tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22357422669835237082024-02-07T13:56:23.257-08:00Brownsville Partnership Blog PageBrownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-86635039463248582602011-08-31T12:23:00.000-07:002011-09-01T08:00:11.451-07:00"Department of Education layoffs hit poor areas hardest" by Juan Gonzalez<b>Education in New York City is a tough topic to argue or converse on. Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News speaks on how the Department of Education will layoff nearly 800 nonteaching professionals in New York City in low income areas. Brownsville is one of the low income areas that is being targeted. Check out the article!</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8CkzDSENt5ErDdGbBPLl4dyndvrdSM-9iP0SeFEHolMcoRdn4mVokNe9ZWgRTtue9ax5Ra6oc9SH1WrortXkZSz9k8itjKvVoevrYQJxP6rt9TC565wARbKa830YzCjw0PpX56F_o28/s1600/alg_classroom_high_school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8CkzDSENt5ErDdGbBPLl4dyndvrdSM-9iP0SeFEHolMcoRdn4mVokNe9ZWgRTtue9ax5Ra6oc9SH1WrortXkZSz9k8itjKvVoevrYQJxP6rt9TC565wARbKa830YzCjw0PpX56F_o28/s320/alg_classroom_high_school.jpg" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: center;"><em>(Galasso/North Jersey Media Group - FILE PHOTO)</em></div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">The city's plan to lay off nearly 800 nonteaching public school employees this fall will hit the poorest districts the hardest - and spare the more affluent ones.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">The disparate nature of the cuts - the biggest layoffs at any agency in the Bloomberg era - became apparent yesterday, when officials gave Local 372, which represents nonprofessional school employees, a detailed hit list.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Under the plan, District 5 in Harlem and District 6 in Washington Heights will lose almost 8% of their school aides, parent coordinators and community workers - 77 out of a total of 998. </div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
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At the same time, only five of 942 similar workers in Staten Island's District 31 - less than 1% - will get pink slips.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Likewise, three school districts in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville, East Flatbush and East New York will lose 4.4% of their nonprofessional workers.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">But three more middle class districts in South Brooklyn that include Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay and Mill Basin, will lose only 11 of 1,900 employees - less than 1%.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Those who could lose their jobs are some of the lowest-paid workers in the city and overwhelmingly black and Hispanic. School aides, the biggest group targeted, average about $11,000 a year for part-time work. Even with health insurance and pension costs factored in, the city pays about $27,000 annually for each of these workers.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">"We've been trying for weeks to meet with Chancellor \[Dennis\] Walcott, and each time they canceled . . . at the last moment," said Santos Crespo, president of Local 372.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">"On Monday, they just called us in and hit us with these cuts," Crespo said. "They didn't even want to discuss ways we could cooperate to reduce costs."</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">At a time when the school system is spending hundreds of millions of dollars for more outside contractors and consultants, it's crazy to cut the most vulnerable workers.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">DOE officials say Crespo's parent union, District Council 37, is to blame.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">"During the budget negotiations this June, the chancellor called Lillian Roberts \[executive director of DC 37\] . . . to work . . . to avert DOE layoffs," agency spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz said.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">"Unfortunately, the union would not agree to any real savings . . . so schools took a larger budget cut than might have otherwise been necessary." </div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">In other words, if you don't do what Bloomberg wants, you and your members will suffer the consequences.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">But why hit poor districts so heavily?</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">It could be just a coincidence, but some of the biggest cuts occurred in neighborhoods where City Council members were vocal critics of the mayor.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Ravitz said principals made all the decisions on cuts.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">"Schools received their budgets at the end of June and made school level decisions about which staff they were keeping and which staff to excess," she said.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Several principals I spoke to yesterday disputed that version. They say budget officials from Tweed encouraged them to look to their nonprofessional staff for cuts.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;">Nevertheless, one thing seems clear: if these layoffs take effect, the poorest districts will suffer most.</div><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<a href="http://www.5min.com/Video/Damage-Caused-in-Brooklyn-from-Hurricane-Irene-517152265" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px;" target="_blank">Damage Caused in Brooklyn from Hurricane Irene</a></div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-79892166647181480642011-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:002011-09-01T08:00:29.253-07:00Brownsville Transfer by Jeffrey WisotskyAs Community Planning Partners, the Vision Plan an idea that we have to implement to the Brownsville community. Karrie Scarboro, Jackie Kennedy and Randy Millard along with Nupur Chaudhury have been Kaffeeklatsches and other programs/activities just keep Brownsville aware of what can/could/should be done in the community.<br />
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We would like for you to watch this mini-film by Jeffrey Wisotsky. The mini-film is called "Brownsville Transfer". Sit back and watch how the residents of Brownsville Houses create and devise their own Vision Plan.<br />
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Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-71370865290202774522011-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:002011-08-26T09:16:58.623-07:00Pack and plan ahead for Hurricane Irene; Go Bags, emergency kits and plans to keep your family safe by Karen Duffy<div style="text-align: center;"><b>PEOPLE...HURRICANE IRENE</b> <b>IS COMING!!! LET'S BE PREPARED!!! </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Karen Duffy of the New York Daily News has devised a plan for us to go by so we can survive Hurricane Irene. Read it and pass it along!!!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHR4Rqh4HISlm09S66gSI7dhFj1G48k8WiRvAFC4Ujg0RzGcVI5IMts4m_qxaK9A5WInlLtiHbgvQmIssbbQL-uqpkn_Zv_xlh-xkb8OaYtl92e7xmSbGACN5GkMpbltmh4DFdkjb800c/s1600/alg_hurricane_prep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHR4Rqh4HISlm09S66gSI7dhFj1G48k8WiRvAFC4Ujg0RzGcVI5IMts4m_qxaK9A5WInlLtiHbgvQmIssbbQL-uqpkn_Zv_xlh-xkb8OaYtl92e7xmSbGACN5GkMpbltmh4DFdkjb800c/s320/alg_hurricane_prep.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="art_img_lrg_txt"></div><div class="art_img_lrg_txt"><div style="text-align: center;">Plan ahead and you'll be ready for Hurricane Irene -- or any storm that comes your way.</div><div style="text-align: center;">(<i>Courtesy of Seth Wenig/AP)</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> </i> </div></div>I'm a proud daughter of the Empire State and daughter of a cop. My appreciation for our NYC emergency services is so great, it inspired me to take the Office of Emergency Management Community Emergency Response Team training.<br />
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I have been a CERT Team member with Community Board 2 for four years. I even hosted the Ready New York video on <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/25/2011-08-25_hurricane_irene_set_to_hit_new_york_this_weekend_city_preparing_for_the_worst_sa.html">emergency preparedness</a>. <br />
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The Office of Emergency Management breaks it down into three simple steps: Create a kit, make a plan and be informed. <br />
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Here's everything you need to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2011/08/26/2011-08-26_hurricane_irene_safety_tips_for_new_york_city_how_to_keep_your_home_safe_and_get.html">keep safe during Hurricane Irene</a> or any disaster. <br />
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<b>Create your 'Go Bag' and Emergency Supply Kit</b><br />
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A "Go Bag" is a collection of items you may need in case of an emergency evacuation. <br />
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Every person in the house should have a "Go Bag" stocked and readily accessible in case you have to leave your home or office in a hurry. <br />
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Your best option for the bag itself is a backpack, which leaved hands free so you can carry a flashlight, a cell phone, or hold the hand of a loved one. A backpack on wheels or a rolling suitcase is a good alternative. <br />
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<b>Your "Go Bag" should contain:</b><br />
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Copies of your important documents in a waterproof Ziploc bags. Insurance cards, ID, proof of address, special family photos.<br />
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Extra house and car keys<br />
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Credit and ATM cards<br />
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Cash. Barb Brown, Community Board 2 CERT Deputy Team Chief, suggests carrying about $50 to $100 in small denominations.<br />
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Bottled water and nonperishable food. Energy and granola bars are good options. <br />
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At least one flashlight and extra batteries. (LED flashlights are more durable and last 10 times longer than traditional ones.)<br />
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A manual radio or battery-operated radio. Manual radios often have cell phone charging features, solar power options, flashlight, siren and compass.<br />
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Medical: Keep a list of medications for each family member, why they take it and the dosage. Pack along any extra medication, if you have it. <br />
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Extra eyeglasses, if you have them.<br />
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First Aid kit<br />
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Waterproof matches, Swiss Army knife, Sharpie markers to write ID info on children, rain ponchos, thermal blankets, extra socks and undies.<br />
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Feminine hygiene items, diapers, if you need them. <br />
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Small map of the region<br />
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Items to relieve anxiety: Playing cards are a good way to keep occupied – no batteries needed. <br />
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<b>Your Emergency Supply Kit</b><br />
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Your kit should contain items you and your household will need to shelter in place, meaning surviving on your own in your own home for at least three days. <br />
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Your household should know that this kit is for emergencies only, and you should check perishables for expiration dates and update your kit every six months. <br />
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When I change my clocks for Daylight Savings Time, I check my "Go Bags" and Emergency Supply Kit. <br />
