A Little Bit About a Lot Of Things w/ UPDATE

I'm not going to apologize. I'm just not gonna. In the Q's book, a good April Fool's joke is one that's believable. That's why I wasn't so crazy about last year's post. I preferred the one two year's ago, though a friend wouldn't speak to me for a week after. Look, it costs nothing to mark your Google calendar year's ahead if you're really so against the informal holiday (I'm talking to you J.Z.)

Now it's the 2nd of April, and I guarantee I ain't foolin' ya on this tip. This morning I called David Kramer, master of Hudson Companies, the folks who are planning the 23-story tower for 626 Flatbush Avenue, on a tip (thanks Matt!) that movement was happening. I've gotten to this point where someone puts a phone number in front of me I just call it and see what happens. I was pleasantly surprised to get a call back swiftly from a friendly Alison Novak, a VP at Hudson and the lead on the project, and we spoke at some length about how things were moving forward. And move they most certainly are.

Some folks have asked me whether a company like Hudson has a right to build such a big building. The term is "as of right," and the answer is yes. As in there's no need for any rezoning or community review process. Seems there's a lot of misinformation out there about how these things work. I even recently got an email from someone who was darn certain that the 20 story glass tower planned for Lincoln Road had been stopped due to community protest. By the way, that is not so. First off, that project was perfectly legal and did not need our blessing. What stopped it was the financial meltdown and gun jumping. Would seem to the Q that Hudson is much more in step with the realities of the market than that thing was back then (pictured). By the way, since that tower was three stories shorter than the proposed Hudson building, it should at least give you a sense of scale of what 626 would look like next to the park. So yeah, and I said this to Alison, there will be some people who have a problem with it - mostly folks who don't want to see a building that big from inside the park. Wanna know something else I noticed? 23-stories is exactly the same height as the Ebbets houses. Wanna know something else? Alison and I are both from Iowa. Wanna know something else? She blogged for Brownstoner about a Hudson building Hudson was creating in 2009  at 3rd Street and Bond near trendy "Gowanus." In the mid 1990's, I lived on 3rd near Bond in a derelict old warehouse in area that we JOKINGLY called "The Gowanus Basin." Can't make it up. The times they are a-changin' and stayin the a-same at the same a-time.

So now that I've made a connection over there maybe I'll be able to keep y'all updated as things unfold. Seems there's going to be a two-story commercial building along Flatbush (much as the current "medical center: is now) with the baby skyscraper behind it where the parking lot is now.  People have also been asking the Q about the other apartment buildings going up at 100 Parkside and on Lincoln Road and a) whether and b) when they're going to be finished to which I say a) yes and b) heck if I know. It's all happening folks, but if you're waiting on them to open for one reason or another, like say to open your haberdashery, then I would say maybe you should open your first iteration somewhere else, like maybe London, because everything seems to be taking longer than you'd think.

Take the "upscale" grocery opening "soon" at the corner of Lincoln and Flatbush. I walked plum in there today without so much as getting frisked, and they've got the refrigeration cases and everything, and a nice man said it will be probably another month til you can buy any lacinato kale there. He was the third person (landlord Rong Ge included) to use the highly descriptive but incredibly dull name "Wholesome Gourmet Market." Frankly, I find the word "wholesome" a bit grotesque, but I'll withhold judgement til the door's open. I mean, really, nless there are topless dancers or salty sailors telling ribald jokes in their dirty underwear I'm assuming the place will be wholesome enough for me to bring my wee ones with me, and I'm also assuming a general level of cleanliness will be the norm. There was a grocer on 4th Avenue near where Mrs. Q and I used to live called "Grade Fair" and I used to always appreciate their honesty, though it never exactly made me want to go out of my way to shop there.

Midnight already? Arghh...

UPDATE

On balance, I think this company and this project are excellent uses of the space. We need new rentals in the area, and by all accounts this is going to be a nicely made, nicely appointed building. My understanding is that it's all rental, with some set aside as affordable, whatever that means in this day and age. All well and good.

What I find truly remarkable is that after nearly a century of the Flatbush (this is the heart of what was once known as Flatbush after all) remaining virtually intact, this is a major, major change, as were Patio Gardens and the Ebbets Houses before it. Generally, the very buildings, and certainly the height of the neighborhood, have remained unchanged, as have other neighborhoods adjacent to the crown jewel Prospect Park. In fact, Park Slope went as far as to designate nearly all the area on the Park as Landmarked, meaning there will be no 23 story buildings along that side. I understand that it is legal and as-of-right to build big over here, but one would think that if the company wanted to get off on the right foot it might want to ask for a meeting with neighbors just to establish its credentials as someone who is capable of listening to concerns. Sometimes it's not just a matter of rights, but a matter of what is "right." You might even learn to love some of our crankiest residents in the process!

To date, I have every indication that Hudson is a responsible developer and one that is a willing participant in the neighborhoods in which it works. I watched a whole half hour interview with Head Hudson David Kramer, and I was struck by his candor and his bona fides as an advocate for housing subsidies. Folks, before digging in too deep I highly encourage you to view that interview, as odd as the interviewer Michael Stoler is (he's F-A-S-C-I-N-A-T-I-N-G and I want to watch them all now), to get a sense of the person in question before making too many assumptions about what sort of person he is. I'm sure there are many opinions on the project already forming, and I'm not even clear exactly what it'll look like (renderings are a-coming), but the YouTube is a fascinating way see the personal side of the characters that shape the very world we live in.

