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Dear New Yorkers,

New York is preparing to spend an estimated $3.7 million to demolish a dilapidated state-owned building in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

It comes a decade after Walter Mosley, formerly a local Assembly member and now New York’s acting secretary of state, first stepped in to stop the sale of the derelict property.

In 2014, he stepped in to get former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pull the three-story building off the auction block, arranging instead to have a handpicked local nonprofit buy it at a negotiated price. But the plan fell through in 2019 after the selected nonprofit never came up with the required proposal.

Now, Mosley’s successor in the Assembly seat, Phara Souffrant Forrest, and other elected officials who represent the area are going back to the drawing board. They’ve asked constituents what they want to see happen to the bricked-up structure.

They have also had “many, many meetings” with the state’s Office of General Services, which oversees state property, said Souffrant Forrest, who defeated Mosley in 2020.

“There’s clearly a need for housing,” she told THE CITY. “There’s a piece of land here. Why not make it happen? It’s gotten to the point that this place is cursed. It evades all attempts to develop it.”

A spokesperson for the Office of General Services said it will take an estimated two and a half years just to demolish the property.

Read more about the building at 1024 Fulton St. and its possible future here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Wednesday's Weather Rating: 3/10. Simply not very good. Cloudy with periods of rain and an onshore breeze throughout the day. The sun might make a brief appearance later, but rain returns tonight. The vibes are damp once again.

Our Other Top Story

A food distribution company tasked with providing food to needy New Yorkers during the pandemic overbilled and overcharged the city by more than $9 million, according to an audit released Wednesday by the comptroller’s office. Driscoll Foods, also known as Metropolitan Foods, first contracted with the Department of Social Services in July 2020 on an emergency basis. The company worked to distribute food through June 2022 and was paid more than $90 million — but it ended up shortchanging the city by millions, according to the audit. “This funding was for New Yorkers who urgently needed food to survive during the pandemic — not for Driscoll to pad their profits,” Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement.

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Reporter’s Notebook

Win Rozario’s Family Speaks Out

The family of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old fatally shot by cops in March, said the NYPD hasn’t given a key police oversight agency all the information it needs to conduct its investigation, and relatives are worried the Police Department  is trying to block the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s probe.

“We're concerned that it's been almost two months and the NYPD still hasn't gotten all the information to the CCRB that they should have — it seems like the NYPD is trying to cover up their murder of Win and block the CCRB's independent investigation,” the family said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams told reporters he had reached out to Rozario’s parents but “they didn’t want to communicate at that time.”

But the family contends he never “personally” reached out.

“We don't need ‘comforting’ words from the mayor — we need action and so far we've seen no action from Mayor Adams that makes us feel like he's taking this seriously or that he cares,” the family said in a statement, adding if he “truly cares” he would immediately suspend the two officers involved in the fatal shooting.

— Reuven Blau

Red Hook Port Promises

New York City’s economic development arm will take over the 122-acre Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Red Hook with an eye toward introducing housing and more to the port area. As part of the no-cash swap deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the city will transfer control of its 225-acre portion of Staten Island’s Howland Hook Marine Terminal.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced the deal together Tuesday morning at the terminal, touting $95 million in coming investments that will include repairs to three piers, an electrified container crane and a cold storage facility.

Their promise to open the longtime industrial port to new housing and amenities brought sharp criticism from Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who predicted that it will send what little remains of Red Hook’s shipping activity to New Jersey. “Red Hook is the only remaining container port facility on the eastern side of the Hudson River, and it is of critical importance to New York City and the entire region that this port remains open and not converted into housing or other usage,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Dan Goldman, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Councilmember Alexa Aviles, who represent the area, will lead a task force on the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal and lauded the deal in a joint statement, saying that fragmented ownership has led the port to shrink. “After decades of inertia at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, today's announcement finally offers us a path forward to bringing much-needed and long overdue investment in the Brooklyn waterfront,” they said.

— Gabriel Poblete

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Saturday, May 18: Family Farm Volunteer Day, featuring projects for all ages. Free from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Battery Urban Farm, Manhattan. Saturday, May 18: LIC Springs!, a community festival with music, art, performances and more. Free from 12 to 5 p.m., various blocks in Long Island City, Queens. Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19: Aloha Days Family Festival, a celebration with music and hula performances to celebrate Hawai’i. Free from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Museum of the American Indian.

THE KICKER: Organizers for dozens of community compost collection sites say they will be shutting down starting this weekend due to Mayor Eric Adams’ budget cuts, reports Gothamist.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Wednesday.

Love,

THE CITY

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