Catholic Church and City Stick It to Fort Greene
Here’s a rumor straight out of The Da Vinci Code…The eight-story pre-war building on the corner of Clermont and Greene has been home to a group of priests for years. According to a tipster who lives nearby, the priests began moving out last week to make room for the building’s new occupants: 155 juvenile delinquents….
Here’s a rumor straight out of The Da Vinci Code…The eight-story pre-war building on the corner of Clermont and Greene has been home to a group of priests for years. According to a tipster who lives nearby, the priests began moving out last week to make room for the building’s new occupants: 155 juvenile delinquents. The Catholic Church reportedly has leased the entire building to the City which obviously feels that Fort Greene is getting too nice. After a neighborhood has spent a couple decades pulling itself up by its heels, why not throw up another roadblock. Anyone have further details?
Update: It appears that the Church is partnering with a non-profit group called ANCHOR to create an urban boarding school, 15 or 20 of whose students will be housed in this building. It’s unclear if the rest of the building will continue to house priests.
High School students : ) I’d way rather have them than Pratt Kids – at least teens aren’t going to stumble home from the Alibi at 3 am yelling and puking and knocking garbage cans over while they’re doing that nasty “Art” tagging they think is so cool.
I was wondering just the other day (prior to this surprising and unpleasant thread) about all the little group homes in the neighborhood and whether it remains sensible for organizations to continue in their current locations, while the $$ available to them via house sales might be more effectively used helping residents. I think Daytop is still over on President St (or State? I forget) and there are a couple of group homes on Clinton Ave. Are there others?
I have to say the vitriol in this thread made me pretty sad. People always manage to sink beneath my low expectations.
BrownBomber, as a proclaimed black conservative, you should have some issues with this program. Do you support vouchers? More to the point, do you support federal subsidies aimed only at parochial and faith based schools? At $12K a head, thats almost $2 million a year in taxpayer subsidies the Brooklyn Archdiocese will receive.
Is that what compassionate conversativism is all about?
How is the community being served by redistributing $2mill/year to Bishop Loughlin? What do they do for the neighborhood. Wouldnt that money be better spent cleansing your own neighborhood of the underclass you are so afraid of?
No shame in being vigilant…..
If this is the extent of the program then I certainly support it wholeheartedly. A boarding school for “at risk” Bishop Loughlin students is an excellent idea! I’m all for helping those who WANT to help themselves. As for community impact, there should be no adverse effect.
Oh, and 10:23, there is no such thing as a “garbage kid”.
Well, well. I guess the mob will have to leave the castle and the pitchforks and torches will have to go back into storage.
It’s going to be a DORM! I think more Choate than Reform School. Property values and purses will remain intact.
Precisely because of rumors and unknown facts did I find Brownstoner and many commentors statements inflammatory and knee-jerk reactionary.
Of course nobody is going to beg to have any institution as next-door neighbor. But beginning by saying city and church are ‘Sticking it’ to FtGr. and following later with imagine the cat-calls and harassment our daughter would face if lived next-door (tinge of Willie Horton tactics) is bit irresponsible and FoxNewsish.
Its kneejerk because you jump to conclusions without backing up citing problems with other juvenile homes in residential neighborhoods. KneeJerk because you jump to conclusions and ‘imagine’ how things would be – based on not experience but in prejudgements. KneeJerk citing specific amounts ‘property values’ would depreciate – without anything to back yourselves up. Kneejerk because call to rise up and fight without even knowing facts. Assuming that the bunch of you are probably fairly well educated it was pretty alarming.
And it looks like the size has been greatly exagerated:
“Twenty boys from grades 9 through 12 will be selected. They will live in the former De La Salle Christian Brothers residence which is located next to Loughlin.”
Here you go: (from the school website)
“Bishop Loughlin has partnered with ANCHOR, a nonprofit organization, to create an urban boarding school. This program was established to offer underserved youth a powerful alternative to the overwhelming obstacles that jeopardize academic success. Although Bishop Loughlin is a co-ed school, the boarding program is only open to young men. Participants in the program will reside in a dorm Sunday evening through Friday afternoon and will attend school with the day students. ”
So much for the juvenille delinquents, looks like a group of catholic schoolboys.