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Your Guide to Navigating the New School System
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
Last year, Stephanie Pierce was active on the traffic and safety committee at PS 8, where her daughter attends school. She took her involvement a step further this year by applying for, and getting, a seat on the District 10 Community Education Council, one of 34 community and citywide councils intended to improve upon the old school boards. Pierce believes that increased parental participation in schools is vital for policymaking, and hopes that the new councils will facilitate it.
But just what policies she and her 10 fellow representatives will be influencing, she says, haven’t been adequately explained. "I am totally confused," she says. "They’re overwhelming me with papers, and I just want to wait and see."
Like other representatives, Pierce has yet to attend training sessions, which will be held next month. But her initial confusion is shared by many concerned council members, parents and teachers, experienced and otherwise, who are facing a package of sweeping changes in the way the schools work.
In that light, the Norwood News has assembled a basic guide to help our readers make some sense out of the overhaul and discover how they can use the schools’ new services.
Education Councils
A network of 32 community education councils, one for each school district, has replaced the original school boards. The new system brings some relief to many who considered the boards ineffectual or corrupt and aims to involve parents more closely in decision-making. District 10 encompasses Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights and North Fordham; Districts 9 and 10 together comprise Region One.
Eleven voting members sit on each council, including nine public school parents elected by parent association members and two appointees of the borough president (who must reside or operate a business within the district). A high school senior who lives in the district and is recognized as a student leader acts as a non-voting 12th member. Most councils have not yet elected a student representative.
Meetings of the District 10 Community Education Council are open to the public and will be held on the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Department of Education representatives will preside over the meetings until the members elect officers.
According to the DOE, community education council members contribute to designing educational policy, evaluate community and local instructional superintendents, and approve zoning lines. More generally, they act as liaisons between the school system and the community’s needs.
The council structure also includes two citywide education councils, one emphasizing special education and another representing the specific needs of high schools.
For information on the community education councils, contact Elba Velez, head of parent support for CSD 10, at (718) 741-5835.
Learning Support Centers
Parents seeking more information on what the school system has to offer are directed to the Learning Support Center for Region One on the eighth floor of One Fordham Plaza. Resources on substance abuse, youth leadership opportunities, health, safety and other pertinent issues are available. The Learning Support Center houses the director of Student Placement, Youth and Family Services, Bruce Irushalmi; the offices of Elba Velez; and Supervisor of Parent Support Maria Flores.
The Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The general number is (718) 741-7090.
Local Instructional Superintendents
Each Local Instructional Superintendent (LIS) is responsible for a cluster of schools within the region. Below is an updated list of contact information for local
superintendents in Region One and the schools they serve in the Norwood News
readership area.
Kathy Pollina
John F. Kennedy High School
(718) 741-7822
Bonnie Roberts
PS 95, PS 20
(718) 741-2797
Frank Paliotta
PS 51
(718) 741-7060
David Parker
PS 340, PS 246, MS 143
(718) 741-7076
Gail Davis
PS 280, PS 94, PS 56, PS 46, PS 8, IS 254, PS 54, MS 80
(718) 741-7823
Kathy Tuttle
MS 45
(718) 741-7698
Joel DiBartolomeo
Walton High School, Bronx High School of Science
(718) 741-7092
Charlene Jordan
DeWitt Clinton High School, High School of Music at Clinton, High School of American
Studies at Lehman College
(718) 741-7072
Dolores Ruales
PS 15, PS 33, PS 291, IS 206, MS 399
(718) 741-7056
Parent Coordinators
Each school in Region One uses the skills of a Parent Coordinator to confront any
concerns that parents may have, including non-academic problems such as housing or legal issues within the family that prevent students from performing to the best of their ability. The following is an updated list of parent coordinators for Region One schools and their contact information. (Positions at some schools are in the process of being filled and contacts are not yet available.)
PS 8 – Juanita Marte – (347) 563-4828
PS/MS 15 – Eddie Rosado
PS 33 – Denise Ledesman – (347) 563-4842
PS 46 – Grisette Mendez – (347) 563-4817
PS 51 – Marcela Torres – (347) 563-4833
PS 54 – Carmen Aleman – (347) 563-4826
PS 56 – Carmen Garcia – (347) 563-5011
PS 94 – Miriam Seminario – (347) 563-4772
PS/MS 95 – Delis DeLeon – (347) 563-4786
PS 246 – Eleanor Rios – (347) 563-4844
PS 291 – Johnny Ortiz – (347) 563-4845
PS 340 – Michelle Almengor – (347) 563-4792
MS 45 – Ana Vazquez – (347) 563-4823
MS 80 – Angela Roker – (347) 563-4779
MS 143 – Nancy Acosta – (347) 563-4787
MS 206 – Tracey Moret – (347) 563-4794
MS 254 – Norma Quinones – (347) 563-4808
MS 399 – Tamara Rosado – (347) 563-4782
DeWitt Clinton HS – Gertrude Lane – (718) 543-1000, ext. 1993
Regional Superintendent
Irma Zardoya, formerly District 10 superintendent, was made superintendent for Region One last year. Her office is located in One Fordham Plaza and can be reached by calling the general number for the Learning Support Center.
Additional details about the organization of the DOE are accessible on the Department’s Web site at www.nycenet.edu
Southern Helping Hands Give MS 80 Makeover
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
As an active MS 80 parent, Hermes Caraballo keeps on the lookout for resources to improve the Norwood school and the community around it. So when he learned of New Hope New York, an arm of the North American Mission Board, that assembles troops of volunteers for service projects across the city, he was quick to find out more.