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We are the primary caretakers of my husband's 101-year-old grandmother, so we keep a kit for her at our home, even thought she lives in another neighborhood.<br />
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<i>Note: Many of these items in your Emergency Supply Kit will be in your "Go Bag." Don't forget to replace them if you use them!</i><br />
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<b>Your Emergency Supply Kit should contain: </b><br />
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One gallon of drinking water per person, per day.<br />
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Nonperishable, ready-to-eat packaged and canned foods and a manual can opener.<br />
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First Aid Kit<br />
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Extra medications and instructions on dosage.<br />
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Flashlights, candles, matches<br />
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Manual radio or battery-operated radio and extra batteries.<br />
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Whistle<br />
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Water purification tablets or a quart of unscented bleach to use as directed by the health department. An eyedropper to add bleach to water. The standard is 16 drops of bleach per one gallon of water.<br />
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Hygiene items<br />
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Childcare items<br />
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A phone that does not need electricity (noncordless) and a manual or solar cell phone charger. Your 'land line' provided by your cable company isn't likely to work in case of a power outage.<br />
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<b>Make a Plan</b><br />
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Discuss emergency preparedness with your loved ones and create a plan for your family. <br />
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Designate a location where you will meet that is not your home. Pick a street corner with a mailbox, a statue in a public park or another landmark. Just choose a place that everyone in the family knows. <br />
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A list of Emergency Shelters in your neighborhood is online. Designate a location in NYC and outside of NYC. <br />
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Decide on a contact person outside of the tristate area. NY phone systems may overload, and you will only get a busy signal. Establish a number of a contact person outside our geographic region so you and your loved ones can communicate via messages through your agreed-on third party.<br />
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Don't forget to check on elderly and infirm neighbors.<br />
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<b>Stay calm, stay informed</b><br />
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The OEM has plans in place for every kind of emergency. Listen for their guidelines. <br />
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I read that in an emergency, about 80% of the population will slow down and follow the herd while 10% will freak out. The other 10% will put their leadership skills into action and will respond to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/26/2011-08-26_hurricane_irene_expected_to_hit_new_york_as_a_category_1_storm_on_sunday.html">the emergency</a> with skill and calmness. <br />
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By reading this article, you are taking the first steps to making the best of a difficult situation. <br />
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Keep calm and carry on, my fellow New Yorkers!<br />
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</div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-67640562825676644912011-08-19T11:49:00.000-07:002011-08-19T11:49:28.888-07:00Brownsville Oldtimers Week 2011 Photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKHyE1b8Lc5iRCzh8UzZbcaQfdnbqcYkigOg_HnfQaMqz_84Ry5RxBj67SC0XXKTbIJLKCUzLu7KoIEphVN-_lCjiJ_JV8ODCM2InOQWWC0wgyryVlxKeIOHhJ7at26fATCiwk4TE86U/s1600/brc-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKHyE1b8Lc5iRCzh8UzZbcaQfdnbqcYkigOg_HnfQaMqz_84Ry5RxBj67SC0XXKTbIJLKCUzLu7KoIEphVN-_lCjiJ_JV8ODCM2InOQWWC0wgyryVlxKeIOHhJ7at26fATCiwk4TE86U/s320/brc-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>(Mr. Greg "Jocko" Jackson at the BRC during Brownsville Oldtimers Week)</em></strong></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Let's give Jesse Newmann a round of applause!!! Jesse Newman is a Reporter for The Brooklyn Ink. Her mission is to cover Brownsville. Jesse is doing a great job! Check out the photos she took for Brownsville Oldtimers Week. Keep up the good work Jesse!!!</em></strong></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCrZpn0JgoWKYtF-QVnWEYSWGPf1CcDHSRjZcvT1o8pTa860SQofEO0vT_TtP6nQGv3uxL-V4wH6Kjsq4CoUQeejAfJxO6phBoa-K240-AJNFvKFFfmadUzat9tfkJ062-xo9i5u8eds/s1600/brc_042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCrZpn0JgoWKYtF-QVnWEYSWGPf1CcDHSRjZcvT1o8pTa860SQofEO0vT_TtP6nQGv3uxL-V4wH6Kjsq4CoUQeejAfJxO6phBoa-K240-AJNFvKFFfmadUzat9tfkJ062-xo9i5u8eds/s400/brc_042.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Local boys play basketball on the court at the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn in July. (Photo: Jesse Newman/The Brooklyn Ink)</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Greg Jackson sat in the bleachers of the Brownsville Recreation Center on a Saturday in July, bouncing a grandson on one knee and squinting his eyes at the basketball game in progress before him. One by one, players rushed past, darting through the soft columns of afternoon light that flooded the Brooklyn gym, bathing the court in an ethereal glow and turning young men into silhouettes. </div><br />
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Smiling at the high-pitched shriek of sneakers and the shrill cry of the referee’s whistle, Jackson, a Brownsville native and manager of the rec center, pointed to the freshly painted court and bright gold uniforms flashing by. “You see,” he said. “Hope is back.”<br />
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Jackson, known simply as “Jocko” throughout Brownsville, was in 11th grade at Samuel J. Tilden High School when his guidance counselor suggested that he quit school and get a factory job. “You’re not gonna amount to much,” he remembers being told. That was over 40 years ago, before he graduated from college, played basketball for the NBA, married, raised nine children and helped rescue the rec center from near-ruin, turning it into a safe haven for young people in a neighborhood beset by violent crime.<br />
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In a city flush with pro basketball stars and legendary street ball courts, every neighborhood has its success story, and Brooklyn perhaps more than its fair share. Brownsville alone spawned a handful of famous players, including James “Fly” Williams, the mercurial darling of the American Basketball Association; World B. Free, known for his 44-inch vertical leaps and 360-degree dunks in the NBA; and Phil “The Thrill” Sellers, the six-foot-five-inch forward who led Rutgers University in its only undefeated regular season in 1976 and brought the Scarlet Knights to the Final Four that year.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>But while some urban athletes rode their professional careers straight out of the ghetto, Jackson, a guard for the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns, returned to Brownsville in time to see poverty, drugs and crime devouring his neighborhood. In 1997, then-City Council member Priscilla A. Wooten recruited Jackson to take over management of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation facility, which had struggled to keep its doors open amid the chaos.<br />
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Since then, Jackson’s mission has been to provide a safe place for kids to be just that — kids. From the outside, the rec center – known locally as the “Mecca of Brownsville” – is an unconvincing place, surrounded by a plethora of austere housing projects and ramshackle auto repair shops. But inside, brightly lit fish tanks and lush green plants line the walls and spray-painted portraits of African-American luminaries like Rosa Parks and Nat King Cole greet members at every turn.<br />
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During the week, children and teenagers begin streaming onto the center’s basketball courts as soon as school lets out and many stay well into the night. There are pick-up games, organized tournaments and an instructional clinic on Saturday mornings. In the summer, college players home for vacation dazzle youngsters with their flashy moves and Sundays are reserved for the 40-and-over crowd.<br />
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For Darren Moore, a rail-thin 12-year-old who lives nearby, the Brownsville Recreation Center is more than just a place to shoot hoops. It is a second home. “I come here every day except Sunday,” said Moore, as he rolled up the sleeves of his oversized t-shirt to reveal long arms of sinew and muscle. The young player attempted a crossover dribble. “I’m practicing my Kobe moves,” he said.<br />
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And that is just as Jackson would have it. Like the rest of New York City, Brownsville has grown safer in recent decades, but the neighborhood still has one of the highest crime rates, and its residents live in fear of violence. In the first quarter of 2011, there were 23 shootings with 26 victims in Brownsville, half of whom were under the age of 25. <br />
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“I used to stay out practicing my jump shot in the parks ‘til two, three o’clock in the morning,” said Jackson. “Kids can’t do that nowadays — it’s too dangerous. Either a gang will jump you or the police will stop you.”<br />
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<div align="center"><em>Greg "Jocko" Jackson stands on the rooftop of the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn. (Photo: Jesse Newman/The Brooklyn Ink)</em></div><br />
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Over the past decade, the center has evolved its own kind of gang, albeit one that is all-inclusive and binds members through mutual respect instead of fear. The center’s staff is fiercely loyal to Jackson – many say he is like a father to them – and young members are devoted to them in return. <br />
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Tony Deese was 13-years-old and headed for trouble when Jackson tracked him down on the streets of Brownsville in 1976 and accused him of stealing his bicycle. By the time Deese reported to Jackson the following day, the older man had arranged for his first summer job — as a youth worker at a vocational training school in Bushwick. Now, years later, Deese is a basketball coach at the rec center and his two teenage sons are both promising players. <br />
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“Jocko saved my life,” said Deese. “He took me away from the streets and gave me a community.” <br />
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It is not an unusual claim. Nor is the idea that long after street basketball’s heyday in the city, the game still plays an invaluable role in impoverished minority neighborhoods. According to Randy Millard, a Brownsville native and basketball coach at the center, “Without basketball, a lot of these kids would be in graveyards.”<br />
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Jackson’s dedication to the center stems in part from memories of his own boyhood in Brownsville. The teenager was on the verge of dropping – or failing – out of high school when then-basketball coach Edolphus Towns noticed his skills on the court. Towns, who now represents part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives, took Jackson under his wing and sent him to live with his mother in North Carolina. Jackson quickly became a star player and team captain at West Columbus High School; when his grades improved he was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at nearby Guilford College.<br />
