So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself
NOW we shift from the festivity of Halloween to the drama and solemnity of Election Day. Of course there isn’t really any drama as by and large the relevant races are a foregone conclusion. Out of the spotlight but of possibly greater consequence is the once-in-every-twenty-years vote over whether to hold a Constitutional Convention in New York State, on which I have no opinion. Yet if one were to allow their imaginations and machinations to run wild…
Actually there is a vote on an item, or line-item as it were, that will have ahem …dire? consequences for a select segment of the Long Island City population – students at PS78Q. Ex-parents the rest of you can stop reading at this point. Before I jump in(to) a topic that is potentially fraught with partisanship and rancor and more divisive than you-know-who, let me first make like all smart politicians and confess my sin:1 I am a very neglectful parent when it comes to overseeing the education portion of my children’s development. Nevertheless, more often than not I do leave work early to attend the biannual 10-minute parent-teacher conference allotted to each child (if only the MTA were so prompt). So beware that it is from those dual intervals that I am extrapolating an opinion on what for some parents is all-encompassing. Oh, and also from the almost daily observation of my kids being ball & chained to the dining room table/desk for interminable homework sessions, which pains me to no end. If that vision seems unfamiliar, just wait until your child reaches third grade.
Anyway, what I have gleaned from the parent-teacher conferences is that my kids’ teachers are hard-working, knowledgeable, and very good at what they do. Combined with a beautiful new school that could not be more conveniently located for most attendees and their shepherds, PS78Q is seemingly en education nirvana. Alas there’s a catch – it’s still a PS in NYC. That means that almost every one of those great teachers is straddled with 30+ children in her class, each of whom has ‘special needs’ as defined by their caring parents, which in a perfect world would be tended to. Unfortunately some kids are more special than others, and need and get a good portion of that tending, leading to an LCD outcome2 and the need for all kids to play catch-up outside of school hours.
Now I love recess. Three decades years later I have greater memories of the playground than I do of my stint in New Haven caroling with the Whiffenpoofs by day and cabaling with Skull & Bones by night. Really. But from my perspective the utmost priority at PS78Q right now is more teaching assistants in order to mitigate the huge class size and allow kids to be kids when the school bell rings at the end of the day. If that means they need to forego recess a few days a week during school hours so be it. Otherwise we will squander the benefit of not having to ship those kids 30-40 minutes each way so that Spalding can maximize his academic potential. Remember, though Halloween may be over, all work and no play still makes Jack a dull boy.
//You better watch out, You better not cry, Better not pout, I’m telling you why, The Marathon is coming to town. Yeah, our town! If you’re one of the 5,000 or so new residents of LIC in the past year, let me let you in on a little local secret: Long Island City gets to preview this great event before Manhattan! So get out to Vernon Boulevard on Sunday by 11am with a bloody-mary in hand and start cheering on the people who have come here from all over the world to do what most New Yorker’s will never do: step foot in Staten Island.
//ACCORDING to The Daily News, the story keeps on getting worse in the case of the teenager mowed down Halloween night near the Court Square Diner. A) a witness said the teenager was not the one throwing eggs, B) the victim was the starting quarterback for the Long Island City High School football team, and C) the victim’s father passed away a year ago.
//WE HEAR: that Hunters Point Dental will finally be making its move to the base of One Vernon/Jackson (next to Cafe Henri) this week, and that a T-Mobile store will replace it on Vernon Boulevard in the near future.
None of the Above: Why Crain’s Cannot Endorse a Candidate for Mayor – one is divisive and the other unprepared
Fear vs. Hope: Battle Lines Drawn Over a Constitutional Convention – I have no opinion on this, just found it the most interesting contest by far this election
Together in LIC, with Parking and a View – The Hunt column in this Sunday’s NYT is about a semi-retired couple who opt for a $1.5 mil 2-bdrm in Queens over Bklyn – yay!
Rising Art Star Paints 60-ft Mural for Chic New Condo in LIC – in Court Square entitled ‘Don’t Post That’
Queens Man Mows Down Teenage Prankster in LIC on Halloween Night – and is charged by Queens DA w/ attempted murder
Teen Didn’t Egg Driver Who Mowed Him Down – it just keeps on getting worse
Two Photos Worth $100k+ Swiped from MoMA PS1 – swipe left
Renderings Revealed for Condo Building ‘The Smyth’ in Dutch Kills – 41 units
How These New Yorkers Scored Amazing Cheap Rentals – including a 2-br on the LIC waterfront for $648 a month. Who prices these?
NYC to Repeal Law Against Dancing in Bars & Clubs – saving the biggest local news for last, keep an eye out for me at the LIC Bar
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