I look forward to meeting with the guy, and having a substantive conversation about the very real situations that plague and sustain Brooklyn neighborhoods like ours, and to welcoming him and Alison and whomever else to a lunch at Da Hot Pot over Doubles and some form of eye-watering curry.

This is big stuff guys. I hope we can get it right.

Dollar Vans To Install Metro Card Readers

In a surprise move destined to lead to an increase in the use of so-called "Dollar Vans," the Taxi and Limousine Commission this morning released new plans to install 20 Metro Card readers in a "test" fleet of Dollar Vans along Flatbush Avenue's B41 line. To date, the typically all-cash business has been plagued by a reputation for poor driving and illegitimacy. While the Q himself has been known to use Dollar Vans on occasion, he's also a known thrill-seeker who will admit that the high speeds and thumping bass are part of the overall experience he enjoys, and that he's learned a great deal about Gospel and Island musics this way. I do not, will not, and cannot condone the taking of small children onto Dollar Vans however, and to that woman who brought open Chinese food onto a Dollar Van the other day the only thing I can say is...really?

The new i-Pad reading Metro Card swiper technology, which will be controlled through an antennae linked directly to MTA's servers and will not be owned or operated directly by the driver himself but rather money will be payed to the driver in the form of an old-fashioned check within a week from the ride, has actually been available for sometime, and a version of it is used in nations from India to the twin 'Guays of Uruguay and Paraguay. That it has come to NYC in the last half of the last year of Mayor Bloomberg's term should come as no surprise. Bloomberg famously claimed to want to take the best of the world's transportation innovations and bring them on home. Mayor Bloomberg did not answer my direct email asking for comment as to whether he has actually ever ridden a Dollar Van and whether in fact he's ever seen the ad on the side of some Dollar Vans asking "does he really have his Daddy's eyes?"

T&LC Commissioner David Yassky (boy that guy landed in a cushy appointment after losing an election didn't he?) was sanguine about the system's chances for reigning in some of the past excesses that have led to the Dollar Vans sometimes poor reputations. "By allowing passengers the option of paying for Dollar Vans with their MTA transit cards, we're saying to the drivers - we see you, we trust you, but we expect you to conduct yourself with a certain level of dignity and self-restraint." Many local pedestrians and bikers have reached out to the Q to complain in the past year about the DVs and what can be done to mitigate their deliriously destructive effect on the overall traffic situation on our beloved Flabenue. This Spring, the MTA releases its long awaited study of the Flatbush corridor traffic study. Challah Lou Ya to that!

Perhaps along with the new MetroCard readers there will be a way to better distinguish legitimate Dollar Vans from the renegade versions. The good drivers must be rewarded, and the most reckless denied access to the roads. We need no more reminders, in the form of injuries or fatalities, of how dangerous are the stretches of Flatbush, Parkside, Rogers, Empire, Church, Ocean etc. near our beloved Q.

Oh, I almost forgot the price. While cash rides will continue to undercut the MTA ($2) the MetroCard reader will charge you the same as a bus or subway ride, but there is a catch - you may not use your unlimited, as this would be too easy a path to fraud.
 

The Return of the Great Google Moogle

You'll be hearing a lot about the Great GoogaMooga  in the coming weeks, how it's returning after last year's mixed-received debut, and how you should do this, skip that, protest this or eat that. What you'll get from the Q is an honest assessment of what the Gritty Giggle Miggle means for the Alliance, the organization that actually makes your park possible, and why opportunities like this should be experimented with, tweaked, and ultimately embraced or jettisoned on a more reasoned analysis than a smattering of Facebook posts and Twitter rants. The Q did his best to be fair last year, in fact so fair as to compare the Grade Kooky Mooky to the State Fairs of his youth, though we did scoop the competition with a real zinger on the "artisanal" sloppy joe's, story here.

This year, a real rock festival is taking shape, with the opening Friday night being given over to reigning indie darlings of the '90s and '00s respectively, at the decidedly post baccalaureate price of $54.50, lineup here:

If that bill appeals, then you probably attended, played, or dated someone who attended or played at South by Southwest at some point in your life, and have actually at least once uttered the phrase "Texas sucks, but Austin is cool." If you refer to the festival as "South By" I'm wondering what you thought of the Dessner, Muhly, Sufjan thing at BAM? Too proggy? And if you refer to SXSW simply as "Sou," then you are definitely too cool for this blog and should probably just click this link now before you get old germs all over you.

The Saturday and Sunday lineups are more inspired in my view, in particular, the actual Great Depression (the one from the 1930s) price point:

The catch of course to the "free" aspect to the Late Cushy Tushy is that you must register and and win your tickets through lottery, a system that won much consternation from digital-ease-obsessed modern humans last time around. Here's the explanation. The event has a capacity; the event is popular; therefore, the event must limit the number of tickets issued; free is a very attractive price point; demand outstrips supply; therefore a lottery is employed. Registration happens April 1 - April 3. Tickets are assigned randomly, though I suppose you could probably register more than once using your many online aliases. It's not first come first serve so it's not a take-time-off-work to pump your reload button kinda thing, nor does it favor the unemployed or those "toiling" in the "creative classes."