The fruits of his research began to arrive this June, and are still coming. They take the form of roughly 200 pairs of willing hands - mostly from the south - armed with paint cans, roller brushes, and big plans to brighten up the school’s hallways and classrooms.
"We think it’s pretty miraculous, what’s going on here," said Laura Spalter, MS 80′s Social Studies coordinator, as she surveyed a freshly applied coat in the fifth floor hallway. "It’s going to be a lot cheerier in here."
MS 80 principal Lovey Rivera echoed the sentiment. "I really appreciate all the work they did," she said. "It’s no cost to the city, no cost to the school. All they wanted to do is ensure that the kids have a really nice environment to learn in."
Formed in 1997, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) headquartered near Atlanta, Georgia, represents the combined forces of three agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention. One of the many functions of NAMB is organizing Southern Baptists across the nation to travel to urban areas and participate in restoration projects. Volunteers raise funds for any needed materials, cover their own travel expenses and sleep in nearby churches.
New Hope New York (NHNY), a NAMB initiative that sprang from a collective desire to aid New York and its citizens shortly after 9/11, typically directs its volunteers’ energies into rebuilding churches or other church-related activities. Recently, however, NHNY began to broaden the scope of its work to include secular establishments.
Randy Creamer, a volunteer mobilizer for NAMB, acknowledged that, post-9/11, "we are getting more and more involved in getting individual families to rebuild following disasters." But the MS 80 project is a turning point, the first public school in New York City to welcome a team of NHNY volunteers.
"Part of their mission is to do tangible work, ˆ la New York Cares or Habitat for
Humanity," said Caraballo. "Nobody’s proselytizingÉ It’s their way of showing their love of God, by doing something."
The repainting job at MS 80, to be completed at the end of August, is just the first of a series of ways in which New York will benefit from the kindness of these relative strangers. Among NHNY’s future plans for the city are sponsoring sports clinics and adopting libraries, and, according to Caraballo, the organization hopes to improve 25 to 30 more New York schools within the next five years. "[MS 80] is not the last, it’s the first. It’s gonna be a prototype," he said.
Despite demanding workdays, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around 5 p.m., a sense of genuine purpose keeps spirits high in the rotating groups of volunteers. "We feel called to help other people," said Dean Edmonson of Utica, Kentucky. "We’re gonna be tired, but it’s a good tired."
Edmonson came to New York with his wife Lee Ann and children Joshua, 13, and Marley, 11. They feel richly rewarded for their efforts, both by the knowledge of their gift to the city and by the exceptionally warm reception they’ve had from New Yorkers. "Everybody’s been more than helpful," Edmonson said.
Creamer agreed. "It’s a very positive experience," he said. "We find a certain degree of courtesy that we just don’t find in the South - as long as they’re not behind the wheel of a car."
Tired of Tree Killers
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
Somebody killed four trees on DeKalb Avenue. They may not be dead yet, but some person or persons stripped the bark off the trees all the way around, so they will surely die. This particular act of "arborcide" is especially hurtful to us because Mosholu Preservation Corporation, the nonprofit that publishes the Norwood News, owns a building right where the trees are. They are across the street from a Montefiore building and North Central Bronx Hospital and near to an area of trees planted by the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. Many have been trying to make the block better for a long time.
We know some folks just don’t like trees. They think they bring dog droppings or litter or they hide the signs on their storefronts. But this time the nearby landlord is us and, as Norwood News readers know, we love trees. We don’t really understand this behavior. If any of our readers know why someone would do this, please let us know. Trees provide everything from cooling shade to the air we breathe. Killing them hurts all of us.
Killing trees is also a crime, as are other things most community residents consider abhorrent. Spitting on the sidewalk, throwing litter in the street, leaving your dog’s "droppings" behind for people to step on, are all against the law. As a group of people living in the same city neighborhood, we have rules that we are supposed to abide by (at least to avoid arguments). So, for the record: street trees are protected by law. Just because the city sweeps each side of the street twice a week doesn’t mean it’s OK to throw litter in the street – or garbage out the window for that matter. And people with dogs are supposed to clean up what the dogs leave behind.
These issues are among the most bothersome that we hear about in the neighborhood, so we have resolved to do something about them. In the coming months, expect to hear from us about ways we can make our neighborhoods more pleasant and less yucky. We will work with others throughout the Norwood News readership area as we have done on past graffiti, litter and beautification efforts. Please help. You live here too and you deserve a decent quality of life.
Subway Station Slime
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
The story on the cover of this issue speaks for itself. But we just wanted to emphasize one piece of MTA ridiculousness. Here’s how the agency explained away the disastrous state of the city’s worst stations:
"The Transit Riders Council utilizes data collection at only 50 stations (11 percent of the system) to create a negative portrayal of New York City Transit stations."
What does that have to do with anything? Sure, there are some nice stations. But, the Riders Council is talking about the worst ones, three of the top five in the entire city happen to be in Norwood and North Fordham. It’s unconscionable that the 205th Street D station in particular is nowhere in the MTA’s capital plan.
The Riders Council did our communities a service by highlighting the decrepit state of the station for all the city to see.
We should all continue to press the MTA until it cleans up its act.
Concerns Over Club At ‘Jimmy’s’ Site
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
The nature of a nightclub set to open next month on West Fordham Road and Cedar Avenue has stirred controversy among community leaders, some of whom charge that it will be a topless bar and attract undesirable attention to University Heights.
The club, known as Xbar, and a restaurant called the Seafood Factory, will open in the building that once housed Jimmy’s Bronx Café. Past owner Jimmy Rodriguez, whose three upscale city restaurants often drew celebrity crowds, abruptly closed Jimmy’s Bronx Café at the end of last year. According to Rodriguez, the building’s new owner, Carlos Gómez, is a director for the phone card company Union Telecard Alliance and already owns two restaurants in Manhattan. He will run the two establishments along with musical promoter Félix Cabrera and restaurateur Pablo Jimenez.
