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.
How is this building zoned? What are the requirements for notification? Are you sure kids are going to be housed here and are you sure they’re going to be garbage kids? There seem to be a lot of assumptions and hysteria and bashing.
i feel bad for these kids who are referred to as juvenile delinquents. what on earth do they have to give back to the catholic church in return for such lovely housing? makes me cringe. damn those religion-mongers… ; )
Agreed BrownBomber. We should find out the facts first, though, which you stated in a previous post.
I’m African-American and many conservative blacks, like myself, do not identify with the underclass or criminals of any race. Please don’t make sweeping generalizations. I’m against the JDC because it’s unwelcomed by the community and it will adversely affect the quality of life for surrounding residents and significantly reduce their property values. I agree with 12:50am post 100%. This is bad for FG and horrible for nearby residents!
Plain and simple: the community should have been informed and their input should have been taken into consideration. The Church, City and CB should be held accountable. FG residents should raise hell morning, nooon and night to block the JDC. Call me what you want but I don’t want drug dealers, prostitutes, gang bangers, addicts or troubled teens of any race living or hanging out anywhere near my home. We should not stand for any JDCs, methedone clinics or short term hotels in FG/CH period! We have a hard enough time cleaning up the neighborhood and don’t need the City and Church dumping more problems into the area.
Anon 8:37. While I don’t really have an opinion about the building why is it a race issue? How come when ever there is a discussion on this board about economics or crime do African Americans self identify with the less fortunate and/or criminal? I am not defending anyone’s particular stance on this thread but where is it stated that delinquent=black?
Triple digits. I can always tell when Brownstoner’s comments strike a nerve. It’s about race, class, religion, or whether a certain street falls on the border of so and so neighborhood. I guess we will never see a gardening post hit three digit comments unless someone says something about a specific class of people letting dandelions grow in their lawns. What communities need is more transparency when it comes to things that may alter the fabric of a neighborhood. There wouldn’t need to be rumors and misinformation if the community boards and block associations made people aware. This is not the same as requiring everyone to ask for permission when you want to do something. For instance developers are required to notify the community board as part of receiving a demolition permit. The C.B. can then notify its residents. As someone who has lived across the street from a homeless shelter for the last 10 years it’s not so much the people who live there as the organization who looks after them who are to blame when things go wrong.
Has anybody called the diocese and asked? Or the local parish? Does the community board know? Because whatever goes into that building can’t be as terrifying as the large number of adults raising pitchforks and lighting torches at the mere thought of young black men moving into “their”–oh, that’s a laugh–neighborhood. And, yes it is about race. If you guys thought it was going to be a private high school or arts program there wouldn’t be a peep. But you hear it may be boys at risk and you know you’re thinking black kids and you know you are filled with fear and hate. And that is what is scary and hateful.
what a bunch of nimby bitches.
it’s easy being a lefty when you live in a cocoon….
Is that you, Ann Coulter??? at 12:50 am.