Month: September 2024

Next week marks 23 years since the 9/11 attacks devastated New York City. As the solemn anniversary approaches, Brooklynites are preparing to remember the day and honor its victims. 

Events across the borough will pay tribute to all those who died in the attacks and the first responders who rushed to the scene to save as many lives as possible. 

Sunday, Sept. 8

Together We Stand  9/11 Tribute 5K

The Together We Stand 5K run in Fort Greene honors the heroes who lost their lives in 9/11 while showing unity and resistance in the neighborhood. Register to run the race or volunteer to show your support, honor the past, and build toward the future. 

Sept. 8, 12-1:30 p.m. Free. Fort Greene Park at DeKalb Avenue and Washington Park in Fort Greene. 

Father Mychal Judge 9/11 Walk of Remembrance

Though this event takes place in Manhattan, it honors Brooklyn-born Father Mychal Judge, a Catholic priest who was killed on 9/11 while serving as a chaplain in the FDNY. The walk begins at Judge’s former parish, on 31st Street in Manhattan and continues down 7th Avenue to St. Peters Church, just a few blocks north of One World Trade Center, where Judge died while praying over victims of the attacks. 

Sept. 8. 9 a.m. St. Francis of Assisi Church, 135 West 31st St. between 6th and 7th avenues in Manhattan. 

Tuesday, Sept. 10

Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance Candlelighting

Brooklynites who lost family members and loved ones on 9/11 will gather with first responders, volunteers and friends to light candles, say a prayer with an NYPD or FDNY chaplain, and share fond stories about their loved ones. 

Sept. 10. 6 p.m. Brooklyn 9/11 Wall of Remembrance at Maimonides Park, 1904 Surf Ave. between West 19th and West 17th streets in Coney Island. 

Wednesday, Sept. 11

FDNY Battalion 57 Memorial Mass

The Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph will host a memorial mass with FDNY Battalion 57, which lost 23 of its members on Sept. 11, 2001. The mass is set to begin at 12 p.m. and will pay tribute to those service members lost.

Sept. 11. 12 p.m. Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific St. between Vanderbilt and Underhill avenues in Prospect Heights. 

Brooklyn-Bedford Park Memorial Candle Vigil

The Brooklyn-Bedford Park 9/11 Memorial Committee will host its 23rd annual candlelight vigil on the handball court at Bill Brown Park, in front of a mural bearing the names of hundreds of Brooklynites who died in the attack. 

Sept. 11. 6:30 p.m. Bill Brown Park handball court on Avenue X between East 24th Street and Bedford Avenue in Sheepshead Bay. 

Asser Levy Park Memorial Tribute

At Asser Levy park, locals will lay down flowers and light candles to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives on 9/11 and honor the 18 Brooklynites memorialized on a plaque inside the park.

Sept. 11. 4 p.m. Asser Levy Park at the corner of Surf Avenue and West 5th Street in Coney Island. 

American Veterans Memorial Pier Memorial

Law enforcement officials, servicemembers, and elected officials will remember the tragedy of 9/11 and honor the lives lost that day with speeches and stories at the American Veterans Memorial Pier. 

Sept. 11. 7 p.m. American Veterans Memorial Pier at 69th Street and Shore Road in Bay Ridge. 

St. Ann’s Annual Interfaith Service

The Brooklyn Heights Interfaith Clerty Association will host its annual 9/11 Observance on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, where locals can pray, sing, and reflect on the day while overlooking the Manhattan skyline and the Tribute in Light.

Sept. 11. 7:15 p.m. Brooklyn Promenade at Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. 

Notes of Tribute: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial Lights

To honor the more than 100 people killed on 9/11 who rest at Green-Wood Cemetery, the cemetery will host a memorial program on a hill overlooking the Tribute in Light. The memorial will include words of remembrance, music, and a reading of the names of victims buried at Green-Wood. 

Sept. 11. 7-9 p.m. Register in advance. Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th Ave. at Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park. 

The post Brooklyn to honor 23rd anniversary of 9/11 attacks with vigils, memorial ceremonies first appeared on The Ocean Avenue News.

Commuting high school students can now ride the NYC Ferry for a steep discount this school year thanks to new legislation enacted by the NYC Council last year.

