If You Care About Those Dang Green Metal Trees at Flatbush and Ocean, Read On

Ask anyone who lives in Flatbush, and they'll tell you what they think of those DANG green sheet metal 'n' concrete trees at the very entrance to the neighborhood. Much maligned, adored or ignored, the trees are in a sorry state. The Q has spent a year trying to gauge what can and can't be done about the eyesores, even hinting at the most elegant of solutions (an Ole Fashioned Amish Sheet Metal Refabrication and Repainting!).

Well, as my better half is fond of saying if you're going to do something, do it right. A person has been identified who can fix and paint the trees to look good as new, for three grand or so. We could try to find City money or perhaps some discretionary $ from an elected official, or we could raise the money ourselves. It's not a lot of buck for the bang, and the Q contacted the head of Brooklyn DOT and he said he'd work with us to get the necessary approvals. What he needs first is Community Board approval to rehab the trees. Mike Cetera, a longtime City architect and resident red-tape expert, says there's a presentation to be made to the Design Commission as well, but that he can help make that happen.

Now I know that some of you would rather see the trees removed. That ain't gonna happen without a fight, and I for one am in no mood for one. IF the trees are here to stay for next few years, why not "spruce" them up? Right now we're basically telling the world "Welcome to Flatbush...where we don't give a crap!" Longterm, we should be thinking about reclaiming the whole plaza from NYCTA to create a public park space, with real honest to goodness all-natural tree trees. We can talk about that too, though my gut tells me that could take years and we're probably best off knocking them off separately.

If you have feelings about the trees and whether we should fix 'em, come down on Monday night at 7PM to Community Board 9 headquarters at 890 Nostrand right off the President St stop on the 2/5. It's a joint meeting of the Parks and Transportation committees. After the discussion, we will make a recommendation to the full Board for a vote at the June 26 CB meeting. It'll be nice to see each and every one of you.

Inside the Lefferts Gardens Charter School

The Lefferts Gardens Charter School is nearing the end of its second year in existence. While there were certainly some rough patches for LGCS on the road from brainchild (first date) to getting its charter (conception) through it's struggle to cohabit peacefully with PS92 (shotgun wedding), it's really quite remarkable how this little "hands-on learning" school has grown to be an important part of the fabric of the neighborhood in so little time. As LGCS continues to add a grade each year on its way towards full-fledged elementary schooldom, it might look back on 2011-2012 as its terrible twos. And yet, after talking with three very-involved parents of the super-important Parents Association, the Q feels incredibly impressed and hopeful that all will be full-steam-ahead for Year 3. Since the school's opening, I've heard rumors and second-hand info from folks from time to time, but for the most part, it's been hard to get a clear sense of what's going on over on Parkside near Rogers. So my lively and lengthy conversation with these actual ueber-moms felt like just the tonic to quench my curiosity.

Earlier this year, LGCS's inaugural principal peacefully resigned, pledging to stay through the year, and the Board and its parent association representative have been vetting candidates and soul-searching ever since. If you were to believe the naysayers and alarmists, the fact that Marc Magnus-Sharpe jumped ship was a certain death knell for the school. Far from it say my interviewees. There are undoubtedly many sides to the story, but one well-articulated viewpoint is that Marc was an incredibly likable and capable leader who perhaps wasn't a perfect fit for an early education start-up. Another side points to discord between the school leader and the board. Regardless of any past politics, this little charter school with a super-specific mission - to use the environmental sciences as a core value - should be able to find another leader who can make it work. Apparently, they're quite close to naming someone. Long story short, there are a lot of talented educators and administrators out there - LGCS will likely find a dedicated person to guide it through its next phase.



So what is the school all about? For a long time there was no website to speak of, so outsiders had little chance of gleaning useful tidbits. The "A Day in the Life" section of their newish site here has lots of great narrative descriptions to help parents gauge whether the school sounds like a possible fit. If you're intrigued, go visit the school. There's no better way to truly get the vibe - I've been, though not in the classroom. It's a...school! The school offers regularly scheduled tours throughout the year, so by all means go and ask questions if you're curious. Class sizes are 25-27 ish, though with two co-teachers in each.


The women I spoke to were as committed as ever after the first two years. They hope to engage the community more, through things like the school's "tree stewards" program wherein the school adopted a dozen street trees around its perimeter. And by all means check out the following events that are open to the public and happening this week:

 Art Show
Wednesday, May 30
5:30-7:00 PM
Second Floor of 601 Parkside
Third art show of the year displaying student work produced with the artists-in-residence.

