Tuesday Links
Class Sizes Rise, Mostly Due to Budget Cuts [NY Times] Council Votes to Phase Out Roll-Down Security Gates [NY Times] Investigator of Corruption in Crane Operators’ Union Appointed [NY Times] Contractor Draws a 3-Month Term for Bribery [NY Times] Treasury Pushes Mortgage Firms for Loan Relief [NY Times] Critics say Brooklyn Bridge Park Entrance Looks…

Class Sizes Rise, Mostly Due to Budget Cuts [NY Times]
Council Votes to Phase Out Roll-Down Security Gates [NY Times]
Investigator of Corruption in Crane Operators’ Union Appointed [NY Times]
Contractor Draws a 3-Month Term for Bribery [NY Times]
Treasury Pushes Mortgage Firms for Loan Relief [NY Times]
Critics say Brooklyn Bridge Park Entrance Looks Dull [NY Post]
87-year-old Woman Run Over in Marine Park [NY Post]
Boymelgreen’s Bank at Risk of Seizure [The Real Deal]
African American Poetry Center Leases Dumbo Space [Brooklyn Eagle]
Council Approves Final Demolition Safety Bill [NY1]
Photo by StevenCloud
The class size arguments are ridiculous.
The average class size in the city is between 22 and 26 (depending on the grade). The article actually states that, but waits until the last sentence.
Per the United Federation of Teachers contract the class maximum is 24 in K, 28 in 1-3 and 32 in grades 4+. So according to the union a class is not overcrowded until it hits those numbers. All this “over crowding” stuff is nonsense.
I’m a teacher and this type of crap annoys me to no end.
the bill passed phases them out over period of time (expected life expectancy of current ones)… Not until 2026 will be totally banned. Only one abstention..so seemed like memebers from all neighborhoods supported.
Also said fire and police believe the new 70% ones safer..
And personally I think will help brighten up streets and could possible make streets more inviting and less prone to crime.
Hey, I said the gates are ugly, and I’m sure there are plenty more in my neighborhood than in most of the rest of the B’stoner readership. I would be overjoyed to see the last of them. However, like sprinkler systems, in their ugliness, they serve an important purpose. If the ones with 70% visibility can protect windows, which are very expensive to replace, or even graffiti sprayed through the bars, as well as preventing breaking and entering, then cool. My concern is that the City Council seems to spend a lot of time passing laws that sound good and are supposedly good for us, but aren’t properly thought through, especially for those who don’t have deep pockets, or are not in posh neighborhoods.
and on an important esthetic issue to help our neighborhoods like nicer no less.
I think this would be the first time in the history of brownstoner that rob has successfully corrected MM. What is the world coming to???????
they are not phasing out roll down security gates! they are phasing out the ones that are not chain linked because they are prone to graffitti. you cant really do graffitti on chained rolled down gates with openings. i saw this all on the news last night.
*rob*
As fugly as roll down gates are, they do serve an important purpose in many neighborhoods – protection. I wish we didn’t live in a city that needed them, but I would hate to be a store owner mandated to get rid of them on the whim of the City Council. Is the city going to pay for damages or theft if someone breaks into a store? I don’t think so. The stores that get robbed in many neighborhoods are not the fancy boutiques, or book stores, or even nail salons and hair places. Bodegas, variety stores, hardware stores, and especially stores that carry products stupid young thieves want, like sneakers, clothing and appliances, they should at the very least be given exemptions.
I had FIFTY, yes 50 kids in my class. Amazing how one tough nun with a ruler kept order there.
We also had only one terlet, uh, toilet…..
etson, i agree with you on class size! i always had classes of 25-30. sorry parents, your child is NOT a precious snowflake and doesnt deserve EXTRA attention in a small glass. deal with it or get a second job and send them to private school
*rob*