High school students, after applying for the program, will only have to pay $1.45 for NYC Ferry tickets, versus the full price, which is currently $4 and set to increase to $4.50 on Sept. 9. The high school discount program went into effect on Sunday.

The discount is available to all students in grades nine to 12, regardless of income, who are enrolled in a public, charter, or private high school in New York City. Tickets are valid for weekdays on all NYC Ferry routes and expire on Aug. 31, 2025. Students must re-enroll in the program each year.

City Council Member Amanda Farías (D-Bronx) sponsored the money-saving legislation last year to include city high school students in the ferry discount program. She said the program is important because it makes the ferry system “permanently affordable and accessible” for students. 

But she says her partnership with students at the Harbor School on Governors Island played a key role in getting the law passed. Students at the school expressed their need for a discounted ticket due to the inability to access the school directly from their home ferry landings, Farías explained. 

“There were students who lived just across the water in Brooklyn, commuting into Manhattan just to get the free Governors Island Ferry, adding unnecessary time to their commutes,” the council member said. “Our ferry system creates vital connections for New Yorkers across the city and we have to make sure that opportunity is available to students as well, especially when time back in their schedules can be added to their studies and post-school hours activities.”

The discount program will help families, too, Farías said.

“This program is not only about the students, but their families and lessening the economic burden on them,” she said.

To apply for the program, parents must create or log into their NYC Student Account (NYCSA). They should then click the button to request a discount code under NYC Ferry and use that code within the NYC Ferry app or to get paper tickets at the Wall Street/Pier 11 ticketing window, which is open daily 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Parents of non-public and charter high school students can enroll in the program by logging into or starting an NYCSA account. They should contact their child’s school for more information on how to create the account.

Senior citizens age 65 and older, as well as people with disabilities, are also among those New Yorkers eligible for NYC Ferry discounts. 

Farías will hold an in-person sign-up event at the Soundview Ferry Terminal in the Bronx on Sept. 4 from 3 to 6 p.m. to raise awareness about the discount program. The NYC Economic Development Corporation, which runs the NYC Ferry system, as well as the New York Public Library, will also be at the event.

For more information and to apply for the student discount program, visit the NYC Ferry website at ferry. NYC.

The MTA officially ended its fare-free bus pilot over the weekend, much to the chagrin of the state lawmakers who initiated it.

The yearlong pilot on five bus routes came to an unceremonious end on Sunday, Sept. 1, after state lawmakers declined to reauthorize it and the MTA deemed the experiment a dud. The MTA was allocated $15 million to conduct the experiment for up to a year.

While ridership increased by up to 38% on the free lines — the Bx18, the B60, the M116, the Q4, and the S46/96 — the MTA contended that not enough of it was new to justify spending more money on free fares, either on the existing free lines or on a slew of new ones.

But on Tuesday, the Queens electeds who spearheaded the effort — Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani — blasted the transit agency and said the metrics which the MTA said proved the pilot was underwhelming were actually a measure of success.

“For the last year, we have heard repeatedly from people across New York City about the success of this program. Free bus routes have been part of an innovative approach to revolutionize public transit and get more people using our transit system,” said Gianaris, who is also the deputy leader of the upper chamber’s Democrats. “If we want cleaner air, less congested streets, and more accessible travel, we can’t keep stalling our investments in public transit.”

About 12% of passengers on the free buses were new riders, which the MTA saw as underwhelming but the lawmakers considered to be successful. About 11% of those new riders switched to the bus from cars or taxis, which the legislators noted would forestall vehicle emissions.

The five routes were chosen specifically because they connected disadvantaged communities with business districts; the lawmakers noted that the largest increase in ridership came from people earning less than $28,000.

“Amid an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, we designed the fare-free bus program to offer New Yorkers much-needed economic breathing room while also making their commute safer,” said Mamdani.

Prior to announcing the end of the pilot, MTA chief Janno Lieber had cast aspersions on it, saying he preferred “targeted affordability” over broad strokes and claiming it sent the “wrong message” as the MTA attempts to tackle a major fare evasion problem on its buses.

Reached for comment, the MTA referred back to a presentation given at the MTA Board in July on the results of the pilot.

“Our hope was this pilot would get people out of their cars and onto buses on these routes,” said Demetrius Crichlow, the interim president of MTA New York City Transit. “We did not see anything that aligned with that initial intent.”

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— Reuters (@Reuters) September 4, 2024