Other major improvements over last year include the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the ridiculous barrier between Googa and Mooga that created utter confusion and a sense of first and second class citizenry. Plus, one had to trek WAY out of the way to enter from "our" side of the park. This year you'll be able to get your Goog On from Lincoln Road. The Boathouse will be the only true upscale private clubhouse part of the event, and rightly so says the Q. The promoters should have their chance to make a buck, as shows of this magnitude have to pay their bills somehow, but it's a public park and you shouldn't have to hire a camel to get to the entrance. I've crossed over into the "for" camp, because I think big public hang-out concerts are part of the public park mandate envisioned by the creators, provided they not happen every day and provided they not happen in the same place every time AND provided the Alliance be properly compensated and provided the wear and tear on the Nethermead be weighed against the benefit of such once-in-a-while extravaganzas

Now those are some big provideds of course. Given the financial realities of running the park as a partnership between the City and its citizenry, I think it's worth experimenting with how the Alliance comes up with more than $10 million annually in income. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and yet I hope that skinning cats is not one of the new ways the Alliance seeks to raise funds for operations. I may have to draw the line there. In the meantime, there park may need to find a few new ways to goog a moog.

Art Show Opening at Tugboat - Reception April 4

Photographer, local treasurer, and resident historian Bob Marvin sent over the following info on yet another brilliant group project of PLG Arts. Don't miss it at the equally brilliant and perfectly understated Tugboat. Def C U There.

PLG Arts presents its first group show at Tugboat Tea Company, 546 Flatbush Avenue, between Lincoln Road and Maple Street. The show will be hung on the evening of April 1^st and will run from April 2—30 and will feature the work of twenty-two local artists in many media, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, drawings, and prints.

There will be a reception on Thursday, April 4^th, from 6 to 9 PM which will be an opportunity to meet many of the artists.This show is the beginning of a collaboration between PLG Arts and Tugboat. PLG Arts will curate monthly solo and group shows at this venue featuring neighborhood artists.

The artists participating in this group show are: Efrat Baler Moses, Barbara Caban, Augusto Carlos, Daniel Freeman, David Fry, Wesley Gunn, Brian Fernandes Halloran, Noel Hefele, Frances Horne, Jay Horne, Lou Howart, Daphne Knause, Diane Lent, Marcia Lloyd, Jamie Lubetkin, Robert Marvin, Karl McIntosh, Otto Neals, Val Ocampo, Raul Pacheco, Sally Mara Sturman, Brianne Walasek.

The Q's Schools Tool: Part 2 - Lefferts Gardens Charter School

Please note: If your child turns 5 in 2013 and you're considering LGCS, be sure your application is in by THIS Monday. In fact, all charter apps are due that day. The common app for all charters is here. Selection for seats, at least the official first round, happens by lottery not long after. A charter school IS a public school, operated with City funds, with its own Board of Directors ultimately responsible, though it must comply with all City and State regulations when it comes to educating its students. Most charters are non-union, though a few are coming on line now with union teachers.For a relatively unbiased history and description of charter schools, I'd go to the good ol' Wikipedia page, where you get slightly less propaganda for or against. LGCS is somewhat unique among local charter school options, in that it was started by a small group of local parents and is not part of a local, regional or national network of schools. It is essentially a mom-and-pop start-up school, and as far as I can tell has no plans to expand beyond its flagship.

Now nearing the end of its third year of operation, the Lefferts Gardens Charter School (LGCS) is in many ways poised to hit a major new level of maturity this coming fall. After speaking with founding board member Renata Gomes last week, taking a tour of the classrooms in action, and attending an Open House led by LGCS Finance Director Marc Dicus, I can honestly say that this little engine that could really can, and is really starting to show signs of a new vigor and confidence as it shakes off a rough year of leadership turnover. If you haven't checked in with LGCS in awhile, I suggest getting to know them better in the coming months as they perhaps integrate more fully into the broader community. That's what the Q's crystal ball is telling him anyway. But first, a little history.

Imagine this scene if you will. A few years ago, Renata sat with friend and fellow mom Allison Jack, and together, worrying (maybe like you) about their own newborn's school possibilities said to themselves "wouldn't it be nice to have a strong school with a rich hands-on scientific method based "green" curriculum right here in the neighborhood?" Sure a lot of people say things like that. But then they drew in friends to form a charter committee, one being neighbor Renee Ciccone who took over lead applicant duties to apply for the charter (no small feat that - I sat on an unsuccessful charter committee myself and know it's no walk in the park), were awarded a charter, moved into the top floor of PS92 on Parkside near Rogers (the DoE calls it co-location), and have essentially created, with lots of help from teachers-parents-DOE-administrators-etc a model for learning, practically from scratch. With lots of successes and bumps along the way, and plenty of lessons to learn from, I think it's safe to say that school is poised to hit its stride this fall. Why am I so confident? Well, let's start with the basics.