Mighty Milers Fitness Fun Run
Saturday, June 2
10 AM-noon
Basketball courts on Winthrop between Bedford and Rogers (behind school building)
LGCS students run/jog/walk a mile to raise money for arts programming for the 2012-13 school year.
Other activities include a group warm up, live DJ, healthy snacks and beverages, and award ceremony.

The Q recently landed himself in a bit of controversy by landing a quote in the NY Times about how middle-class white parents are loathe to go to nearly-all black schools. For my lengthy response to being so tersely quoted, click here, and I hope I made it painfully clear that my biggest complaint about that quite obvious "fact" is that it misses the more nuanced issues of culture, income and the remarkable diversity of what gets called "black" on the census and in school data. [And for THAT matter, the diversity of what gets called white. I mean, right here in Brooklyn I could (inadequately and probably over-stereotypically) describe 20 different sub-genres of whiteness, but they'd all show up "white" in the racial stats from the schools.] Suffice to say, what distinguishes District 17 isn't so much it's blackness, and that's not to say it isn't plenty black. It's its poorness. Only the charter schools around here seem capable of attracting a student body where less than 90% get free lunch, the metric by which such things are measured. And if you ever wondered what income level gets free lunch, it's 130% of poverty rate and under...this year a family of four making $30K or less would qualify (charts here). Whether you care deeply or not that a super-majority of a school's population is paying out-of-pocket for its "pink slime," it blows me away how high the poverty statistics are for schools around here. Some are 95% or higher, a couple define reason at 100% (not a single family of four making more than $30K among 200+ families?). The only schools that have less than shocking poverty are those that you have to apply to - like charters and a couple unzoned non-charters. IN CONCLUSION: The numbers don't lie - middle-class parents (white, black and green) are simply not attending locally zoned mostly-poor schools, and will put in the required effort to go elsewhere - some have told me they've applied to 10 or more throughout the City, with some involving long commutes. Honestly, it's nuts, though truth-be-told even in richer districts, most public schools are overwhelmingly poor and minority. Even as the borough gets wealthier and whiter, the numbers don't budge too terribly much year-to-year. And that's because, of course, if you have the money in this town, you stay the eff out of the public schools, even if you give them lip service.


So it was perhaps not surprising that early in my conversation with the P.A. reps we got on the subject of race and culture and poverty. LCGS draws its students by lottery. District residents may apply. District 17, where most NE Flatbush/PLG/Caledonians/South Crown Heights folks reside, is largely West Indian and African-American, with plenty of variety beyond that co-majority. LCGS reflects this, and in many ways mirrors the population in the district much better than the locally zoned schools. That is to say, it's poor but not ALL poor. By district standards, there's a fair number of whites attending. And from our conversation it's clear that a fair number of whip-smart educated folks send their kids there to boot. (I'm not saying that's not true of the other public schools, notably 375, 92 and 249; I have yet to gain any traction to get an interview there, and will probably have to focus on parents there too)

But truth be told, the moms of LGCS admit it ain't always easy crossing barriers of income, education and culture. For example, it can be extremely hard to bridge the digital divide when trying to communicate effectively with parents over the very interwebs that have made communication and gathering info so much quicker and easier. Expectations about everything from discipline to uniforms vary greatly among paretns. There is, also, a proud tradition of highly disciplined education in many of the Caribbean nations - the more rambunctious nature of American students rubs some West Indians the wrong way. An African-American mom with kids at a local school recently said, disparagingly, "the Caribbeans are taking over, and I'm taking my kids out." Wow. So don't think the nonsense doesn't cut all ways! Or to create an utterly awkward metaphor, there's a lot of different cheeses in the school fondue.

Bottom line, if there is such a thing when it comes to education, is this: the KIDS are generally doing fine. They're learning. They're making friendships and they're, for the most, gaining skills and learning from each other. There was an unfortunate incident this year that was the single biggest bummer beyond the unexpected change at the helm. Apparently, a teacher had to take medical leave right at the top of the school year, leaving a classroom in inexperienced hands. The Q has heard first-hand accounts from a couple families who lived through this very frustrating situation, which came as a total shock after a brilliant first year. One dad tells us he got fed up, presumably over the same incident, and has found a spot at another non-charter school for this fall. I pointedly asked the P.A. members whether the school was "bleeding" kids, and they seemed none too worried. The leadership eventually acted on parents concerns, and the new permanent teacher turned out great. It's interesting to note, though, that LGCS's homepage states that applications are still being accepted for this fall's wait-list, weeks after the official lottery, so it may well be that a few families are leaving the school or choosing not to attend after "winning" the lottery. That said, it won't be hard to fill the spots...most charter lotteries, LGCS included, have hundreds more applicants than spots, highlighting how desperate parents are for choices beyond their zoned school. If there are spots open, they will surely be gobbled up.

