View From The Middle
2007 - Not That Bad, All Things Considered
By Charles Rogers

The community had its share of good, bad, mediocre and, well, excellent happenings in 2007 - all covered by your friendly, soon-to-be 87 year old newspaper, the Canarsie Courier.

Community involvement was an important part of our lives, with many new members joining local civic associations and airing their likes and dislikes, along with - naturally - outcries of impatience with our elected officials on everything from rezoning to police patrols.

It was, generally, a good year, however, with the taste of excellence coming in the form of our own 69th Precinct's crime statistics proclaiming it, by year-end, the second best in the whole city in crime decreases. That's in the city! All 76 precincts and all five boroughs (see story on page 3)! The precinct that took first place is located in Manhattan's upper east side (does that mean we have to rub elbows with the upper class now?).

Citing a plethora of memories, thoughts range from generalities on crime, politics and social amenities, stopping first in mid-January when "L" line subway riders were greeted one morning at the Rockaway Parkway station with a big, lighted sign that said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the next Rockaway Parkway-Eighth Avenue train will depart in five minutes…" The sign was the Grand Premier of eventual improvements to the station - and the line - scheduled throughout the year. We'll talk more about that later.

Residents of Starrett City - formally known as Spring Creek Towers - awoke in February to find that Clipper Equity, an investment group, had finished arrangements to buy the complex, with its 6,000 units, for about $1.38 billion. This could only mean that their rents would go up and they'd be forced out, as Clipper would turn the place into a bunch of "ritzy condominiums and high-priced rentals," according to Senator Charles Schumer, who adamantly opposed the sale. Other politicians, from Mayor Bloomberg to Governor Spitzer raised all kinds of the devil, saying they'd do all they could to make sure monthly rentals and charges would be "affordable." There were town hall meetings and open meetings and clandestine get-togethers, but in the long run, the involvement of federal housing officials determined later in the year that Clipper Equities, with too many violations in too many instances in the past, left too many questions as to their being responsible landlords and, unbelievably, the sale was cancelled. Whew!

We found that it was not too surprising the following month to be able (and happy) to run the headline, "CRIME HERE AT ALL TIME LOW." Captain Ralph Monteforte, commanding officer of the 69th Precinct, expressed pride in the men and women under his command. Even then, the reduction was the lowest here since records had been kept. Remember, this was just a precursor to our latest statistics.

Shortly after that announcement, residents of Seaview Village and other sections in the southern-central neighborhoods of our community were alarmed to see the big sign on the Waldbaum's supermarket in the Parkway Plaza Shopping Center at Avenue M and Rockaway Parkway saying it was closing at the end of March. The huge store had been a staple at that location for years, but the parent corporation, A & P, decided not to renew the store's lease. A spokesperson said there were ongoing negotiations with other supermarkets to take over the operation, but no movement has been seen in the area since then. It was later in the year - September - when the Rite-Aid Pharmacy, another large anchor in the same shopping center, took its mortar and pestle and departed, closing its doors forever. Consumers were directed to another store two blocks away, meanwhile leaving the "Waldbaum's Shopping Center" a veritable ghost town with just a handful of individual stores there. The former pharmacy has been closed all this time - just like Waldbaum's - making the corner look emptier and bleaker and giving more credence to the "ghost town" reference.

As the year progressed, Common Ground, a not-for-profit housing group, offered a proposal to build on a parcel of vacant land on Farragut Road near East 105th Street, a block from the East 105th Street BMT station. The organization, which had made the offer three years ago and then withdrew it, said they had partnered with the Christian Cultural Center to purchase the land and develop "affordable to moderate-income housing" there. However, misinformed local opponents believed it would be turned into a homeless shelter. They're still arguing.

Civic groups in the community, meanwhile, throughout the year made a crusade of their opposition to new homes going up on what seems to be

every block. Complainers say the developers are ruining the quaint look of Canarsie and destroying "traditional" housing that lends to our individuality. City Councilman Lew Fidler, at their urging, is pushing for rezoning in the area and is awaiting official word.