First off, the school itself is gorgeous. Huge windows, lots of light, cheery atmosphere, nice gym, decent auditorium. It's a real SCHOOL school, and you feel it the minute you enter. They really used to know how to "school it up" back during the Great Depression. The stock market tanked, but it was a good time to be a brick mason! It's a keeper, and in just a few weeks, LGCS will find out whether it receives permanent permission to stay in the building. Soon it will be K-5, three grades per class. Folks, LGCS is no longer an idea or a start-up. It's a real school and will quite possibly outlive us all.

Second, the curriculum really is awesome. The kids go on field trips once a week (crazy, right?) to the zoo, garden, park, you name it, all with a mission and as part of the week's lesson plan. The recently hired curriculum coordinator Katrina Raben gets raves from staff and parents alike for stepping things up a notch all around.

Third, there are some solid teachers at the school. This I've heard first hand from the parents of attendees, but I also got to watch a couple teachers in action, and I was very impressed. The kids too were warm, inquisitive and engaged, whether in group settings or in break-out "choice" time. Here's a pic of a teach in one classroom where the vibe was pitch perfect:

Allison Greene in her cozy 2nd grad classrom

Now I ask you, is that not the most teachiest teacher and classroomiest classroom you've seen in awhile? Check out all the pets. Hey it's a science oriented curriculum, so you've got to have some Madagascar Cockroaches, courtesy of Miss Carmen, of course. Classrooms are team-taught, with a main teacher and a special education specialist, and from what this layman can ascertain, it works great, and the student/teacher ratio was super low. The kids came right up to me (at the appropriate choice time of course) and asked questions and wanted to show me their compost. Another couple kids acted out a conflict resolution play. Very cute.

But the main reason the Q is bullish on LGCS has to do with some of its stumbles in the first couple years, and I think the school has learned some hard lessons the hard way, perhaps to its longterm advantage. It lost its first principal after just two years, due some parents have said (off the record) to inexperience on all sides. That is to say, as with any new venture, it's tough to hit the ground firing on all cylinders (I don't really know whether that's an appropriate metaphor, but I like that word cylinder!) For the parents and kids that stayed through the growing pains of start-up mode, things got rough again when principal two turned out to be terrible fit, and was fired abruptly. They've been under a temporary leader ever since, and despite some turmoil for the adults, the kids are doing just fine. THIS time, the board has outsourced the hiring process to an expert firm using a national search, and the results could be a whole new kettle of fish, or maybe just one really nice fish wearing a well-fitted kettle. Or something to that effect. Because ultimately it is the school leader, her relationship with teachers/students/board/community that will make the single biggest difference. The Parent Association is already kickin' it (hi Siobhan; hi Sandra; hi Kathryn). The operations are happening, pro and responsive. The curriculum is ringing. The building is rocking. The kids are adorable. What's missing? A super strong leader and maybe, just maybe, a larger more diversified board with broader strengths. Too much of the weight has fallen on too few shoulders, in my professional opinion (as development director, not blogger. they don't pay me to write the Q, and as of yet no one has asked me to "consult" on blogging, Nate Silver I'm talking to you).

Visit the school. The application's coming right up so I chose it first for the series. But LGCS is well worth your consideration, and there's a pretty swell playground adjacent to boot. And it's close. Look, I know you might be looking at schools in Park Slope, Ft. Greene, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carrol Gardens. But do you really want your kid on a bus a couple hours a day, or drive or MTA-it every day? For kindergarten? It's a question worth asking, and one I ask myself frequently.

And those Smart Boards everyone's talking about? How come every school I've been too there's just a bunch of stuff taped to them or hanging off them? Never fails to crack me up...

Note: Plenty of vitriol gets thrown around in the anti-charter movement. And lots of wild claims get made by charter advocates. I'm going to try to stay clear of that discussion here, because I'm trying to present a "pro schools" and "pro children" and "pro parents" attitude in my posts. There are significant issues to be raised, some of which I've raised on the Q, about fairness, segregation, unions...most of these, at least to many families, will have little bearing on the actual experience of attending the school, and are much more about the infrastructure behind the schools. And so for now, I'm sticking to the school "experience" as much as possible.

The Q's School Tool: Part I of a Series

In which the Q alienates 90% of his audience by talking about something most people couldn't care less about.

Part One of a Six Part Series: Introduction to the Letter K: To Be Followed By In-Depth Unscientific Poorly Planned "Discovery" Tours of Various District 17 Schools

I'll admit that blog post title is aimed to inflame, since I know darn well that no one person could write such a thing, especially not some doofus dad whose oldest kid hasn't even turned 4. I haven't any real qualifications to write such a guide, nor am I going to tell you anything you couldn't and probably shouldn't find out for yourself. I'm just going to use my blog for what I think my blog is for, which is allowing me to air some thoughts publicly, elicit some feedback, and work through some ideas that have been kickin' around in me noggin'

