NY Daily News: St. Ann’s Parents Meet, Scream at Judge

By on August 1, 2008 7:28 am in Kids, News

The New York Daily News reports today on the controversy over the planned opening of a probation office across the street from St. Ann’s School.  Read the piece, comment away:

NY Daily News: Parents of St. Ann’s School…: Not in Binky and Bunky’s schoolyard!

Parents of students at the snooty St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights are outraged at the feds for relocating the U.S. Probation office – and its 1,700 convicted offenders on supervised release – to the same high-rise office building where about 100 kids attend classes.

Chief Judge Raymond Dearie was bombarded with questions hurled by angry and fearful parents at a meeting Wednesday night in the federal courthouse.

They’re angry because they learned of the move recently through a local blog. And they’re fearful – especially of the 69 sex offenders, convicted of downloading or trading kiddie porn, who will be reporting to their officers at 1 Pierrepont St.

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  • heightsdiho

    “Snooty” aside, I can well understand that any parent would not want sex offenders brought into their children’s immediate vicinity. And I don’t even have children, but perhaps I am snooty. The implication is that non snooty people wouldn’t care one way or the other…. seems off to me.

  • nabeguy

    Binky and Bunky? So UES. More likely Raoul and Marcella at SA.

  • JGM

    The article seems to imply that the preps deserve to have the cons located there and if they are upset about having them there – they are labeled snooty. I think someone else has said that if this were a public school, there would be the same outrage….would they also then be labled snooty? Or if there were no outrage from the public school parents, would the paper label them “lazy”?

  • Jazz

    What would you expect from NY’s “picture newspaper”? Their readers can’t read!

  • nabeguy

    Whoa there, Jazz. Now you’re sounding snooty!

  • Biff Champion

    I heard a coffee shop is opening in 1 pierrepont plaza that’ll be called Perps, Preps, and Perks.

  • sick of these people

    this should not open here or by any school. Court Street is ghetto already ! I would love to see all those sidewalk vendors vanish from Court Street.

  • joe

    There we go with the ghetto remarks.

    I don’t see much difference between court st and union square area and no one is calling 14th street ghetto even though 14th has even more side walk vendors than court.

    Court street is indeed busy and crowded but I find that is in keeping with a street in a large city. I much rather it stays the way it is than have an empty street void of any people or activities.

  • Troubled Reader

    The offenders who are to report to their federal probation officers are under supervision, and it seems highly unlikely that they would commit a crime on the way to or form meeting with their probation officer. It is the offenders who don’t report as required who are the potential problem, I would submit. And those offenders could, of course, be anywhere.

  • Chris

    I’m sick of people saying “it is highly unlikely that they would commit a crime near the probation office.” What do you think they are, pro’s? How do you think they got caught in the first place?! This isn’t Deniro’s crew in Heat. These guys are frikkin morons!

    We live a block away from the Brooklyn courthouse. This area is littered by cops, yet how many times do you hear about some moron trying to rob a bank on Montague street. Please just shut up. It’s a stupid idea and I hope the parents get this whole thing shut down before it’s started.

  • W

    If you want to keep your kids away from criminals, perhaps choosing a private school in an area riddled with courts (and a probation office – this thing has just been a few blocks over the whole time!) is not the smartest choice you could have made as a parent.

  • Attica

    What was the point of the hearing? As amusing as it is to watch the illusion that St. Ann’s parents control their little universes shatter into little pieces — and as upsetting as it is to see the incipient vigilantism on display in a once-liberal community — it’s pretty clear that the only thing that was accomplished is a federal judge had to waste his time. (The nimbys’ time apparently could not have been better spent. Summer re-runs and all.)

  • http://www.nyclu.org Angela Jones

    Everybody knows that there are too many police in schools.

    Its making students feel like suspects, and students can hardly be their best if everywhere they turn, there is someone looking at them as if they were criminals.

    We need to do something about this. You can help by contacting your city council member and telling them to support the Student Safety Act. This bill would help protect kids from this crazy situation.

    Students are there to learn how to succeed, not how to go to jail.

    And check out this video on the Student Safety Act: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_VlL05uwG0

    Send it to your friends, get them to do something about this too.

    Peace.