District Manager Rita Kessler of Community Board 7 said the Xbar won’t be anything more than an upscale ladies’ and gentlemen’s club. "The fact that it’s called ‘Xbar’ does not mean ‘X-rated’," she says. "No way in the world would the board, the police or anybody agree to that." But the club’s Web site, www.xbar.biz , describes the business as including "male and female go-go dancers" and "hot and sexy showgirls."
Former state senator Israel Ruiz, Jr., a Fordham Hill Co-op resident, alleged that
Rodriguez was connected to the new operation. Rodriguez said that Gomez, Cabrera and Jimenez were friends of his, but that there was no business relationship among them.
Ruiz claims that, while in operation, Jimmy’s Bronx Café was the site of several assaults, drug deals and homicides, and that the surrounding community was endangered by the problems there. He said he worries that the Xbar may continue to adversely affect the neighborhood. "I’m asking the community to understand what’s going on there," said Ruiz, who is running again this year for State Senate.
As part of his campaign against the opening, Ruiz has written a letter to the New York State Liquor Authority asking for an investigation into the owners’ backgrounds before a liquor license is granted.
Rodriguez countered Ruiz’ allegations, stating that any shootings or drug deals that occurred in the area were a product of the area, not the restaurant. "I don’t know of an establishment in New York City that caters to criminal activity," he said. "Israel Ruiz is just trying to bring attention to his campaign [for state senate]."
As for the Xbar, Rodriguez insisted that there will be no nudity of any kind there.
In the Public Interest
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
Flagg Seeks Engel’s Seat
While much of the fireworks in the race for the 17th Congressional District stems from the charges and countercharges between incumbent Eliot Engel and challenger Kevin McAdams, there’s a third candidate in the Democratic primary struggling to be heard.
Jessica Flagg, a 52-year-old Riverdale resident who was active in Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s campaign for president, says she doesn’t have as much money as the other candidates but is working hard to get her activist message across.
Flagg said she was inspired to run during the presidential campaign when "it became evident to me that the Democratic platform was being manipulated by the media. The issues were trivialized and the people who were trying to make this an issue-based campaign were marginalized."
Paramount among the issues Flagg cares about is the war in Iraq. She believes war is obsolete for a country like America with its massive military, and economic and diplomatic might. "We have to fight the war of ideas and ideals and those kinds of wars don’t get fought with bombs and guns," said Flagg, in the kind of exclamatory tone suitable for a stump speech. "Those kinds of wars get fought with imagination and education and humanitarian aid and by delivering a quality of life that allows people to dream."
She supports setting up the West Bank in Israel as a "Peace Zone to be settled by equal numbers of Palestinians and Israelis."
"Occupying the West Bank for Israel is putting themselves in harm’s way forever," said Flagg, who grew up in Babylon, Long Island and lived in England during her high school years. "It’s putting out their chin and asking to be hit." Though she knows this view might be unpopular with many in the district, she says that there is a "significant peace voice in this district."
Environmental and energy policy is also at the center of her campaign (she calls Bush’s performance in this area "criminal") and Flagg, an environmental and management consultant calls, for the kind of single payer universal health care program described in HR 676, a bill supported by 33 House Democrats. Engel is not among them, Flagg said. Like many Democrats, Flagg believes that the 2000 presidential election was unfair. But she also bluntly states, "The election was a coup d’etat."
And she blames her fellow Democrats for letting it happen. The Democratic Party was unbelievably absent," she says. ". . . [T]hey gave away our democracy."
Flagg has lived in the Bronx for only two years.
"I wouldn’t pretend to know the Bronx all that well," she said. But she said she got to know the diverse district that stretches from the north Bronx into Rockland County when she was gathering petition signatures for Kucinich.
Flagg calls Engel a "decent man" who "stands for good things." But, she says, "he’s not out there leading the charge."
If she loses this year, would she challenge Engel again in 2006?
"If he were to become a really forceful proponent of the kinds of changes that I’m talking about, I might not feel the necessity to try to run again," she said.
Bucking Most Bronx Dems, Dinowitz Endorses Kaufman
Local residents familiar with the intricacies of Bronx Democratic politics could be
forgiven for being a tad confused last week. That’s when Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a staunch liberal Democrat, endorsed Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman, who is in a tight political battle with Assemblyman Jeffrey Klein to replace Guy Velella as state senator in the 34th District. Klein and Kaufman are Democrats with similar voting records but Kaufman is also running as a Republican and probably will vote to keep Joe Bruno, the bête noire of city Dems, as leader of the Senate. That’s why Senate Democrats are pouring much of their campaign resources into this local race: the seat is key to their dreams of wresting control of the legislative body from the Republicans.
In a more logical universe than politics, Dinowitz, who is nothing if not a strong partisan, might support Klein toward this end. Klein is also the only Bronx assemblyman to come around to Dinowitz’ side in opposing the construction of a filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park.
One explanation is that Klein is a member of the borough’s regular Democratic
organization, the longtime nemesis of Dinowitz and other Riverdale Democrats. But even Oliver Koppell, Dinowitz’ mentor and standard bearer of Riverdale Dems, appeared to put party over intramural rivalry when he endorsed Klein and even took his remarkable effort at political détente a step further by supporting Naomi Rivera, the daughter of Bronx Democratic boss Jose Rivera, in her bid to replace Klein in the Assembly.
Dinowitz explains his endorsement of Kaufman this way: "I’ve worked with both of them in the Assembly for 10 years and I know both of them very well, and I’ve found that Kaufman is more straightforward. . . . I don’t always agree with him but I can trust him."
