Old Faucet Fix?

We looked at another apartment in this building in early 2000. Absolutely stunning apartment, beautiful floors, very well-kept. The seller was moving to another apartment in the building. The common areas weren't great, but the apartment itself had wonderful details. Just not the right set-up for our family, unfortunately.

Posted by: since 2000 at November 3, 2009 9:23 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 126 Greene Avenue, #2W

As above, suggesting (nicely) some area rugs might be a good idea. As a parent, I know that with very young children, the time just before supper is the witching hour, and that's the time when it's most likely that they're going to go wild. After age 4 or so, it's much easier to teach them to control their behavior in this regard. And yes, from a young age, we've trained our child to be reasonably respectful of the neighbors who live beneath us.

Honestly, the noisiest neighbors I've ever had have been young couples--heavy shoes in the house, loud parties, and cats that run a bowling alley in the hallway overhead.

Posted by: since 2000 at September 8, 2009 1:38 PM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Re Carlton: something to do with the fire station? Much of the block is reserved for the firemen anyway.

Posted by: since 2000 at August 7, 2009 4:27 PM in response to Parking Changes in Fort Greene

We bought a Kenmore washer and drier about two years ago. They're designed to be stackable or used side by side, and we stack them. We used Consumer Reports for research and bought at Sears. No complaints yet: they're quiet and use far less energy than the previous ones, which came with our coop.

Posted by: since 2000 at July 23, 2009 11:56 AM in response to Washer + Dryer Recs?

I'm a PS 8 parent, heard the presentation from the new middle school, and think it's the best good news we've had about middle school since, well, ever. The principal still has a ways to go with articulating her vision, but at least so far, she's on the right track. At the presentation, we heard about solid, rigorous, and, yes, fairly traditional academics. Among the points mentioned were extra classes devoted to laboratory science, math that's geared for kids who are able to handle more than the--incredibly undemanding--city curriculum, Spanish, and Latin. Oh, and they say class size will be smaller than the city norm. They also say the curriculum will be rigorous, definitely aimed to prepare those kids who can handle it for the specialized high schools.

I think MS 113 is doing solid work, but it's not the right school for my kid. Ditto Arts and Letters. Honestly, it's either this new school or the citywide G&T or we move out of district. Those are the only choices.

My child has been at PS 8 for a few years now, and I have never seen any discrimination against children of any skin color or class. Yes, the educational model is somewhat progressive, which is one of the reasons we chose it rather than PS 20, for which we're zoned. Test scores have risen steadily; this year, one in 3 third graders scored at the highest level for the ELA exam. It's a terrific school, not perfect, but improving steadily. The newer teachers are mostly wonderful, and the school community of families is great.

Posted by: since 2000 at July 16, 2009 3:43 PM in response to New Middle School Coming to Fort Greene

Unless you're sure you're going the private school route, be sure to check out the zoned school and make your peace with whether you're happy with it or prepared to travel outside the neighborhood for school.

Posted by: since 2000 at July 13, 2009 10:00 PM in response to Move to Stuyvesant Heights?

I hope with all the publicity the owner is able to sell this. A couple of factual errors on his site, though: PS 20 is no longer the site of a citywide gifted and talented school. Brooklyn School of Inquiry, which is located in Bay Ridge, will be the only citywide G&T in Brooklyn starting this fall.

Posted by: since 2000 at July 10, 2009 11:30 AM in response to Awaye Realty Caught Lifting Listing from Owner

"separate entrances...."
So....they're planning on including two schools in one building. One will be filled with minority children, with a high proportion eligible for free lunch; the other will be whiter and more affluent, with a parent body much more likely to raise $$ for extras.

Why can't they be combined into one school, with funding from both districts? The DOE would get points for creating a truly diverse school community....

Posted by: since 2000 at June 24, 2009 11:11 AM in response to Council Subcommittee Hears Case of PS 133

I believe that PS 133 is moving to the St. Thomas Aquinas building for three years while the School Construction Authority tears that building down and erects a new one in its place. Some of the story was in the Brooklyn Paper last week. The renovation may have to do with asbestos issues in St. Thomas Aquinas.

Posted by: since 2000 at June 22, 2009 12:28 PM in response to What's Going on at St. Thomas Aquinas?

