Open Thread

“Or perhaps they’ll just publish a bonus list and get the heads-on-pikestaffs crazies all riled up.”

Always a favorite! ; )

By rf on November 30, 2010 5:02 PM

THEY ALL SPEAK ENGLISH AT MANHATTAN GRAND OPTICAL!!!

last time i was there (just for a Rx refill) – there were a couple of older folks chillin up front behind the counter and when I came in and asked them a question, they just walked away and got the younger girl.

no biggie – just didn’t want rob to freak out if he encountered someone who didn’t speak english!

but yeah, nice place/people

Lechacal, I think Ringo has a very good point about teens in the city. I am really, really glad that my daughter will be using a metrocard to get around rather than driving or riding around with a 16-year-old driver. At 14, she already gets around by herself on the train so I don’t have to schlep her unless it’s after 9 p.m. or so. She takes herself to chorus rehearsals in Manhattan 3x/week with no help from me. Goes to the orthodontist by herself. Etc.

If a kid is bright and has no particular learning issues, and the parents are willing to schlep a bit until the kid is old enough to take the train, the kid can probably do pretty well in the city. You have a kid at 107, and that kid will be a District 15 kid even if you move elsewhere, as long as you are willing to take the kid to 107 or another District 15 school. All you need to do is get the younger kid into 107 and you are set–District 15 has pretty good middle schools. And with the abovementioned kid (no learning issues, bright), there are a lot of great high schools, most of which do admissions citywide. But if the kid is a slacker and screws up big during 7th grade and/or doesn’t do well on the SHSAT (test for Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science and 5 other newer smaller schools), the kid may be screwed for high school.

A bunch of families on my block in Bed-Stuy have had babies since they moved here, and every one I’ve talked to plans to stay. Western Bed-Stuy is in District 13 which has some decent elementary schools although the middle school situation is not so hot right now (but improving). Blocks and blocks of beautiful brownstones, less than half the price of the Slope. 4 stops to Manhattan on the A train.

thanks rf!!

*rob*

Ringo, not sure what brand my guys used but it dried in 2 hours or so. Even Minwax has one that dries in 4-6 hours.