As for the issue of Kaufman running as a Republican, Dinowitz said that if he thought the Democrats had a chance of taking over the Senate this year, or even in two, four or six years, he might have made a different decision. But, he said, "I don’t think that’s going to happen."
And, regarding the filtration issue, Dinowitz said he and Kaufman were upset by a Klein mailer claiming credit for parks funding the borough would benefit from as a result of the filtration plant project, even though Klein now opposes the filtration plant project.
"Look, the filtration plant has to be built," said Klein spokesman Jordan Isenstadt. "If it is indeed built under the Mosholu Golf Course, then the Bronx has been promised $200 million for parks. That money is in the MOU [memorandum of understanding]. Assemblyman Klein thought he would be negligent to not push for [the area] to get necessary improvements to their parklands if the filtration plant is indeed built."
The contents of the MOU — the document that will delineate which parks will benefit from $243 million in water bond money — have not been made public yet and the City Council has not yet approved it. But various lists of parks allocations have been circulating, including one Kaufman sent the Norwood News that includes the projects Klein claims credit for in the 34th Senate District.
Ed. note: The Norwood News coverage area lies almost entirely in the 33rd District. While Guy Velella represented much of Norwood and Bedford Park in the 34th District for many years, redistricting after the 2000 Census resulted in the exclusion of all of the two neighborhoods, except for a single block on Parkside Place in Norwood. The turf was ceded to the 33rd District, now represented by State Senator Efrain Gonzalez.
Gonzalez Issues Press Release!
Ordinarily, we wouldn’t consider a politician issuing a press release blasting his colleagues and the governor for failing to pass a budget very newsworthy - ironic maybe, but not newsworthy. But State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’ news release made the cut for two reasons.
First, he has not ever, to our knowledge, criticized the Byzantine ways of the state
legislature. But maybe this is a hopeful sign of things to come with editorial boards all over the state and the Brennan Center at NYU documenting how completely incompetent New York’s legislature is.
And second, this is the first press release the paper has ever received from the senator. In an interview a few years back, the senator said he liked to communicate with his constituents in less traditional ways, like putting fliers under people’s doors.
Maybe the fact that Gonzalez is facing a primary challenge from former state senator Israel Ruiz is getting him to communicate with constituents via the media, too.
Hey, this is what elections are all about.
D and 4 Stations Rated City’s Worst
August 26, 2004
By Gary Pang
A citywide advocacy group released a survey confirming what most local residents have known for years: the No. 4 and D subway stations in Norwood and North Fordham are in awful condition.
The New York City Transit Riders Council released its survey of subway station
conditions on Aug. 4. It ranked the 205th Street and Kingsbridge Road stations on the D-line and the Mosholu Parkway station on the 4-line among the five worst subway stations out of 50 city stations surveyed by the Transit Riders Council.
The advocacy group held a press conference at the 205th Street station. "That station is representative of subway station problems," said William Henderson, associate director of the Council. "It is very deteriorated and has every type of defect, from structural ones to having one trash can located only at the end of the station."
Peeling paint chips and missing wall tiles are common sights at the 205th Street station. Henderson said that many beams lost their masonry coating, exposing layers of rust.
Water often leaks into the station and floods the tracks. "They’ve put up lots of drip shields to keep water from dripping on passengers," said Henderson, adding that the shields do not fix structural defects. The leaks are so bad that stalagmites hang over the tracks, formed by mineral deposits from years of water dripping.
"The damage that occurs out there doesn’t happen overnight," said Henderson. "It’s most likely decades of neglect that led to this condition."
The Mosholu Parkway 4 station was ranked worst of all 50 stations. Parts of Mosholu’s roofs are missing or falling apart. Customers also complain of problems with station lighting at night. "There’s mildew hanging from the ceiling," pointed out commuter John O’Rourke. "The bathrooms are never open here or in any of the other stations. I don’t really care, but a lot of people have to use the bathroom, like old people and my mom."
Help is on the way for the No. 4 train station. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will renovate Mosholu, beginning probably at the end of this year through January 2007, as part of its capital plan.
"We want to bring all these stations in the Jerome Avenue line into a state of good
repair," said MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker. "Because Mosholu has steel encased in concrete, that makes it more difficult than the other stations."
The MTA plans to replace the station’s mezzanines, canopy roof, windscreen for
platforms, lighting, signs, and new warning tags on platform edges. It will also repair control areas, agent booths, and customer waiting areas. It will also work with Arts in Transit to install permanent artwork at the No. 4 stations.
But for now, riders of the B and D are out of luck. "205th Street, Bedford Park Boulevardd, Kingsbridge Road, and Fordham Road are not in the plan at this point," said Parker.
Pat Logan of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation (FBHC) called the MTA’s decision to leave out 205th Street and Kingsbridge Road "unacceptable."
Logan said the MTA needed to re-examine its priorities. "Before they think about the Second Avenue project, they need to repair stations that they currently operate," Logan said, referring to the MTA’s plans to build a new subway line in Manhattan. "It costs the same to buy a MetroCard here as someone buying it down on Park Avenue. There should be the same service."
According to Parker, the capital plan could change depending on how people respond to public hearings the MTA will schedule between now and December, when the MTA board will meet to vote on the plan.
An MTA statement called the Transit Riders Council’s survey was biased. "The Transit Riders Council utilizes data collection at only 50 stations (11 percent of the system) to create a negative portrayal of New York City Transit stations."
Regardless, commuters at the 205th Street station said something had to be done. "Look at it. It’s decaying, dirty, and smells bad," said Shirley Brown, who came from Harlem to visit Montefiore Medical Center. "It’s a depressing station. It needs to be brightened up, cleaned up and repainted."