For preschool-K, the Dillon Center is a longstanding institution in the neighborhood. My child had a great experience there. It's run by St. Joseph's College, and their early education students assist the teachers in the classroom.

Posted by: since 2000 at June 9, 2009 4:22 PM in response to Schools in Clinton Hill

Architerrorist:
Bay Academy is now closed to out of district students, but Mark Twain is still citywide admissions.

Posted by: since 2000 at June 4, 2009 10:00 PM in response to Best Public Grade Schools in BK?

In FG/Clinton Hill, PS 11 and Community Roots are both good. Although she hasn't been in place for very long, PS 46 has a new principal who is said to be terrific. PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights is excellent, though it has gotten so crowded that it rarely has room for students who are not zoned for it (Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO).

The real problem in District 13 is middle school. Arts and Letters, which shares a building with PS 20, is a well-regarded new school--but last year they had 1,000 applicants for 80 places. MS 113 is said by some to be good, but I don't think they have a great track record with placing students in the top-tier high schools, with the exception of LaGuardia: 113 is deservedly proud of its selective arts program. The new gifted school at PS 20 does not have a middle school component. While several of its elementary schools have improved in recent years, District 13 still badly needs selective, first-rate middle schools. I hope this will change in the next few years.

Posted by: since 2000 at June 4, 2009 5:52 PM in response to Best Public Grade Schools in BK?

Castros on Myrtle

Posted by: since 2000 at April 13, 2009 11:46 AM in response to Nominate Your Favorite Restaurants

We're zoned for 20, were very turned off by our interactions with the school, and sent our child to another public school in the district. Walking by the school, we heard teachers screaming at the kids on a daily basis. A chair once came flying out of the window. A secretary referred to a child as "the body," as in, we would need a utility bill, birth certificate, and "the body" to register. That was a few years ago; I have hoped that things have changed since then.

Leaving that experience aside, though, what we have found is that a principal who is engaged with the parent body does great things for the school. Parents who feel welcome donate money and time. I rarely set foot in my child's classroom, but I run fundraisers, write articles for the school website, and, yes, write checks. We're pretty tight on cash, but we try to help, because the PTA fundraising effort pays for a whole lot of enrichment and teacher support.

With regard to testing, the school my child attends is alive to the issue of overpreparation, For the most part, they do educate rather than teach to the test. Even so, 4th grade is a misery for many kids, mine among them. The 4th grade tests are de-facto middle school admission tests, so for several months, the kids are "educated" to regurgitate exactly what they need to do well. I hate it, and I hate what it does to my kid. And that's in a good school, one with a reasonably progressive philosophy. I hope that we are able to find a middle school that will educate rather than teach to the tests, but the irony is that to do so, we will need our child to test well.

Anyone got a solution?

Posted by: since 2000 at April 9, 2009 10:01 PM in response to Time for PS 20 Principal to Get The Boot?

The current test scores at PS 8 are misleading because the school's demographic has shifted. The school has been closed to out-of-zone kids for a couple of years now (except for siblings of current students), so the lower classes are comprised almost entirely of families who live in the Heights and DUMBO. There is way less diversity in these classes, and class size has risen sharply--though construction is to begin soon on an annex with additional classrooms.

The upper classes are far more diverse, both economically and racially, and it is those classes (3rd-5th grade) that take the standardized tests that are reported on the DOE and Inside Schools websites. Test scores have already risen but probably will rise quite a bit in the next few years as the demographic shift is reflected in the NYC standardized tests.

PS 8 is a success by any standard, not overnight but one that has been building for several years. The principal is really gifted and is especially skilled at hiring staff. But a large part of the school's success has to do with the fact that neighborhood parents bought in and started sending their kids there. And so it has become a great choice for exactly the demographic that can give their children advantages to begin with, i.e. books, a rich verbal environment, cultural enrichment, all of which do predict school success.

Posted by: since 2000 at April 7, 2009 11:37 AM in response to The Shifting School Equation

There is a huge inequity between Districts 13 and 15 in terms of school quality. It is true that because of a number of factors, there are more choices for parents looking for a high-quality, progressive elementary education in District 13 than just a few years ago, as witness PS 11, 8, and the Community Roots Charter School. These are all schools in which parents have become heavily involved, with an administration that welcomed them into the school community and into the classrooms. Involved parents donate not only time but money and resources. There are other schools ripe for such involvement and turnaround, i.e. PS 56. And there are huge social reasons to try and keep your child in the neighborhood for elementary school.

