Treyger Announces Funding to Upgrade Gravesend Library
City Council Member Mark Treyger (D-Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate), announced yesterday that he secured $250,000 to renovate and upgrade the Gravesend Library.
The capital funding allocated for this upgrade project helped fill a budget shortfall after Treyger asked how he could best support the local Brooklyn Public Library branches in his district.
“I look forward to the new chapter that awaits the Gravesend library. It is a neighborhood resource center that so many of our residents rely on, and it will be a major quality of life improvement for our community to have a state-of-the-art facility to enjoy,” said Treyger.
The new enhancements to the library will include: facade upgrades to provide for a watertight building including site drainage, window replacement, and exterior brick masonry reconstruction and repointing to improve the overall weather tightness of the building. Site drainage at the rear of the parking lot. Additional work at basement level to provide for a watertight facade at the back of the building where water has been entering the building when it rains.
Cornegy to Join with Community in Light of Shooting
City Council Member Robert Cornegy (D-Bedford Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights) will join with community groups to bring in a surge of resources and outreach to the block where a mass shooting at a Sweet Sixteen party left seven injured including one dead.
From arts and athletics resources for young people, to adult education and workforce development resources, city agencies and community groups will join in a surge of outreach at the event.
This event is slated to take place at 3 p.m. today, Nov. 25 at 17 Albany Avenue at the corner of Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy.
Adams to Give Away Reusable Bags for NYCHA
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will join The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH), Kate Farms, and the Haber Houses Tenant Association to distribute plant-based nutrition shakes, personal protective equipment (PPE), and reusable bags to residents at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Haber Houses in Coney Island.
The event, which comes on the eve of Thanksgiving, is part of a series of distributions Borough President Adams has held or participated in to help New Yorkers in need during an unprecedented holiday season. It also comes after New York State began officially enforcing its ban on single-use plastic bags last month.
This event is slated to take place at 2 p.m. today, Nov 25 at 3058 West 24th Street in Coney Island.
Colton Wants Parents to Fight for SHSAT
Assemblyman William Colton (D-Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) is calling upon the parents to speak up and demand that the Mayor and Chancellor must comply with the state law and set up a date for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT).
SHSAT determines the entry to eight high schools, including Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech. The parents and students are upset with Mayor de Blasio and NYC DOE Chancellor Carranza for not scheduling the exam, which was supposed to be given the weekend of November 7, 2020, but was canceled. Parents are afraid that the NYC DOE Chancellor will use COVID-19 as an excuse to get rid of the SHSAT.
“I believe that SHSAT is a gateway for all children to achieve the American dream,” Colton stated.
The current lack of diversity that is being experienced in specialized schools over the last 20 years is not caused by the test rather, Colton believes, it is caused by the DOE’s systematically closing of gifted programs in the early and middle schools in those very districts which currently are underperforming in admissions to the Specialized High Schools.
“I have introduced legislation to require NYC DOE to establish gifted programs in every school district in the city. I was a teacher in the NYC public school of gifted and talented classes for three years in District 13. My students, who were overwhelmingly African American were performing well above grade level. This is why I strongly believe that all children have the ability to learn and excel if they are not deprived of the opportunity of gifted classes and other enrichment programs which meet each child’s individual needs,” Colton finished.
Colton’s office is circulating petitions and anyone who would like to help get signatures may call 718-236-1598 and ask for Declan Hong or sign it online by copying the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQHBaG2baxEt8ZOXmFpsXmMW8hVuR2vt5IvBcv4WkohU9mwg/viewform
Felder Calls for All Special Education Children Back to School
State Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Boro Park, Midwood) is urging Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Education to include all of New York City’s special education students in the first phase of re-entry.
“Remote learning is failing many students with special education needs who are educated in less restrictive school settings. Phase one of re-entry appears to omit students in BiY programs and others with intensive support services who do not attend District 75 schools. Educators and parents agree that these children are part of our most vulnerable student population. Without hands-on instruction provided by teachers and therapists, they are suffering from educational neglect.
“In-person services are vital to their education and New York City’s failure to provide them will have enduring repercussions. Heartbreaking requests from parents of children with Autism, Down syndrome and other special learning needs are flooding my office. School closures pose an unprecedented challenge to everyone, but special needs students are bearing the greatest burden.
“As reopening plans are underway, I urge you to expand the first phase opportunities for in-person education to all students with IEPs. We must ensure that in-person education is a safe reality for all of NYC’s special needs students immediately,” he said.