The first being that I have no interest whatsoever in private schools. It's not really a chip on my shoulder thing, or a political thing. Well maybe a little bit. But not really. My vibe from private school admissions so far is that it seems way too caught up in the same stressful groove as competitive colleges, and I just don't see kindergarten as the place for that yet for me and Mrs. Q or our kids. I'm just not ready for that part of life. I like my life now. It's really nice, pretty relaxed considering the constant activity of raising two kids with jobs and blogs and bands, and I certainly don't want to be spending all my time wondering how I'm going to pay for it or resenting my kids for making me change my life in order to pay for it. I currently make too little money for The Blue Schools and Packers and St. Anns of the world, even if I could get in. And of course there's my upbringing. I grew up in the midwest, where school choice was no choice. You went, you got what you got. There were good teachers, o.k. teachers. mediocre teachers. And by the way, the schools in Ames IA were considered very very good. My point is that even good schools have lousy teachers and lousy schools good teachers, so even relying on reputation doesn't mean you GET the reputation personally, know what I mean? Anyhoo, by the time I could read and think I was off and running, learning and dreaming on my own. I was playing guitar and piano and drums a couple hours a day, doing a lot of between the ears dreaming, writing songs and poems. I got into other extra curriculars, no need to elaborate on all of them since they weren't all, uh, productive. If I have a point it's that it wasn't til I came East that I got a sense that schools, and where you went to school, were incredibly important to some people. Like REALLY important. In the past few months I've noticed it again. Even KINDERGARTEN is really important to some people. Even PRESCHOOL. Some people seem to be feel it really intensely. Others not so much. It might be something that's passed down from generation to generation. I'm not feeling it so much, though I can see now after a few school tours that some schools give off better vibes than others. I have yet to get a creepy vibe though. Or a "we hate children at this school" vibe. Maybe those schools are on Staten Island somewhere, over by the ruins of that old psychiatric hospital. I hope I don't have to visit it soon. The school, not Staten Island.

I've heard it said many times through the years that public schools in NYC generally suck. I will go out on a limb and say that they don't generally suck. That person who started that rumor generally sucks. He is not very nice and wants to make parents feel bad about themselves. And he probably hasn't visited any schools, or talked to parents who actually have children at public schools that don't suck, with principals that don't suck, or teachers that don't suck, or students that don't suck. What I've seen, if I may generalize, are adorable children laughing and raising their hands and playing and lining up, teachers who seem both professional and kind, clean and bright and colorful classrooms, loud but happy lunchrooms, joyful playgrounds - in short, I have seen schools. I've gone as parent and blogger, for interviews, open houses, tours, sometimes I've even just gone, like my family did to PS249,  to the holiday talent show (hi Felix!) and I gotta say it's always a good time.

I think it's quite possible that along with all the other big "red hot Brooklyn" stories happening and being told and retold in the media, public school is actually flourishing right along with the music scene, food culture and brownstone values. Lots of new ideas are being tried, from Charters to just plain new modes of thinking in DOE schools (check out the new Common Core curriculum stuff that's headed down the pike, new union rules, union schools that are allowed to directly challenge charters for innovation). I just think about all the schools I've heard of since Little Miss Clarkson Flatbed Jr. came onto the scene that people have told me they're gaga about. Again, it's just hearsay, but partial list includes:

A. PS 321 duh, overcrowded and SO 1990s (joke!)
B. Explore Charter School, right down Parkside at Nostrand
C. PS 107 over in the John Jay by Barnes and Noble
D. PS 133
E. PS 9 (in Prospect Heights - I toured it, adorable)
F. PS 295 (in south Park Slope - toured it, adorable)
G. The Children's School (I know people who go; I know a teacher there; known for 50/50 split of special needs/general population)
H. The Brooklyn New School (BNS) - nothing but raves.
I. Community Roots (lots of folks from Lefferts go there; it's a Charter School, no longer as easy for District 17 kids to get into though)
J.  PS 770 New American Academy (district 17, toured it, progressive, principal's a rock star, wrote about it here)
K. PS 705 (toured it, separate post to come, interviewing principal next week)
L. Lefferts Garden Charter School (LGCS) lovely - getting better - new leader coming - toured it - has giant Madagascar cockroaches as pets
M. PS 130 The Parkside School - Beautiful school, great programming, exceptional, toured it
N. PS 261 in Boerum Hill
O. PS 154 Windsor Terrace
P. PS 11 Ft. Greene
Q. The Arbor School (Williamsburg)
R. Other Billyburg Schools
S. PS 282 in Park Slope, 6th Ave 'n' Lincoln or so
T, There's a bunch in Flatbush, but I'm getting lazy now so here's some from our friends at Ditmas Park Corner.
U. I'm leaving tons out. Please comment your favorites and I'll add them to the list. This is all from memory folks, and my memory ain't so good anymore. 

Plus ya gotcher homeschoolers, idiosyncratic and happy micro-sized private schools, coop schools etc, and right here in the nabe the tiny but charming Brooklyn Apple Academy that I profiled here.  Three new charter schools are opening in District 17, two this fall (Citizens of the World on Empire at Troy and one by my favorite education conversation partner, the New American Academy guru Shimon Waronker), another coming from a former Community Roots teacher probably a year from now. I mean it's a crazy good time for school choice and just keeps getting better every year. If anything, I'd say the options are TOO numerous, and while your zoned school may not appeal to you, it's never been more possible to send your kid elsewhere, provided you're okay with entering waiting lists with priority systems (sibling at school? live in district?), waiting through the summer for openings, calling schools and letting them know how great an addition you'd make and how much you want it. (Principals have a great deal of discretion when filling those last few seats).

