Leon M. Goldstein High School. Source: InsideSchools.org
If you are a reader of the New York Daily News, you might have noticed a peculiar trend emerging in their regular coverage: an unending fascination with sex and high schools.
Just last month, we covered such a story, more out of an obsessive tendency towards providing sweeping coverage of all things Sheepshead Bay than for the sort of sensationalism the Daily News is aiming for.
Today, we have a similar story from the News to report, and as it concerns Leon M. Goldstein High School, we still feel obliged to give you a heads up, despite the questionable ethics in such tawdry reportage on display.
The story revolves around a 35-year-old male security guard for Kingsborough Community College who started a relationship with a female student from Leon M. Goldstein High School, which shares the same campus grounds as the college, at 2001 Oriental Boulevard. The guard has since been fired from his post once the mother of the student complained to school officials.
Despite poor judgement on the part of the guard, both parties were of consenting age, and nothing illegal or grossly immoral took place. The guard was an employee of the college, not the high school, and he was not the girl’s teacher or supervisor.
The guard’s firing was based solely on the premise of his behavior being a “bad idea,” and not representative of expected conduct for a school employee.
The Daily News then goes on to tie this story with the one we previously mentioned, concerning a reassigned Goldstein assistant principal who was accused of having an inappropriately close (albiet non-sexual) friendship with a student.
The dots the Daily News is ostensibly trying to connect, proclaiming Leon M. Goldstein High School as a “hotspot for illicit love affairs,” is both lazy and unfair, especially considering the swift actions taken on part of the school administers in dealing with both matters.
It didn’t take long after Hurricane Sandy’s tidal surge pummeled our coastline for the rumor mill to start churning out destruction anecdotes. According to the mill, Kinsgborough Community College was washed away. Its T buildings were in shambles, its iconic lighthouse-crowned MAC building toppled over and parking lots torn asunder.
We’re glad to report that’s not the case, but in the early aftermath, it was hard to say what was going on.
Arbuz owners and staff cleaning off the furniture just days after the storm.
THE BITE: The Bite’s been laying low as Sheepshead Bay struggles to recover from Hurricane Sandy. With so many still without power or heat, it seems a bit insensitive to write about a newly discovered food dish. Now’s the time to help our neighbors rebuild.
Many of our restaurants and food mongers who came out for this year’s A Taste of Sheepshead Bay are still recovering and some are already back in business. Please do your best to help support the businesses that support Sheepshead Bites and the community. Without their support we wouldn’t be able to bring you our coverage of the neighborhood. No one else provides the local news when you need it, like Sheepshead Bites.
Rovshan Danilov, the owner of Arbuz, put it best. “We need Sheepshead Bay back. We need the businesses to return. We need the customers back. We need the landlords to understand and work with the small businesses of the Bay.” We’re all in this together.
Kingsborough Community College. Photo by Erica Sherman
A year after topping the list of best community colleges in implementing technology, Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard, again earned high honors, finishing third overall for large colleges (10,000 students or more), according to the 2012 Digital Community Colleges Survey.
“Survey questions and criteria examined and scored areas of digital and emerging technologies, such as use of mobile devices and technology integration into curriculum; strategic planning and data management; and delivery models and professional development, including availability of technology tools and training for faculty and students.”
In Government Tech’s breakdown of the rankings, Kingsborough Community College, which has more than 38,000 students, was one of three overall winners from the state of New York, with Virginia leading all states with 10 community colleges cracking the list.
Community Board 15 decided on Monday night to table the a proposal to move the Manhattan Beach dog run, saying that the plan is still to vague for them to take a stance on.
Councilman Nelson’s chief of operations, Chaim Deutsch, brought the issue before the Board after working with the Manhattan Beach Community Group, which wants to relocate the dog run to a less visible area, and put a beautification garden in its place. Although $500,000 has already been allocated to the project, Deutsch and the Parks Department wanted to ensure the proposal has broad community support before going forward, but many residents who spoke at the meeting said they were against the plan. [Corrected]
Deutsch explained that when the dog run was fenced in approximately 15 years ago, it lacked proper drainage or any of the other amenities city dog runs have. Because of that, and inconsiderate patrons, members of the community have complained to the councilman’s office that it was unclean and often muddy.
Others who spoke in support of the proposal – largely members of the Manhattan Beach Community Group – said that users of it often came at unacceptable hours and left trash and dog feces in the park.
The councilman’s proposal is to move the dog run to a smaller location, redesign it with proper amenities – including drainage, lighting and pebbles – and turn the current location into a beatification site. The smaller location would be further subdivided to make separate pens for big and small dogs. The councilman has already allocated $500,000 for the project, but Deutsch told Sheepshead Bites that amount would only cover construction of a new dog park, not the establishment of a beautification garden.
However, many Manhattan Beach residents and dog owners spoke against the plan, airing their skepticism that the city would ever complete the job and that they’d be left without a dog run (Deutsch said he had received the Parks Department’s word that the existing run would not be eliminated until a new one was completed).
They also said that many of the problems are overblown, that users are courteous and most pick up their remains, and that there is no odor. They also took issue with shrinking the size of the park, as owners of larger dogs need the space for their canines to get exercise. Still, others, said that the money allocated should simply be used for maintenance of the dog run, for which the community has been told there is no funding, and that a “Friends of”-style group could be formed.
Members of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association also took issue with the proposal, noting that funding had been allocated by the councilman to repair the community’s basketball courts five years ago, but that they “haven’t seen a penny” put to use.
“Believing we’re going to get this money is like believing in fairy tales,” said Al Smaldone, reading a statement from MBNA President Alan Ditchek.
They also pointed out that 75 percent of the current dog run is in the shade, making it a poor choice for a beautification site.
The Board voted overwhelmingly to table the proposal until the Parks Department or councilman could provide written plans about the proposed location, amenities, costs and design for them to better judge the project.
After the meeting, Deutsch said, “I’m happy that it was tabled because if people voted and it was politically motivated it be very immature and immoral.”
CORRECTION (9/28/2012): A statement in the second paragraph of this article has been corrected. It previously indicated that Deutsch brought the issue before the Board at the request of the Manhattan Beach Community Group. Ira Zalcman, president of the group, sent the following note to us:
The mbcg never asked Nelson or Deutsh to make a dog run presentation to Cb 15. It was Theresa Scavo who asked for the presentation. Also the mbcg never asked for this funding of one half million dollars. The space for a new dog run was chosen by Ron Biondo when he was President of mbcg and his chair of his quality of life comm Al Smaldone … Mbcg stands by biondo and Smaldone that the dog run should be moved.
While we have made the correction regarding the request for the presentation, we would like to add that we have never stated that MBCG asked for the funding – only that the project be done.
Community Board 15 will have a public hearing and vote tonight on a proposal to move the Manhattan Beach dog run from its current location – a project on which the neighborhood’s two community groups are at odds.
Out of respect for the Yom Kippur holiday on Tuesday night, Community Board 15′s monthly meeting has been bumped up to tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Kingsborough Community College’s Faculty Dining Room (2001 Oriental Boulevard).
The Manhattan Beach Community Group has decried the dog run’s current Kensington Street location as filthy, smelly and poorly maintained, asking the city to remove it. Councilman Mike Nelson has allocated $500,000 to move the dog run further away from Kensington Street and to replace the current spot with a city-maintained garden with no public access whatsoever. The MBCG’s rival, the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association, claims that they were not consulted on the project and are against the move. The new proposed location is still to be decided, but will be smaller, and subdivided into areas for large dogs and small dogs.
Nelson’s office said they will adhere to the Board’s recommendation, and the park will only go forward if the Board gives the green light.
Aside from the dog park, the Board will also hold public hearings on the following land use issues:
2359 East 5th Street, between Avenue W and Angela Drive – application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
2410 Avenue S, between East 24th Street and Bedford Avenue - application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
2771 Knapp Street, between Harkness Avenue and Plumb Beach Channel – application for a special permit to allow the use of an enlarged one-story building as four eating and drinking establishments.