The middle school situation in District 13 is far less optimistic, however, and there simply are no progressive, selective, rigorous schools available aside from Arts and Letters, which had 1,000 applications last year for approximately 80 slots--and this school is open to Districts 13, 14, 15, and 16, so getting in is not at all a sure thing. There are other middle schools in the district that promise high academic standards, but they also promise a very traditional, rigid, authoritarian method of education.

Which is why so many Dist. 13 families leave the public school system for middle school, or move out of district, or move their kids out of district. It's not just the privileged families portrayed in the Times article, it's many, many working families who don't want their kids warehoused for three years in underperforming middle schools or schools with a very rigid, traditional approach to education.

Posted by: since 2000 at April 7, 2009 10:40 AM in response to The Shifting School Equation

I liked Nelson George's piece in the Times and think, as others, that it was as much a commentary about aging and sense of place, as about race specifically. In the Philadelphia of my childhood, I remember a distinct Jewish community that had little to do with anything except my family and relatives and the places they inhabited. And yet when I walk in some areas of that city today, I'm overwhelmed by a sense of Jewish life that is completely at odds with what I see on the street. In any place we've lived in, we overlay our past in a way that skews the present reality. That said, I have lived in Fort Greene since 2000, Park Slope for a decade before that. The changes here are bewildering and so fast. I sometimes feel caught between the outsider I felt myself to be 9 years ago--for completely racial reasons, and in a way I never expected (and perhaps I was naive)--and the outsider I feel today--where did all those expensive strollers come from? I have never lived in a place that is so conscious of racial issues, a place in which I'm constantly testing my reactions to events to make sure I'm not seeing them through an overly race-conscious lens.

But still--I am one of those white women who does glance at the people I see on the street. When I see someone who looks like Nelson George, I relax. If I see a group of teenagers who are using intimidating body-language, I don't relax. It's natural to check out the people we see on the street--it's why crime victims are often those who are using ipods/phones; they're not checking out the people they see.

As for the topic of race in the neighborhood, I don't know. Keep talking?

Posted by: since 2000 at April 6, 2009 4:45 PM in response to Wrestling with Fort Greene's Transformation

There are actually three CSAs in the neighborhood: the original one is the Clinton Hill CSA, which draws from Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, and Bed Stuy. www.clintonhillcsa.org

Posted by: since 2000 at April 3, 2009 6:29 PM in response to Competition for the Fort Greene CSA

I'm dubious about the program at PS 20. It is to be overseen by the current PS 20 principal, who has a history of extremely difficult relations with parents. While it's true that PS 20 has participated in the District 13 gifted program, called LEAD, that's nothing like the true gifted programs at the existing citywide gifted schools. I would be more enthusiastic about this one if it was to be run by someone experienced with real gifted programs and with children who are exceptional learners. Does this have anything to do with the fact that enrollment at PS 20 has been dropping? Is this new program slated to replace PS 20 in the long run? Why on earth did they choose the current PS 20 principal to run it? And why didn't the announcement about new gifted programs in the outer boroughs include middle schools?

Posted by: since 2000 at March 21, 2009 10:11 PM in response to New Gifted School for Fort Greene

Denton, I'd have that checked out.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at September 8, 2009 5:58 PM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Father of 3 here the guy needs to carpet his apt.

And since we're pushing buttons.... this is exactly why I would never buy an "apt" especially in a Browndo or new construction. How can one really say they own when he/she does not have absolute control of thier surrondings. That 100k down payment could of went towards a house.

Posted by: jack slade at September 8, 2009 6:59 PM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Cannot believe some of these "kids will be kids responses" -- you can bet your ass that if the upstairs neighbor had to deal with loud music, rumbling movie bass, or other "single person" noises consistently for 45 min intervals at times that were not in line with the "children's schedule" there would be hell to pay...

"But they are children and you are an adult who can make a conscious choice..." I don't buy it -- children can learn rules of behaviour, just like the average single tenant knows not to crank music at 2AM.