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It was with the Congressman’s benevolence in the back of his mind that Jackson returned to Brownsville after a single season in the NBA. In 1985, when he joined the staff at the rec center, the building was in desperate need of repair and residents were afraid to walk the neighborhood’s streets to get there. Then, in the early 1990s, the center underwent a $10 million renovation. Jackson removed the 6-inch Plexiglas barrier and turnstile that guarded the center’s entrance and asked an exterminator friend to kill the rats that lived in the weight room. <br />
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Today, the center is equipped with a fitness room, pool and newly painted basketball courts; instructors offer classes like yoga, karate, tae kwon do and jujitsu. And Jackson’s mottos – “Whom did you help today?” and “Pay it forward” – are repeated like mantras by the center’s staff. <br />
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But sports are only part of the point at the Brownsville Recreation Center. Baron Germaine, a coach at the center, pointed to a top basketball player. “That kid is gonna get an education” he said. “Basketball is just a ticket to the amusement park. We want them to keep their hoop dreams — it’s the carrot we wave in front of them to get 75s and 80s in class.”<br />
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Darryl Glenn, recreation supervisor at the center, concurred. “Sports may bring you to me,” said Glenn, “but once I’ve got you, it’s not about basketball, it’s about life<br />
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<div align="center"><em>A group of boys wait their turn to play basketball at the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn in July. (Photo: Jesse Newman/The Brooklyn Ink)</em></div><br />
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Young people in Brownsville have seen enough of life to understand the choices they face. Twelve-year-old Delor Scarboro described how coming to the center has kept him away from the violence that pervades everyday life in his housing project. <br />
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If he weren’t at the center, said Scarboro, he would probably be caught up “in the mix” at home. Gang members at Brownsville Houses regularly recruit young children to do favors for them like carry guns and assist in assault or robbery, he said.<br />
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“Once these streets get a kid, they don’t spit him back out, they devour him,” said Germaine. “I tell my kids all the time, you can’t be a basketball player and a gangster at the same time. They just don’t mix.”<br />
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Karrie Scarboro, Delor’s mother, walks a group of children from Brownsville Houses to the center and back on Friday nights. “A lot of kids would be lost if we didn’t have this place,” Scarboro said.<br />
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The game on a recent Saturday was a family affair. Jackson’s son, Greg Jr., was the referee and two other sons, plus a daughter and his wife sat beside the 60-year-old manager in the bleachers. Three of his eight grandchildren were there. Throughout the game, spectators filtered in and out of the gym, each stopping to greet Jackson, shake hands, or say goodbye. <br />
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“I had to come back to Brownsville,” said Jackson, dressed in his signature Nike tracksuit and grey tweed cap. “This is my neighborhood. This is where I got it from. You get all your strength right here.” <br />
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Jackson held out his hands, revealing crooked fingers bent by arthritis. “Besides,” he said, “I can still shoot.”<br />
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<div align="center"></div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-70479933982325714112011-08-04T09:52:00.000-07:002011-08-04T09:52:25.887-07:00National Night Out 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPBUVmq442gJ1ALEylgu0GOqKm5Bkr7Zukknm1GIe7aNvN1D_v-5mbg5tKZYpgOz6cZsrrkd5v7bY1YGkIXKBIX6w3F7533hXu2IP10ENY9N_E5jTIUkKLzAmJbp9X1Rwqg1BZWGgD8s/s1600/national-night-out-2011-logo-300x222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPBUVmq442gJ1ALEylgu0GOqKm5Bkr7Zukknm1GIe7aNvN1D_v-5mbg5tKZYpgOz6cZsrrkd5v7bY1YGkIXKBIX6w3F7533hXu2IP10ENY9N_E5jTIUkKLzAmJbp9X1Rwqg1BZWGgD8s/s1600/national-night-out-2011-logo-300x222.jpg" t$="true" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><strong><em>Here is another post by our Summer Youth Intern Morgan Smith. Morgan attended the annual National Night Out event in Brownsville which was held at Dr. Richard Green Playground on Mother Gaston Blvd and Sutter Ave. </em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>"On Tuesday, August 2nd, it was National Night Out at P.S./ I.S. 284 Park. It was really fun. The event had the Cotton Candy Machines, Ice Cream, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and etc. There was a lot of people from Brownsville in attendance as well as people from outside of the neighborhood. Some kids played basketball. "</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>"It looked as if everyone had fun. The event staffers gave away bags with school supplies and other gifts. They also had face painting. My little sister went. When we got home, I asked her if she had fun? She responded with "it was one of the best things they have ever done in Brownsville."- Morgan</em></strong>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-59458686309011602011-07-21T13:27:00.000-07:002011-07-21T13:27:36.874-07:00"Just Say No To Drugs" by Morgan Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EO_3gYpvX6W2V-DDgy6gHgW6olqXEG3GtYy2vBIvd6gWycmrLFQ9BfzBTWlbUzYf_kUnFY0qJtHVRaytGpDrr_5h2CtiSoGMelJBL42yN8S_kFTcY6SdztKeDokY8RpFoYcP6-tWyNI/s1600/NoDrugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EO_3gYpvX6W2V-DDgy6gHgW6olqXEG3GtYy2vBIvd6gWycmrLFQ9BfzBTWlbUzYf_kUnFY0qJtHVRaytGpDrr_5h2CtiSoGMelJBL42yN8S_kFTcY6SdztKeDokY8RpFoYcP6-tWyNI/s320/NoDrugs.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<strong><em>We all know how drugs plays a significant role in the Brownsville community. Morgan Smith, our Brownsville Partnership Guest Blogger for the Summer, talks about. Even though Morgan's blog post has so little words, the meaning is powerful.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>"A lot of teens in the community use drugs. Some teens in the community use drugs to rebel towards their parents, while some teens use drugs to make them feel as if they're "grown". Maybe teens think that by them using drugs, it will make them "feel good" or have more more fun at a party. However, the truth is that, there are much better ways to do all of these things."- Morgan Smith</em></strong>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-27170694788086035242011-07-12T10:29:00.000-07:002011-07-12T10:39:29.557-07:00Morgan & Malika's Views: What We Know About Brownsville<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Morgan Smith and Malika Spruill will be contributing to the Brownsville Partnership Blog this summer. Every Tuesday, Morgan and Malika will team up together up creating blog post about their experience working in Brownsville. </i></b></div><br />
<div align="center"><b><i>Malika Spruill is a resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is 20 Years Old. This is her first time working in the Brownsville. She knows little to none about Brownsville. Malika's views about Brownsville may change. </i></b></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><b><i>Morgan Smith is a resident of Brownsville, Brooklyn. As a 15 Year Old young man growing up in Brownsville, he lets it be known that it is not easy living in Brownsville. </i></b><b><i>Growing up in this "tough" environment is going to hopefully make him a better person.</i></b></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>"Brownsville is a big community filled with much positivity and negativity. There are ways to change the negatives into positives. One of the positive things about Brownsville is the Brownsville Partnership. Brownsville Partnership helps the Brownsville residents seek employment and get the youth off of the street. The Youth Market is one of things we do in the community. We sell fresh produce in the community to give people healthier ways of eating. Also we do programs and activities all over the community." - Morgan Smith</i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>"There are many social problems in Brownsville. The problems are mainly associated with drugs and crime. Brownsville has a higher rate of dropouts and incidents of violence in their schools than any other neighborhood I know of. Another problem is low test scores and high truancy rates. This is what I know of about Brownsville because I really don't know much."- Malika Spurill</i></b></div><div align="center"><br />
</div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-76217836190049894102011-07-12T09:20:00.000-07:002011-07-12T10:03:15.852-07:00Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, Mets alums to help Habitat for Humanity build housing later in July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxp2T5sdueNj_acJUZMe1xy7AjQ_A_AkwajgvMMLy5CGmLB4OOr2qqH-guI_REDfBK0BIlUzlLlx04HG7rbQsZfIHgvkLTqscN2vxqfLA2UQThAq9vtOsYmuE320vzu8SHOKJhOKY7g0/s1600/alg_darling_cohen_hernandez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxp2T5sdueNj_acJUZMe1xy7AjQ_A_AkwajgvMMLy5CGmLB4OOr2qqH-guI_REDfBK0BIlUzlLlx04HG7rbQsZfIHgvkLTqscN2vxqfLA2UQThAq9vtOsYmuE320vzu8SHOKJhOKY7g0/s320/alg_darling_cohen_hernandez.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez, sitting in the Mets broadcast booth with Gary Cohen (c.), are joining with Habitat for Humanity to do their part in the local community.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>(Courtesy of Howard Simmons of the NY Daily News)</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Georgette Lee was nervous as she walked into the SNY booth at Citi Field Sunday to meet Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez. She knew who they were, of course, but Lee is not much of a baseball fan.</div><br />
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Lee had come to Citi Field to say thank you to two of the men who will help build her home.<br />
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Darling and Hernandez, along with some of their 1986 world champion teammates, will hammer and paint to help build the residences at St. John's Place in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn on July 15 with Habitat for Humanity. Lee will own one of those homes in 2012.<br />
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It is the third straight year that the Mets Alumni Association Presented by Citi, as part of the Mets and Citi's "Teammates in the Community" initiative, have helped Habitat for Humanity build affordable housing in the city.<br />
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While Lee was nervous, Darling gretted her, her 13-year-old son Zayyire and her sisters Delcenia and Virginia, who also are Habitat homeowners and neighbors.<br />
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"I live in Brooklyn, too," Darling said as he showed the family where he broadcasts Mets games.<br />
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Darling is particularly proud that across the generation of Mets players, they have lent a hand with the program in the city.<br />
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"My two boys and I went down to New Orleans and worked with Habitat there and it was such a wonderful bonding experience for us. I really think it's a great program," Darling said. "What's great about the Mets doing this here in the city is that so often people only think of the people in ravaged areas; sometimes it's the families in your neighborhood that need help, the family down the street."<br />
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Lee was grateful for that helping hand.<br />
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"Sometimes people reach a certain level and they don't remember where they've come from and go back to help," Lee said, her eyes welling with tears. "It's so nice that Ron and Keith and other Mets are going to come out and help us.<br />
