PLG Schools and Amenities

This is a bit vague because I lost the business card but I am *fairly* sure there is a custom upholstery place on 15th street and 5th avenue in Park Slope. I went in there ang got some costs abut a year ago. They sounded reasonable. Hope this is somewhat helpful.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 17, 2009 11:42 AM in response to Custom Made Slip Covers

ILOVEPLG, that's an awsome analysis and I appreciate your case study on how PLG schools have resulted in amazing academic accomplishment. i wholeheartedly agree that local parents should get involved and I get the impression that many parents want to.

I do think this is an inaccurate characterisation: "I am really disheartened by the fact that so many people want to move here, but all they want to do is rest their head at night, and not mix with the people you found here." A huge part of the reason that we want to move to PLG is that we have loved meeting and mixing with the people in the nabe and we want to do more! I think that's echoed in a lot of the posts you will find in this stream. Sounds like people of every stripe are proud to be living and mixing in PLG. We hope we can join you all.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 7, 2009 9:40 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Ennuiater and correctors all, at this rate I'm going to have enough information to sound like I know what I am talking about on schools. That will be a lifetime first. Aythangyoo.

Bob, just starting to hang out at K-Dog (mostly afternoons so far...) great chocchip scones.

We are still playing the "no you make another offer" game with the seller and broker at the moment, but we are taking advatgae of the time to do this great research.

Here's hoping!

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 4, 2009 9:50 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

DD, great post and very helpful. Thank you.

Amen to this:

"you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed."

I mean, PS 321 wasn't the envy of anything 10 years ago was it?

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 10:53 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Wow, i am bowled over by the fantastic advice.

Thank you Brooklynista and ennuiater.

Brooklnista, PLG feels absolutely right for us, I genuinely like the neighbourhood and we are already fantasizing about opening up businesses etc there as well as buying residential. "be the change you want to see..." and all that.

enniater, please do post that list of schools. Any and all advice welcome as I school myself in the Dark Arts of gaming the school system.

Wish me luck on our offer!

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 4:22 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Mr Bull, I think it's a totally fair question. First of all you have to understand that *my* child is a budding genuis and i want to foster that latent talent. Second, that statement is playing in the heads of lots of mom in the NYC metro area.

i could bore you to death with the generational tale of woe whereby the genXers generally got shafted in the attentive parenting realm and therefore are overparenting their kids "because if we had had a little more involvement or encouragement, I could be an astronaut/oscar winner/president now!" But good enough schooling just doesn't seem good enough some how. Not when great and superlative is out there. I intend to leave my kids absolutely nothing in a will, I'm gonna die broke and have a hell of a time spending it in the meantime. But I do want to give them the best start I possibly can.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 2:23 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Mr Pitbull, yes and no. We are approved for a mortgage three times the size of the one we are likely to take out, so it's not a "priced out" scenario in the classic sense. But I struggle to justify (in my own mind) paying Park Slope prices and being forever tied to our respective desks to service the mortgage beast...I certainly like the idea of **bid[ding] half off comp prices** but someone should tell the sellers that.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 1:55 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

ennuiater, thank you. If only for making me feel like I am not the only one who cannot believe how perverse and luck-based educating your kid in NYC is.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 1:38 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Thank you Bob, that's a really good point about the single family dwellings putting something of a "cap" on the market for food/shops etc. I hadn't thought about it that way. And god knows I am trying to think about it every which way!
Also, i really love the integration that you describe. We have spent most of the year walking up and down all the PLG streets and I love that people are friendly and I do not get any of the "tensions" you describe in this neighbourhood. I grew up in a mixed race environment and benefited from it I want that for my kid too.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 1:08 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Thank you FLH and BLKP for your comments and insights. Flatbush is good and bad; it's what gives the area part of it's vibrancy, but it is (as someone said earlier) "sometimes filthy." The Park is a major selling point for us and transport of course is critical. There's much to recommend it, but it is frayed around the edges for sure. I can do frayed, but school is the big concern. I love that there are groups and individuals active on the issues though. We would totally be involved. Husband is a lawyer and I am in marketing, I am sure we could make some contribution to the greater good!

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 12:47 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Yep, that's the one. There's a clear "east of the park" divide with west of prospect park nearly clear through coney island much less volume of murder. It is something to worry about, and we do. I am sure the odds are tiny in the grand scheme of things, but with kids and sometimes working late, we have to think of these things. I don't think it's enough to stop us buying, but i do wonder if things are going to get "better" over the long haul...

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 12:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Yeah we are moving from Park Slope and happy to be doing so. I love the diversity and vibrancy of PLG. Thanks for the tips, we are feeling good about the possibility here, but before we throw down a massive chunk of change, wanted to look at all the angles. Have been checking out the NYT murdermap too...

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 12:03 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Thanks! We love the Maple Street School and it's very near the property we are looking at. But we are buying to stay and our little fella is going to be in and out in 2 years...researching schools for 5+ year old...

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:56 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Not sure that "gaming" approach is going to work in the future (some schools now google you to find addresses attached to you, and question you about that discrepancy). You are going to have to educate yourself, apply everywhere, and hope for the best. Most of the tricks friends have used have been eliminated by new, stricter approaches.

The Maple Street School is a preschool only.

