No Solution In Sight For John Bowne/District 25 Fiasco

Forget about any city plans to convert John Bowne High School into an elementary school any time soon. Any plans to beef up police security in and around the school or constrict the schools zoning area in an effort to shrink its student body will now be stuck on the back burner. Following last weeks Cedar Grove Civic Homeowners Association (CGCHA) meeting, a solution to the ongoing violence that plagues the area in and around Flushings John Bowne H.S. seems at best far-fetched.
In fact, all the meeting really showed was how dissatisfied residents and local shop owners are with how police and school officials have failed to provide safety for the community surrounding John Bowne.
CGCHA President Walter Kowsh initially held the meeting to discuss improving relations between District 25 residents and public officials so that these solutions could be discussed.
Kowsh invited Deputy Superintendent of Queens High Schools Jerry Burns as well as two deputy inspectors from the 107 and 109 precincts to view amateur video footage taken by area residents showing Bowne students engaging in vandalism, physical violence and apparent gang activity. The tapes were, in part, a launching pad for promoting the Associations goal of moving John Bowne to the old Flushing Airport or to the Flushing Meadows/Kissena corridor area.
But this issue hardly took off.
Before Burns could address the topic, he was bombarded with angry remarks from heated community representatives who felt he wasnt in tune with what was going on in the district.
"The people of the community are scared to leave their homes," Kowsh said to Burns. "Residents are petrified to go shopping in their own neighborhoods and store owners are so afraid that they wont call the police on kids starting trouble in fear of retaliation."
The crowd demanded that Burns discuss why the city had done nothing to improve John Bownes overcrowding problem. The residents say there arent enough security guards or police officers out on the streets during lunch and dismissal to keep an eye on the over 4,000 students that attend the school. In addition, they told Burns that the school is not big enough to accept any more students, and should disallow students outside of the District to go to Bowne.
"Queens public schools dont accept students by district, they accept students by zone," replied Burns. "Besides, the overcrowding issue at Bowne is the same issue every other school in Queens is dealing with right now."
Residents claim that police are sluggish in reacting to crime in areas around the school, often showing up more than 20 minutes after being called to the scene.
Officer Jim Waters, deputy inspector of the 109 precinct, said there isnt much more he can do to alleviate the neighborhoods concerns, claiming that while kids may make residents nervous, they often arent breaking the law.
"There is no law against loitering, so I cant arrest the kids every time they are just hanging out," said Waters. "We always make sure there are patrol cars and two officers out after each dismissal. If you dont get a proper response, call me personally. That’s the way I do business."
Students representing John Bowne pled to the community to not push for the relocation of the school. Victimized by the kids who give them a bad name, the students say that the majority of teens at John Bowne are peaceful and are there to learn.
"Ninety-nine percent of the kids that go to this school are good kids," said one student. "The bad apples in and around our school give us a bad name, but there are only a few of them and thousands more who are here for the education."