The Gravesend section of Brooklyn was rocked to the core late on Monday evening, when an alleged drunk driver slammed his speeding vehicle into a vacant building on 496 Avenue P at the corner of East 5th Street at approximately 11:40 pm, causing the structure to collapse.

According to a CBS News report, surveillance video shows the car speeding down Avenue P before turning left onto East 5th Street and smashing into the building on the corner. The vacant storefront on the ground floor crumbled, and the apartments on the second floor collapsed. Fortunately, no one was home.

Police said the 20-year-old driver, Andrew Baird, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash and fled from authorities on foot. According to the CBS News report, Baird eventually admitted to police that he was behind the wheel of a 2018 BMW, when he claims that he lost control of the vehicle. Baird was later charged with operating a motor vehicle with alcohol in his system below the age of 21 and leaving the scene of an accident.

Despite his injuries, Baird was somehow able to escape the scene of the disaster, According to a Channel 12 television report, Flatbush Safety Patrol volunteers (Shomrim) say they spotted Baird running down neighboring Kings Highway with blood on his face.

The patrol volunteers reported that they asked him what happened and he told them that he crashed. The patrol held him at the location until police arrived, where he was then taken into custody. It’s still unclear whether there may have been a passenger who also took off. Baird was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was seriously injured.

The Department of Buildings have said that the impact dislodged several supports in the building, which ultimately caused the building to collapse. Officials say the people who lived on the second floor of the building were not home at the time of the crash. The first floor was an empty commercial business, according to the Channel 12 report.

PIX 11 reported that engineers on the scene also determined that the rest of the building was similarly in danger of collapse, and that a structural party wall, between 496 Avenue P and the neighboring building at 494 Avenue P, had been compromised by the damage, DOB said.

As a result, a Full Vacate Order was issued and ordered a construction fence to be installed around the property, the department said in a statement, according to the PIX 11 report.

“I saw the house shake, because I was already sleeping, and I got up. Oh my god, I felt like something was going to happen. It sounded like an explosion,” neighbor Diana Ramirez told CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas.

Ramirez said her family had to wait outside for hours before they were given the all-clear.

“’You can’t go into your house, get what you need and come back out.’ They told police to take us up if everything was OK, and we came back out,” she said.

The FDNY said in a tweet that more than 100 of its members were at the scene to help assist. Crews are not beginning to clean up the debris.

“We tried to look before to help, but couldn’t see anybody,” another neighbor added.

“There’s always accidents on Avenue P, whether it’s over here or over there,” said Benjamin Hayon, who works nearby. “Avenue P is just always accident-prone for some reason. It doesn’t make sense, but it is.”

The Red Cross is assisting residents from the damaged building and the one next door who are not allowed to return home.

The building owners were ordered to properly shore up the party wall and install a sidewalk shed in the front of the building.

A small parking lot behind the collapsed building at 1710 East 5 Street was issued a partial vacate order due to their proximity to the collapsed building, according to the PIX 11 report.

Rumor has it that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will be announcing his intention to be the president of the United States this week.

No, really.

A source has reportedly told the Daily News that the official announcement could come as early as Wednesday, which is also the major’s 58th birthday. A second source is said to have shared that the announcement was originally planned for last week.

de Blasio has tried to generate buzz by paying visits to first primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. If the rumors are true, it would make de Blasio the 23rd Democratic candidate – no, really — to throw a hat into the ring.

The Associated Press has already reported that the mayor said he would make a final decision on whether to run “in the month of May.” His office has remained mum.

Some have questions whether the mayor could earn a spot on the state for the Democratic debates. “The debates are important, there’s a lot of other factors in how … a campaign of this importance emerges,” he said on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show.” To qualify for the 12 scheduled Democratic primary debates, The Hill said, candidates must receive at least 1 percent support in at least three separate polls recognized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) or receive campaign contributions from at least 65,000 unique donors. The DNC has said that it will prioritize candidates who meet both thresholds if more than 20 contenders qualify for the debates.”

de Blasio was embarrassed in April when a Quinnipiac University poll showed that a whopping 76 percent of New York City residents think he should not run for president.