PLG is great, no question, but just be ready for a whole big headache re: the schools (no, there are no local schools that come near adequate right now). I know someone whose child just did not get into ANY good public schools for Kindergarten. If you can swing private, you have more options, of course. If at all possible I would get your child in a private ongoing preschool as soon as possible (say, threes at a decent private)... or wait til he or she is already into a good public somewhere else. Not to be a downer, but it is a grueling and stressful scene, and the stress goes on for a long, long time, and you may end up commuting every day to a school far away on a packed subway train -- and feeling lucky to do so.

Good luck!

Posted by: gussy at September 3, 2009 7:50 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

BCtoBK,

I'm not sure what criteria Bob Marvin is using to qualify a "middle class" family. I have a well paying union job and my husband is an attorney with a fairly large international law firm, so I would like to think we make the cut. We live in PLG and send our children to school in the neighborhood. So do at least 3 other middle-class families that live on our street. These are just the ones in our daughter's kindergarten class. Our 6yo went to Maple Street School and will start her 2nd year at her zoned school, PS 161. Our 2yo will be attending Maple Street. PS 161 is one of the main reasons we didn't purchase a house in "Lefferts Manor" since none of the homes there are zoned for 161.

Like PLG in general, PS 161 may not be for everyone, which is fine. We're comfortable that as involved parents our children will receive a good education there. I also strongly feel that there is much to be gained from going to school with the people we live with as part of that education. I did some volunteering via Jr Achievement, so I was able to spend quite a bit of time in the school before I was a parent. Last year I helped out in the class a few time and with school trips. I'm looking forward this year to getting more involved with my daughter's school. It's not even close to being perfect, but you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed.

I had high expectations when I moved to PLG 6yrs ago and so far they have been greatly exceeded. I was looking for the a neighborhood were my inter-racial family could feel comfortable. Some place we could live and not merely sleep. Somewhere my family can be involved and a part of the greater community. I loved the work I've done to help bring new things to PLG. I love being a part of the things & getting to know the people that drew me here in the first place. Living in PLG, I feel when I send my children off into the world, they will be surprised at how special the community they come from truly is.

Posted by: DD at September 3, 2009 9:37 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Well, gussy may be right about there being slimmer opportunities to game the system today than many years ago when this was my family's challenge. But, I just don't buy into the notion that the situation is totally hopeless. There are just way too many young families with children who have moved into PLG in the past 5 years; surely not all of these children are enrolled in private schools from the age of 3 forward! As one who tries to see the glass half full, I contend that there are solutions out there to be found --- if you want to find them bad enough! To deepen your research efforts on this question, you might want to touch base with Maple Street School, Almond Tree Group Family Daycare (another popular preschool program here) and those who are working towards the goal of opening the Lefferts Gardens Charter School in 2010. http://www.hawthornestreet.com/2009/03/plg-charter-school-in-the-works.html

(And, DD, what a great post! I must have been working on my response below while you were submitting yours. IMO, yours is exactly the kind of family I was suggesting BCtoBK might want to connect with for getting more helpful contemporary advice/opinions on how to deal with the education challenge.) ___________________________________________________

Posted by: Brooklynista at September 3, 2009 10:00 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

DD,

Glad to hear about your experience with PS 161. It wasn't on our radar back when we were looking for schools and,with a 26 year old I'm far from up to date on neighborhood schools, other than following news about the proposed charter school. Still, I didn't expect to learn something about my neighborhood from a forum thread--thank you.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 3, 2009 10:42 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

DD, great post and very helpful. Thank you.

Amen to this:

"you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed."

I mean, PS 321 wasn't the envy of anything 10 years ago was it?

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 10:53 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

A big fat thank you to everyone that posted today. I got a ton of information and perspective and I'm only sorry I can't meet this group for coffee. I think the conversation would be awesome.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 3, 2009 11:20 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

"I mean, PS 321 wasn't the envy of anything 10 years ago was it? "

Actually, it was. I moved from BH to PS in 1990 to send my kid there.

Posted by: denton at September 4, 2009 6:22 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

BCtoBK,

RE: your 11:20 PM comment; if you hang out at K-Dog for a couple of mornings you're likely to meet a fair percentage of us.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Sorry for the late reply! I totally crashed last night. Anyhoo, below is the shortlist I came up with in all my research broken down by neighborhood, in no particular order.

Park Slope
Ps282
Ps321
Ps372 - think this is special needs only
Ps39

South Slope
Ps10
Ps124
Ps172

Windsor Terrace
Ps107
Ps154

Prospect Park South
Ps130

Kensington
Ps230

Ditmas Park
Ps139
Ps217
Ps245-considered an "up and coming"
Ps249- consiered an "up and coming"

Greenpoint
Ps31
Ps34
Ps110

Brooklyn Heights
Ps8
Ps29

Carrol Gardens
Ps58

Ft Greene
Ps11
Ps20 = some controversy but overall ok

Prospect Heights
Ps9

Bed Stuy
Ps21
Ps261
Ps10

I'm sure I left some out... this is just what I came up with. You'll also notice I skipped some neighborhoods b/c this list was drawn from areas we were looking for our new apt, and some areas were off the list for us for various reasons. There are lots of others!
Don't forget that going to see the school / talking to a school coordinator can be way more valuable than a million opinions posted on the web. Good luck! :)

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities