2 JANUARY 13 - JANUARY 19, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP BAY RIDGE BAR RAISES FUNDS TO SUPPORT LGBTQ YOUTH Bay Ridge wine bar the Owl’s Head announced on Monday, January 9, that it had raised over $1,000 at a December 23 event for the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofi t organization that provides support to LGBTQ young people worldwide. Now, the bar has announced it will hold LGBTQ+ Nights, with a portion of revenue being donated to LGBTQ charities. Money donated in January will go to the It Gets Better Project, and each month a related charity will be chosen by the bar and its customers. The Owl’s Head is open seven days a week and is located at 479 74th Street.Its LGBTQ+ Nights are Mondays from 6 p.m. to midnight. —Patrick Weinstein PERP GETS 20 YEARS FOR WILLIAMSBURG STABBING A 59-year-old Manhattan man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally stabbing a man he felt was making inappropriate contact with his girlfriend in 2011, Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Monday, January 9. According to trial testimony, Ramon Escobar was at the corner of South Ninth Street and Roebling Street in Williamsburg in April, 2011 when he got into an argument with 46-year-old David Fernandez regarding his girlfriend. Escobar was heard saying “I am going to kill him.” The 59-year-old purchased eight-inch kitchen knives from a local store, which evidence showed were used to stab Fernandez in the le thigh, piercing Fernandez’s bone and severing major blood vessels, causing fatal bleeding. —Anna Spivak NEW BILL BY SUNSET POL WOULD REQUIRE BREATHALYZER TESTS FOR PILOTS New legislation introduced by Assemblymember Felix Ortiz wouldrequire all pilots leaving New York airports to submit to breathalyzer tests before takeo . According to Ortiz, given recent news that an American Airlines pilot had failed two sobriety tests before getting into the cockpit and taking o on a commercial fl ight, measures needed to be taken to insure the safety of passengers and sta on board jetliners. “That’s unacceptable,” contended Ortiz, stressing, “The life and safety of pilots, fl ight attendants and the fl ying public must be protected.” —Urwah Ahmad BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Urwah Ahmad P.S. 97 will be getting an extension with approximately 450 new seats. Gravesend's P.S. 97 to get extension; 450 new seats to be added BY URWAH AHMAD EDITORIALBROOKLYNREPORTER.COM At long last, there will be more room for learning at Gravesend's P.S. 97. According to Councilmember Mark Treyger, who held a press conference at the school with representatives of the Department of Education (DOE), and the School Construction Authority (SCA), P.S. 97 (the Highlawn School) will be getting added classroom space. Treyger stated that the extension at P.S. 97, Stillwell Avenue near Avenue S, will create approximately 450 new seats, helping to resolve the overcrowding issues that the area has been facing in schools, which have resulted in students being placed in schools further from their homes. The addition will also mean the removal of the four temporary classrooms currently housed in structures outside the main building that currently are home to the school's pre-k students. Over $100 million will be spent on the project which — as well as new classrooms — will also include a cafeteria, gym, and allow for an art and music rooms. According to Treyger, this will help to accommodate the rapidly growing community and its needs, with a seat shortage across Community School District 21 — which includes Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Coney Island and Brighton Beach — amounting to approximately 2,400. P.S. 97 alone is at approximately 140 percent of capacity. He stressed that the expansion really “underscores the commitment and recognition of that need and to address that need.” The extension will help the school better serve students "especially English Language learners and students with disabilities to be sewn in so seamlessly with their school, " added DOE Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Rose, who was present along with District 21 Superintendent Isabel Dimola, P.S. 97 Principal Irina Cabello, Melanie La Rocca from the SCA and PTA members who had been pushing for the extension of the building. Heather Fiorica, president of the Community Education Council (CEC) of School District 21, was also enthusiastic about the addition, noting, “It's exciting to know that they the students will have more opportunities available to them.” Cabello stated that work is expected to start in about a year and a half, with construction estimated to be completed by the year 2021. Additional seats are also being added at P.S. 101, 2360 Benson Avenue, also in Gravesend.
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