“De Blasio has cast himself as a progressive during his tenure as mayor, railing against income inequality, touting the benefits of the Green New Deal and feuding with New York’s centrist governor Andrew Cuomo,” The Hill noted.

“It’s unclear exactly what the potential Johnny-come-lately candidate expects to find in Iowa, given that every poll out of the state has him at 0 percent (or not even listed), while high-profile progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren already occupy his hypothetical lane,” Vanity Fair recently suggested. “Moreover, it’s unclear where de Blasio is getting the idea he should enter the crowded race in the first place, considering absolutely no one seems to want him there. Of nearly three-dozen allies and advisers surveyed by Politico in March, only two said he should run, while the rest considered the idea to be, as one adviser put it, “f-ing insane.” A Monmouth poll found that, of every single Democratic candidate, both declared and undeclared, de Blasio was the only one with a net negative favorability rating.

Keith Raniere, founder of the cultlike group Nxivm, sits at the center of a trial in Brooklyn that is all but certain not to bore its jurors.

“If the questions that were asked of prospective jurors are any indication, the racketeering and sex-trafficking trial of Keith Raniere, founder of the cultlike group Nxivm, may require not only stamina from the jury, but also the ability to listen to potentially uncomfortable testimony,” noted the New York Times.

Raniere, 58, has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking and other charges; his attorneys reportedly are fighting what they claim are “unusual and dubious” protections that would violate his constitutional right to confront his accusers.

Before choosing a jury on Monday morning, the Paper of Record continued, “a judge in federal court in Brooklyn winnowed the pool of possible jurors with a questionnaire appeared to ask, among other things, whether they can be fair to someone with multiple sexual partners and how they feel about sexually explicit images and possibly “skin modifications (such as tattoos and branding).”

Some of what those jurors will hear was summarized recently by a web site called thecut.com. “Co-founder Nancy Salzman admitted in court that she tracked and monitored women within NXIVM. Nancy Salzman, who was the first person involved in the case to plead guilty to her single charge of racketeering conspiracy, tearfully confessed in court on March 13 that she tracked and monitored the usernames and passwords of suspected moles in the group to ensure they weren’t leaking details about the group’s inner workings. She also admitted that she ordered others to “destroy video tapes” that documented Raniere’s “teachings.”

The plot thickens even more, thecut.com points out in the same piece. “Prosecutors believe that founder Keith Raniere had sex with a 15-year-old girl, who later became his first “slave.” At a Brooklyn courthouse on March 14, Raniere — who was already facing forced labor, wire fraud conspiracy, human trafficking, and sex trafficking charges — was hit with an additional charge of child pornography. According to prosecutors, Raniere documented himself engaging in sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl, who would go on to become his first “slave.” Prosecutors also accused Raniere of having had a sexual relationship with at least one other child, and of possessing child pornography between 2005 and 2018.”

“Authorities claimed that a doctor — who is currently being investigated by state health officials — branded the women in the “sorority” with a cautery pen without anesthesia,” noted Fox News. “Eight “Jane Does” in that case have refused to answer questions, saying through their lawyers “the branding was a voluntary free expression of personal beliefs.” In the court papers, defense lawyers have similarly claimed the alleged victims were never abused, saying the women were “independent, smart, curious adults” seeking “happiness, fulfillment and meaning.”

Hate crimes in New York City are up a disturbing 67% this year, even as overall crime is down.

Anti-Semitic incidents provided the majority of those hate crimes, according to NYPD officials.

“If you drill down on the anti-Semitic hate crimes that we are seeing, approximately 80% are the drawing of swastikas in some way, shape or fashion around New York City,” said Dermot Shea, the NYPD’s chief of detectives.

“There is no place for hate in New York City and the detectives of the Hate Crime Task Force are working diligently to eliminate these crimes and to bring perpetrators of hate to justice,” said a department spokesman.

According to NYPD numbers, year-to-date index crime is down by more than 1,900 complaints, or -6.7%, as April 2019 saw the lowest number of reported index crime of any April in the CompStat era. The city also achieved record CompStat era lows for the month of April in murder, robbery and burglary.