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
Last year, Stephanie Pierce was active on the traffic and safety committee at PS 8, where her daughter attends school. She took her involvement a step further this year by applying for, and getting, a seat on the District 10 Community Education Council, one of 34 community and citywide councils intended to improve upon the old school boards. Pierce believes that increased parental participation in schools is vital for policymaking, and hopes that the new councils will facilitate it.
But just what policies she and her 10 fellow representatives will be influencing, she says, haven’t been adequately explained. "I am totally confused," she says. "They’re overwhelming me with papers, and I just want to wait and see."
Like other representatives, Pierce has yet to attend training sessions, which will be held next month. But her initial confusion is shared by many concerned council members, parents and teachers, experienced and otherwise, who are facing a package of sweeping changes in the way the schools work.
In that light, the Norwood News has assembled a basic guide to help our readers make some sense out of the overhaul and discover how they can use the schools’ new services.
Education Councils
A network of 32 community education councils, one for each school district, has replaced the original school boards. The new system brings some relief to many who considered the boards ineffectual or corrupt and aims to involve parents more closely in decision-making. District 10 encompasses Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights and North Fordham; Districts 9 and 10 together comprise Region One.
Eleven voting members sit on each council, including nine public school parents elected by parent association members and two appointees of the borough president (who must reside or operate a business within the district). A high school senior who lives in the district and is recognized as a student leader acts as a non-voting 12th member. Most councils have not yet elected a student representative.
Meetings of the District 10 Community Education Council are open to the public and will be held on the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Department of Education representatives will preside over the meetings until the members elect officers.
According to the DOE, community education council members contribute to designing educational policy, evaluate community and local instructional superintendents, and approve zoning lines. More generally, they act as liaisons between the school system and the community’s needs.
The council structure also includes two citywide education councils, one emphasizing special education and another representing the specific needs of high schools.
For information on the community education councils, contact Elba Velez, head of parent support for CSD 10, at (718) 741-5835.
Learning Support Centers
Parents seeking more information on what the school system has to offer are directed to the Learning Support Center for Region One on the eighth floor of One Fordham Plaza. Resources on substance abuse, youth leadership opportunities, health, safety and other pertinent issues are available. The Learning Support Center houses the director of Student Placement, Youth and Family Services, Bruce Irushalmi; the offices of Elba Velez; and Supervisor of Parent Support Maria Flores.
The Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The general number is (718) 741-7090.
Local Instructional Superintendents
Each Local Instructional Superintendent (LIS) is responsible for a cluster of schools within the region. Below is an updated list of contact information for local
superintendents in Region One and the schools they serve in the Norwood News
readership area.
Kathy Pollina
John F. Kennedy High School
(718) 741-7822
Bonnie Roberts
PS 95, PS 20
(718) 741-2797
Frank Paliotta
PS 51
(718) 741-7060
David Parker
PS 340, PS 246, MS 143
(718) 741-7076
Gail Davis
PS 280, PS 94, PS 56, PS 46, PS 8, IS 254, PS 54, MS 80
(718) 741-7823
Kathy Tuttle
MS 45
(718) 741-7698
Joel DiBartolomeo
Walton High School, Bronx High School of Science
(718) 741-7092
Charlene Jordan
DeWitt Clinton High School, High School of Music at Clinton, High School of American
Studies at Lehman College
(718) 741-7072
Dolores Ruales
PS 15, PS 33, PS 291, IS 206, MS 399
(718) 741-7056
Parent Coordinators
Each school in Region One uses the skills of a Parent Coordinator to confront any
concerns that parents may have, including non-academic problems such as housing or legal issues within the family that prevent students from performing to the best of their ability. The following is an updated list of parent coordinators for Region One schools and their contact information. (Positions at some schools are in the process of being filled and contacts are not yet available.)
PS 8 – Juanita Marte – (347) 563-4828
PS/MS 15 – Eddie Rosado
PS 33 – Denise Ledesman – (347) 563-4842
PS 46 – Grisette Mendez – (347) 563-4817
PS 51 – Marcela Torres – (347) 563-4833
PS 54 – Carmen Aleman – (347) 563-4826
PS 56 – Carmen Garcia – (347) 563-5011
PS 94 – Miriam Seminario – (347) 563-4772
PS/MS 95 – Delis DeLeon – (347) 563-4786
PS 246 – Eleanor Rios – (347) 563-4844
PS 291 – Johnny Ortiz – (347) 563-4845
PS 340 – Michelle Almengor – (347) 563-4792
MS 45 – Ana Vazquez – (347) 563-4823
MS 80 – Angela Roker – (347) 563-4779
MS 143 – Nancy Acosta – (347) 563-4787
MS 206 – Tracey Moret – (347) 563-4794
MS 254 – Norma Quinones – (347) 563-4808
MS 399 – Tamara Rosado – (347) 563-4782
DeWitt Clinton HS – Gertrude Lane – (718) 543-1000, ext. 1993
Regional Superintendent
Irma Zardoya, formerly District 10 superintendent, was made superintendent for Region One last year. Her office is located in One Fordham Plaza and can be reached by calling the general number for the Learning Support Center.
Additional details about the organization of the DOE are accessible on the Department’s Web site at www.nycenet.edu
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
As an active MS 80 parent, Hermes Caraballo keeps on the lookout for resources to improve the Norwood school and the community around it. So when he learned of New Hope New York, an arm of the North American Mission Board, that assembles troops of volunteers for service projects across the city, he was quick to find out more.
