Jamaica H.S. in Queens, NY, is facing the prospect of being closed by the Department of Education due to performance issues (Pic Courtesy: The Daily News)

Some people say ‘yes’, some say ‘no’ to closing down one of Queen’s historic high schools, that over the past few years, has seen graduation rates drop.

Fewer than half of Jamaica High students graduated over the past few years – making a compelling argument for the Bloomberg Administration to  phase out the school for poor performance, while opening smaller new schools in the same buildings.

WNYC’s Beth Fertig reports that many teachers and students at Jamaica High believe their big school is an institution worth saving.

Listen to Fertig’s whole report here:

Read more about Jamaica High’s possible closing here.

Traffic problems, noise and trash dropped by party goers annoy Norwood Gardens', Astoria, residents ( Pic courtesy: Donnelly Marks)

For the last couple of months, Norwood Gardens, Astoria resident Helen Carter has been waking up on weekends to find broken liquor bottles in her backyard. Donnelly Marks, another Norwood resident filled an entire bag with trash found on her block even as she walked her dog one Saturday morning.

The long time Astoria residents have been noting with increasing dismay the deteriorating quality of life in the quiet Astoria neighborhood of Norwood Gardens- thanks to a huge influx of bars and drunken visitors on 30th Avenue between 36th and 37th Street.

“People treat the street as their own private trash cans,” said Marks, referring to the bar-goers on 30th Avenue. “They empty their ashtrays on the street, dump trash, and broken bottles. People who come here don’t have any investment in the community,” she said

Over the last two years, Astoria’ 30th Avenue has seen a huge spike in the number of outdoor cafes, bars and restaurants. While the neighbors have welcomed the commercial activity in the area, they are annoyed by increasing noise levels in the area and the inconsiderate party-goers.

“They are waking working families at 3 and 4 a.m. with their street brawls,” said Marks, who lives off the busy commercial avenue. “They rev their engines, speed day and night and are destroying our private property, she said, adding a resident’s dog had been run over by a speeding SUV.

During the first six months of the year, noise in Community Board 1, which includes Astoria and parts of Long Island City, sparked more than 3,400 complaints to the city’s 311 line.

Precinct #114 that patrols Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights and Woodside went as far as assigning a task force to monitor holiday revelers over Thanksgiving at 30th Avenue and Steinway.

While two bars were issued summonses over the Holiday, residents are skeptical of the task force’s efficacy in the long run. “The task force is not a band aid that can fix this problem in one weekend,” said Marks.

“It is a complex set of issues,” she said. “We don’t want to be adversarial,” said Marks referring to the business establishments in the area. “But if you are a business owner, you have to be responsible about your patrons,” she said.

“It is a double edged sword,” said Astoria resident Benjamin Duffey, echoing Mark’s sentiment.

“We’re trying to keep Astoria family friendly and business friendly,” he said, emphasizing the residents in the area were not anti-commerce.

Meanwhile, Frank Arcabascio of the 30^th Avenue Area Merchants Association says noise and activity go hand in hand. “I feel for the residents, I really do,” said Arcabascio, who runs a hairdressing salon on 30^th Avenue, “But when you have a busy street, you get trash,” he said. “You have to make an effort to address the issue, sure, but when you have a vibrant street, this is what you get,” he said.

“Sometimes, customers do get noisy,” admitted Athen’s Café manager Jimmy Naula, “they start smoking inside, and then I have to send them outside,” he said, adding once they are out of the restaurant, it is up to the customers to behave themselves. The café is one of the many locations that serve liquor on 30^th Avenue.  Jimmy’s views are echoed by Mike Degnan, who works as a bartender in the area. “When you are a bartender, you can only control the bar,” he said, adding “You can’t control what goes on outside.”

Residents also worry about the number of new liquor licenses being handed out to business establishments on 30th Avenue. “There has been a dramatic increase in the number of establishments that serve liquor,” acknowledged Edwin Negron of the NYPD Community Affairs Unit that handles Precinct 114. There are over 24 establishments in a four block radius that serve alcohol on premises. “There has been increased enforcement on our part,” he said, adding merchants were already approaching the police with requests for permits to operate all night on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“The challenge is to balance this [commercial activity] with the right of homeowners to peace and quiet,” said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria). “I plan to work with the homeowners and merchants to carve out a balanced solution,” he said.

Precinct 114 has also promised increased vigilance. “We will be patrolling [the streets] more often,” said Officer Negron. “There will be zero tolerance for outdoor consumption and public urination,” he said.

But more than the noisy bars, the lack of parking spaces and the party goers, residents say they are just asking for a little consideration from the revelers even as they mourn the loss of their neighborhood’s character.

“When I came here,” recalls Maloney, “it was called Doctor’s Row, because everybody worked in hospitals and what is now Mt.Sinai, Queens. No matter what the time, people walked around. It was extremely safe then,” she said, adding wistfully “It was such a pretty block.”

Read more here.

This piece originally appeared in Queens Chronicle

The city recently acquired the building that formerly housed the Blessed Sacrament School and plans to open a new public school there in September 2010

For many students in Queens, overcrowded schools are a constant reality. Each day they jostle and push through crammed hallways, squeezing into classrooms designed for fewer occupants.

Some students in Jackson Heights, however, may soon be granted a reprieve, as the city has acquired the Blessed Sacrament School building at 34-20 94th St. and will be turning the facility into a public school, set to open in September 2010. The new school is expected to eventually house 700 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

“We need a few thousand seats to prevent overcrowding in Jackson Heights,” said Isaac Carmignani, president of Community District Education Council District 30, the advisory board for District 30. “This new school is a very big deal, because it is hard to get new buildings.”

After months of speculation, the school was finally acquired from the Catholic Diocese, which had shut down Blessed Sacrament as enrollment levels at the Catholic school dropped to a precipitous low of 180 students in January 2009.

On Thursday, members of CDEC 30 brainstormed what the new curriculum for the school ought to be, with five educators from across the city presenting proposals.

Jackson Heights is one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods, with families from South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as a vibrant Latino community, with immigrants primarily from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Members at the meeting agreed the new curriculum should reflect the area’s range of ethnicities.

Lenia Matias, a teacher and aspiring principal from Brooklyn, proposed a multilingual program wherein children would have the option of learning core subjects like math and science in English and Spanish on alternate days. Matias also suggested that children be given the option of learning a third language — perhaps Hindi or Bangla.

Jacqueline Coombs, who has been an educator for the last 17 years, also supported the idea of having the curriculum reflect the diversity of the neighborhood.

“For example, Friday would be ‘game day,’ and we can use this day to learn how math across the world is different and how different cultures add and subtract differently,” Coombs said, alluding to the use of the abacus and other counting instruments that would be used to enhance the learning experience.

The use of the school building after school hours also came up for discussion. “I see a lot of kids who are in the school till 3 p.m. and then go home and sit in front of the TV,” said Darwin Smith, another educator who presented a proposal. “We can use the building to house these students, so they can use their time in a more constructive fashion.”

Smith pointed out that school buildings are community properties and often lie unused in the evenings. By keeping the school accessible until 8 or 9 p.m., he indicated the building would be utilized for more youth programs.

Setting a new curriculum is a lengthy process, in which both the city’s Department of Education and the relevant CDEC consider an array of proposals.

CDEC 30 will meet again in December to discuss the proposals, hear public comments and incorporate changes into the possible plans. Ultimately, the DOE will decide on a curriculum. The person who proposed the curriculum may become the new principal, although that is not always the case.

This piece was first published in Queens Chronicle