The Tablet, November 2, 1918

Ed Wilkinson's informative summary of the 1918 epidemic in the four counties of the Diocese of Brooklyn has found its way to Cruxnow.org, link HERE. There are references to masks and outdoor celebration of the Mass, without "social distancing." Father Bernard Quinn wrote from the trenches. Help from Church staff is narrated, not that much about how the faithful suffered. 

Anthony Fauci, M.D.

Anthony Fauci, M.D., attended Our Lady of Guadalupe parish school, class of 1954, then earned a scholarship to Regis High School, where he graduated in 1958.  He went onto the College of Holy Cross, Worcester, class of 1962.
Our Lady of Guadalupe church is on 15th Avenue, Dyker Heights or Bensonhurst.
A half-hour recent interview with Dr. Fauci is on YouTube HERE.

Sad news from Bushwick

According to the unofficial Catholic News Agency (EWTN), on Friday, March 27, 2020, St. Brigid's parish, on the Bushwick-Ridgewood border, lost their pastor, Fr.Jorge Ortiz-Garay, to Coronavirus.  Link HERE.
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He was incardinated into the diocese of Brooklyn. According to this article in the official Catholic News Service, he was a naturalized U. S. citizen.

Bay Ridge Catholic at St. Anselm

Effective September, 2020, Holy Angels Catholic Academy and St. Anselm Catholic Academy will merge into Bay Ridge Catholic Academy. Please see a November 1, 2019, article in The Brooklyn Eagle, linked HERE.

Brooklyn mergers, September, 2019, no closures

The Tablet website includes the appointment of pastors of newly-merged parishes. 
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In Bensonhurst, St. Athanasius, 61st Street, and St. Dominic, 75th Street, are merged, with  the new pastor Msgr. David Cassato. The churches are a mile apart.
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Holy Family, on Flatlands Avenue, Canarsie, is merged with St. Laurence, 1.25 mile further east on Flatlands Avenue, East New York. The pastor is Fr. Edward Kane.
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All Saints, Williamsburg, is merged with Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei, a mile to the northeast. The pastor of All Saints, Fr. Vincenzo Cardilicchia, becomes pastor of the merged parish. He remains in ministry with the Neo-Catechumenal Way.
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In Cypress Hills, Fr. Luis Laverde, pastor of Blessed Sacrament is now pastor of the merged parish of Blessed Sacrament and St. Sylvester. The two churches are less than a mile distant.
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In Bath Beach, Fr. John Maduri, pastor of Most Precious Blood is now pastor of the merged parish of Most Precious Blood and Saints Simon and Jude, a mile northeast.
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As no churches are closed and the new merged parish often resembles what existed previously (regarding priestly staffing), maybe this news is rather minor. Instead of finding sixteen qualified pastors, the bishop now needs eight. Instead of sixteen accounts, there will be eight.

Queen of All Saints school closing suddenly

On August 13, 2019, the diocese of Brooklyn announced that the Catholic Academy named St. Francis Xavier and Queen of All Saints will close at the end of the month. You may view the story in the Brooklyn Reporter linked HERE. Our you may go to the Press Releases on the website of the diocese of Brooklyn.
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My take on this is geography. I know of a high school girl from Park Slope gladly attending Brooklyn Tech in Fort Greene, but the same trek for an elementary school child might be daunting.  Bishop DiMarzio lives only a third of a mile from Queen of All Saints, but Catholic families able to pay tuition may be more scattered.
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I count thirty Brooklyn Catholic elementary Academies or Schools open in September, but the list of schools on the diocesan website includes other schools that have been closed! It takes an effort to update information on websites.

St. Joseph HS for Girls, Willoughby St.

I am saddened by the announcement that the long-serving St. Joseph's at Bridge and Willoughby Streets will close in 2020. Megan McGibney mentions that in an excellent survey article in Bklyn, linked HERE.