The scene this afternoon at Wyckoff Avenue and Stockholm Street. — Photo by Ali Aschman

This afternoon around 1pm, alarms on the 7th floor of the left “B” wing of Wyckoff Heights Hospital were set off by what hospital staff says is likely an electrical fire. There were several fire trucks at the scene as the hospital evacuated staff and patients. It’s not clear where the patients will be taken. FDNY spokespeople do not yet have any information, and phones at the hospital are unanswered.

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The L train will run in two sections from 7am to 7pm Sunday, Aug. 22, and 10:15am to 3:05pm on Wed. and Thu., Aug. 25 – 26. In addition, trains between Myrtle-Wyckoff and Rockaway Parkway will run only every 24 minutes, so make sure to time your subway trips. MTA is updating its Communication Based Train Control (CTBC) testing and equipment installation along the L line. CTBC is the automated control system which coordinates signals throughout the subways, ensuring safe operation of conductorless trains.

The M train will not be running at all this weekend until Monday morning at 5am; free shuttle buses will take riders from Metropolitan to Myrtle-Broadway. Riders can then take the J train. MTA is repairing platform edges along the line.

NYC Dept. of Transportation is doing ongoing maintenance to the Williamsburg Bridge this weekend, requiring lane closures and truck detours. Pedestrian and bicycle lanes will not be affected. Two Brooklyn-bound lanes will be reversed, and all truck traffic is detoured to the Manhattan Bridge. The closure will be in place from 3am to 8pm both Saturday and Sunday.

The M train will not be running this weekend; free shuttle buses will take riders from Metropolitan to Myrtle-Broadway. Riders can then take the J train.

The L train will be out of service between Myrtle-Wyckoff and Rockaway Parkway stations both Saturday and Sunday, July 31-Aug. 1, from 5:30am to 8pm. Free shuttle buses will provide alternative service.

MTA is updating its Communication Based Train Control (CTBC) testing and equipment installation along the L line. CTBC is an automated control system which coordinates signals throughout the subways, ensuring safe operation.

Council member Erik Dilan attends a ribbon-cutting at Bushwick Playground on Putnam and Knickerbocker. — Photo by Ralphie Monroe

37th District City Council member Erik Dilan and other officials came to Bushwick Playground, on Putnam between Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues, to cut the ribbon on the reopening of the park after a year of renovations. The $2.5 million job transforms the park into a space for all ages, with an adult sitting area, an exercise area, and a spray shower like that installed a few years ago at Fermi Playground on Central and Troutman. The project also added new fencing, paving, and lighting, as well as basketball courts.

Drivers beware the Williamsburg Bridge this weekend: NYC Dept. of Transportation will be doing maintenance on the overhead structures and will need to close off three Manhattan-bound lanes. Two Brooklyn-bound lanes will be reversed, and all truck traffic is detoured to the Manhattan Bridge. The closure will be in place from 3am to 8pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Additional traffic enforcement agents and tow trucks will be making the rounds. The bicycle and pedestrian lanes will remain open, however, the lanes that approach the bridge in the median of Delancey Street will be closed. Cyclists will have to access the bridge path from the south side of Delancey and Clinton.

The Brooklyn approach has its own issues.

“Although trucks are detoured to the Manhattan Bridge during these closures, some trucks may try to disobey the detour and access the Williamsburg Bridge anyway,” said Lee Wilson, Community Liaison with Sam Schwartz Engineering, the firm in charge of repair work for the bridge. If this happens, flaggers will be present to direct the tracks back off the bridge — they will need to cross over the pedestrian-bicycle lane to exit the bridge at S. 5th Street.

DOT is replacing the bridge’s tower struts and painting tower tops and cables, as well as fixing the plates which connect the outer and inner roadway floor beams through the main tower, Wilson said.

Please see updated story.

Drivers beware the Williamsburg Bridge this weekend: NYC Dept. of Transportation will be doing maintenance on the overhead structures and will need to close off three Manhattan-bound lanes. Two Brooklyn-bound lanes will be reversed, and all truck traffic is detoured to the Manhattan Bridge. The closure will be in place from 3am to 8pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Additional traffic enforcement agents and tow trucks will be making the rounds. The bicycle and pedestrian lanes will remain open.

DOT is replacing the bridge’s tower struts and painting tower tops and cables.

Just a few shots of the GLOBE LGBT Pride parade heading through Bushwick this afternoon, care of Kevin T. Curtis:

The Daily News reports a transgendered Ridgewood woman was found dead yesterday afternoon in her apartment at 69-30 62nd Street, near Fresh Pond and Myrtle. Her friends had been trying to contact her since Friday, and finally got the landlord to open the door around 4pm. Edelbuerto (Amanda) Gonzalez-Andujar, 29, was found stabbed in the neck and chest, reports the Times. The apartment was ransacked and Gonzalez’s laptop was taken, and so far the police have no suspects.

Update: Times reports Gonzalez was strangled, and according to the Gothamist, her friends claim there is security video of a man going in with her, and leaving several hours later.

Brianna Zani sporting various looks. The 21-year-old has been missing since Thursday.

UPDATE: Ms. Zani has returned to her Jefferson Street apartment in the last half-hour and is waiting in an ambulance in front, with her parents, reports her downstairs neighbor on Twitter. Zani’s sister is expressing her thanks to the people who helped spread the news.

On March 17, one day after Bushwick resident Brianna Zani stopped taking her bipolar disorder medication, she went missing. Two days later, the 21-year-old with a history of mental illness was found passed out in alley and taken to Woodhull Hospital where she quickly escaped. Now her family is coordinating a growing search effort, both in North Brooklyn and online.

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