2 APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
BED-STUY SEX OFFENDER
SENTENCED FOR 2016 RAPE
A 54-year-old registered Level 3 sex offender
has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for
sexually assaulting a woman as she walked home
from a Bushwick subway station.
At around 2:45 a.m. on August 16, 2016, the
victim, 27, exited the Kosciuszko Street subway
station when 54-year-old Michael Mann of Bed-
Stuy grabbed her from behind, placed a knife to
her back, demanded money and threatened to stab
her. The woman gave Mann $5 and offered him the
rest of her belongings, at which point he cut her
clothing with a knife and raped her.
Mann also told the victim that he knew where
she lived and would kill her if she called the police.
Mann was arrested on August 17 after officers
responded to a dispute and recognized him from
the rape victim’s sexual assault report. His DNA
matched that which was recovered from the
victim.
POL LOOKS TO CRACK
DOWN ON TEXTING AND
WALKING
Assemblymember Felix Ortiz on Wednesday,
April 11 introduced legislation to amend the state’s
vehicle and traffic law to prohibit pedestrians from
using portable electronic devices while crossing
the street.
Banned devices would include anything with
mobile data access, as well as laptops, pagers, electronic
gaming systems and, of course, cellphones.
The pol cited statistics which claim texting takes
away from alertness, as well as the National Safety
Council’s recent determination that injuries from
smartphone use have increased from roughly 500
a year in 2000 to more than 2,000 in 2011. 2017, he
said, saw nearly 6,000 pedestrian deaths due to
“distracted walking.”
'NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING'
COMING TO R LINE
The NYPD announced on Thursday, April 12
that Neighborhood Policing – the department’s
new crime-fighting strategy which mirrors the
old beat cop and emphasizes crime reduction and
collaborative problem solving within communities
– will expand into the city’s subway system
beginning with one transit district in Brooklyn
and another in the Bronx.
The program will begin in districts 12 and 30.
District 30 covers Brooklyn stations along the 2,
3, 4, 5, A, C, B, D, Q, F, G and R lines.
The NYPD began rolling out its Neighborhood
Policing program in 2015. The program will be
coming to the 62nd Precinct later this month, and
to the 68th early this summer.
—Meaghan McGoldrick
Stakeholders testify during
Boardwalk landmarking hearing
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.
COM
Brooklynites testified on
Tuesday, April 17 in hopes of
convincing the Landmarks
Preservation Commission (LPC) to
designate the Coney Island Riegelmann
Boardwalk – first opened in
1923 – a scenic landmark.
During the hearing – held at
commission’s headquarters, 1
Centre Street in Manhattan, at
9:30 a.m. – LPC heard heartfelt
and well-prepared testimony on
the proposed designation.
The hearing itself came on
the heels of pressure from local
stakeholders, elected officials
and residents alike.
“I am emphatically in favor of
this proposed landmark. The
Riegelmann Boardwalk is vital
to the communities I represent,
serving as the neighborhood’s
connective tissue, unifying
attractions, businesses and
residents,” said Councilmember
Mark Treyger at the hearing.
“Beyond that, landmarking the
Boardwalk will help preserve
an iconic structure that has historically
embodied the American
democratic spirit.”
Treyger, along with Councilmember
Chaim Deutsch, led
the charge in early 2016 to secure
the City Council’s support for
landmarking the site.
“Many of its most spectacular
features have been lost to time,
to remain only in nostalgia," the
pol's testimony read on. "The
Riegelmann Boardwalk, however,
remains as a physical reminder of
Coney Island’s enduring, playful,
democratic spirit, and as an active
social and recreation hub for the
Coney-Brighton community.”
Landmark designation would
officially recognize the nearly-century
old stretch of wood as one
of Southern Brooklyn’s historic
locations, while also providing a
layer of protection and an opportunity
for local residents to weigh
in on the future of the Boardwalk.
Stakeholders are hoping such a
designation would also prevent
more of its traditional wooden
planks from being replaced with
concrete and plastic.
However, its protection isn’t
totally guaranteed.
Although scenic landmark
status would protect its physical
presence along the coastline and
its general parameters including
the configuration of the Boardwalk,
for scenic landmarks, LPC
review of alterations would be
advisory only, with the Public
Design Commission having
binding jurisdiction, or final say,
over the Boardwalk.
But, that’s not to say the agency
won’t work hard to protect it, a
spokesperson for LPC told this
paper when Tuesday's hearing
was first calendared.
Testimony was also submitted
by the Historic Districts Council
(HDC), which has long advocated
for the landmarking of the Boardwalk,
asking just what all this
would mean for the Boardwalk
(an “obvious landmark,” according
to the group), should it be
granted scenic landmark status.
“The Historic Districts Council
strongly supports its designation
as a New York City Scenic Landmark
since by any measure, an
accounting of New York City’s
landmarks which does not
include the Boardwalk would
be irreducibly incomplete. We
question, however, any other
purpose which this designation
might serve,” HDC said. “As
HDC understands it, current
administrative interpretations
Photo: @NYC & Company/Julienne Schaer
of the Landmarks Commission’s
policing power abrogates almost
all authority the agency might
exercise over this property. All
future changes to the actual
Boardwalk, in style, material
or even form will be reviewed
in an advisory capacity without
public testimony to help guide
the commissioners’ advice.
“The public will have the opportunity
to weigh in about new
buildings that fall within the
bounds of the Scenic Landmark,”
HDC went on, “but that was the
case previously when the Art
Commission had sole design review
over the property. Issues of
the historic context of this public
property – the very boards of
the Boardwalk – still fall under
the binding authority of the Art
Commission and are ultimately
controlled by the Parks Department,
the very agency which
replaced them with concrete in
the first place. This is not even a
case of closing the barn door after
the horse has fled. Rather, this
is an instance of putting up a sign
identifying the empty building
as a barn in the first place and
calling it a job well done.”
“Yes, we agree – the Coney Island
Boardwalk is a landmark,”
HDC concluded. “Now please,
treat it like one.”
The commission is slated to
vote on the fate of the Boardwalk
on Tuesday, May 15.
The Riegelmann Boardwalk.