High School Reps Blast ‘Turnaround’ Plan
Faced with a Department of Education (DOE) plan to overhaul their school that could result in the dismissal of their principal and at least half of the faculty, Grover Cleveland High School students and parents came to Community Board 5′s Feb. 8 meeting in Middle Village calling for action to have the proposal stopped.
Last Wednesday’s session at Christ the King Regional High School included votes by the board on street fair applications for the year and a gym scheduled to open later this year at a former warehouse in Glendale. The board also held a public hearing regarding plans for a new fitness center proposed for the former Parthenon movie theater on Wyckoff Avenue on the Brooklyn/Queens border in Ridgewood.
School’s ‘roller coaster ride’
Four members of the Grover Cleveland school community spoke on behalf of a contingent of the Ridgewood school’s representatives about the progress students have made over the past year while blasting the DOE for planning to make numerous administrative changes once the current school year ends.
Lydia Martinez of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association stated that the DOE has led Grover Cleveland on “a roller coaster ride” over the last year. In 2011, the DOE initially announced that it would “phase out” the high school and replace it with several smaller institutions within its Himrod Street campus.
That plan was eventually thwarted after students and parents protested, Martinez noted. The DOE then opted to institute a “restart” model, providing Grover Cleveland with over $2 million in federal funding for academic support services. A new principal, Denise Vittor, was also brought in to replace Dominick Scarola, who stepped down last June for health reasons.
But in January, as previously reported, the “restart” model for Grover Cleveland and several other high schools in the city was abandoned after the DOE and the United Federation of Teachers failed to meet a federal deadline for establishing a teacher evaluation system. As a result, the city lost federal funding for the “restart” program.
Instead, the DOE declared that it would implement a “turnaround” model at Grover Cleveland, which calls for the replacement of the principal and at least 50 percent of the staff, Martinez said. No teachers would be laid off, but those who are removed from Grover Cleveland would be reassigned to other public schools, she noted.
“This is very upsetting,” Martinez told residents. “I wish the DOE would make up their minds and do what’s right for the children. The decision makers should be ashamed of themselves.”
Two members of Grover Cleveland’s student government, Gelline Canayon and Diana Rodriguez, touted the academic progress their fellow classmates have made in recent years. Canayon noted that Grover Cleveland students took home four medals during the city’s recent Science Olympiad, which the Ridgewood school hosted.
Additionally, the school was selected to take part in a mobile application development program supported by the high-tech firm Lenovo.
Rodriguez stated that the school’s graduation rate has increased three years in a row. She also noted that the institution has even greater potential under the leadership of Vittor, whom she claimed helped turn around the previously-struggling Queens Vocational High School.
Michael Irizarry, teacher and basketball coach at Grover Cleveland, added that the students have also worked to take on a positive role in the community, volunteering in graffiti cleanups and serving meals at senior citizen centers during the holidays. Additionally, the students have organized holiday festivals for local children.
“The kids that go here are great kids,” he said.
Street fair applications
Over the objections of some board members from Ridgewood, the advisory body recommended approval of the four-day Fresh Pond Road street festival in Ridgewood this September.
Along with a host of other proposed street fairs in their district, Board 5 gave their nod to the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens for the event which is scheduled to take place over four consecutive nights from Thursday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 9 on Fresh Pond Road between Woodbine and Menahan streets.
According to information provided by Board 5, the application calls for the five-block stretch of Fresh Pond Road to be closed on Sept. 6 from 5:30 to 10 p.m., Sept. 7 from 5:30 p.m. to midnight, Sept. 8 from 5 p.m. to midnight and Sept. 9 from 2 to 10 p.m.
Board members and Ridgewood residents Paul Kerzner and Peter Comber stated that the presence of the street festival on Fresh Pond Road is an “inconvenience” to hundreds of residents living in the area, as it results in traffic jams on other roadways and the loss of parking spaces. They called for the festival to be shortened from four to two days, or relocated to another thoroughfare altogether.
“The disruption … is detrimental to the area and the reputation of the wonderful organization that’s running this,” Comber said.
“It’s not about the festival. It’s about the total convenience” to the estimated 20,000 people living in the area, Kerzner said. “There are no other festivals that are four days long. If that were the case here-a one-day festival on a Sunday-I would not be standing here speaking against it.”
Board member Lucy Dolce, speaking on behalf of the festival’s sponsor, noted that a number of changes have been made over the years to reduce traffic congestion and other issues related to the fair’s operation.
“We meet months before the festival with the community board and the Police Department to see what the problems are, and we have solved them, in my opinion,” she said. “The rides have been scaled down. Many of them have been taken away. Nothing protrudes into the streets.”
Dolce added that the vendors have been careful to make their spots clean once the festival has concluded each evening. In the end, the board agreed to let the festival continue as proposed, with only nine members voting against it.