1713 East 23rd Street, between Quentin Road and Avenue R - application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
154 Girard Street, between Hampton Avenue and Oriental Boulevard - application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
Additionally, there will be discussion of the district’s budgetary needs in advance of the city’s 2014 budget process.
Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Boulevard) was named one of the 10 best community colleges in the nation, and is in the running to win $1 million if they take home the number one ranking from The Aspen Institute.
The Aspen Institute put Kingsborough on their top 10 list after examining such factors as graduation rate, diversity, job placement and a variety of other criteria.
“I’m so excited,” said Kingsborough President Regina Peruggi, who told the New York Daily News that it is “recognition for the kind of hard work that’s been done at this institution for years.”
Kingsborough was the only school from New York State to make the list. In October, Aspen officials will visit each campus of the selected schools to determine which of the institutions will have an extra $1 million added to their budgets.
Peruggi stated that, if Kingsborough wins, she’ll spend the money on student scholarships and teacher development.
The Kingsborough Musical Society Chorus, a not-for-profit organization under the direction of conductor Mark Mangini, would love for you to join them. The chorus’ first rehearsal and audition for their annual spring concert will be Thursday, September 13. Rehearsals are Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of Kingsborough’s T-8 building, 2001 Oriental Boulevard. Sight-reading is helpful but not mandatory.
The group’s mixed repertoire includes theater, folk, and classical music, plus they always perform two free annual concerts on the Kingsborough Community College campus in December and May, as well as a number of community outreach concerts at various locations throughout Brooklyn.
This December 16, the Kingsborough Musical Society Chorus will be performing a medley from the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II Broadway musical “Carousel,” as well as other holiday selections.
Parking is free, on campus, for chorus members.
For information about joining the chorus, call Steve Friedman at (718) 338-9132. You can also visit them on Facebook.
The Major League Baseball Charities awarded a college scholarship on Friday to 12 high school seniors, including a future Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Boulevard) student.
Jeremy Martinez and the other recipients were chosen from students across the country who participate in Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), the Major League Baseball youth baseball and softball initiative. They will each receive $5,000 per year to fund their college education through the “RBI for RBI Scholarship Fund.” The scholarships allow students to pursue any field of study at a two-year college, four-year college, university or vocational school in the United States or Puerto Rico.
Winners were chosen based on their academic records, leadership qualities and skills, participation in school and community activities, and financial need. Martinez proved himself to be a worthy candidate for this scholarship through his commitment to assisting others by volunteering with Catholic Charities, tutoring younger students in an after-school program, and serving as a camp counselor for the Greater Ridgewood summer camp. He is a resident of Howard Beach, Queens, and a member of the Greater NY Sandlot Athletic Alliance RBI League. Martinez will attend Kingsborough Community College this falls and plans on pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
The RBI program is a Major League Baseball youth initiative created in order to provide opportunities to play baseball and encourage teamwork while emphasizing the importance of education and academics. This program gives over 200,000 boys and girls the chance to play baseball and softball in more than 300 programs established in 200 cities worldwide. The MLB and Clubs affiliated with it set aside approximately $30 million worth of resources to the RBI program.
Congratulations to Martinez and the other high school graduates on their achievement!
WKRB, the radio station that operates out of Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Boulevard) finally completed their renovations and are ready to return to live broadcasting this September!
Check out some of the photos of their new digs that were posted to their Facebook page earlier today. Like Sheepshead Bites, WKRB 90.3 serves the local community. They broadcast news, music and local sports, and is fully staffed by the students of KBCC.
They’ve been around since the 70′s and churning out media professionals ever since. Now they are coming back with a vengeance. Right now you can hear their live stream at their homepage, or this link. Until live DJ’s return to air this September you can still tune in to 90.3 FM and listen to an automated broadcast.
If you’re interested in radio as a profession then you should head on over to Kingsborough and visit the radio station for a tour, or if you’re already a KBCC student, sign up to be DJ. From personal experience, I can say it’s a lot of fun.
The Major League Baseball Charities 
