by her boyfriend — a number of times in public, witnessed by other residents of the building — and was looking for a way out, sources say. The 21 year old had received death threats from her boyfriend in the past, according to building residents, and he fled the scene when police arrived last week. He is still at-large, and a warrant is out for his arrest.

Subscription / New York Daily News

2. In 2013, a Black, gay Brooklyn man was partially blinded from what he claims was a severe beating received from members of a Hasidic safety patrol in Williamsburg. Almost a decade later, Taj Patterson has been awarded $4.5 million by a judge — court records show the safety patrol and each of the five individual defendants stopped responding to the lawsuit and were found in default — defined by court officials as “an official court decision in favor of one side when the other side does not answer or go to court on the court date.” And while the Hasidic Safety Patrol was able to raise funds for its defense, the problem will be coming up with the funds granted Patterson some nine years later. In 2015, the patrol let courts know they were not insured.

Subscription / New York Daily News

3. Brooklyn landlord gets 6 months in jail following a fatal space heater fire. The landlord had stopped paying heating bills in his "death trap" apartment building, forcing residents of 1776 Nostrand Ave. in East Flatbush to resort to using space heaters in their units during the winter of 2019. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun called the blaze an "absolute disaster waiting to happen." The fire made eight adults and five children run for their lives and took the life of Jean Yves Lalanne who died from his fall when he tried to escape the building through his window. The landlord was recently charged with criminally negligent homicide.

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4. Prospect Parks High School opens its arms to asylum seekers with warmth and welcome. Due to the exponential uptick in numbers, families seeking asylum are facing extreme resource deficiencies at underfunded emergency shelters. The Sarah Smith Garnet School in Prospect Heights decided to do something about it: they found out 25 students who had recently arrived from Venezuela would be enrolling at the elementary school and worked on ways to support their families. PTA president Jessica Flores, councilwoman Crystal Hudson and her colleague Chi Ossé have enlisted help from the community to raise money, compiled lists of needed items, and donate dinners to these families.

Brooklyn Paper

5. NYC's Test & Treat Corps have announced its At-Home Test Distribution Program for COVID-19 testing. TTC has distribution sites in over 90 percent of NYC zip codes, and their new at-home testing program will distribute 60 million tests at thousands of sites across the city. Learn more at the link about how you get yours.

NYC Health + Hospitals

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Today in Brooklyn:

• 🚴‍♀️ Weekly Morning Ride, Grand Army Plaza, Today @ 7:30 a.m. | Details
• 💚 Greenmarket, Bartel-Pritchard Square Greenmarket, Today @ 8 a.m. | Details
• Movies @ Gerritsen: "Coming 2 America," 10 Grand Army Plaza, Today @ 1 p.m. | Details
• 🎨🍻Drink & Dye (aka Tie Dye & Craft Beer), Finback Brooklyn, Today @ 6 p.m. | Details

🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:

• 🎊 Patti Smith is celebrating her 76th birthday at Brooklyn Steele. For those interested, tickets go on sale this Friday, Sept. 30. (Relix)
• $4.9 million gut-renovated brownstone is on the market in Brooklyn. “I looked at a lot of fully designed, gut-renovated brownstones in the Brooklyn area,” said project designer Ann Dai. “I’ve never seen something that truly appealed to my design sensibilities and so that’s what I set out to create — something that was very thoughtful from a design perspective. We moved a lot of walls. We wanted to make every space feel very functional, so we weren’t above taking a bedroom and making it a bathroom to create a perfect spa experience.” (Mansion Global)
• 🍏 Get inspired! Vegan eating is one of the best planet-helping habits but coming up with meal ideas can be tricky. At the link, check out ten of the best vegan restaurants in New York City to get your palate thinking. (Brightly)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Seven Acres Montessori Virtual Admissions Event (September 29)
• Van Alen Block Party (October 1)
• The Evil Queen's Halloween Drag Brunch: NYC / Brooklyn / Bushwick (October 2)
• Regina Opera — Autumn Concert (October 2)
• Greene Hill Grows: A Place for Families (October 4)
• 8th Annual ENY 5K (October 8)
• Add your event

Housing:

• Beautiful 1 bedroom apartment (Details)
• Add your listing

You're officially in the loop for today. I'll see you soon!

— 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