Also, regardless of what you think about Jane Jacobs and/or gated communities, how about a little common sense? The office is moving from a building one block away, on the corner of Montague and Clinton, by the subway, the local commercial and lunch strip, and St Ann's Church. There were just as many children, less supervised, at the old location as there will be at the new one. If there were no problems at the old office, why will there be any at the new one? The whole thing is a 100% non-issue.

Posted by: Alum at July 16, 2008 4:43 PM in response to Federal Probation Officer Defends Proximity to St. Ann's

Miss Priss -- I didn't. Got over that phase in junior high. And I was no puritan by local standards. Half of my St Ann's classmates never touched the stuff.

Posted by: Alum at July 16, 2008 4:29 PM in response to Federal Probation Officer Defends Proximity to St. Ann's

I hope the reason the school hasn't made an official announcement is that it accepts the argument posted on Brownstoner by one of its senior teachers:

"It's a city school--safe for reasons that make suburban schools unsafe. Our safety comes from knowing all kinds of people firsthand, and knowing that people, young and old, live in the same society, gate their communities how they will. ... That's the paradox: protect yourself by excluding others and you run the greater risk that the protection will fail."

New York, and indeed America, would be a stronger place if more private schools were next to probation offices. Less segregation, not more, is what we need.

Posted by: Alum at July 16, 2008 4:18 PM in response to Federal Probation Officer Defends Proximity to St. Ann's

My parents were quite concerned about the state of the public schools but ultimately decided they were unwilling to sacrifice their children on that particular altar, for which I am quite grateful. Like many St Ann's parents, they paid the tuition by giving up many other things -- owning their own house, expensive vacations, saving for retirement.

The chance to attend a school which is centered above all around education and to take classes from a teacher who could write as below, was an extraordinary privilege. I only wish more people could share it.

And I hope the teacher whom I quote below speaks for the school. Certainly he speaks for me.

"I've been teaching at St. Ann's for over 30 years. It's a city school--safe for reasons that make suburban schools unsafe. Our safety comes from knowing all kinds of people firsthand, and knowing that people, young and old, live in the same society, gate their communities how they will. The biggest danger, statistically, to teenage people is not parolees or other potential lawbreakers, it is the automobiles they use to get around and hang out beyond the reach of urban public transportation. For kids under those ages, I could easily argue that the greatest risk could be poor immunities due to lack of everyday contact with large numbers of disease carriers. That's the paradox: protect yourself by excluding others and you run the greater risk that the protection will fail. I'll throttle incipient references to national politics except to point out that the Eastern (east of Brooklyn Bridge) and Southern (west of Brooklyn Bridge) Districts of the federal court system are quite separate, but that both handle drug prosecutions, which are, because of the dumb "war on drugs," an overflow business in every District."

Posted by: Alum at July 14, 2008 10:51 AM in response to Parole Facility Planned Next Door to St. Ann's School