Brooklyn’s Best Neighborhood For Affordability, Big News in Schools on the First Day & More Lunchtime Links for Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018
School is back in session! Best of luck to the students starting today!
According to an interview with WNYC, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is poised to sign off on an integration plan that would eliminate admissions screenings at middle schools in Brooklyn’s District 15—check out Chalkbeat’s coverage for details on what’s being proposed.
And in the courts, families of students with disabilities had a win in their legal battle with the Department of Education, as a judged ruled against city lawyers who sought to have the case tossed. The Daily News has the story, in which the judge called the DOE bureaucracy “Kafkaesque,” preventing parents from securing needed services for their kids.
As for the yeshivas—Governor Cuomo has dodged questions about whether or not he promised a prominent rabbi that he’d keep his hands off the religious schools, shifting responsibility to the Department of Education, the Post reports.
Starting Friday, the G train will be shutting down between Bedford-Nostrand and Court Square in Queens, with shuttle bus replacement service running between stations—a familiar move for North Brooklyn residents.
In other transportation news, the DOT has promised to start soon on the Ralph Avenue pedestrian improvements, in the meantime moving ahead with projects at Foster Avenue and Coney Island Avenue.
While Councilmember Robert Cornegy and residents of Bed-Stuy responded well to a demo of Bird electric scooters last week, Streetsblog says the city isn’t ready: the scooters will need protected bike lanes—something community boards are often wary of.
Housing affordability is a major issue citywide, but a new study about the best “bang for your buck” from Localize named Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace as the best neighborhood, citing leafy streets, good biking and access to train lines.
The Church of God of East Flatbush is getting into the real estate business. The church purchased two blocks on land for $8 million seven years ago and will build a new church and 531 units of affordable housing.
And while the Mayor signed a law in 2016 to help the city collect outstanding fines from developers, a recent court case in which Jared Kushner’s company owes $500,000 in fines led to a revealing discovery: the city has hardly collected at all, with about $1.5 billion in fines still outstanding.
Finally, the NYC Charter Commission has voted to put three “yes or no” questions on the November ballots, which could: reduce campaign contribution limits in city elections, create a new civic engagement agency for the public, and apply term limits to community board seats. Gotham Gazette goes in depth on the proposed changes.