Source: Aaron Short / Brooklyn Paper

A controversial radioactive waste plant three blocks from a Williamsburg school will be forced to close under a bill passed by both houses in Albany late last week.

Radiac Research and Environmental Sciences, a hazardous waste facility on Kent Avenue since 1969, could finally be compelled to relocate after the state Senate and Assembly made it illegal to operate such a facility within 1,500 feet of a school.

Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D-Williamsburg), who sponsored the legislation, called the bill “a real victory for the North Brooklyn community and the safety of our children,” particularly students at PS 84 on Berry Street and S. First Street, just steps from the waste-processing site.

“No one wants to live next to a dump, let alone one that contains radioactive waste,” said Lentol. “It is appalling that the students in this community are going to school next to radioactive waste.”

The bill marks the coda of a 20-year campaign against Radiac, which processes medical waste from medical research centers, university hospitals, and city environmental agencies.

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Source: Aaron Short / Brooklyn Paper

A war of words is breaking out between two young challengers for North Brooklyn’s next Democratic District Leader — and Brooklyn’s judges are in the middle of it.

Less than a week after outgoing Greenpoint District Leader Steve Cohn praised Brooklyn’s judges during his political club’s annual fundraiser, insurgent candidate Lincoln Restler slammed both Cohn and his son, Warren, for perpetuating “cronyism” and favoritism within the Democratic Party.

Warren Cohn, a 23-year-old community liaison for Rep. Ed Towns (D-Williamsburg), is hoping to succeed his father, who declined to seek re-election for the largely political seat that he has held for 27 years. Despite the different Cohn running for the seat, Restler, 26, continued to attack the father for his close ties to the county’s judges.

”Of course Steve Cohn loves Brooklyn’s judiciary,” said Restler. “Brooklyn’s highly politicized judicial selection process has allowed Steve Cohn to profit greatly as the longtime secretary of the Brooklyn Democratic Party with a key role in selecting judges, and a lawyer in the Downtown Brooklyn courts system who was at one time the largest single recipient of courthouse patronage.”

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