“New York City has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, and we continue to make history and set new records by facing the challenges together,” said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “I want to thank the dedicated members of the NYPD who tackle violent crime with precision and are forging stronger bonds with the public – and everyone who plays a role in a safe city – with their problem solving and professionalism.”

“Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their home. While crime is at a historic low across the city, we are working to make this a reality in every zip code,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We are doubling down on our efforts to bring these communities and police together to find new ways to fight crime and make our City safer and fairer.”

Among the highlights from this month’s crime statistics:

– A -6.1% reduction in index crime in April 2019 (6,891) compared to April 2018 (7,337).

– Reductions in every major crime category April 2019 compared to April 2018.

– A -34.6% reduction in murder in April 2019 (17) compared to April 2018 (26). Overall, now year-to-date murder is +2, or +2.3%.

– Transit crime -4.3% in April 2019 (178) compared to April 2018 (186).

– A -16.1% reduction in rape in April 2019 (141) compared to April 2018 (168). Overall, now year-to-date rape is +10, or +1.8%. NYPD understands that rape continues to be underreported. If you have been a victim of sexual assault please come forward. The NYPD’s Special Victims Division 24-hour hotline is 212-267-RAPE (7273).

Richard Brown, who for almost 30 years served as the Queens District Attorney, is dead at 86.

Brown died Saturday morning at the Meadow Ridge rehabilitation center in Redding, Conn., where he had been for the past week after a fall.

“He had recently handed over the reigns of the office to Assistant District Attorney John Ryan, but kept up with day-to-day operations, relatives said. “Until a week ago, he was calling the office multiple times a day, checking in with what was going on,” his son-in-law Bruce Foodman told the New York Daily News.

A tribute to Brown, penned by Scott E. Mollen, was posted on the New York Law Journal’s web site. It reads in part: “District Attorney Richard Brown was a superb and beloved family patriarch, public servant, role model and a great friend to many people. I was privileged to be one of those friends.

“He was an outstanding jurist who, together with his colleagues, strove to advance the work and reputation of the Appellate Division, Second Department, when my father was its presiding justice. In addition to hearing cases, he enthusiastically embraced opportunities to improve the administration of justice by sharing the expertise he had acquired while serving as counsel to Governor Hugh Carey. In such capacity, he had interfaced with many administrative agencies and the legislature.”

Brown was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, New York. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hobart College in 1953, graduated from New York University School of Law in June 1956 and was admitted to the Bar by the Appellate Division, Second Department in October 1956.

Prior to becoming a member of the judiciary in September 1973, Judge Brown spent nine years serving in various important legal positions on behalf of the leadership of the New York State Senate and Assembly and at the 1967 New York State Constitutional Convention and four years as New York City’s Legislative Representative in Albany where he managed the City’s Albany office and supervised its legislative program.

After serving as a Judge of the Criminal Court for less than two years, Judge Brown was appointed as Supervising Judge of the Brooklyn Criminal Court and assumed full administrative responsibility for the operation of that court and supervision of all judicial and non-judicial personnel. In January 1976, Judge Brown was designated as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

In November 1977, Judge Brown was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court in Queens County. At the end of the following year he returned to Albany as Counsel to Governor Hugh L. Carey where he served as the Governor’s chief legal advisor. On March 3, 1981, Judge Brown returned to the Supreme Court and the following year was designated by Governor Carey as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department. He was thereafter twice re-designated as a member of the Appellate Division by Governor Mario M. Cuomo.

Lew Fidler, a one-time Democratic City Councilman from Brooklyn, has died. His death on Sunday comes just two days after he was discovered while unconscious in a Queens movie theater.

Fidler, who according to the New York Post underwent a double kidney transplant in 2014, was discovered inside the theater at around 11:30 p.m. Friday, police said. He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died around 12:30 p.m. Sunday without having regained consciousness.

“He was a truly remarkable man and a remarkable dad,” his widow, Robin Fidler, told The Post. “He made me happy when things were sad. He made me feel beautiful on days I felt just . . . ugly. He made me feel thin on days on days when I gained a little too much weight. Just everything you would expect or want for yourself.”

