🌱 Sunset Park Daily: Filming In New York + Chinese New Year

Up and at 'em, Sunset Park! Diane Witek here to get you all caught up to start this Thursday, Feb. 3 off on an informed note. These are the most important things going on in town today.

First, today's weather:

Fog with rain and drizzle. High: 47, low: 37.

Here are the top stories in Sunset Park today:

1. New York has had one of the best film-production tax credits in the country since 2004. Recently Gov. Kathy Hochul extended the credits through 2029; it appears that a lot more people will soon be filming in New York. In Yonkers, Great Point Studios cut the ribbon on Lionsgate Studios on Jan. 11. Within the boroughs, Steiner Studios announced intentions to develop its “Steiner Sequel” along the Sunset Park waterfront and will break ground this spring. Astoria will soon have a new center, too: Wildflower Studios. (Curbed)
2. "The new redistricting map of Brooklyn will take away Representative Velázquez, its longtime representative and champion for the neighborhood," said Whitney Hu, director for Civic Engagement and Research at Churches United for Fair Housing and a Sunset Park resident. “Underneath the Trump administration, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was waiting in Sunset Park,” she said. "And we had a representative that broke up and went to bat and part of Nydia’s organizing around Know Your Rights also knew that people who were taken or kidnapped by ICE was a lot less than if we didn’t had a representative using her microphone.” If Malliotakis suddenly becomes the neighborhood’s representative, even for a short while, constituents would be without a trusted, safe place to turn, Hu said. (Brooklyn Paper)
3. Tuesday kicked off the Chinese New Year, a lunar festival which many people across the tri-state celebrated. The crowds were back, showing gratitude for being able to gather again due to the vaccine availability — but also acknowledging that they had many reasons to hope that the new year is better than the two that preceded it. (WPIX 11 New York)

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From my notebook:

• Sunset Park 5th Avenue BID: "Free help for Small Businesses: Get online, Build your brand, drive sales. From the brilliant NYC Small Business Recovery Network. The Open + Online program is taking applications through Feb. 22." (Facebook)
• Fifth Avenue Committee: "Need help finding a COVID-19 testing site near your? Visit NYC.Gov/COVIDTest or text "COVID TEST" to 855-48 and get tested today." (Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed. I'll see you around!

— Diane Witek

About me: Impassioned Writer, Website Designer, Social Media Marketer and newly proclaimed Baker. Lover of nature and animals of all kinds.