The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

KRAZY Developments Keep Coming Out of CB9

Even on vacay, the Q can't avoid peeking into the emails and listening to the messages from the absurd fi despite his generally strong political posture, it's safe to say that BP Eric Adams and longtime lieutenant Ingrid Martin-Lewis have managed to aide their nemesis, the egomaniacal "activist" Alicia Boyd, by helping to dismantle and discourage the board to the point of deep cynicism. The latest lawsuits and countersuits and accusations are completely avoidable, but have ensured that CB9 remains embroiled in acrimony and mistrust well into the coming fiscal year.

not the Rolling Stone, but I'll take it!
For some background that's not mine, there's always the incredibly detailed resource known as Crown Heights Info, the popular news rag for worldwide adherents of the Chabad Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism favored by those living (mostly) in southern Crown  Heights. The Q's become friendly with quite a few influential Chabad members and to a number I've found them to be smart, savvy and politically adept, not to mention hilarious. They too are dismayed and befuddled - what the hell is going on? When longtime CB9 chair Jake Goldstein was canned by a coup from Borough Hall, I was hopeful that the (wholly unnecessary) outside agitation from Adams (quite undemocratic, but then so are CBs by nature) would lead to a new openness and frankness of dialogue. Instead, I now know why Jake and longtime District Manager Pearl Miles (also canned this last year) had become so cynical about the machinations of Brooklyn politics. To read the whole sordid story of the Q's disillusionment with the Kings County machine, read on. Still kicking myself how long it took me to connect the dots. They don't offer a playbook...though some of my good friends at MTOPP did offer a Playbill! It has become one of my most cherished mementos...

NOW...after engineering (with a great deal of difficulty) the foregone conclusion to hire Board member and longtime ally of the Brooklyn political machine - Carmen Martinez - an injunction brought by Boyd & company has BLOCKED HER HIRING while a lawsuit proceeds claiming that Martinez was hired illegally, without proper processes, and given a whopping $120,000 starting salary to boot. Read more from Rachel at DNA Info.

Meanwhile Pearl Miles' lawsuit for millions of bucks and her old job back keeps inching forward, and Jake Goldstein's suit has a docket number, and Demetrius Lawrence (current chair of CB9) has endured more suits than a Brooks Brother. (Actually, DL has a lot of actual suits of the clothing variety too, so perhaps I should clarify when I mean lawsuits. Dapper guy that Demetrius, though as a fellow sweaty man, I'd go with short sleeves in summer. But a good suit can hide unsightly bulges, it's true. Comfort counts too, though I tend to agree we men often err on the side of underdressed these days.

I think I might just shave today, come to think of it. And put on some pants...ANY pants.

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