Residential Sale in Brooklyn: 17-Footer in the Slope
Park Slope $1,925,000 360 Fourth Street 2-family, 4-story brownstone; 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, eat-in kitchen in primary triplex; 1 bedroom. 1 bath in simplex; original details in each; 17-by-100 lot; taxes $3,500; listed at $1,980,000. Broker: Warren Lewis. Residential Sales [NY Times] GMAP
Park Slope $1,925,000
360 Fourth Street
2-family, 4-story brownstone; 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, eat-in kitchen in primary triplex; 1 bedroom. 1 bath in simplex; original details in each; 17-by-100 lot; taxes $3,500; listed at $1,980,000. Broker: Warren Lewis.
Residential Sales [NY Times] GMAP
that is awesome. thanks for posting it, lc!
I agree jps. It really is a matter of who is willing to take that chance if they have the choice to do otherwise. I suppose economics and critical mass of more involved parents who cannot afford private school but who come from well educated backgrounds or otherwise have a strong education ethic will ultimately do it.
anon,
I think we’re agreeing. I don’t say I fault these parents for going private, just that they’ll never change their local schools if they do so. And while all the problems you cite are very real, there are schools in nyc that have changed in spite of them.
People with the means will not take the chance on a public school that is not yet up to par. I wouldn’t, and be honest, if you had the means for private school, would you? And unfortunately, it is generally true that it all starts at home, so children of homes without a lot of emphasis or real understanding of the liberating power of education get shortchanged. If much of the student body has children from such backgrounds (or the more common scenario of where the children have parents who have never experienced what a truly good school is like and therefore might not know better and may resent an outsider’s critiques or suggestions for improvement), it makes changing the school overall that much harder.
“i think the more important question is how do we integrate the new FG residents into ps 20- rather than how do we improve ps 20 from the outside.”
That says it all. If you want to improve the school, you have to be willing to send your kids there, not wait for other people to improve it and notify you once it’s good enough for your own kid.
Not judging other parenting decisions, because it’s a tough call, but that’s the only way to do it.
So often on this site people will discuss a neighborhood with less-than-stellar schools and then say, “Oh, but new people buying in are going to send their kids to private school anyway.” I can understand that, but like it or not, they are opting out of perhaps the most significant way they can help their neighborhood — oldtimers and newcomers alike — by getting involved themselves.
There has been a dedicated group of parents trying to improve PS11 (Washington Ave between Greene and Gates) for years. Roadblocks are thrown up from every side – principal, DOE, other parents who resent “newcomers” trying to change things, etc. If you want to climb into a huge can of racial/social/economic worms, PS11 has it all. No good deed, yada yada yada.
to the Cuny prof: please do, and let us know what you find out. A lot of us in the neighborhood would like to have a chance to contribute to the schools (if it would be helpful to the schools) but, like you, can’t make a weekly commitment.
I think that part of the problem too is that a lot of the new residents (I count myself, though I’ve lived here for 8 yrs or so)- don’t have kids.
I know that a lot do as well, but– I’m the original poster about the schools, and I think I’m typical of a lot of the new residents.
I’m a professor at CUNY w/o kids, so my interest in the schools is not about myself or my family– it’s just a more general interest in education & the wellbeing of the community. I’m thinking that maybe we should find ways to contribute to the schools that are near us– without having to make a really overwhelming commitment to volunteering weekly. For me, I’d volunteer monthly– that would be manageable…. I think I will look into it, and I’ll post if I learn something useful.
Chicken or the egg?