Posted by: davide5 at September 9, 2009 12:37 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs

A right to peace and quiet? Wow....the entitlement of some people are ridiculous. Try to enforce that right- with the condo board or with the police or anyone else. I know people who have been living with noise for years...louder than a child running...and more obnoxious...and they can't do anything about it. Creative solutions do not always work and it always comes down to whether someone wants to move or not.

I think if you realize that at the end of the day- no matter what you do- there is no way the upstairs people can be forced to move because of issue, then your approach to the problem will be based on mutual respect and give and take. Laws requiring 80% of the floor to be covered? Really...some of the comments on here are beyond crazy.

Posted by: panda10 at September 9, 2009 10:48 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Kids will run yes, but people are totally normal to be annoyed by hearing it in their own home. Their home they paid a lot of money for. Both sides need to compromise. Carpet and no shoes upstairs and earplugs below. I think the building is the real villain here. Is this a new condo development or a browndo, in an older building? It's absurd you can't get more soundproofing between floors and ceilings in the new condo buildings for what you pay for them. If I were I condo developer I'd build soundproofed units and market them specifically as such. They'd be a huge success with how many people in Brooklyn suffer from chronic neighbor noise.

Posted by: traditionalmod at September 9, 2009 10:50 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs

this whole comment thread seems to reiterate the kids vs non kids issue, which i don't think should be the argument.

people have a legal right to "quiet enjoyment" in their homes. bloomberg has even made noise regulations to address this. i understand that children make noise, but that doesn't address the fact that the people who live in the apartments surrounding the child have a legal right to peace and quiet. (and i've often found that the people making the noise have a "learn to live in a city/apartment" mentality that everyone should have to deal with xx amounts of noise. but to what degree?

nearly all apartments have to adhere to the xx% rule, and i'd start by finding that info out and then approaching the parents again. if not, then go to the condo board and DO NOT BACK DOWN.

as for drop ceilings, i've lived with them and can tell you that they barely work and are hideous. more so, i don't think a person who owns an apartment should have to alter that apartment because neighbors refuse to follow the laws or even be reasonable.

you have rights. use them.

Posted by: grumpygirl at September 9, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs

and yes, panda, google "quiet enjoyment". it's not a fantasy, it's the law.

Posted by: grumpygirl at September 9, 2009 10:57 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Where has common sense gone... it's not too common anymore I guess...
I raised a child in an apartment over another family, and
running and jumping was not an acceptable form of entertainment indoors...

It's a parents responsibility to set some limits and to gear their children into quiet activities when they're inside... allowing kids to run amok in an apartment is just a sign of lazy parenting... how will the kids learn consideration of the rights of others if the parents don't
take the time to explain why it's not a good idea to run indoors, it "disturbs our neighbors" "you can get hurt" "indoors we have quiet fun, outdoors we can run and jump"... give it a try folks, it really works!

Arghhhhhhhhhh...

Posted by: bren at September 9, 2009 9:16 PM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Thanks to all who replied with their comments. It is just tough for all New Yorkers living in such tight spaces. NPR reports one million more people are expected in NYC over the next 10 years! Thank you again.

Posted by: vesnaspring at September 10, 2009 10:39 PM in response to Running Child Upstairs

Vesna- I had this exact issue with an upstairs neighbor a few years ago and ended up moving. Your neighbors reaction was near identical and we tried many of the tactics here, even offering to buy the carpet. For us, it was two young kids that would chase each other all over the apartment until we'd hear a large crash, crying, and then it would stop for about 1/2 hour. It frequently started at 7a on Sat/Sun. We had a chandelier over our bed that I had to remove the glass globes because the would rattle like a train was going by. The neighbor simply didn't care. I knocked on the door one Sunday at 8a after an hour of chaos and he said he was just trying to enjoy some fun time with his kids and I was bothering him by knocking on the door. It never occurred to him that I too deserved to "enjoy" my time in my apartment. That's when I knew it was a lost cause.
So, we moved after 6 months. I hate to be so negative, but people either care or they don't. Sounds like you have a don't. Btw, I have two kids, so it's not like I don't get it.

Posted by: archigoddess at September 11, 2009 8:20 AM in response to Running Child Upstairs