SCHOOL’S ON, THEN OFF, THEN ON, THEN…

Tomorrow is the first day of school for NYC public school students.  After putting in a solid three days, those kids will then get a 4-day weekend due to Rosh Hashanah.  Then it’s back to the grindstone for three days, only to have yet another 3-day school week in week three of the school year due to Yom Kippur and the newly added Eid Al Adha.

Back when I went to school, all these holidays would have been a blessing.  Not because of their significance, but due the work and school mantra: a bad day on the golf course (or playground), is better than…

Now though, they are increasingly becoming a nuisance, due to many parents needing to find babysitting for their kids.  “Hey boss, I’m taking Tuesday off for Eid Al Adha or Chinese New Year” is a reach when you’re last name is Murphy.  Instead, why don’t we group them all together, throw in a Rosh1, and tack it on to MLK Day for a mid-January fun-in-the-sun week when the city is at it’s coldest and the Caribbean hotels aren’t gougingly expensive like during the Xmas and Prez Day breaks?  While we’re at it, why don’t I run for mayor?

In addition to the three new holidays2, two other new changes occur at PS78Q this school year.  School now starts at 8:10am not 8 and finishes at 2:40pm, and second grade will be taught in the new building on 5th Street, not the Center Boulevard location.

//Sheila Lewandowski, the co-founder of The Chocolate Factory Theater and LIC stalwart, sent out one of her (ir)regular mass emails to many locals, with updates on what’s happening and has happened in the neighborhood.  In today’s version, she also urged everyone to make a modest contribution to the neighborhood and offered up some suggestions such as volunteering or simply picking up trash that may not be yours.  One other recommendation I am going to wholly co-opt:

“Come to the Community Board meeting this Thursday, September 10 7-10pm. This is the first one of the fall and I believe that a good turn out from all of the points of the district helps to show that all residents are paying attention. There are a number of us from the neighborhood on the Community Board and we need and want your input and presence. It really matters!”

WE NEED YOUR HELP – the final phase of Hunters Point Park South wants the CB2’s stamp of approval.  Before they give it to them, I believe there is one thing missing: A playground for older kids.  I plan on requesting this at the open forum on Thursday night but we need some other parents there to lend support and confirmation.  If you think this is a good idea, can attend, and would like to help, please email me at editor@lictalk.com for more information on this topic.

//Oh, and in return for cribbing, I’ll also share that The Chocolate Factory Theater has its 10th Anniversary this week when it opens its season tomorrow night with a new show called “To Being” (Sept. 9-19) and the reprisal of “inging” (Sept. 23-26).  Hmm, with a schedule like that they should call it a school not a factory.

Jeanine Durning In Constant Motion at the Chocolate Factory – oh lord, what I would do for such attention from the NYT

Blissville Closes, M. Wells to Takeover at Dutch Kills – give it to me three times

A Toast to France in a Queens (LIC) Loft – the head of Laurent Perrier U.S. talks about her new LIC office space.  We’re not just warehouses and metal working shops anymore.

Welcome to the Secret Wild Riverside Forest in Queens – the Hunters Point ‘Spit’

Pulaski Bridge Bikeway Construction to Start September 14 – earlier, but later, than thought

St. Mary’s Church in LIC Set for 150th Anniversary Celebration – while everything around it changes, the church sits over it

Checking in LIC Serious Building Boom – no new news here

1. Two days off?  You better not be eating anything on Yom Kippur if you take them both [↩]
2. Eid Al Fitr being the third [↩]