According to the web site kingscountypolitics.com, Fidler was a graduate of Tilden High School in East Flatbush and the NYU Law School. He served in the city council from 2002 to 2013 representing Bergen Beach, Canarsie, Georgetown, Flatlands, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Mill Island, Gerritsen Beach, Madison and Sheepshead Bay.

“Until his death, Fidler was also a Make Democratic District leader and a leader of the 41st Assembly District Democrats Club, along with Lori Maslow and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein,” the web site continued. “Fidler and the club regularly held the largest Toys for Tots giveaway for underprivileged children during the holiday season.”

Many have already paid tribute to Fidler. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said, “I join all Brooklynites in paying homage to our brother and friend Lew Fidler, and I extend my most heartfelt condolences to his loving wife Robin, his sons, and all in his family upon his passing.”

“Lew was of great assistance to me in my formative political years. As a result of his assistance, we later became colleagues, and during my tenure as borough president, he has served as a vital member of my team. As an elected official, Lew was truly committed to fighting long and hard for those he served. He always stood up for what he believed in, with true courage in his convictions. Lew was a man of high integrity and strong moral values, a devoted husband and father. He made a tremendous mark on New York City, and in particular the borough he proudly called home. Lew will missed, but never forgotten,” Adams added.

“We’ve shared almost 40 years of politics together,” noted Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio. “I was his most avid supporter when he wanted to run for city council, and found him an outstanding partner in our universe of politics. He was one of the best campaign strategists that I knew and was committed to bettering the lives of the people he served. My deepest condolences to Robin and their family on this enormous loss.”

The Medical Society of the State of New York has joined with 25 medical and public health organizations, and patient advocacy groups asking in their New York State legislators to authorize only medical exemptions from vaccination.

“Once declared eliminated in the United States by the CDC, measles are now making a comeback,” the group said in a statement. “We must do everything that we can to prevent measles from gaining a permanent foothold in New York and prevent the further spread of disease nationally.”

An important first step, the statement continued, is ensuring that medical exemptions are the only exemption allowable. “We must preserve community immunity in order to protect society—especially our most vulnerable, the newborn, pregnant women, the immune-compromised, and those with cancer.”

Founded in 1807, the Medical Society of the State of New York is the state’s principal non-profit professional organization for physicians, residents and medical students of all specialties. Its mission is to represent the interests of patients and physicians to assure quality healthcare services for all.

No fewer than 23 states have reported measles cases this year. New York State leads the way with 41 new reported cases in New York City and 11 in nearby Rockland County just last week. Most were unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities.

“The highly contagious yet preventable disease was considered eradicated roughly two decades ago. However, a burgeoning “anti-vaxxer” movement has gained steam as more parents refuse to vaccinate their children based on the unfounded theory that vaccines cause autism,” the Daily News reported. “Current New York law allows schools to grant religious exemptions to getting vaccines. A “written and signed statement from the parent or guardian saying they object because of sincere and genuine religious beliefs” is permitted under state law.”

Officials at the CDC are working around the clock to get the word out to parents. “Measles is a highly contagious disease. It can be serious for young children. Protect your child by making sure he or she is up to date on measles vaccine, including before traveling abroad.”

The organization adds, “You can protect your child against measles with a combination vaccine that provides protection against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). The MMR vaccine is proven to be very safe and effective. CDC recommends that children get one dose at each of the following ages: 12 through 15 months and 4 through 6 years.”

Say goodbye to Tommy Hilfiger’s Fifth Avenue.

And say hello to even more of Tommy Hilfiger’s on Madison Avenue.

Just over a month following the closure of the retailer’s flagship Fifth Avenue location, the New York Post is reporting that the firm has enlarged its Madison Avenue corporate HQ to the tune of roughly 14,000 square feet.

“The firm plans to expand its offices to the 10th floor of 285 Madison Ave., bringing its total space in the building to 220,000 square feet. Hilfiger’s offices stretch across the building’s second and third floors, as well as through the sixth and 12th floors,” reports Crain’s New York Business. “Matthew Astrachan, Mitchell Konsker and Steven Bauer of JLL represented Hilfiger’s parent company, PVH Corp., in the lease, the Post reported. The asking rent was $78 per square foot.”