The fruits of his research began to arrive this June, and are still coming. They take the form of roughly 200 pairs of willing hands - mostly from the south - armed with paint cans, roller brushes, and big plans to brighten up the school’s hallways and classrooms.
"We think it’s pretty miraculous, what’s going on here," said Laura Spalter, MS 80′s Social Studies coordinator, as she surveyed a freshly applied coat in the fifth floor hallway. "It’s going to be a lot cheerier in here."
MS 80 principal Lovey Rivera echoed the sentiment. "I really appreciate all the work they did," she said. "It’s no cost to the city, no cost to the school. All they wanted to do is ensure that the kids have a really nice environment to learn in."
Formed in 1997, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) headquartered near Atlanta, Georgia, represents the combined forces of three agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention. One of the many functions of NAMB is organizing Southern Baptists across the nation to travel to urban areas and participate in restoration projects. Volunteers raise funds for any needed materials, cover their own travel expenses and sleep in nearby churches.
New Hope New York (NHNY), a NAMB initiative that sprang from a collective desire to aid New York and its citizens shortly after 9/11, typically directs its volunteers’ energies into rebuilding churches or other church-related activities. Recently, however, NHNY began to broaden the scope of its work to include secular establishments.
Randy Creamer, a volunteer mobilizer for NAMB, acknowledged that, post-9/11, "we are getting more and more involved in getting individual families to rebuild following disasters." But the MS 80 project is a turning point, the first public school in New York City to welcome a team of NHNY volunteers.
"Part of their mission is to do tangible work, ˆ la New York Cares or Habitat for
Humanity," said Caraballo. "Nobody’s proselytizingÉ It’s their way of showing their love of God, by doing something."
The repainting job at MS 80, to be completed at the end of August, is just the first of a series of ways in which New York will benefit from the kindness of these relative strangers. Among NHNY’s future plans for the city are sponsoring sports clinics and adopting libraries, and, according to Caraballo, the organization hopes to improve 25 to 30 more New York schools within the next five years. "[MS 80] is not the last, it’s the first. It’s gonna be a prototype," he said.
Despite demanding workdays, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around 5 p.m., a sense of genuine purpose keeps spirits high in the rotating groups of volunteers. "We feel called to help other people," said Dean Edmonson of Utica, Kentucky. "We’re gonna be tired, but it’s a good tired."
Edmonson came to New York with his wife Lee Ann and children Joshua, 13, and Marley, 11. They feel richly rewarded for their efforts, both by the knowledge of their gift to the city and by the exceptionally warm reception they’ve had from New Yorkers. "Everybody’s been more than helpful," Edmonson said.
Creamer agreed. "It’s a very positive experience," he said. "We find a certain degree of courtesy that we just don’t find in the South - as long as they’re not behind the wheel of a car."
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
Somebody killed four trees on DeKalb Avenue. They may not be dead yet, but some person or persons stripped the bark off the trees all the way around, so they will surely die. This particular act of "arborcide" is especially hurtful to us because Mosholu Preservation Corporation, the nonprofit that publishes the Norwood News, owns a building right where the trees are. They are across the street from a Montefiore building and North Central Bronx Hospital and near to an area of trees planted by the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. Many have been trying to make the block better for a long time.
We know some folks just don’t like trees. They think they bring dog droppings or litter or they hide the signs on their storefronts. But this time the nearby landlord is us and, as Norwood News readers know, we love trees. We don’t really understand this behavior. If any of our readers know why someone would do this, please let us know. Trees provide everything from cooling shade to the air we breathe. Killing them hurts all of us.
Killing trees is also a crime, as are other things most community residents consider abhorrent. Spitting on the sidewalk, throwing litter in the street, leaving your dog’s "droppings" behind for people to step on, are all against the law. As a group of people living in the same city neighborhood, we have rules that we are supposed to abide by (at least to avoid arguments). So, for the record: street trees are protected by law. Just because the city sweeps each side of the street twice a week doesn’t mean it’s OK to throw litter in the street – or garbage out the window for that matter. And people with dogs are supposed to clean up what the dogs leave behind.
These issues are among the most bothersome that we hear about in the neighborhood, so we have resolved to do something about them. In the coming months, expect to hear from us about ways we can make our neighborhoods more pleasant and less yucky. We will work with others throughout the Norwood News readership area as we have done on past graffiti, litter and beautification efforts. Please help. You live here too and you deserve a decent quality of life.
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
The story on the cover of this issue speaks for itself. But we just wanted to emphasize one piece of MTA ridiculousness. Here’s how the agency explained away the disastrous state of the city’s worst stations:
"The Transit Riders Council utilizes data collection at only 50 stations (11 percent of the system) to create a negative portrayal of New York City Transit stations."
What does that have to do with anything? Sure, there are some nice stations. But, the Riders Council is talking about the worst ones, three of the top five in the entire city happen to be in Norwood and North Fordham. It’s unconscionable that the 205th Street D station in particular is nowhere in the MTA’s capital plan.
The Riders Council did our communities a service by highlighting the decrepit state of the station for all the city to see.
We should all continue to press the MTA until it cleans up its act.
August 26, 2004
By Miranda Kaplan
The nature of a nightclub set to open next month on West Fordham Road and Cedar Avenue has stirred controversy among community leaders, some of whom charge that it will be a topless bar and attract undesirable attention to University Heights.
The club, known as Xbar, and a restaurant called the Seafood Factory, will open in the building that once housed Jimmy’s Bronx Café. Past owner Jimmy Rodriguez, whose three upscale city restaurants often drew celebrity crowds, abruptly closed Jimmy’s Bronx Café at the end of last year. According to Rodriguez, the building’s new owner, Carlos Gómez, is a director for the phone card company Union Telecard Alliance and already owns two restaurants in Manhattan. He will run the two establishments along with musical promoter Félix Cabrera and restaurateur Pablo Jimenez.
