Open Thread Wednesday

By on April 15, 2015 6:45 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Neighborhood Mom

    Thank you so much to Claude and everyone at the BHB for keeping it going. I’m sure it’s a labor of love and I for one am very grateful!

  • Guest

    Agreed, thank you to all for keeping the blog going. What a great tribute to Homer Fink.

    Does anyone know how the school districts were created? I have just learned that those who live on Joralemon above Henry street are in a different school district and zoned for PS261, which is quiet a walk for elementary students.

  • fast_walker

    The walk is not an issue. All schools have busses that are free. Frankly, if you get into PS261 consider yourself lucky.

  • Guest

    Actually, the walk is an issue. School buses are not provided unless your child qualifies for special education services.

    See below from the DOE

    14. Will my child receive transportation to school?
    In kindergarten, your child is eligible to receive a Metrocard or other transportation if the school is over half a mile walking distance from your home. (Starting in third grade, your child will receive transportation only if the school is over a mile away.) Your child will receive transportation by yellow school bus if the school is in your district, the school has applied for yellow bus service, and a stop near your home exists or can be created. Otherwise, your child will receive a Metrocard. Students with disabilities may be entitled to door-to-door busing or other specialized transportation accommodations if recommended on their IEPs. For more information, contact the Office of Pupil Transportation at (718) 392-8855 or http://www.nyc.gov/schools/Offices/Transportation.

  • BobStone

    Just concurring on PS261, where my granddaughter attends. It’s a wonderful place with a marvelously diverse student population, committed teaching staff and great principal. If you’re in 261’s zone, the walk is 12-15 minutes and worth it.

  • Willow Street Watch

    What in God’s name is going on with the helicopter traffic overhead? It’s now totally out of control. We now have copters stationary late night 1 to 3 AM Every damn night!

    And this is not connected to the demonstrations…this is a constant carpet of aircraft on a daily basis…

    Exactly what justifies the very real danger to the public by so much tonnage constantly overhead?

  • Concerned parent

    I have heard wonderful things about 261 as well. Is it possible that they can alleviate some of the PS 8 overcrowding by sending students there? I know it’s in a different district so maybe that’s not possible. Like the original post I wonder how the districts were set up to begin with and if they can be altered.

    I’m surprised to hear that a Joralemon street is in a different district. District 15 seems to have more options(261,29,58) that are closer for a lot of families on the border of district 13. We are not far from there. I have a child who is a couple years away from attending, hopefully PS8, which is currently our zoned school. So obviously I’m concern and hope this is resolved soon.

  • BHMommy

    We put 29 as our second choice school, b/c it is the only other school in walking distance to us, but thankfully got into 8. I spoke to the head of my son’s preschool about it and she said that they rarely accept out of district kids except in extreme cases. 29 has a little room to take overflow this year, but by next year there should be a waitlist there as well and you will have no chance of getting in out of district.

    The zones / districts are very likely to change in the next few years. My good friend who is a RE broker said that you can never buy property based on a school district, b/c there are no guarantees that you wont get rezoned. It happened in Park Slope last year.

  • Ned

    Been wondering the same thing about all of the helicopter traffic.

    Not sure who those clowns think they are.

  • Pierreponter

    They are protecting Hillary’s HQ.

  • Ned

    Well good we’ll only have to deal with it for another 18 months.

    She’s got my vote for sure now.

  • ShinyNewHandle

    Yes, the 2:30 AM chop-a-chopping is too much.

  • fast_walker

    Isn’t it over a mile? There’s a crowd of about 30 families every morning at Joralemon and Hicks going to PS8. Surely PS261 is a longer commute. Have they actually told you there’s no bus?