RFR Realty, which reportedly owns the building, has at the same time inked a deal with Quantitative Brokers, a financial technology firm, for approximately 7,000 square feet up on the 17th floor.

Hilfiger’s four-level, 22,000-square-foot store at 681 Fifth Ave. closed at the end of March. The company said at the time it would focus its strategy on engaging “digitally savvy North American consumers,” reports Crain’s.

The company’s news has not all been as positive of late, however. According to thepaypers.com, safety Detective has revealed a security breach in the Tommy Hilfiger Japan client database, exposing personal details of hundreds of thousands of customers.

“Tommy Hilfiger’s Japanese website, which received nearly one million visits so far in 2019, runs on an open Elasticsearch server not intended for URL access. But with minimal manipulation, the research team of Safety Detective was able to find the gaping security oversight to the customer database,” said a press release.

The unsecured database provided easy access to the personal details of hundreds of thousands of customers in Japan, including first and last names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, last purchase dates, total orders made, and membership numbers, the release continued. “The unencrypted info, stretching as far back as 2014, was accessible without a password, leaving the sensitive data completely unprotected.”

In addition to the vast customer info, details on millions of orders were reportedly also accessible, including product descriptions, prices, pictures, sizes, SKUs, and manufacturing dates; as well as nationwide store locators complete with phone numbers, addresses, and more. “Safety Detective team spoke to the Senior Vice President of Security at PVH, the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger (as well as Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Speedo, Warner’s, and Olga), who acted quickly after receiving the disclosure to shut down the affected servers.”

“The most significant site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz was not a single entity, but a complex of 48 concentration and extermination camps, at which 1 million Jews—and tens of thousands of others—were murdered.”

So notes the Museum of Jewish Heritage about a groundbreaking exhibition that brings together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. Auschwitz. “Not long ago. Not far away” is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, and an unparalleled opportunity to confront the singular face of human evil—one that arose not long ago and not far away.

“Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is made possible with lead support by Bruce C. Ratner, George and Adele Klein Family Foundation, Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert, and Larry and Klara Silverstein & Family.

The exhibition is presented in part with major support by The David Berg Foundation, Patti Askwith Kenner, Oster Family Foundation, and The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust. The New York premiere is made possible in part by Simon & Stefany Bergson with additional support from The Knapp Family Foundation.

“For the first time, 74 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, a traveling exhibition dedicated to the historical significance of the camp will be presented to a U.S. audience. The exhibition’s opening on May 8 marks the anniversary of VE Day or Victory in Europe Day, 1945, when the Allies celebrated Nazi Germany’s surrender of its armed forces and the end of World War II,” says the museum.

The exhibit will arrive in New York City after it completed a successful run at Madrid’s Arte Canal Exhibition Centre, where it was extended two times, drew more than 600,000 visitors, and was one of the most visited exhibitions in Europe last year. The exhibition explores the dual identity of the camp as a physical location—the largest documented mass murder site in human history—and as a symbol of the borderless manifestation of hatred and human barbarity.

Featuring more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs, the New York presentation of the exhibition will allow visitors to experience artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on view for the first time in the North America, including hundreds of personal items—such as suitcases, eyeglasses, and shoes—that belonged to survivors and victims of Auschwitz. Other artifacts include concrete posts that were part of the fence of the Auschwitz camp; fragments of an original barrack for prisoners from the Auschwitz III-Monowitz camp; a desk and other possessions of the first and the longest serving Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss; a gas mask used by the SS; Picasso’s Lithograph of Prisoner; and an original German-made Model 2 freight wagon used for the deportation of Jews to the ghettos and extermination camps in occupied Poland.

Members of the New York State Nurses Association have ratified their four-year contract with the NYC Hospital Alliance, a bargaining group that includes Montefiore, Mount Sinai and New York–Presbyterian health systems.

The contract was ratified by a large majority and expires on December 31, 2022.

“The agreement includes staffing ratio language calling for the initial hiring of 1,500 new nurses. The initial hires will include nurses to fill current vacancies, and will also include an additional $100 million dollars to hire nurses for newly added full-time positions,” according to a press release on the association’s web site.

Registered nurse staffing will be based on safe staffing ratios that will be included in the collective bargaining agreements and enforced by an independent neutral party.