District Manager Rita Kessler of Community Board 7 said the Xbar won’t be anything more than an upscale ladies’ and gentlemen’s club. "The fact that it’s called ‘Xbar’ does not mean ‘X-rated’," she says. "No way in the world would the board, the police or anybody agree to that." But the club’s Web site, www.xbar.biz , describes the business as including "male and female go-go dancers" and "hot and sexy showgirls."
Former state senator Israel Ruiz, Jr., a Fordham Hill Co-op resident, alleged that
Rodriguez was connected to the new operation. Rodriguez said that Gomez, Cabrera and Jimenez were friends of his, but that there was no business relationship among them.
Ruiz claims that, while in operation, Jimmy’s Bronx Café was the site of several assaults, drug deals and homicides, and that the surrounding community was endangered by the problems there. He said he worries that the Xbar may continue to adversely affect the neighborhood. "I’m asking the community to understand what’s going on there," said Ruiz, who is running again this year for State Senate.
As part of his campaign against the opening, Ruiz has written a letter to the New York State Liquor Authority asking for an investigation into the owners’ backgrounds before a liquor license is granted.
Rodriguez countered Ruiz’ allegations, stating that any shootings or drug deals that occurred in the area were a product of the area, not the restaurant. "I don’t know of an establishment in New York City that caters to criminal activity," he said. "Israel Ruiz is just trying to bring attention to his campaign [for state senate]."
As for the Xbar, Rodriguez insisted that there will be no nudity of any kind there.
August 26, 2004
By Norwood News
Flagg Seeks Engel’s Seat
While much of the fireworks in the race for the 17th Congressional District stems from the charges and countercharges between incumbent Eliot Engel and challenger Kevin McAdams, there’s a third candidate in the Democratic primary struggling to be heard.
Jessica Flagg, a 52-year-old Riverdale resident who was active in Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s campaign for president, says she doesn’t have as much money as the other candidates but is working hard to get her activist message across.
Flagg said she was inspired to run during the presidential campaign when "it became evident to me that the Democratic platform was being manipulated by the media. The issues were trivialized and the people who were trying to make this an issue-based campaign were marginalized."
Paramount among the issues Flagg cares about is the war in Iraq. She believes war is obsolete for a country like America with its massive military, and economic and diplomatic might. "We have to fight the war of ideas and ideals and those kinds of wars don’t get fought with bombs and guns," said Flagg, in the kind of exclamatory tone suitable for a stump speech. "Those kinds of wars get fought with imagination and education and humanitarian aid and by delivering a quality of life that allows people to dream."
She supports setting up the West Bank in Israel as a "Peace Zone to be settled by equal numbers of Palestinians and Israelis."
"Occupying the West Bank for Israel is putting themselves in harm’s way forever," said Flagg, who grew up in Babylon, Long Island and lived in England during her high school years. "It’s putting out their chin and asking to be hit." Though she knows this view might be unpopular with many in the district, she says that there is a "significant peace voice in this district."
Environmental and energy policy is also at the center of her campaign (she calls Bush’s performance in this area "criminal") and Flagg, an environmental and management consultant calls, for the kind of single payer universal health care program described in HR 676, a bill supported by 33 House Democrats. Engel is not among them, Flagg said. Like many Democrats, Flagg believes that the 2000 presidential election was unfair. But she also bluntly states, "The election was a coup d’etat."
And she blames her fellow Democrats for letting it happen. The Democratic Party was unbelievably absent," she says. ". . . [T]hey gave away our democracy."
Flagg has lived in the Bronx for only two years.
"I wouldn’t pretend to know the Bronx all that well," she said. But she said she got to know the diverse district that stretches from the north Bronx into Rockland County when she was gathering petition signatures for Kucinich.
Flagg calls Engel a "decent man" who "stands for good things." But, she says, "he’s not out there leading the charge."
If she loses this year, would she challenge Engel again in 2006?
"If he were to become a really forceful proponent of the kinds of changes that I’m talking about, I might not feel the necessity to try to run again," she said.
Bucking Most Bronx Dems, Dinowitz Endorses Kaufman
Local residents familiar with the intricacies of Bronx Democratic politics could be
forgiven for being a tad confused last week. That’s when Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a staunch liberal Democrat, endorsed Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman, who is in a tight political battle with Assemblyman Jeffrey Klein to replace Guy Velella as state senator in the 34th District. Klein and Kaufman are Democrats with similar voting records but Kaufman is also running as a Republican and probably will vote to keep Joe Bruno, the bête noire of city Dems, as leader of the Senate. That’s why Senate Democrats are pouring much of their campaign resources into this local race: the seat is key to their dreams of wresting control of the legislative body from the Republicans.
In a more logical universe than politics, Dinowitz, who is nothing if not a strong partisan, might support Klein toward this end. Klein is also the only Bronx assemblyman to come around to Dinowitz’ side in opposing the construction of a filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park.
One explanation is that Klein is a member of the borough’s regular Democratic
organization, the longtime nemesis of Dinowitz and other Riverdale Democrats. But even Oliver Koppell, Dinowitz’ mentor and standard bearer of Riverdale Dems, appeared to put party over intramural rivalry when he endorsed Klein and even took his remarkable effort at political détente a step further by supporting Naomi Rivera, the daughter of Bronx Democratic boss Jose Rivera, in her bid to replace Klein in the Assembly.
Dinowitz explains his endorsement of Kaufman this way: "I’ve worked with both of them in the Assembly for 10 years and I know both of them very well, and I’ve found that Kaufman is more straightforward. . . . I don’t always agree with him but I can trust him."