The other street fair applications which were recommended for approval by the board were the following:
– the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation’s Myrtle Avenue Festival on Sunday, Apr. 15, from noon until 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Wyckoff Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Kiwanis Club of Glendale’s Metropolitan Avenue Festival on Sunday, May 6, from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. along Metropolitan Avenue between 73rd Place and 79th Street in Middle Village (the street will be closed from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Grand Avenue Festival sponsored by the Maspeth Chamber of Commerce, the Maspeth Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club of Maspeth, scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 10, from noon to 6 p.m. along Grand Avenue between 65th and 72nd streets in Maspeth (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Kiwanis Club of Glendale’s Myrtle Avenue Festival on Sunday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Forest Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District’s Myrtle Avenue Festival on Sunday, Sept. 16, from noon until 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Wyckoff Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.); and
– the Maspeth Street Fair sponsored by the Maspeth Lions Club and the Boy Scouts of America on Sunday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. along Grand Avenue between 69th and 72nd streets in Maspeth (the street will be closed from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.).
Flexing more muscle
The attorney representing the owner of the former Parthenon moviehouse in Ridgewood detailed plans for the opening of a Planet Fitness gym at the site during a public hearing regarding a Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) application allowing for the operation of the “physical culture establishment.”
Josh Brian Smith of the Sheldon Lobell law firm explained that the Planet Fitness would be developed over two floors of the former theater at 329 Wyckoff Ave. near Palmetto Street.
A small reception area would be established on the first floor, and the full gymnasium and locker rooms would be built on the second floor.
Planet Fitness plans to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to serve “those who work off-hour shifts,” Smith said. Though no offstreet parking spots will be provided, he noted that the gym expects most of its customers will come via mass transit or on foot.
Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri suggested that the lack of parking for the gym-and available spots on side streets-would pose a problem. Board member Ted Renz also suggested that the proprietors approach an adjacent supermarket about sharing the use of its parking lot; Smith stated that “it’s something that we can explore.”
The board’s Land Use Committee will examine the application further at its next meeting and present a recommendation on the plan for the full board to vote on at their March session.
In a related note, Board 5 overwhelmingly approved a BSA application allowing for the operation of a RetroFitness gym at the former Nabisco warehouse at 64-45 Otto Rd. in Glendale. The approval came with the condition that the owners repair the broken sidewalk in front of the site and add green space where available.
Lakeshia Harris of the nearby Ridgewood YMCA expressed concerns about the Glendale gym’s opening during the public forum. “A lot of the community rallied to keep the Y open” and bring a much-needed renovation to the site, she said. “We’re concerned about the impact RetroFitness will have on our facility.”
The new budget
There were no speakers from the audience during a public hearing regarding the proposed capital and expense budget for the city’s 2013 fiscal year, which begins on July 1. District Manager Gary Giordano noted that the community board would request funding for renovations to the Glendale public library.
“Right now, the Glendale library is not handicapped accessible,” he said, noting that Board 5’s office had to provide such access when it renewed its lease at their Glendale location years before.
“Unlike the community board, you have to go to the library to get services,” Giordano added, pointing out that the branch is the only library in Board 5’s confines that does not have a ramp or a lift for wheelchairbound persons. “Queens Library wants $4 million for overall renovations. If that can’t be secured, the least they can do is make [the library] handicapped accessible.”
The board is also requesting additional funds to bring additional officers to the 104th Precinct and maintain Fire Department units serving the area, the district manager stated.
Other news
The owner of a photography studio in Middle Village claimed that he is being harassed by neighbors on a consistent basis and called on the community board for help. Eric Hairabedian stated that individuals near his 79th Street studio are loitering, fixing cars on the street and have verbally and physically assaulted him when he asked them to stop.
“They’re harassing me to the point where I have to call the cops every day,” he claimed. “It’s affecting my business and it’s affecting the whole neighborhood.” Arcuri stated that the board would investigate the situation.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo noted that he is supporting a bill to institute a new moratorium on issuing hydraulic fracturing permits for upstate areas. If approved, the moratorium would be in effect until the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) complete their reviews of the controversial drilling method.
“The fact that he (Gov. Andrew Cuomo) has not issued a permit yet is a good thing,” Addabbo said.
Demolition notice
Arcuri announced that the board had received only one demolition notice over the last month for the deconstruction of a garage located at 57-40 Mazeau St. According to neighbors, the structure had been illegally erected as a house.
Board members were advised to monitor construction at the site and to report questionable activities.
Liquor licenses
The chairperson also announced that the board received the following liquor license applications:
– New liquor licenses for Nuestra Banana Restaurant, d.b.a. Nuestra Banana Restaurant, 64-02 Myrtle Ave., Glendale and New York Burger Diner Corp., d.b.a. Celebration Café, 65-35 Grand Ave., Maspeth.
– Liquor License renewals for Spolem LLC, 66-30 Fresh Pond Rd., Ridgewood; Guaman Brothers Inc., 1817 Putnam Ave., Ridgewood; Rogner LLC, 63-59 Forest Ave., Ridgewood; and Beer LLC, d.b.a. The Avenue Bar and Grill, 71-22 Myrtle Ave., Glendale.
– A wine and/or beer license renewal for Susan’s Deli Grocery Corp., 501 Onderdonk Ave., Ridgewood.
It was noted that a new liquor license and a liquor license renewal are being sought for the same Glendale location-The Shamrock at 88-09 82nd Ave.-to cover the transfer of ownership from Rico Dico Inc. to Arora Sport & Entertainment Corp.
Those who wish to comment on any of the above applications may do so by calling Board 5 at the number listed at the end of this article.
The next Community Board 5 meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday night, Mar. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Christ the King Regional High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave. in Middle Village. For more information, call the board’s Glendale office at 1-718-366-1834.
