| Council Removes ‘Carson' From Street Name Bill
The name of a militant black activist who called himself anti-white was removed yesterday from a list that the City Council is considering for street renamings. The proposal to rename a Brooklyn street after Sonny Abubadika Carson, who died in 2002, was initially part of a package of 53 renamings for people including the actor Jerry Orbach and two firefighters who died in a Bronx fire last year. Street renamings are typically approved by the council in large groups without objection, but the council speaker, Christine Quinn, said last week she did not support the measure for Carson because of his "very divisive history." A council committee considering the package took Carson out of it so that the rest of the names could go forward for a vote before the full council.
Weapons Cache Seized In Brooklyn, Police Say
Police confiscated a large mortar shell, an AK-47 assault rifle, and four handguns during a drug raid yesterday in Brooklyn. The weapons were found at 1:35 a.m. inside an apartment belonging to Christopher Ocera in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn after police entered the home with a search warrant, police officials said. Mr. Ocera, 42, was charged with eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, while another suspect, Danny Dispigno, 28, was booked for assault, police said. Comment on this article .
Lethem works to shake off Brooklyn shackles
Perception is everything and no one knows that better than Brooklyn-born author Jonathan Lethem. The author of six novels, a collection of essays and at least three books of short fiction, Lethem has been so pegged as a Brooklyn author that few -- including us, obviously -- can resist focusing on the fact that his latest novel is set in Los Angeles. "You Don't Love Me Yet," just published in hardcover by Doubleday, follows bassist Lucinda Hoekke and her band as they try to get their act together, musically and personally. The result is a smart and funny book about music, art, plagiarism and sex. "Everyone has short memories and the Brooklyn books are so prominent, so everyone is professing to be shocked that I've abandoned Brooklyn," says Lethem, whose most acclaimed novels, "The Fortress of Solitude" and "Motherless Brooklyn" were set in his native New York borough.
Muggers turn Settlers Park into no-go zone
POLICE have seized two firearms discarded by a pair of fleeing suspects believed to be behind the spate of muggings in Settlers Park over the past month. Once a premier attraction for tourists and locals alike, and recognised internationally as a prime example of an urban green lung, the park has become almost a no-go zone for law-abiding folk because of a series of ugly muggings, apparently mainly carried out by these two suspects. Birdlife Eastern Cape, which has introduced thousands of people to the park over many years, has cancelled outings until the security of these visitors can be assured. The activities of the Baakens Valley Preservation Trust, which hosts regular picnics and school excursions, has had its activities curtailed. Several suburban schools which were partnering the trust to combat alien infestation and other conservation work have stopped coming because they no longer feel safe.
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