  • StoptheChop

    The nonstop helicopters from 9am-6:30 pm are tourist helicopters using the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Yes, the traffic has significantly worsened over the past 5 years, which is when the current route was agreed to as a condition of using the DMH, in a longstanding game of whack-a-mole as to who would bear the brunt of the noise and air pollution. deBlasio could ban them from the DMH with the stroke of a pan but refuses to do so (in part because if they operate from NJ, where they’re based, they won’t follow the route and could fly over Gracie Mansion, eg. The horror!) . Nighttime helicopters, and early morning, are often commuter helicopters (since the state-owned West Side heliport is open 24/7). 20+ elected officials are seeking a helitour ban, by the way. You can file a (useless, but the metrics may be valuable) noise complaint by texting 311NYC, and also chekc out stopthechopnynj.com

  • StoptheChop

    Not her. See my comment above.

  • Monty

    For anyone who’s been craving Korean-style French pastry, there is a new Paris Baguette open on Court and Schermerhorn.

  • Weegee

    There’s a report of shots fired in Brooklyn Bridge Park near Montague St. 84th Precinct units engaged in a foot pursuit of three suspects, who are reportedly in custody. No one is believed to have been hit, but units are checking the nearest hospitals. Developing…

  • Willow Street Watch

    The tourist helicopters are a serious factor, but the all night circling and…stationary late night posts both strongly point to one or more governmental agencies, as does much of the radio traffic being on well- known federal channels not used by NYPD.

    Tourist/traffic copters are active 1 to 3 am?

    So what is this? Government reacting to some serious threat?, Some
    new policy thought up a NGO that some mid level official (who lives deep in Queens) decides is fine? The increasingly loud voices on
    the net , given this activity overhead is going on the many cities, say that this is training for/a prequel to a national lock down during “an emergency”.. Well, if you have govrment/government allowed out of control activity like this; thesse are the attitudes, founded or unfounded, which will result. The fact that NY State and the feds are ignoring elected office alone has caused a lot of the outrage those close to the issue now very reasonably feel.

  • heights res

    No, that’s not how it works. You can’t just go out of district because you’re closer to another school. Most of Joralemon is zoned for p8 (from the river east to henry and south to atlantic)
    Sometimes 261 will take out-of-district kids as a variance, but only if they have room, so doubt it. 29 rarely has extra seats.

  • Jorale-man

    I don’t know if this was answered already but I believe this morning’s helicopter was either a police or traffic copter covering a demonstration in Downtown. It hovered directly over my building for a couple hours. Very annoying.

  • Guest

    There was also police activity on a Joralemon around 6:00. The police were trying to disband a large group of teenagers.

  • Bornhere

    I got home shortly after 7, and there was quite a large, “unruly group” of teens at Joralemon and Garden Place — they didn’t seem terribly threatening, but they were loud and aggressive among themselves, and it was clear that people on their way home were sort of congregating at Henry and not eager to walk down Joralemon.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Everybody just keep repeating the mantra that its just fine to increase the population and use of an area while keeping the same levels of police patrol strength..and who needs more ems, fire etc. Just stretch the safety net as far as the pols and such geniuses as the Bklyn C of C says its OK to do…sure,..and all the bad guys will thin their numbers and lower the levels of their “behaviors”

    Just continue the PC mantra, we can do with less
    Public safety……

  • petercow

    The first warm day, and it didn’t take long for the trouble to start at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

  • Guest

    Here is a link about the shooting and it also explains why there were teens all over Joralemon.
    http://gothamist.com/2015/04/15/brooklyn_bridge_park_shots.php#photo

  • petercow

    No. You have that backward.

  • StoptheChop

    1-3 am would not be helitours. But you can make a complaint to 311NYC for any helicopter noise.

  • Andrew Porter

    NYPD helicopters were hovering over my street, overlooking demonstrators crossing Brooklyn Bridge in the continued protests about raising the minimum wage. The same demonstrations, and helicopter hovering, was happening the last few days.

  • Andrew Porter

    I rarely see Park Enforcement Police (PEP) officers in BBP. With the thousands of daily visitors, surely a stronger police presence would be desirable.

  • Andrew Porter

    I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden today, and am happy to report that Daffodil Hill is resplendent in a horde of golden daffodils, as the song goes. The magnolias were also all abloom, and the cherry trees were starting to pink up. I think Spring has finally sprung!

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