And so...


One could easily make the analogy that the run-up to enrolling one's precious Kings County offspring in public kindergarten feels like a terrible game of know-it-all musical chairs, wherein the slightest misstep or miscue or missed deadline or missed networking opportunity might cost you and your child the opportunity to sit snugly and smugly when the summer's sultry song is over, thereby forever damning your child to, say, an enormous disadvantage, like having to spell without the use of three of the alphabet's most useful letters. I can, even without the fanciest of education degrees, assure you that this is not the case. Your child will eventually be allowed the full use of the English vocabulary, access to the same internet, be allowed weekends off like other children, and never be forced to play the tuba against his or her will. Plus, there's always FIRST GRADE! Or even MID-YEAR! Sometimes parents switch schools, and there's often enough churnover (my word, thank you) to find a place somewhere that makes you comfortable. You're not signing a contract to stay put for 6 whole years after all.

Am I making you feel more at ease? I sure hope so. Because I know no one who's ever wanted to go to public who didn't eventually find a public that worked for them. Never. And I'm OLD! So I have lots of friends and acquaintances who've been through this all before.

That is to say it's kindergarten, and my limited intel-gathering experience so far, even over here in the much maligned District 17, has been remarkably sweet, so much so that I want to assure every parent out there that the very worst scenario is so much better than you've probably imagined that perhaps the very best outcome is also not as great as you imagined, meaning maybe school is going to be just fine, which is probably the way it was for you, though you probably don't remember it very well, as I don't, though I remember various awkwardnesses along the way. Generally speaking this is what I know happened in my first three or four years, and it has been corroborated by my parents so I know it to be true:

1. Some kids were nice to me; some were not
2. Some teachers were awesome; some were o.k.
3. I learned to read and I learned that I liked to read some things better than others
4. I learned basic math
5. I made friends
6. I learned how to write (sort of)
7. I learned some basic things about the country and the world
8. I learned some pretty cool science stuff that still blows my mind today
9. I learned how to play team sports like kickball and bounce a basketball and lie to principal
10. I learned how to listen to a teacher and to other students and to be proud when I got questions right
11. I learned how to take tests*
12. I learned how to be one among many - how to be part of a community

So when I started looking at local grammar schools I was thinking of those things, not Oxford or Yale. I was thinking of whether Little Miss Clarkson Flatbed Jr. would experience those things too, and whether she would come home from school and we would be able to talk about the things that happened to her at school and whether I would be able to enjoy experiencing them all over again, this time from the parent's point of view. And you know what? Every single school I've visited so far met the litmus test. But i did like some better than others. Which brings us to the question of "getting in," which as every parent will tell you is the real question, though I'm not so sure it should be the PRIMARY question. So maybe I should dig right into that "getting in" thang.

NYC's about zones, which means you're zoned for your neighborhood school. I'm zoned for Jackie Robinson PS 375 just north of Empire at the Ebbets Houses, which is absurd, since I'm closer to three other schools. The closest, PS92 Adrian Hegeman is basically around the corner. It's the school on Parkside between Bedford and Rogers, the same school that houses the Lefferts Gardens Charter School. It's a gorgeous building, and the renovated Parkside Playground that I've written so much about here is adjacent. More on PS92 later, maybe its own post since I got to go and talk to the principal with two other local parents. Then there's the lovely Explore Charter School, which I profiled a few moons back, and we

Explore (via NY Times)

have a friend who teaches there and also speaks well of the staff and leadership. Morty Ballen's network also runs another charter in Prospect Heights. Charters involve lotteries, which has this perverse effect of denying kids from right down the street. BUT there's a lot of churnover right near the beginning of the school year, so if you've got your heart set on a charter there's no reason not to stay on the wait list. Then there's PS249, The Caton, at Marlborough and Caton, next to the Parade Ground, also closer than my "zoned" school. It gets an A on the progress reports, does dual-language classrooms, has a beloved principal and scores high on parent satisfaction, more info here. One thing I've learned is that if I were to make enough of an impression (of the positive variety) with these principals, we would likely be able to attend, after all is said and done. The demand is not so great at these schools that a friendly plea and honest desire couldn't find an open seat or two by the start of school in the fall. This "fact" is not published anywhere, of course. Rules are rules after all. But with that in mind, I've continued to consider these close-enough-to-walk schools to be real possibilities, to greater or lesser degrees, and I guess I'll get into that in individual posts. I will say this; none of these schools have reached out much to the community, not so much in terms of what one might call "recruitment," but even basic marketing like listing Open Houses on the listserve or reaching out to the local blogger (ahem!), but hey I guess they're busy, and the general consensus seems to be "if you want to come here, come here, we don't to beg you, you should just come." I think it's safe to say, and I've had this conversation with plenty of parents, were a principal to say "hey we've got something really cool and unique going on over at our school you should really come check it out," being the good parental lemmings that we are we'd be there in a heartbeat! And if donuts are served? I'm all over it like white on rice. (bad metaphor?)