“The contract also includes across the board wage increases of 3% in each year of the contract and full retro-pay. For all facilities, the contract calls for millions of dollars for retiree health benefits, tuition reimbursement as well as other monetary benefits. The contract strengthens worker protections including new guidelines to stop workplace violence, a process to improve safe patient handling, and language allowing nurses to aid victims of disasters inside or outside the United States,” the release added.

“Everyone in these negotiations recognized that there are not enough nurses to safely care for our patients. With this contract, we’ve come a long way to resolving the critical under-staffing at the three hospital systems. That’s been our priority throughout. ‘Safe staffing saves lives’ is our reality and with this contract we have made tremendous gains that will help us provide safe, quality care to our patients,” said Anthony Ciampa, RN, NYSNA First Vice President and President, New York-Presbyterian Executive Committee.

“We have made significant strides based on these contracts: Front line Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Anesthetists, Case Managers, and Midwives will now have effective input in establishing nurse-to-patient grids that will ensure that our #1 priority, safe staffing, will be achieved. Most importantly, for the first time ever, we now have transparent, enforcement mechanisms that hold all parties accountable in achieving this goal. The combination of staffing-grids, enforceability, and transparency is the winning trifecta for both our patients and our nurses,” said Robin Krinsky, RN, NYSNA Board Member and President, Mt. Sinai Hospital Executive Committee.

“It was the unity and determination of frontline nurses who fought hard to improve conditions for nurses and additional staffing for patients. Our commitment to our patients was the driving force behind this contract,” said Bernita Stewart, RN and Member, Montefiore Medical Center Executive Committee.

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil announced last week that he would cancel a trip to New York this month in the wake of several weeks worth of controversy over the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce’s decision to honor the far-right leader at its gala later this year.

“The honor set off outrage among environmental groups, gay activists and New York politicians, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, who called Mr. Bolsonaro “a dangerous man” whose “overt racism, homophobia and destructive decisions will have a devastating impact on the future of our planet,” the New York Times reported. “The pushback began when the American Museum of Natural History, which had agreed to host the event before the honoree had been announced, reacted with dismay to Mr. Bolsonaro’s selection.”

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce noted on its web site that it “has learned through the office of the President of the Republic of Brazil that President Jair Bolsonaro, the 2019 Person of the Year Honoree, will not be attending the Gala Dinner on May 14th. The Chamber hereby affirms that the Gala Dinner will take place as scheduled, including the presentation of the 2019 Person of the Year Fellowship Program, and awards recognizing important contributors to Social Responsibility and Digital Innovation.”

Other parallel events scheduled during the week will take place as planned, the group said, promising to provide further updates as they become available.

“President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is the Brazilian recipient of the 2019 Person of the Year Awards,” the message continued. “Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil in October 2018. His political career began in 1988 as an elected representative of the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. In 1990, he was elected for the first of seven consecutive terms as Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro.

“The choice of President Bolsonaro is a recognition of his strongly stated intention of fostering closer commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States and his firm commitment to building a strong and durable partnership between the two nations.”

“President Jair Bolsonaro’s first months in office have been marked by frustration because he refuses to horse trade in the murky party system of the Brazilian Congress. Although critics blame his inexperience and naïveté, for his part, Bolsonaro claims that Brazil must adjust to his distinct governing style,” The National Interest recently reported. “However, the impulsive and pugnacious style that swept him to electoral victory now threatens his ability to govern. Rather than identifying a new and productive way to govern for all Brazilians, Bolsonaro is busy placating his base and taunting his leftist critics. Instead of setting himself up for wins, he continues tilting at windmills.”

Rents are in the news again.

Dueling activists were chanting on the streets in New York near City Hall Park last week, each side with their own take on livability. While a tenants group called for lower rents, landlords did just the opposite.

Ah, summer in New York City.

The landlords want state legislators to consider the impact on property owners and contractors of proposed changes to rent regulations.

“On Albany’s chopping block are programs that allow landlords to raise rents following upgrades to their buildings,” reports Crain’s New York Business. “The Taxpayers for an Affordable New York coalition, which includes the Real Estate Board of New York, the Rent Stabilization Association, the Community Housing Improvement Program and the Small Property Owners of New York, was represented by a group that discussed how rent reform would affect them.”