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"I really want to thank them, and thank the Mets and Citi so much. It really means a lot to us."Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-56272286838956615312011-07-12T09:12:00.000-07:002011-07-12T09:12:44.284-07:00Michael Rapaport moves behind the camera to chronicle hip-hop favorites A Tribe Called Quest<div align="center"><strong><em>If you was to ask Michael Rapaport where he was from, he would simply reply and might say "I am from Brownsville, Brooklyn." Read this article written by Jacob E. Osterhout as he talks about Michael Rapaport's role in his new documentary talking the break up of his favorite Hip Hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. </em></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ggalxz_7dFtNp3tR6AoA6PBmGtv4r0hEcTYmpB_imj-pUUiip8ZEzKNlCb1h_SmaFL4-DA53FfybHISstM0_3dzfxsA0iMOafiVcTTHO-pSunBaJ3x8oyHv7umayrZh8HeutzWydaHc/s1600/alg_michael_rappaport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ggalxz_7dFtNp3tR6AoA6PBmGtv4r0hEcTYmpB_imj-pUUiip8ZEzKNlCb1h_SmaFL4-DA53FfybHISstM0_3dzfxsA0iMOafiVcTTHO-pSunBaJ3x8oyHv7umayrZh8HeutzWydaHc/s320/alg_michael_rappaport.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span>Michael Rapaport's 'Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest' just opened.</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>(Courtesy of Jacob E. Osterhout of the NY Daily News)</em></div><br />
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In a perfect world, Michael Rapaport would bike to Astoria every day to eat an overstuffed sandwich from Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli.<br />
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But the world isn't perfect.<br />
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In fact, on this particularly sunny New York day, the 41-year-old actor — his films include and Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite" and "Small Time Crooks" — has such a bad stomachache, he doesn't even bother to unwrap his sandwich.<br />
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Instead, he downs two ginger ales and stares longingly at his order — a sandwich full of five meats, three cheeses, four veggies, dressing, mustard and mayo, aptly named "The Bomb."<br />
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"I'm not hungry right now, but I promise you that by the end of the day that sandwich will be eaten," he says with a thick New York accent. "It's perfection. It would be criminal to let the best sandwich in this city go to waste."<br />
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Just as it would have been criminal to keep Rapaport's directorial debut, "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest," from being released on the big screen, which almost happened.<br />
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The film, which opened Friday, chronicles the 1998 breakup of one of Rapaport's favorite hip-hop groups, Queens-based A Tribe Called Quest. Despite the director's adoration of his subject, the leader of A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip, refused to approve the film before its debut because of creative differences.<br />
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"It was brutal making this documentary," says Rapaport. "I wouldn't change it for anything but it took everything out of me. I always knew, though, that I was going to finish making the movie, and once we got accepted to Sundance, there was no stopping me from screening the film there, even if I had to do it out of the trunk of my car."<br />
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Rapaport learned this get-it-done-at-all-costs attitude and developed his love of hip hop growing up on the upper East Side during the '80s.<br />
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"I got kicked out of a lot of schools when I was a kid because I was so disruptive," he says. "All I cared about was basketball, girls, sleeping and hip hop. I would travel out to the Howard Projects in Brownsville to play ball with my best friend and I was exposed to things I never would have experienced on the East Side of Manhattan."<br />
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He would also venture downtown to check out the hip-hop shows, even as a teenager.<br />
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"I remember being in Latin Quarters, that club where Plaxico shot himself, and this guy next to me pulled a sword out of his jacket," says Rapaport. "So I decided to get out of there, but I had checked my coat. Big mistake. As I'm waiting for my coat, someone gets out of a car and fires four gunshots into the club. I dove into the corner and just curled up into the fetal position."<br />
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Eventually, Rapaport moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career, and his voice caught people's attention.<br />
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"Everyone would bring up my accent and I would get defensive," he says. "But I embraced it because that's what New Yorkers do. We say, 'f— you,' and keep talking like we talk."<br />
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Now a father of two, Rapaport is most uncomfortable when talking about his sons living in California.<br />
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"They think they're New Yorkers but they were born and raised in Los Angeles," he says. "But they understand the importance of New York City in their lives and they know what this place means to me."<br />
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But what exactly does New York mean to Rapaport?<br />
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He takes a last swig from his bottle of ginger ale and extends his arms.<br />
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"New York is about all sorts of regular people living together, like here in Astoria," he says. "Man, I miss walking around this city and just discovering the day as it goes along. Somewhere out in Queens or the Bronx or Brooklyn there's the next A Tribe Called Quest, who will represent New York the way they did.<br />
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"And, who knows? Maybe you'll be able to direct the documentary on them someday."Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-30224302111662074682011-06-20T09:37:00.000-07:002011-06-20T09:40:26.902-07:00Tomorrow Brownsville Your Attendance Is Needed!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuzxZQmSrTtJB4ccMQxJ0STQcJy0fuXs64UxA8N6SSExSgVcmmH8HNwfRt1t0rhqnwgluk9BGQQz4iQUpevXS3tkxG66Lpl32ZKHqqjZV_M4WujYdC7dXfpWnDI562-bRH882Ql6uieE/s1600/New+Image.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuzxZQmSrTtJB4ccMQxJ0STQcJy0fuXs64UxA8N6SSExSgVcmmH8HNwfRt1t0rhqnwgluk9BGQQz4iQUpevXS3tkxG66Lpl32ZKHqqjZV_M4WujYdC7dXfpWnDI562-bRH882Ql6uieE/s640/New+Image.JPG" width="492" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">For more information, contact Randy Millard at <a href="mailto:rmillard@commonground.com">rmillard@commonground.com</a> </span></strong></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Follow Brownsville Partnership on Twitter @bvillepartner</span></strong></div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-87498105151127024952011-06-14T08:51:00.000-07:002011-06-14T08:51:57.250-07:00Thousands more NYC students need to take summer school to advance<strong>School in the Summer...</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Read this article by Rachel Monahan who writes for New York Daily News.</strong><br />
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<strong>A lot more kids need summer school this year, officials said yesterday.</strong><br />
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<br />
This summer, 12,000 more city public school students than last year should hit the books harder, according to a Department of Education analysis.<br />
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In all, 34,069 students in third through eighth grades likely will be held back if they don't attend summer school.<br />
<br />
"Before promoting any of these students to the next grade, we need to make sure they have mastered the skills needed to succeed," said city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.<br />
<br />
To be promoted, the city requires students to score a basic "Level 2" on state English and math exams.<br />
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Because the state exams are given in May, the city does not have the official results, but instead has projected which students have not met their standards.<br />
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City officials said they did not expect more students to fail the exam but had made a more accurate judgment of the need this year.<br />
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Last year, the city recommended 22,802 students for summer school, when in fact 31,000 bombed the standardized tests.<br />
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The summer term will cost the city almost $51 million - $4 million more than last year.<br />
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"It's good that more students will have the opportunity to improve. I think it's scary how many kids need to improve," said Advocates for Children Executive Director Kim Sweet.Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-89020708194012024572011-06-10T11:57:00.000-07:002011-06-10T11:57:53.725-07:00Pitkin Ave BID Job Opening!!!IMMEDIATE JOB OPENING<br />
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<br />
The Pitkin Avenue BID is seeking a part time temporary employee to help with the planning of its Summer Plaza events. This is a terrific opportunity for a community resident who is seeking supplemental income. <br />
<br />
For three Sundays in July, a section of Pitkin Avenue will be closed to car traffic for the Pitkin Summer Plazas. The BID needs a summer employee to assist in programming the space with events, arts and crafts, and recreational activities. <br />
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The position will be 20 hours per week Monday through Friday, beginning June 20, 2011 In July, the week will be Tuesday to Saturday because assistance at the Summer Plazas is required. Please note that this does not include July 4th Weekend! The position pays $12/hr. <br />
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With the Director’s supervision, job duties will include the following:<br />
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• Meet with event partners to discuss programming<br />
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• Work with merchants to develop event programming and sponsorship<br />
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• Develop promotional materials<br />
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• Promote the summer plazas online using Facebook, Blogger and email<br />
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• Assist in developing press materials<br />
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• Supervise volunteers and block captains during the event<br />
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• Assist in setting up for the event, including lifting tables and chairs <br />
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• Assist in breaking down the event, including clean up<br />
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• Assist the director as needed<br />
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Requirements:<br />
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Excellent communication skills<br />
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Computer skills, including MS Word, Excel, GoogleDocs, and Picasa. <br />
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Students interested in urban planning and economic development are strongly encouraged to apply. Send cover letter and resume to Dan Murphy at execdirector@pitkinbid.orgBrownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-37435200406638193502011-06-06T09:01:00.000-07:002011-06-06T09:03:39.262-07:00Are Healthy School Lunches Too Expensive For The American Economy?Obesity amongst our youth across the nation, is a tough topic to debate about. We want our kids to be healthy, but the cost maybe too expensive...<br />
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Read this article from <i>The Associated Press</i><br />
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Let's enlighten each other<br />
