Open House Picks

I have a child going into K next year and looked at the children’s school. Interesting thing about that lottery is that the district covers Park Slope, Gowanus, Red Hook and Sunset Park…maybe Windsor Terrace too, can’t remember if that’s our district. They can’t get anyone to apply to the school from Sunset Park and Red Hook, so they divided the zone in half, and have one lottery for the North Side of the zone, which gazillions apply to, and then a separate one with the same number of slots (this is all for the gen. ed. kids, not special needs) for Red Hook and Sunset Park. Apply from those areas and your chances improve considerably. School zones with poor scores (like Red Hook) have a lot of incentive opportunities for people to apply out of the zoned school. Commuting as a variable is a constant for a neighborhood like Red Hook – schools and jobs.

sebb, I’m a fan of PS 58, but you sound like a broker (are you?) Why does everything have to be exaggerated? There are many very good aspects to PS 58 and when a school is good, there’s no need to exaggerate — in my opinion, it just turns people off. First, PS 58 is NOT the only school to have a French dual language program in all of NYC — there are a few others. I do believe it is currently the only one in Brooklyn. Also, only 24 English-speaking kids can take the dual language program, with acceptance via lottery, so it’s no guarantee. Finally, PS 58 is arguably as beloved as PS 29 these days, but there’s no need to say it’s “more desired” in general. By the way PS 58 also has an amazing strings and science program. There’s alot to like about the school and no need to exaggerate it’s best parts. But remember, a mere 6 years ago most kids zoned for that school tried to get variances for PS 29 — it made a swift change in a few years from a so-so to a much better school. It’s definitely possible for PS 32 to make a similar turnaround if the DOE decides to make an effort to do so and a big group of parents are committed to improving it. I wouldn’t be surprised if that did happen, given the changing demographics of that neighborhood. Still, getting back to subject at hand, I agree that current school zoning is relevant and this house would be far more likely to get 1.5 million + if it was a few blocks west.

CAUTION: The Red Hook House had a constant vibration during the day in 2002 when it was last for sale. I wrote a long post about it 1.5 hours ago, but my post isn’t showing up. Interesting story about the factory next door and a questionable broker and some craptacularly dishonest sellers. Don’t know why my post from over an hour ago isn’t showing up. Hmmmm.

that 58 has become more desired than 29. certainly, it’s seen as good but it’s not as uniformly respected as 29. of course, this doesn’t mean that 58 isn’t actually as good as or better than 29 – i’m just talking about reputations.

When did snark get so popular anyway? Anyone read David Denby’s book about it (I confess I didn’t)? I’m all for humor, but not the mean-spirited part of it (no offense snark slope – you don’t seem truly snarky anyway).