“When apartments become vacant, we want to put in new plumbing, new electrical, we want to insulate all of the walls, to make the apartments more energy-efficient and warmer,” Chris Athineos, who owns 150 apartments across Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, told Crain’s. “But we can’t do this if the government is going to pull these programs or drastically cut back on these programs.”

New York City lost more than 284,000 stabilized apartments between 1994 and 2016, according to the Rent Guidelines Board—attributable, housing advocates say, to a combination of loopholes and lax enforcement.

“Homes and Community Renewal, the state agency tasked with enforcing rent stabilization, declined the Assembly’s invitation to testify Thursday, according to Housing Committee Chair Steven Cymbrowitz. (An HCR spokesperson said they submitted written testimony, and that they plan on appearing in person in another hearing next week.),” reported Gothamist.com.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who drew applause from those in attendance, endorsed all planks of the proposed rent law package. “We need to remove any mechanism that drives landlords to want to deregulate units and destabilize and displace communities,” he said, according to ny.curbed.com.

Seven of the bills would close loopholes that allow landlords to boost rents in vacant apartments and ultimately deregulate them, the web site points out, “while two others would allow municipalities across the state to opt into rent stabilization, and instate “good cause” eviction protections under the umbrella of so-called universal rent control. With the latter, the vast majority of the state’s 3.3 million renting families would be guaranteed a lease renewal and incremental rent increases unless a landlord proves an exception like refusal to pay. (A carve-out in the bill exempts buildings that are also a landlord’s primary residence.)”

Rent the Runway, the online service that provides designer dress and accessory rentals, is reportedly moving to 10 Jay Street

The company, started by Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss in November 2009, will make the move in 2020. The new 83,000 square feet digs are said to hold as many as 500 employees. It will effectively double the size of its current spot on the sixth floor of 345 Hudson St. in Hudson Square.

Its four top floors at 10 Jay St. include a penthouse with a private, 10,000-square-foot terrace, reports the New York Post. “A 5,000-square-foot roof deck is shared by other tenants, including Translation LLC and Soho House’s co-working brand, Soho Works. The latter leased 48,424 square feet earlier this year on the bottom two floors when asking rents were $69 to $75 per square foot.”

Rent the Runway’s interiors will reportedly be designed by WeWork, with which Rent the Runway has dropoff and pop-up partnerships, according to the Post. “The CBRE team of Frederick Fackelmayer, Alex Benisatto and Sam Mann represented the tenant, which has accepted the Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit from Empire State Development.”

The expansion “comes amid a flurry of activity by the retailer, which includes the launch of Rent the Runway Kids and a partnership with West Elm and another with WeWork. Rent the Runway company recently obtained a $125 million investment that brings its total valuation to $1 billion, making it colloquially known as a “unicorn” startup,” according to Chain Store Age magazine.

Occupying four floors in the new office building, the headquarters includes the building’s penthouse floor, which boasts 10,000 sq. ft. of private outdoor terrace space and a 5,000-sq.-ft. communal roof deck with panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, the trade periodical reports. “JLL completed the transaction for building owners Glacier Global Partners LLC and Triangle Assets. CBRE represented Rent the Runway in the deal. The brokers are Frederick Fackelmayer, Alex Benisatto and Sam Mann.”

CBRE’s Frederick Fackelmayer, Alex Benisatto and Sam Mann represented Rent the Runway in the lease negotiations. JLL’s Howard Hersch, Brett Harvey and Sam Seiler represented Glacier Global Partners, according to the web site globest.com. “Rent the Runway represents the largest lease signed in Dumbo in nearly five years. This is significant for the Brooklyn market, as the brand is the latest highly successful creative company to relocate to the borough from Manhattan,” says Fackelmayer, who has completed transactions totaling 420,000 square feet in the Brooklyn marketplace since 2014.

The office building has been newly developed and modernized, the story added. “Fackelmayer adds the space “perfectly aligned with the unique character and identity that Rent the Runway was looking to capture in its new headquarters.”