<i> </i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqB6cD3I4t68JshL5mWnoZrbcFhNsccXhUq_MQcxngBfi0S4Q8_OfsEJoyOh1nTPGh5vWXk95tEX88lh14iwthw04gEb7CtZShLreK4uBqXqBjI1xzaf4B8s4efMmzNmaBtcjLYFiU-s/s1600/healthy_school_lunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqB6cD3I4t68JshL5mWnoZrbcFhNsccXhUq_MQcxngBfi0S4Q8_OfsEJoyOh1nTPGh5vWXk95tEX88lh14iwthw04gEb7CtZShLreK4uBqXqBjI1xzaf4B8s4efMmzNmaBtcjLYFiU-s/s1600/healthy_school_lunch.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Washington, DC</b> (June 1, 2011) -- House Republicans are pushing back against Obama administration efforts to promote healthier lunches, saying the Agriculture Department should rewrite rules it issued in January meant to make school meals healthier. They say the new rules are too costly.<br />
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The bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee late Tuesday, also questions a government proposal to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children and urges the Food and Drug Administration to limit rules requiring calorie counts be posted on menus.<br />
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<i> </i><br />
<div class="text"><i><a name='more'></a> </i>The overall spending bill would cut billions from USDA and FDA budgets, including for domestic feeding programs and international food aid. The panel also cut some farm subsidies to cut spending.</div><br />
<div class="text">Republicans are concerned about the cost of many of the Obama administration proposals, which they regard as overregulation, said Chris Crawford, a spokesman for the chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s agriculture subcommittee, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">Crawford said the marketing guidelines, released last month, are “classic nanny-state overreach.” Though the guidelines, which would restrict which foods could be marketed to children, are voluntary, many companies are concerned that they will be penalized if they don’t follow them. The bill questions whether the Agriculture Department should spend money to be part of the marketing effort.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">“Our concern is those voluntary guidelines are back-door regulation,” he said, deploring the fact that kids can watch shows that depict sex and drugs on MTV, but “you cannot see an advertisement for Tony the Tiger during the commercial break.”</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">The school lunch guidelines are the first major nutritional overhaul of students’ meals in 15 years. Under the guidelines, schools would have to cut sodium in subsidized meals by more than half, use more whole grains and serve low-fat milk. They also would limit kids to only one cup of starchy vegetables a week, so schools couldn’t offer french fries every day.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">The starchy vegetable proposal has been criticized by conservatives who think it goes too far and members of Congress who represent potato-growers. They say potatoes are a low-cost food that provides fiber and other nutrients.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">The Republican spending bill also encourages the FDA to limit new guidelines that require calories to be posted on menus to restaurants, asking that grocery stores, convenience stores and other places whose primary purpose is not to sell food be excluded from the rules.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">The effort would dial back many of first lady Michelle Obama’s priorities in her “Let’s Move” campaign to curb childhood obesity and hunger.</div><div class="text"><br />
</div><div class="text">“This shows a very clear trend in trying to undermine some of the important gains in nutrition policy,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest.</div><div class="text">The overall spending bill would cut billions from USDA and FDA budgets, including for domestic feeding programs and international food aid. Even after some of the money was restored Tuesday, the bill would still cut about $650 million – or 10 percent – from the Women, Infants and Children program that feeds and educates mothers and their children. It would cut almost 12 percent of the Food and Drug Administration’s $2.5 billion budget, straining the agency’s efforts to implement a new food safety law signed by the president early this year.</div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-66524151282245076072011-06-02T12:49:00.000-07:002011-06-02T13:01:43.170-07:00Bobkatz BikeRoll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQwWyZ-5-ei4AwypxQW91TWWan8RHHs_O-beo8zoS9N0YzqIZ_hq4F6lvqHGbqfuvOMQHrbApoqkeVjq-ENeqWfzPINvgwjgnjXHxUPQT7lPKyVJdOabSvKrh9HLVayAN8uP7eQH-oGg/s1600/5787493644_bd4a5acdb5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQwWyZ-5-ei4AwypxQW91TWWan8RHHs_O-beo8zoS9N0YzqIZ_hq4F6lvqHGbqfuvOMQHrbApoqkeVjq-ENeqWfzPINvgwjgnjXHxUPQT7lPKyVJdOabSvKrh9HLVayAN8uP7eQH-oGg/s320/5787493644_bd4a5acdb5_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Last Saturday, May 28th, 2011, Brownsville Partnership and the Brownsville Bobkatz put their bicycles in motion as they trekked around the Brownsville community for the Bobkatz BikeRoll. 30 kids from the Brownsville Bobkatz and other teams in the community, Brownsville Partnership, Brownsville Recreation Center Staff along with volunteers from local community organizations rode throughout the neighborhood. After the Bike ride, the kids had the chance to indulge in some healthy barbecue food.</b><br />
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</b><br />
<b>Here are some pictures:</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuLQqSE3UO4RIH2NpLOuhd7NqV564SEvCHU1kFunhyphenhyphenu9trCm8yAnoNnGLfuUf5ijgQi-DpkLLjx7FmM6b88EVLk3Y1BoZrV7qCsgsZeDhtXKxMbxQkbQkY-Q65OKgPUOEchhjA-zmCw0/s1600/5787484396_f16e5569b4_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuLQqSE3UO4RIH2NpLOuhd7NqV564SEvCHU1kFunhyphenhyphenu9trCm8yAnoNnGLfuUf5ijgQi-DpkLLjx7FmM6b88EVLk3Y1BoZrV7qCsgsZeDhtXKxMbxQkbQkY-Q65OKgPUOEchhjA-zmCw0/s320/5787484396_f16e5569b4_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>(<i>The Bikers getting ready to ride throughout the Brownsville streets)</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-D1qq-D-rzMj0YBnU3veQpTW36Lc_0GuWR8P3ethk9tJcWki0_IfStkFQd7VTsjvV7ai4uJqSGqtIgviNKb2l-iI0WugH6xBqqPjMMwAQXll0pbzhnPnoow8AepnuO-TOEI-Ry-O_B0/s1600/5787501698_b4905ce1cf_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-D1qq-D-rzMj0YBnU3veQpTW36Lc_0GuWR8P3ethk9tJcWki0_IfStkFQd7VTsjvV7ai4uJqSGqtIgviNKb2l-iI0WugH6xBqqPjMMwAQXll0pbzhnPnoow8AepnuO-TOEI-Ry-O_B0/s320/5787501698_b4905ce1cf_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>(Grilled Turkey Hot Dogs)</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgRS0PMd2wc7VV91XpEEWzSG_XNn1drrpuo_xp7vVwqAnQ6Ah3GxyUXEn0tW0EWWWyLwTPSOMVB5Xsh5cpS2ciCsdwUXIH2wTZz8gc_StE3b1oH4RjomN1wsouPEe5hzGdp_DH_XPImk/s1600/5787502566_f5fe5ee42b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgRS0PMd2wc7VV91XpEEWzSG_XNn1drrpuo_xp7vVwqAnQ6Ah3GxyUXEn0tW0EWWWyLwTPSOMVB5Xsh5cpS2ciCsdwUXIH2wTZz8gc_StE3b1oH4RjomN1wsouPEe5hzGdp_DH_XPImk/s320/5787502566_f5fe5ee42b_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>(Brownsville Partnership Staff: L to R- Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Brian Goldblatt (GrowNYC), Nupur Chaudhury & Greg "Jocko" Jackson)</b></i> </div><br />
<b>For more photos from the Bobkatz BikeRoll check out the slideshow!</b><br />
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</a>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-25444267133634323352011-06-01T06:48:00.000-07:002011-06-01T06:48:28.702-07:00Terror in Brownsville: Survey finds Brooklyn neighborhood grappling with "serious issues" like guns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7_hLstEhX2hgY-FKqJXpkEWr18PPuTcRc1AdMy6_PxNs2oh6OMmwwVJ0vEYiEcW-jyGsc8CduGos6BlV9NKyevz8RVVnMdWdnhF8PB5Vuxl2xbJkHLlJQq02h1Jd5j69VB23vmpBeg/s1600/alg_james_kinard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7_hLstEhX2hgY-FKqJXpkEWr18PPuTcRc1AdMy6_PxNs2oh6OMmwwVJ0vEYiEcW-jyGsc8CduGos6BlV9NKyevz8RVVnMdWdnhF8PB5Vuxl2xbJkHLlJQq02h1Jd5j69VB23vmpBeg/s320/alg_james_kinard.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span> (Courtesy of NY Daily News)</span><b><span></span><i><span> </span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span>Brownsville resident James Kinard, 50, worries about crime in his neighborhood.</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span> </span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span> </span></i><span></span></b><span>Brownsville is a neighborhood filled with unique individuals. Our qualities and our characteristics genetically bonds us to become a rare breed in society. Center for Court Innovation volunteers last fall, conducted a survey about what are the "serious issues" in Brownsville. Jake Pearson and Al Barbarino complied the results into a great article. This is a must read!!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br />
</span></div>Guns. Gangs. Drug use. Drug selling. Assaults.<br />
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A whopping 80% of <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brownsville+%28Brooklyn%29" title="Brownsville (Brooklyn)">Brownsville</a> residents say these are the biggest problems plaguing their community, according to a new survey.<br />
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Volunteers from the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Center+for+Court+Innovation" title="Center for Court Innovation">Center for Court Innovation</a> spent weeks last fall asking more than 800 Brownsville residents questions about their neighborhood - and this month released the troubling results.<br />
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"This survey paints a portrait of a neighborhood with some serious problems," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Greg+Berman" title="Greg Berman">Greg Berman</a>, director of the Center for Court Innovation. "There are social problems and public safety problems...and it's a neighborhood grappling with some serious issues."<br />
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<a name='more'></a> Many of those "serious issues" can be deadly.<br />
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More than 70% of residents said guns were a big problem in the neighborhood - a neighborhood which has seen 11 murders so far this year, up from six at this time last year, according to 73rd Precinct police stats.<br />
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"It's scary - I don't walk around the streets, I don't sit around the park [because] if I'm sitting there I might get hit by a bullet," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jessie+Reed" title="Jessie Reed">Jessie Reed</a>, 62, who has lived in the Brownsville Houses for the past 10 years.<br />
"Once I'm home and inside, I stay there, that's it."<br />
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Reed is not alone - only 37% of female residents said they felt safe on the street, walking to and from the subway and in the parks.<br />
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Experts said that even though crime has gone down in Brownsville in the past decade, it is still high compared with the rest of the city - and that especially violent crime brings fear to the entire community, not just the victims.<br />
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"Just imagine living in a neighborhood where the biggest issue people face is the presence of guns," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Richard+Aborn" title="Richard Aborn">Richard Aborn</a>, president of the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Citizens+Crime+Commission+of+New+York+City" title="Citizens Crime Commission of New York City">Citizens Crime Commission of New York City</a>.<br />
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"Anything that sends the message that there's disorder, that the government's not in control, can create fear," he added. "If there's a sense of hopelessness because there's high unemployment or the government's not meeting the needs of kids, that can mean disorder."<br />
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Unlike some <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brooklyn+%28New+York+City%29" title="Brooklyn (New York City)">Brooklyn</a> neighborhoods that have shaken their violent reputations in recent years, experts said Brownsville - which has long suffered from a lack of city services, high crime and unemployment - will take longer.<br />