Why is that, you ask? Because a lot of parents I talk to, of the middle class variety, many of them white, are basically uncomfortable about integrating a very poor almost all brown-skinned demographic. As you can see, I'm not one to sugar-coat. That's the God honest truth, and I'd be lying if I said it hasn't occurred to me a time or two. Though on some tours when the principal says "come along for the ride" and the school is mostly black, I think to myself "damn straight, now THAT's what I'm talking about and I want to practice what I preach here about community and King's Dream and just dive in and meet some people from backgrounds different than me for a change! Does that sound like I'm asking the black world to beg me to come join them? That is I'm not sufficiently asked I won't send my kid to the school? That's a tough question, and I grapple with it sometimes. Someone actually said that to me once - "you people think we should bend over backward for you."

Argh. Such an entitled attitude you have Q. But in fact, like most people, I get nervous acting alone, and I imagine going to a nearby school with at least a few other parents that I already know, so that yeah, I don't feel like some weirdo. I mean, I'm fine being that weirdo guy when it's just myself, and I think I've kinda shown it right here on the blog. I sort of feel the very reason neighborhoods in Brooklyn get so twisted up is because we don't integrate effectively, due mostly to fear and ignorance on all sides, and I've often felt that the schools and marketplace are the key to the kind of change that could really revolutionize the way we think about each other and ultimately about how we live as a people, a City, a nation. Is it really that big? Hell yeah, I think so. We're the adults now. The values we teach our kids really DO matter that much. I mean, I ask myself sometimes, privately of course...

Clarkson FlatBed, what ARE you doing? I mean really, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Not what job are you doing, what song are you writing, what friend are you meeting for dinner, what book are you reading, what sarcastic joke are you making. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, Tim? Do you have any reason to be? Is it just one day after another, one awkward encounter with another stranger after another, one envious sideways glance at another person just like you who's enviously looking back at YOU wondering whether YOU know something THEY don't know? Are you going to leave the world, the neighborhood, Brooklyn, worse than you found it? And why, no matter how cynical you are, do you still get weepy when you hear the phrase "think globally, act locally?"

I mean, if at least one or two schools down the street or relatively near is perfectly nice. If a District 17 school is trying something innovative. If the people in my neighborhood are hurting, if the kids on the street are confused, if the color of people's skin is making such a big difference after all these years of supposed improved relations, if the President is black BUT...okay, here I go now. If the President is black but the color of the guy who got shot on Lincoln Road still matters as much as it does. I mean, I really didn't want to go there, but do you think for a second that if the poor soul who got shot for no reason a couple weeks ago had been a white man or woman, that the neighborhood wouldn't be marching down Flatbush Avenue stopping traffic with the NY Times leading the coverage? And where WAS the NY Times on that story anyway? Not even a MENTION!!! Is it not a story anymore when someone gets shot in the head FOR NO REASON AT ALL? In front of our subway station we all walk by every day? Holy shit, and a lot of us knew those guys, the young men in the videos, judging by the response the cops got. They're from our neighborhood, both the perps and the victim. Wow.

Oh, wait, this is about kindergartens. And it's about everything else too. For instance, I don't think I could live with myself and lie about where I live just to get into a school in a mostly white neighborhood to get a slightly better slightly more comfortable experience at the PTA meetings. I'm just not going to lead my life like that. Fear, fear, fear. Not so much lemming. Not so much bullshit. My kid will be fine. And one day, maybe she'll even thank me for it.

Next up, a lot of way less heavy looks at schools I've seen, from the Lefferts Gardens Charter School to PS770 and even a few out of the district. And I hope you'll chime in, correct me, shake it up. Yeah, shake it up just enough, and offer something, get something too. Shake it up. Shaken, not stirred. I promise not to lay it on so heavy. Cause kindergarten is supposed to be fun, remember?



*By the way, that last one? Turned out to be incredibly important. So important, that I find it continues to pay dividends - being able to calm myself, and quiet my brain and concentrate, knowing that it's not so much WHAT I know but that I need to be able to access it in a timely manner. Ironically, they called them the "Iowa" tests out here, I think. I grew up in Iowa. (I know you know what I'm getting at here, that I'm not being very sneaky, but yeah, I don't think teachers should be teaching to the test all the time, but I do think there's a time for tests, and I don't think it's a terrible thing to start learning relatively young. And I don't think that means I'm not progressive in my philosophy about education. I want kids rolling around on the ground and being inquisitive and playful too!)

Science Saturdays

Leave it to Carmen. I hope it goes without saying how much I LOVE this idea. Science Saturdays. I mean, this is the lady trying to sell Madagascar Cockroaches on the listserve. And I know for a fact that she did, because I saw one when I toured the Lefferts Gardens Charter School, and I doubt very much they bought it at Petco.

Babysitters - Vetted And Ready to Roll

As I mentioned awhile back, the reinvigorated youth and education committees at Community Board 9 have been dreaming up new outreach efforts. The power trio of Hillary-Amy-Shelley held workshops at Play Kids to train neighborhood teenagers the skills they needed to be responsible babysitters, and last week handed out certificates to those who completed the training. It was very sweet moment - many of the kids were there with families. Babysitting jobs were a great source of income for me as a kid, and for many of us (c'mon, raise your hand out there if you paid for something you really wanted with babysitting money!) So I applaud each and every one of the kids listed below. You've already shown great initiative, and I think that's a sign that you'll make a great watcher-over of a little ones.