As for the issue of Kaufman running as a Republican, Dinowitz said that if he thought the Democrats had a chance of taking over the Senate this year, or even in two, four or six years, he might have made a different decision. But, he said, "I don’t think that’s going to happen."
And, regarding the filtration issue, Dinowitz said he and Kaufman were upset by a Klein mailer claiming credit for parks funding the borough would benefit from as a result of the filtration plant project, even though Klein now opposes the filtration plant project.
"Look, the filtration plant has to be built," said Klein spokesman Jordan Isenstadt. "If it is indeed built under the Mosholu Golf Course, then the Bronx has been promised $200 million for parks. That money is in the MOU [memorandum of understanding]. Assemblyman Klein thought he would be negligent to not push for [the area] to get necessary improvements to their parklands if the filtration plant is indeed built."
The contents of the MOU — the document that will delineate which parks will benefit from $243 million in water bond money — have not been made public yet and the City Council has not yet approved it. But various lists of parks allocations have been circulating, including one Kaufman sent the Norwood News that includes the projects Klein claims credit for in the 34th Senate District.
Ed. note: The Norwood News coverage area lies almost entirely in the 33rd District. While Guy Velella represented much of Norwood and Bedford Park in the 34th District for many years, redistricting after the 2000 Census resulted in the exclusion of all of the two neighborhoods, except for a single block on Parkside Place in Norwood. The turf was ceded to the 33rd District, now represented by State Senator Efrain Gonzalez.
Gonzalez Issues Press Release!
Ordinarily, we wouldn’t consider a politician issuing a press release blasting his colleagues and the governor for failing to pass a budget very newsworthy - ironic maybe, but not newsworthy. But State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’ news release made the cut for two reasons.
First, he has not ever, to our knowledge, criticized the Byzantine ways of the state
legislature. But maybe this is a hopeful sign of things to come with editorial boards all over the state and the Brennan Center at NYU documenting how completely incompetent New York’s legislature is.
And second, this is the first press release the paper has ever received from the senator. In an interview a few years back, the senator said he liked to communicate with his constituents in less traditional ways, like putting fliers under people’s doors.
Maybe the fact that Gonzalez is facing a primary challenge from former state senator Israel Ruiz is getting him to communicate with constituents via the media, too.
Hey, this is what elections are all about.
August 26, 2004
By Gary Pang
A citywide advocacy group released a survey confirming what most local residents have known for years: the No. 4 and D subway stations in Norwood and North Fordham are in awful condition.
The New York City Transit Riders Council released its survey of subway station
conditions on Aug. 4. It ranked the 205th Street and Kingsbridge Road stations on the D-line and the Mosholu Parkway station on the 4-line among the five worst subway stations out of 50 city stations surveyed by the Transit Riders Council.
The advocacy group held a press conference at the 205th Street station. "That station is representative of subway station problems," said William Henderson, associate director of the Council. "It is very deteriorated and has every type of defect, from structural ones to having one trash can located only at the end of the station."
Peeling paint chips and missing wall tiles are common sights at the 205th Street station. Henderson said that many beams lost their masonry coating, exposing layers of rust.
Water often leaks into the station and floods the tracks. "They’ve put up lots of drip shields to keep water from dripping on passengers," said Henderson, adding that the shields do not fix structural defects. The leaks are so bad that stalagmites hang over the tracks, formed by mineral deposits from years of water dripping.
"The damage that occurs out there doesn’t happen overnight," said Henderson. "It’s most likely decades of neglect that led to this condition."
The Mosholu Parkway 4 station was ranked worst of all 50 stations. Parts of Mosholu’s roofs are missing or falling apart. Customers also complain of problems with station lighting at night. "There’s mildew hanging from the ceiling," pointed out commuter John O’Rourke. "The bathrooms are never open here or in any of the other stations. I don’t really care, but a lot of people have to use the bathroom, like old people and my mom."
Help is on the way for the No. 4 train station. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will renovate Mosholu, beginning probably at the end of this year through January 2007, as part of its capital plan.
"We want to bring all these stations in the Jerome Avenue line into a state of good
repair," said MTA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker. "Because Mosholu has steel encased in concrete, that makes it more difficult than the other stations."
The MTA plans to replace the station’s mezzanines, canopy roof, windscreen for
platforms, lighting, signs, and new warning tags on platform edges. It will also repair control areas, agent booths, and customer waiting areas. It will also work with Arts in Transit to install permanent artwork at the No. 4 stations.
But for now, riders of the B and D are out of luck. "205th Street, Bedford Park Boulevardd, Kingsbridge Road, and Fordham Road are not in the plan at this point," said Parker.
Pat Logan of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation (FBHC) called the MTA’s decision to leave out 205th Street and Kingsbridge Road "unacceptable."
Logan said the MTA needed to re-examine its priorities. "Before they think about the Second Avenue project, they need to repair stations that they currently operate," Logan said, referring to the MTA’s plans to build a new subway line in Manhattan. "It costs the same to buy a MetroCard here as someone buying it down on Park Avenue. There should be the same service."
According to Parker, the capital plan could change depending on how people respond to public hearings the MTA will schedule between now and December, when the MTA board will meet to vote on the plan.
An MTA statement called the Transit Riders Council’s survey was biased. "The Transit Riders Council utilizes data collection at only 50 stations (11 percent of the system) to create a negative portrayal of New York City Transit stations."
Regardless, commuters at the 205th Street station said something had to be done. "Look at it. It’s decaying, dirty, and smells bad," said Shirley Brown, who came from Harlem to visit Montefiore Medical Center. "It’s a depressing station. It needs to be brightened up, cleaned up and repainted."
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