"<br />
All the things people take for granted in other neighborhoods we don't take for granted," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Greg+Jackson" title="Greg Jackson">Greg Jackson</a>, 59, executive director of the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Brownsville+Partnership" title="Brownsville Partnership">Brownsville Partnership</a>, a community group.<br />
"<br />
We had the worst cops at one time, the worst teachers at one time, the worst hospitals...and we still got problems, but now people of my generation think that things are going great because they saw it when it was really bad."Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-1963435120262647442011-05-24T08:59:00.000-07:002011-05-24T08:59:46.521-07:00Brooklyn Salons get training, medical devices to help clients stay well<strong>Read this article written by Jake Pearson for the New York Daily News. Jake Pearson goes into a Beauty Salon... but he comes out with something better than gossip!</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Check this out!</strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gsanQASJuFuA2MbNNryC8st9Ij_RnKXDrQ8a9XPvrDPR7FcKgGBTVAz5mN6-p2ezDKYMKoMbsNlHKwZsPVl4BxIJX_Ul5hXG14DBI7ApcIfFzMG_6EnoVNI9CtQQJxeVYHeXW_2RmkA/s1600/alg_semontha_brown_hair_done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7gsanQASJuFuA2MbNNryC8st9Ij_RnKXDrQ8a9XPvrDPR7FcKgGBTVAz5mN6-p2ezDKYMKoMbsNlHKwZsPVl4BxIJX_Ul5hXG14DBI7ApcIfFzMG_6EnoVNI9CtQQJxeVYHeXW_2RmkA/s320/alg_semontha_brown_hair_done.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center"><em>(Courtesy of Robert Mecca)</em></div><div align="center"><span>Samantha Brown (c.), owner of Women's Hair Care Center in Crown Heights, works on hair of Raicine Terry as stylist Modestina Bell looks on.</span></div><br />
For women, the hair salon has long been an intimate place for private conversations, gossip and advice between stylists and clients.<br />
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<br />
From neighborhood news to Arnold Schwarzenegger's secret family, no topic is off-limits - and in some Brooklyn neighborhoods, obesity, diabetes are now on the list of sacred topics.<br />
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<br />
Trained by public health experts last month, 16 salon owners in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and East Flatbush have begun slipping health advice into conversation with their customers - suggesting healthy meals, exercise routines and doctor visits.<br />
<br />
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"No I don't need the scale, I've never used it," said city worker Alison Fulford, 43, after Crown Heights salon owner Samantha Brown mentioned there was a scale in the bathroom as Fulford got her hair pressed and dried last week.<br />
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The scale, a blood pressure machine, and DVDs with exercise routines, healthy food options and weight-loss tips have also been supplied to the salons.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
"I don't mind them suggesting it because my stylist knows what I want; she's like a teacher talking to a student," said Fulford, a glass dryer covering her head at Women's Hair Care Center Inc. on Nostrand Ave. "I just don't want to do it today."<br />
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Brown then tried pressing client Jessica Edwards to try out the blood pressure machine.<br />
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"I probably don't eat as well as I could," conceded Edwards, 20, as she got her hair shampooed and pressed by Brown. "Some of my family members have diabetes, so it's important to me."<br />
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Public health officials from the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health enlisted Brown to turn her salon into a mini-doctor's office and her stylists into substitute M.D.s.<br />
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Earlier this year, officials at the Brooklyn public health group won a $190,000 grant to use hair stylists throughout central Brooklyn to talk about healthy living.<br />
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For the next year, the experts will track more than 1,000 women of African and Caribbean descent who use the salons to see if they change their habits.<br />
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"In our neighborhood, most women are not as educated about health stuff as they are in other neighborhoods," said Brown, who has owned the salon for 14 years. "We don't eat the foods we're supposed to eat, and we don't exercise enough."<br />
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Officials from Arthur Ashe come by from time to time to give seminars and demonstrate how to prepare healthy meals like vegetable stir fry.<br />
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"What we're looking for are changes in behavior," said John Lewter, director of development at Arthur Ashe. "How many people start saying, 'I've actually stopped eating red meat' or 'I joined a walking club'?"<br />
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Women's Hair Care receptionist Modestina Bell said she regularly hears clients complain about their blood pressure as they sit in the store's big green barber chairs.<br />
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"As a stylist, we get people ready for graduations and weddings, so even though we're not in the family, we're part of the family," said Bell, 22.<br />
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"So we give them the information and advice ... a lot of people will talk about their blood pressure being too high, then the stylist will say, 'Maybe you should cut out so much salt.'<br />
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You aren't a doctor," said Bell, "but it's the best you can do."<br />
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What kind of shape their customers are in<br />
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<strong>The latest city data shows people Central Brooklyn have long suffered from health problems related to heart disease.</strong><br />
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<strong>High blood pressure:</strong><br />
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<strong>27.3% of residents in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights say they suffer from it.</strong><br />
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<strong>40.2% of residents in Flatbush say they have it.</strong><br />
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<strong>Diabetes:</strong><br />
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<strong>10.6% of residents in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights say they suffer from it.</strong><br />
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<strong>13.3% of residents in Flatbush say they suffer from it.</strong><br />
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<strong>Obesity:</strong><br />
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<strong>26.9% of residents in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights say they are obese (36.6% say they are overweight but not obese).</strong><br />
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<strong>29.8% of residents in Flatbush say they are obese (39.7% say they are overweight but not obese).</strong><br />
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<strong>Physical activity in past 30 days:</strong><br />
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<strong>29.9% of residents in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights said they have had no physical activity.</strong><br />
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<strong>29.6% of residents in Flatbush had none.</strong> <br />
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Source: 2009 Department of Health Community Health SurveyBrownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-633182781617866812011-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:36:13.717-07:00Photo exhibit at Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal fosters hope for 50 beautiful kids looking for homes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPACbEKAO_XsAvArfHBiViho44mFQhDY9P8IxOL-s7vh40sY707xAHzIZU2GZOr1DhT6wqF1U_t_eUeMthgYPd3Ite9gJklKnB2eednzsfgj5v5BLlHBzLX4powBHTIp-2fuSJqKzC99c/s1600/alg_rayon-richards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPACbEKAO_XsAvArfHBiViho44mFQhDY9P8IxOL-s7vh40sY707xAHzIZU2GZOr1DhT6wqF1U_t_eUeMthgYPd3Ite9gJklKnB2eednzsfgj5v5BLlHBzLX4powBHTIp-2fuSJqKzC99c/s320/alg_rayon-richards.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center"><em>(Courtesy of Mark Bonifacio of the New York Daily News)</em></div><div align="center"><span>Photographer Rayon Richards with foster child William, at 'Heart Gallery' exhibit now on at Atlantic Terminal.</span> </div><br />
Photographer Rayon Richards has a good heart! He help facilitate a photo shoot, along with HeartShare Human Services, for Foster Child who are looking to be placed in a home. The "Heart Gallery" is at Alantic Terminal in Downtown Brooklyn. Read this article written by Erin Durkin of the New York Daily News. <br />
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Check this out!<br />
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For the next month, commuters passing through downtown Brooklyn's busy Atlantic Terminal will be greeted by the smiling faces of 50 foster kids searching for permanent homes.<br />
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Life-sized portraits of the kids taken by renowned photographers were unveiled yesterday as part of a "Heart Gallery" on display in hopes of enticing potential parents.<br />
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Malik, 14, moved into his latest foster home in Canarsie a week ago - his sixth since he was taken away from his parents at age 6 after they left him home alone for weeks, he said.<br />
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"I never found the right place," said Malik, an eighth-grader who has had to change schools four times while being shifted among foster homes all over the city. "I don't feel like a normal teenager.<br />
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"I'm hoping to find a nice family," Malik said. "I never felt loved by a parent before."<br />
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Eight-year-old William squealed with delight when he saw his portrait hung front and center at the exhibit.<br />
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"That's me!" said William, who is autistic and lives with a foster family in Boerum Hill. "I like my picture...[I'd] like to find [a] family to adopt me."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBPepU1gB-2LUVi0X2-1ylUuJWLCVxqVg-Vlkjy-5o0rR6iuc0xpvT6ExyE188E83CzJHVFdAI8PDhW_lK7VQLw4ykAdHVfdygI5_EYifsYYsUSNfg7DNdUApvDRZVV7DWxq3Fi2BXRY/s1600/amd_khadija-heart-gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBPepU1gB-2LUVi0X2-1ylUuJWLCVxqVg-Vlkjy-5o0rR6iuc0xpvT6ExyE188E83CzJHVFdAI8PDhW_lK7VQLw4ykAdHVfdygI5_EYifsYYsUSNfg7DNdUApvDRZVV7DWxq3Fi2BXRY/s320/amd_khadija-heart-gallery.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><div align="center"><em>(Courtesy of Mark Bonifacio of the New York Daily News)</em> </div><div align="center"><span>Foster child Khadija revels in seeing her images at exhibit, organized by HeartShare Human Services.</span> </div><div align="center"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">William has bounced around between foster homes since he was a baby, said Patricia McCollin of HeartShare Human Services, and finding a permanent home is a particular challenge because of his special needs. </div><br />
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"You see how lovable he is. You see how infectious he is," she said. "He needs someone who's going to be open and patient and willing to learn."<br />
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The nonprofit sought out famed photographers to shoot the spirited portraits, which will be on display through June 15.<br />
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Deborah Feingold - whose past subjects include Mick Jagger, Alicia Keys and President Obama for the cover of his book "The Audacity of Hope" - did the portraits of Malik and 4-year-old Khadija.<br />