One last note, something that I had almost forgotten til this conversation. LGCS grows a grade every year, meaning in just two years it will need to find a new home. So just when you get used to the idea of the school residing at PS92, they're most likely gonna have to move. But just as Explore Charter School survived its move to just down Parkside near Nostrand, LGCS will likely have the guts and stamina to withstand a relocation. So if you happen to have a few tens of thousands of square feet with a gym, cafeteria and playground that you just happen to not be using, please let 'em know. They'll be happy to take care of your street trees in return for a long-term lease!

I hope that those of you in the community will share your thoughts in the comments section. I took the time to get to know some of the dedicated parents of LGCS so I could pop the vacuum and let in (out?) some air. The Q wishes the school the very best in its ongoing mission. Godspeed, LGCS.

Friskin' the Night Away

Until a couple years ago, the Q thought Stop and Frisk was what my cats did when they were feeling peckish. It's quite the hot topic in town (as if we needed more heat), and now we have some pretty intense data to back up the assertion that the NYPD uses S&F haps, a bit over-zealously. WNYC posted this cool (though kinda low-tech if you ask me) map that shows where the most stops happen. I don't think I need to tell you that the overwhelming majority of stops happen to men of color. Hey, they even nabbed a black City Councilman, Jumaane Williams last summer during Labor Day's West Indian festivities. Here's a much more informative look at the issue than the Q, as a hobbyist with an eye-patch from elective lens implantation surgery, could ever manage: S&F Story in Times.

One thing that jumps out at me about the map. The 70th Precinct is hammering the NE quadrant of their area pretty hard. Which makes sense, in a way, because if you've wandered south of Woodruff lately you'll see tons and tons of cops, part of the Impact Zone that unleashed dozens of rookies onto the streets for special first-year training. I learned this by asking some pairs of cops, and it follows that if they're going to stand out there they're probably going to try and do some "work." Hey, it takes time and practice to become a good stopandfrisker.

But while I appreciate the large numbers of cops in a fairly hectic neighborhood, I'm hesitant to endorse a policy that makes hundreds and thousands of stops of law-abiders part of its acknowledged collateral damage. And just because there are some uniforms on the street, this is most definitely not the kind of "beat cops" many of us in the community have been asking for. Beat cops get to know their constituents over time, developing relationships, and determining (hopefully) who's really naughty and nice. No offense to the young policemen in the 70th impact experiment, but I can't imagine they have the kind of experience to strike the right balance between aggressive and over-aggressive. That's my two cents. Happy to hear yours. I suspect that the "right" answer is somewhere between the extremes of too much and too little active policing. Where's Officer Goldilocks when you need her?

Don't Even THINK About It

If you think for one minute that as a bicyclist you can ride willy-nilly in Prospect Park, you best be prepared to spend the better part of a morning in an incredibly hard-to-reach courtroom in Red Hook and, truth be told, learn an incredible lesson in civic justice. Let me explain...

Around 10PM one evening in March, the Q needed to get home from the Park Slope Food Coop where he had just purchased sundry items, just enough to fit snugly in the child carrier. To get from point A (Grand Army Plaza) to point B (Parkside at Ocean) he could either travel clockwise on the park drive or counter-clockwise. Clockwise is a little over half as far, and since the drive is closed to traffic and precious few anybodies are out and about at that hour, the Q took the route that made the most sense to him. He rode the WRONG way, clockwise, as he has done countless times before, often noting to himself that he should be careful not to piss off any of the budding Olympians who "train" on the loop and don't like it when other humans or animals get in their way. I usually ride slowly and with care so as not to surprise anyone going "the right way," counter-clockwise, but if a silly-clad speedster does bark at me I usually shout back something crass like "stick it back in your pants, Lance." One time, it nearly came to blows, but I stood my ground, even if I had been walking too slowly across the road. My bad.

