Massive police presence tonight in and around 19 Clarkson Avenue. A detective with the 71st told me a kid was reported missing and the're investigating all leads while canvassing the neighborhood. One officer was overheard saying that the kid had actually been picked up, and therefore could be...just about anywhere. If you learn more on this or other stories, feel free to give theQ a holler, either as a comment, or at timothyjamesthomas@gmail.com. I'm not actually a reporter; I just play one on the internet (from time to time).
UPDATE 8AM THURS MORN: According to a member of the Clarkson Ave Block Association, the child was found safe and okay, adding "an ambulance screeched away presumably to take her to the hospital to make sure she is uninjured. The cops were shouting and cheering and running down the sidewalk slapping people high fives. The father was sobbing relief."
This might not be the time or place to complain about the Mary Bobb Daycare Center. But there are those of us who have long feared that overcrowding is a big problem in that small townhouse. And a huge sign of neglect to those of us in the know is - why the hell don't they clean up that backyard so the kids can go outside once in awhile? Surely a sign that they're not serious about providing top-notch care for those adorable toddlers and pre-schoolers. Still, parents seem to have voted with their enrollment - the place is packed to the hilt. And Mary Bobb has greatly expanded her empire, adding even a private elementary school over on Rogers. If negligence was involved in the above, I hope she/they get slapped with a serious violation of appropriate severity.
FURTHER UPDATE - 9AM: Stopped by Mary Bobb on the way to work. A woman called at me through the window asking what I wanted. I nicely asked for the story of what happened last night, as a concerned neighbor, and she gruffly told me that if I didn't have a kid enrolled there she didn't want to talk about it. I asked if she was Mary Bobb and she said yes. In no uncertain terms I told her she needed to be a better neighbor than to bark at a concerned compatriot from her darkened window - if not, her antagonism was not going to sit well with the block association or other more empowered authorities. I think it's time for an investigation, don't you?
3 comments:
i can understand her being upset because of her involvement with the incident. she is probably looking at a lot of problems for her business right now. however her attitude toward you as a (long time) neighbor is uncalled for.
investigate!
if her business is legit she has nothing to worry about. but it sounds like some leaves are going to fall when her tree is shaken.
I heard from another neighbor on the block that this is not the first time a child has gone missing from this location. Apparently a child wandered off down the street a few years ago...But this is just people talking. However, if she keeps shutting concerned neighbors out of her "business", people will continue drawing their own conclusions and her popularity is likely to decrease.
I agree with your complaint about the backyard. We live next door to the daycare across the street, run by the amazing and incomparable Cheryl Clark. The children spend a healthy part of the day playing happily out back, under supervision, running off some much-needed-to-be-released energy and enjoying the nice weather. They are encouraged to play energetically yet also understand their spacial limitations, and have respect for each other and their neighbors, waiting patiently for us to return their flyaway basketballs and frisbees at the end of each day. They've always been so kind to our dog, and say hello to my daughter who blows kisses at them through the fence separating our yards. The fence is locked and I am never concerned a child will go missing while they are under Miss Clark's care.
Conversely, I tense up when I see those children in front of Mary Bobb's squatting shoulder to shoulder in the hot sun in their dark uniforms, filling the stoop and getting yelled at to sit still. I assumed they didn't have access to the backyard, otherwise why wouldn't anyone take advantage of sprucing it up and letting the kids loose out there?--that would be another selling point for new enrollment, in my opinion. Does anyone know if they go to the park at least? Otherwise, where do they go to get exercise and blow off some steam? Maybe there's a gymnasium inside--If so, sign ME up!
Investigate. That's unbelievable.
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