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"We all want them to find a home," Feingold said. "This was a way of using the camera to try to do something that would hopefully make an impact on someone's life."<br />
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Heart Gallery NYC executive director Laurie Sherman Graff, herself the adoptive mom of a 13-year-old son, said that even people who have thought about adoption don't consider the fact that they could adopt an older child from foster care.<br />
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Heart Gallery officials hope the photographs hanging in Atlantic Terminal will serve as a constant reminder of that.<br />
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"People can't help but look," she said.Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-13360593034693822372011-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:17:11.515-07:00Brooklyn's dad fighting back after losing his son to gun violenceThe gun violence in the Brownsville community is effecting the residents terribly. Some of our residents are scared to come outside in fear being accidental hit by a stray bullet. Read this article wriiten by Erin Durkin of the New York Daily News. Mike Tucker of Bedford Stuyvesant lost his Stephonne Crawford in 2005. He wants to share his story with the world now.<br />
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Check this out! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl5md9j77MmystmGjUeM0-wl1FwzYltodMs5SpxMOfQjpgq51sfg__WmDyaz4W-jZO9aN7dLPbh8CO7zNcQ6aGBcn5PRH-BDAIu6-U7_vG4BQaeKyfSiDyctNi-IKENDpepXqQFQbpI8/s1600/alg_mike-tucker-stephonne-crawford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl5md9j77MmystmGjUeM0-wl1FwzYltodMs5SpxMOfQjpgq51sfg__WmDyaz4W-jZO9aN7dLPbh8CO7zNcQ6aGBcn5PRH-BDAIu6-U7_vG4BQaeKyfSiDyctNi-IKENDpepXqQFQbpI8/s320/alg_mike-tucker-stephonne-crawford.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><strong><em>(Courtesy of New York Daily News)</em></strong></div><div align="center"><strong>Mike Tucker holds a photo of his son, Stephonne Crawford, who was shot in 2005</strong></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">Bedford-Stuyvesant dad Mike Tucker's son was fatally shot by police nearly six years ago - and now he's dedicating his life to fighting Brooklyn's plague of gun violence.</div><br />
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Tucker's son, Stephonne Crawford, 21, was accidentally shot in East New York in a 2005 scuffle with cops who were trying to question him about a separate shooting. He was killed instantly when a detective's gun discharged, police said at the time.<br />
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"The gun accidentally went off and shot him in the back of the head," said Tucker, 45, adding that Stephonne, who had a 1-year-old son, had fallen in with the wrong crowd but was trying to turn his life around. "I was really shocked and devastated."<br />
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Tucker has channelled his grief into a passion for stemming gun violence, founding a small nonprofit called Lay the Guns Down.<br />
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He's enlisted local celebrities like New York Giants football players Justin Tuck and Domenik Hixon to film public service radio and TV spots urging young people to give up the guns.<br />
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"I decided enough was enough," Tucker said. "Where I come from in Brooklyn, I got fed up with people being used to gun violence and people being shot dead in the street.<br />
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"We need to treat this [gun violence epidemic] like AIDS," he said. "We need to treat it like cancer."<br />
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Tucker is looking to raise $10,000 to film more ads that will feature everyone from rappers to elected officials, and air them on TV. He's holding a fund-raiser today at the Applebee's Restaurant in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Applebee's will donate 10% of the proceeds from the meals of diners who come in with a Lay the Guns Down flyer to Tucker's nonprofit.<br />
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Tucker is also working with local musicians to put together an album of songs about violence.<br />
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He concedes he's fighting an uphill battle, but draws on his son's memory for inspiration.<br />
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"We know that it's not going to stop overnight," he said. "If I can save one life a year, I'm doing my job. It keeps me going knowing that he's looking down on me and seeing that I'm not letting him be forgotten."Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-72016679213264428892011-05-19T10:56:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:01:31.408-07:00Teachers' Union Sues to Stop School Closings<strong>P.S. 332, Charles H. Houston in our neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn is one of the schools in New York City that is on the verge of being closed down. Check out this article on the New York Times website written by Fernanda Santos. Let's Save Our Schools!!! </strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vE7Hh6RCcBM99zv1MRQJ6fGrU5cA4OJyRaSLKO_1hZMVevjr8cylVlOPf62Q548750PejfJGg1exR8rA1Bkd0iiZh0j_MCtI1LQ1bl674Hd822cYtAGr-_5YlmSAtmCWW1bkRXYvlH8/s1600/18jfkhs-cityroom-articleInline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vE7Hh6RCcBM99zv1MRQJ6fGrU5cA4OJyRaSLKO_1hZMVevjr8cylVlOPf62Q548750PejfJGg1exR8rA1Bkd0iiZh0j_MCtI1LQ1bl674Hd822cYtAGr-_5YlmSAtmCWW1bkRXYvlH8/s320/18jfkhs-cityroom-articleInline.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><strong><em>(Courtesy of George M. Gutierrez for the New York Times)</em></strong></div><div align="center"><span class="caption"><strong><em>John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, one of the schools that a lawsuit filed Wednesday hopes to keep open.</em></strong></span></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="caption">The United Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in an effort to halt two tools the city’s Education Department uses to change the school system: closing schools for poor performance and giving charter schools space in buildings occupied by traditional public schools.</span> </div><br />
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The litigation, filed in State Supreme Court, escalates the tensions in the fraying relationship between the city and the teachers’ union, whose members have worked without a contract for more than a year and now face the likelihood of 4,100 layoffs, which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed as a way to balance the budget.<br />
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It also threatens to upend the coming school year for the thousands of students who have secured a spot in charter schools whose locations are being challenged and in new high schools that are set to replace closing schools.<br />
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The lawsuit challenges the city’s plans to shut 22 schools, including 15 that were part of similar litigation last year by the union and the N.A.A.C.P., also a plaintiff in the current legal action. It also accuses the city of fostering an unequal system, where charter-school students get preferential use of the buildings’ common spaces, like auditoriums, cafeterias and gyms.<br />
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“We cannot continue with policies that allow inequality not only to exist, but to flourish” in the schools, Michael Mulgrew, the president of the teachers’ union, said at a news conference on Wednesday.<br />
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The accusations drew a strong rebuke from Dennis M. Walcott, the schools chancellor, who said the litigation was about “protecting jobs for adults at the expense of what is best for our children” and described it as an effort to “keep failing schools in our midst.”<br />
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“Today, to me, is just a sad day for the New York City schools system,” Mr. Walcott told reporters at his own news conference.<br />
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Closing failing schools is always controversial, but New York’s strategy of placing charters alongside traditional schools in public buildings — partly as an antidote to the cost and scarcity of real estate and partly as a way to fully embrace the notion of school choice — has elicited particular outrage in neighborhood after neighborhood.<br />
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The lawsuit contends that the Education Department has not followed a state law enacted last May that requires it to specify how the schools should share the space, relative to the size of their student bodies. For example, in Canarsie, Brooklyn, the suit says that students at Public School 114 and those at Explore Charter School have had nearly equal time at the building’s gym each day, even though Explore has about one-third of the students that P.S. 114 does. The suit describes a similar situation in a building in the South Bronx: P.S. 30 has nearly twice as many students as Bronx Success Academy, a charter, but the schools get equal time in the gym.<br />
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Regarding school closings, the lawsuit charges that the city ignored an agreement reached based on last year’s litigation to help the schools it was then trying to close by offering them additional staff and services, primarily for special education and immigrant students. Mr. Mulgrew offered some examples, among them the request for more social workers to handle the large number of homeless students at P.S. 332 in Brownsville, Brooklyn.<br />
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At Jamaica High School in Queens, “there were no smart boards, just broken blackboards,” he said, referring to the lack of basic resources that the lawsuit says hampered many of the schools’ efforts to improve.<br />
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The city countered with statistics that describe the schools in the lawsuit as well below average — compared with other schools that have been identified for closing and with schools citywide.<br />
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The elementary and middle schools included in the litigation had a 16 percent proficiency rate in English in the last school year, while the citywide average was 42 percent. Among the high schools, the graduation rate was 49 percent, compared with an average of 63 percent citywide.<br />
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Below are the schools slated for closing that have been named in the lawsuit:<br />
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<strong>* Middle School 571, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>* Bronx Academy High School, Soundview, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Intermediate School 195 Roberto Clemente, Harlem</strong><br />
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<strong>John F. Kennedy High School, Riverdale, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Pacific High School, Downtown Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>Performance Conservatory High School, Morrisania, the Bronx </strong><br />
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<strong>Public School 102, Joseph O. Loretan School for Creative Arts, Parkchester, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Academy for Collaborative Education, Harlem</strong><br />
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<strong>Academy for Environmental Science Secondary High School, East Harlem</strong><br />
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<strong>Beach Channel High School, Beach Channel, Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>Christopher Columbus High School, Pelham Parkway, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Frederick Douglass Academy III (middle school grades), Harlem</strong><br />
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<strong>Global Enterprise High School, Pelham Parkway, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Jamaica High School, Jamaica, Queens</strong><br />