On this particular evening, I was surprised to see police lining the roadway near the Boathouse. I confidently rode up to an officer to see what was the matter, and was surprised to be roughly manhandled, thrown in cuffs and shoved up against the police car. Okay, I exaggerate. I was politely asked for my license and written a summons and told to follow the rules. (Had I been African-American, I suspect the previous sentence might not have come as such a shock to you, amiright?) I was also told to show up in court if I wanted the summons reduced to a warning and dismissed. This was indeed the outcome that I was hoping for, so made a note to show up in May for my date with destiny. The venue for said date, looked like this:

The Red Hook Community Justice Center at 88 Visitation Place, so I've since learned, is part of a worldwide movement to create courts specifically for the sorts of criminal immortalized in Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant Massa-cree." In the 20-minute track, Arlo is arrested for dumping some garbage illegally, and he wouldn't have been out of place at Visitation place on May 17th at 9:30 AM on the Group W bench. I arrived precisely on time, had a few items confiscated for safe-keeping til I was out of harms way, and proceeded to a line, which in I waited for half-an-hour, til I was allowed in the court room itself, only to find that that first line was merely a line to get into the court, where the REAL waiting was going to happen as both criminal an enraptured audience for all the zaniness that is small-time criminal court. I got to witness more than 20 people go up to the bench (really low, barely more than an office desk height), speak briefly with a court-appointed defense attorney, get an interpreter in Chinese of Spanish if they needed, and then have the judge ask them one or two questions relevant to the charge against them. For the public urinator: do you understand that it is illegal, not to mention un-hygienic, to pee in a parking lot? For the food vendor not using gloves: does that defendant understand that he must wear gloves at all times? For the criminal trespasser: does the defendant understand that you were specifically forbidden from entering this place of business, even if it was just to play dominoes? For the brawler: do you understand that you must take an anger management course and try not to get drunk and call people names? The most serious offenses cost points on the license or community service. Most people, including the vendors who don't use gloves to prepare food, got $25 fines. Me, I just had to promise to read the signs more closely. Of course, I wanted to explain my whole coop shopping scenario and how silly it was to ALWAYS have to go counter-clockwise and couldn't you make exceptions for nice guys like me, but it didn't seem well-advised to take even more than 20 seconds from name called to dismissal. I answered "yes, your honor" and got my helmet and camera back and never looked back.

And now you know. I see people do it all the time, and I want to tell them this story. Don't ride the wrong way unless you want to find out how sad a 50-year-old man looks when he's been publicly humiliated by a judge for peeing. Actually, that was my favorite part. I'll bet he thinks twice next time, too.

Stree Tree Stewards Beware - New Threat

Tree enthusiasts already know about the ferocious emerald ash borer, a bug reeking havoc across the continent. It looks like this when it's young:

 and this when it's all grown up:

I'll be honest and say I don't know an ash from my ass (they're very "tree-looking" trees I'm told), but supposedly these bugs have killed tens of millions of trees already across North America and have now been spotted in NY, prompting an Ash Borer Awareness Week.

Here's a vid showing how to identify the Emerald Ash Borer:

Spring Has Sprung on the Flabenue

New shoppes, y'all. The Q and a neighbor were quarreling whether the shop opening in the old State Senator's office space (575 Flatbush) would be a 99 cent store or a cell phone store. Well, guess what? It's BOTH! What a brilliant move, combining two of the area's greatest needs in one convenient package. AND they're buying and selling old video games. Open very soon:

The great smoothie wars of summer are about to heat up (cool down?) now that B'Fruitee has opened across the street from the soon to open Purple Berry. The Q had no idea there was so much pent up smoothie demand, but we love a good fresh icy juicy beverage as much as the next blogger. Let us know how B'Fruitee compares to your favorite Smoothie Operators (apologies to Sade, who for the record, loves carrot/mango/banana, among others).

Local Thespian-Mom Is Latest "Woman of Distinction"

Holy cow, I almost missed this. And I was just talking to Siobhan O'Neill last weekend about her longtime role with PLG Arts and BeFreeGlobal. And here she is getting the Woman of Distinction award from State Senator (soon to be Borough President if you ask me) Eric Adams:

Here's the link to the announcement and Siobhan's bio. You might know her from her years mounting Midsummer Nights Dream at the Imagination Playground. They're taking this year off, but who know, maybe they'll return with MacBeth! Or in honor of the latest weather trend, The Tempest! Congrats! Exclamation Point!