The conversation about how much to pay a babysitter is always a bit awkward, especially for someone as young as some of these guys and gals. Keep that in mind, and of course the fact that minimum wage goes up to $9 an hour on April 1. We usually pay $15, for one, sometimes more for two. I have a friends who pay $10. I have friends who pay $30 and health insurance. So as you can see, it can be a bit strange to ask a kid what they charge, cuz they don't necessarily know what their skill set is worth in the marketplace. Just saying it might be worth coming at them with an offer rather than leaving it up to them.

I've included addresses so you know if they're close to your house but not apt numbers for obvious reasons. I also left off last names. I consider this blog to be essentially a bulletin board, so feel free to call directly. But you could also email Amy Albert with questions about individuals, though I highly recommend meeting these young people and giving them a trial, maybe a short assignment first if you're feeling squeamish about younger babysitters?

You know me I'm big into bringing groups of people living in our neighborhood together, and this is one of the coolest ways I can think of to do it. I know people who hire babysitters for twice as much as they probably need to from twice as far away as they need to and it's probably cause they don't know anyone nearby. It's like me and my dang haircuts. Til I started going to Nelson's I was going way out of my way. Now the money stays in the 'hood. Plus I get leads on stories!!! (I'm not always sure I get the best haircut, but I do have a better time and he stays open late).

Here's the list. For more info, contact Amy, the program chair. She may be able to hook up families with the right babysitter.

1316 St Johns Place (347)-985-3966
 99 Wilson Street (347) 382-4156
175 Hawthorne Street (718) 282-8442 
4512 Flatbush Avenue (718) 282 63486
552 Van Sicklen Ave (631) 383-0144
170 Fenimore Street (917) 754-9654
2121Westbury Court (718) 773-2358
191 Hawthorne Street, 718-938-6896
1188 President Street, (917) 402-5106 
2101 Westbury Court (347) 533-7974
78 Fenimore Street (347) 405-9448
159 Hawthorne Street (718) 462-7722
106 Clarkson Avenue (347) 984-9597
78 Fenimore Street (347) 520-0743
216 East 29th Street (917) 856-9457
1236 Dean Street, (718) 564-5164

The Latest from Le Artiste

David Eppley sent me another view for my application to DOT. Thought I'd pass it along. Remember, this is for the temporary project involving kids making the individual pieces that are placed on the trees as industrial tape. I'm submitting the apps this week. Remember, it will really be something quite different when the trees all around are full of green!

Post It And They Will Come

Oh My Sweet Goodness. When I opened an email today from Mr. Michael Cetera, he of the Community Board 9, he who many years ago as a young man helped get Eastern Parkway landmarked, he who keeps digging over on Clove Road hoping to find, I don't know, Revolutionary War muskets or something, he who agrees with me anyone in their right mind that the parking lot at Ocean/Flatbush/Empire is a disgrace and an affront to the people of Lefferts, nay the people of the City of New York...yeah, that Mike Cetera. Where was I? Oh yeah...he sent me an email this morning. With a picture for the redesign of the plaza that plaza. It's rid-ic-u-lous. Across from the Botanic Garden, the Prospect Park, the glorious Phat Albert building and the third greatest Wendy's in North America no less!

But seriously...it's such a wasted opportunity and we all know it. Now, folks are finally starting to agitate about it.

I'm all pumped about the David Eppley art project that I've been pushing here to gorgeously psychedelically cover the green sheet metal Flatbush trees and will be going to an already enthusiastic DOT with the formal proposal and various elected officials (Adams and Eugene) in the coming weeks for funding (read about it here) not as an end but because we (meaning the board and lots of you who I've talked to and who've written in) see it as a great way to bring everybody's attention to the other attraction. And the other attraction, simply put, is getting the MTA to stop using that land as a parking lot, which as far as any one can tell is not legal, moral, kosher, or even nice. As soon as we get the right design in place, with the right people (meaning the design commission) involved, and the right owner (we're not sure yet) and the right power brokers involved (the mayor, the king), that land should be returned to us (since it really belongs to we the people anyway) and we should get something useful and purty out of it. And Cetera, who's no stranger to this kinda long term bureaucracy stuff (he worked for years as the City's architect) knows how to get this stuff done. So his first move, besides being kind enough to humor me with the tree business, was to enlist an old friend, Johannes Knesl, RA, an urban designer who served for many years as DOT's director of urban design and knows how to design open spaces that will meet the strict requirements for public plazas and streetscapes. He's retired now, moved down to North Carolina for a bit, but I do believe he's got a bit of the bug to move back up to the City. And if we ask real nice-like he may just offer this one for the love and not the money. No promises. But guess what? He is offering a sneak peak.

So ladies and gentlemen. For those who'd like a glimpse at what the future might bring. For those who'd like to be in on the ground floor. For those who like to think big, who like to imagine their neighborhood not as it is but as it could be. Who don't think just in terms of new restaurants or boutiques and condos and private real estate development, but of public spaces and shared goals and tax dollars wisely spent, I bring you an old fashioned drawing via new fashioned jpeg: