🌱 Joy Ride In Stolen School Bus + Haitians Face Food Insecurity

Happy Saturday, Ditmas Park-Flatbush! Let's get you all caught up on what's happening locally to start today off on an informed note.

First, today's weather:

Partial sunshine. High: 47 Low: 34.

Here are the top stories today in Ditmas Park-Flatbush:

1. Crime is up in East New York and Brooklyn as a whole, according to the NYPD. There have been 25 murders reported in the neighborhood so far this year. (Brooklyn Reader)
2. A man took a stolen yellow school bus for a "joy ride" across southeastern Brooklyn, after stealing it in East Flatbush. In video footage the bus is seen plowing through parked cars. (New York Daily News)
3. New York City private and religious schools such as Yeshivas will face a vaccine mandate starting on December 20th. The mandate will affect approximately 56,000 employees. (NYC Patch)
4. A new centrist bi-partisan alliance is forming in the City Council between GOP members and centrist Democrats. They hope to be 10 members strong. Members include Kalman Yeger, whose district borders Flatbush and Ditmas Park to the south. (Gothamist)
5. Brooklyn's Haitian communities are hit particularly hard by food insecurity. While there aren't official statistics available some nonprofit food pantry operators that between 25-80% of the people they serve are Haitian. (Haitian Times)

Today in Ditmas Park-Flatbush:

• NYIC Community Resource Fair at PS 181, Brooklyn (9 a.m.)
• SINTERKLAAS – SAINT NICHOLAS DAY - The Wyckoff House Museum (2 p.m.)

Ditmas Park-Flatbush Patch Notebook

• Prospect Park: "Prospect Park is home to some of the area’s best birdwatching spots— as shown by @cablecrain who recently spotted this Downy Woodpecker! What are some of your best bird sightings? We’d love to hear below in the comments!" (Instagram)
• Incoming City Council Member Rita Joseph wants Flatbush residents in Council District 40 to give community input in the next city budget. (Twitter)
• Here's a Dancealates® class with Melissa from the Flatbush YMCA. (Facebook)
• Holiday lights are turning on in Little Haiti. (Twitter)

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That's it for today! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow morning with another update. If you're enjoying these newsletters, consider inviting some of your friends and neighbors to read along. You can send them this link to subscribe.

— Dashiell Allen

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Ditmas Park-Flatbush Daily? I'm all ears. You can email me at DitmasPark@Patch.com.