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<strong>Kappa II, East Harlem</strong><br />
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<strong>Metropolitan Corporate Academy, Downtown Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>Monroe Academy for Business and Law, Soundview, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>New Day Academy, Morrisania, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong>Norman Thomas High School, East Side, Manhattan</strong><br />
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<strong>Paul Robeson High School, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>P.S. 332, Charles H. Houston, Brownsville, Brooklyn</strong><br />
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<strong>School for Community Research and Learning, Soundview, the Bronx</strong><br />
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<strong></strong>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-49519266999330144392011-05-18T08:30:00.000-07:002011-06-02T13:38:46.575-07:00Six Miles Wasn't Enough!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QST5csLce2FAqZfX30xMu0pTI15AthBYHJtgV0DCBWRw_6Ov8CJebB2sUxbCuSiwscncer5VAjXEzJisV4scHCTvDKY8ok1bB_S3dm2kVhOcSXi9h5XNBQCnbSHDY16k7ETGjuQnIns/s1600/DSCN6102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QST5csLce2FAqZfX30xMu0pTI15AthBYHJtgV0DCBWRw_6Ov8CJebB2sUxbCuSiwscncer5VAjXEzJisV4scHCTvDKY8ok1bB_S3dm2kVhOcSXi9h5XNBQCnbSHDY16k7ETGjuQnIns/s320/DSCN6102.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<b><span style="color: black;">On Sunday, May 15th, 2011, Brownsville Partnership Staff, Kyle Mushkin, Michelle Strong, Randy Millard, Shawn Brooks and his lovely Mrs. Brooks and lastly Kristen Woods participated in the 26th Annual AIDS Walk in Central Park. </span></b><br />
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<b>The atmosphere was great! Brownsville Partnership Staff completed the Six Mile Walk! Despite the mud, the hard rain and bugs, the tough terrain in Central Park did not slow them down at all! </b><br />
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<b>Check out some of the pictures!</b><br />
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<b>Good Job Guys!</b><br />
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</div>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-32644817804435105362011-04-19T11:29:00.000-07:002011-04-19T11:32:39.044-07:00With correction-officer mom by his side, Bed-Stuy's Jaiquwan Jarrett gets ready for the NFL DraftMo' Better Jaguars Football league in Brownsville are doing some big things if you didn't know! This Football program has put many of kids in College through the game of Football. Read this article about Jaiquwan Jarrett written by Mitch Abramson talking about his transition from Fort Hamilton High School to Temple University to becoming a Professional Football Player in the NFL coming from Bed-Stuy!<br />
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PHILADELPHIA - The big hit took place in South Philadelphia.<br />
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In a game against UConn on Sept. 18, Temple's Jaiquawn Jarrett, a 6-foot, 200-pounder, ran toward the sideline and crashed into Husky running back Jordan Todman, lowering his shoulder and blasting Todman several feet backward. It was the type of collision that leaves both players spinning, but Jarrett, a safety from the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, rose to his feet quickly and nodded his head in approval, fully enjoying the results of his work. Sitting in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field that day was Jarrett's mother, Audrey Young.<br />
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"That's my son!" she likes to belt out to anyone within earshot, in case the No. 5 jersey bearing the words "Jarrett's Mother" on her back doesn't convey the message.<br />
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She has always been there for her son, raising him, along with his three siblings, as a single mother, playing the role of caretaker, breadwinner, cheerleader, and when she had to be, law enforcer, keeping her kids in line. That last attribute - the disciplinarian - may have been the easiest role for her to adapt.<br />
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For the past 21 years, Young has worked as a corrections officer at Rikers Island, guarding an all-male population of murderers, rapists and drug dealers awaiting sentencing. Jeff Legree, Jarrett's stepfather who coached him in youth football, knows for sure where Jarrett gets his toughness and spunk.<br />
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"He gets it from his mother," Legree says, who married Young in 2007, with a chuckle.<br />
Jarrett, who won back-to-back city championships for Fort Hamilton High School from 2005-2007, is poised to become one of the first safeties taken in this month's NFL draft. Depending on who you speak to, Jarrett could be selected anywhere between the third and fifth rounds, possibly by the Jets or Giants, since both teams have worked him out. While there are more well-known players from bigger programs in the draft, it's unlikely they have a resume that matches Jarrett's, or a tough-as-nails mother who raised four children on her own.<br />
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"This is the greatest story for New York area kids because (colleges) don't recruit our football boys," says former Fort Hamilton coach Vinny Laino, who retired after the 2009-2010 season. "You want to talk about a kid who fell through the cracks? That's Jaiquawn."<br />
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Jarrett, who led Temple in tackles his senior season with 74, didn't receive a single Division I scholarship offer as a high school senior until a player flunked off Temple. He won the starting free safety position as a freshman and wound up a two-time first-team All-MAC selection for the Owls. Now, he's on the radar of a number of NFL teams. Jarrett credits his mom for keeping him on the straight and narrow. Brandon Reddish, a Syracuse-bound senior at Fort Hamilton, calls Jarrett an "inspiration" while several high school coaches in the area view him as a role model for other city kids with professional aspirations. Just four players from the five boroughs appeared on 2010 NFL Week 1 rosters, and Jarrett, all the way from the Mo' Better Jaguars youth football league in Brownsville, is ready to join that select company.<br />
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<strong><em>To read the complete article click here: <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2011/04/16/2011-04-16_with_correctionofficer_mom_by_his_side_bedstuys_jaiquawn_jarrett_gets_ready_for_.html">With correction-officer mom by his side, Bed-Stuy's Jaiquwan Jarrett gets ready for the NFL Draft</a></em></strong>Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-70422641119871206462011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:002011-03-24T10:21:56.455-07:00Community Planning Partner Survey #2Our Community Planning Partners, Karrie Scarboro and Randy Millard along with Jacqueline Kennedy have created Community Planning Partner Survey #2. Our Community Planning Partners are in Phase II of their Community Planning Process for the Brownsville Partnership. Phase II entails that our Community Planning Partners will engage the community in a discussion on more specific views. The Brownsville residents will be asked what parks, buildings, streets and commercial areas they like and dislike, and why. <br />
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Here are the questions:<br />
<ol><li>Where are areas in the community that are considered unsafe and undesirable?</li>
<li>Name locations in the community that are very important to the community but are underutilized and poorly maintained.</li>
<li>What do you like/dislike about the local shopping/commercial areas in Brownsville? (i.e. Pitkin Ave, Belmont Ave., Rockaway Ave and Livonia Ave)</li>
<li>What are some intersections and streets that can be enhanced or better guarded for pedestrians and children? And How? (i.e. Speed bumps, bike lanes)</li>
<li>What parks in Brownsville do you think need the most work?</li>
<li>How can we put usage to vacant spaces and abandoned structures in Brownsville?</li>
</ol>You can contact Karrie Scarboro via phone (347) 654-0519 (Cell) or E-mail <a href="mailto:kscarboro@commonground.org">kscarboro@commonground.org</a> or Randy Millard via phone (347) 314-0306 or E-mail <a href="mailto:rmillard@commonground.org">rmillard@commonground.org</a> <br />
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#HOPEISINSIDEBrownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2235742266983523708.post-81373877390648306052011-03-21T11:03:00.000-07:002011-03-21T11:05:48.087-07:00New Book: School Resegregation Is Detrimental To Black Students<strong><em>Another interesting article from BlackNews.com...</em></strong><br />
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<span class="text"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Nationwide (March 14, 2011) -- A new book, <i>Schooling Poor Minority Children: New Segregation in the Post-Brown Era</i>, authored by Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D., chronicles the process of desegregation to a return to post-Brown resegregated schools. The author describes this "new" segregation as a "redesign of pre-Brown segregation" and details the devastating impact upon poor minority students.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text"><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The return to segregated neighborhood schools, most often populated by poor black and brown students, unequally funded, and labeled "low performing" or "failing" should be taken very by seriously by the black community. The "new" segregation that has evolved in the post-Brown era is even more insidious than that of pre-Brown segregation. The deeply rooted problems that plagued pre-Brown segregated schools persist; while a new set of problems inherent in the "new" segregation have emerged. The "new" post-Brown segregation is creating a class of chronically undereducated students who will be left with only underclass options. </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text"><span class="text"></span></span><span class="text"><span class="text">The author examines two crucial school-related factors characteristic of post-Brown segregated, low performing schools serving predominately poor minority populations: first, a school culture that is characterized by low expectations for students and the lack of a collective responsibility for student learning; and secondly, a stigmatizing school climate that focuses on control of students rather than creating rigorous and challenging learning environments. The combination of these factors results in the failure of these students to develop an academic identity, a lack of achievement motivation, the development of low self-expectations, disengagement from the learning process, academic failure, and in far too many instances non-completion. </span></span><br />
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This is a critical period in the future education of black children. As solutions are being proposed to close the achievement gap, none address the destructive effects of resegregation and the stigmatizing environments in which poor black and brown children are forced to learn. It is imperative that black parents and the black community become involved in all discussions about educational reform. The author suggests that the black community must re-commit itself to the education of black children, exercising the same fervor as during the initial stages of desegregation. She recommends that we must engage in yet another crusade, a "fourth crusade" to ensure equal educational opportunities for our children. <br />
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Dr. Bireda has been an educational consultant for twenty years specializing in racial disparity in achievement and discipline. Schooling Poor Minority Children: New Segregation in the Post-Brown Era and a previous book related to racial disparity in discipline, Cultures in Conflict: Eliminating Racial Profiling are available from www.rowmaneducation.com or Amazon.com.Brownsville Partnership Community Organizershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07233236183838380025noreply@blogger.com0