It was just before the school summer vacation when teachers and students at Canarsie High School formed a picket line on Rockaway Parkway to protest the removal of their principal, David Harris, who had served in that post for two-and-a-half years. While students and teachers strongly supported Harris, Department of Education (DOE) officials said the school had "ongoing problems," including security and attendance and no specific changes since it had been made an SURR (School Under Registration Review). In September, Tyona Washington took over the reins as principal. But apparently, nothing helped, however, since, by November, the school received an "F" rating in citywide progress reports and in December the DOE announced it would be closing. While the current students would complete their courses, it would eventually operate as a location for several smaller schools, not unlike the plan South Shore High School embarked on exactly a year ago when it too was phased out.

Unfortunately, the changing of both of Canarsie's major high schools because of their academic status doesn't say much for the community, especially when, at one time, it was on the top of the heap.

Canarsie Pier became a bone of contention during the summer months, as Gateway National Recreation Area officials erected a metal gate across the entrance to prevent cars from coming there at night "and leaving bottles and trash behind," they said. Opposition to the ill-thought-out proposal was voiced by many civic associations and individual residents, especially when they found pedestrians would be allowed to go onto the pier and walk around and fish. They finally decided that vehicles wouldn't make any difference after all and the gates now remain open, with cars going in and out 24/7. Park Rangers are seeing that the litter is cleaned up every morning. Duh!

In the middle of the summer, the borough was hit by a series of storms, one of which became a tornado bouncing around and finally lighting in Bay Ridge, destroying a few homes and generally wreaking havoc there. We caught the tail-end of it, with a few trees and utility lines knocked down here and in Mill Basin, but no big deal damage. Speaking of Mill Basin, their aptly-named drawbridge on the Belt Parkway over the Jamaica Bay inlet was found to be "structurally deficient with substandard design features" by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which inspected it after the bridge collapse in Minnesota (they inspected everything after that disaster). It's safe enough for now, but construction, including replacement of concrete on the overpass, is schedule to start in 2010.

Subway riders who take the "L" line finally got some citywide relief and recognition - plus the chance to vent their anger - when they received blank "report cards" that would tell city transit officials what they thought about the line. They handed the reports to representatives who handed them to some higher-ups in the MTA in the hope that something positive would culminate. Most people believed the effort was just a lot of lip service by the MTA and were surprised to actually see the report issued in the Canarsie Courier and on pamphlets a few weeks later. One of the resolutions in the case determines that there is (already) an "L Line Manager" overseeing things - even as we speak. Now that's progress..

Members of the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force were called in October to coordinate with local detectives and officers when an envelope containing a crudely-formed noose made of cotton, along with a two-page, racially charged letter, was sent to Canarsie High School Principal Tyona Washington. The issue was taken very seriously by law enforcement authorities in light of a series of incidents around the country where nooses, especially, had been utilized as items of bias, defamation and fear, So far, the culprit or culprits who sent the noose have not been caught and Principal Washington said she is determined to not let the incident distract her or her staff from their work.

Just about the same time the noose incident hit the community, we got word from a local civic association informing us about an article in the August issue of Reader's Digest citing a supposed "superbug" that apparently had, at that time, stricken nearly 100,000 people with a life-threatening infection and had killed more than 18,000. Parents at I.S. 211 were informed that, just a few weeks before the announcement about the drug-resistant "superbug," called Staphylococuss Aureus, a student at the Canarsie school, 12-year-old Omar Rivera, had died of the disease. Fortunately, rationale presided and there was no panic; just a series of meetings by local officials telling residents to, for starters, WASH YOUR HANDS! There have been no further reports of the bug since that time in the local area.

The problems of home foreclosures and predatory lending in the community came to light in 2007, mostly because of people who were taking advantage of the boom in the availability of homes within the past three or four years - and people who were taking advantage of them. It worked out that the buyers had been talked into accepting loans and mortgages, with non-fixed rates, by lenders who told them there was "nothing to worry about - the market is so good that it's practically a fixed loan!" Wrong! All of a sudden the bottom fell out of that wonderful market and the lenders had to raise the rates, with the homeowners finding out they'd gone into the deal way over their heads. Thus, since they couldn't keep up the payments (doubled, or more, in some cases), along came the foreclosure wolf at the door. City, state, and federal officials are still trying to work things out to protect the poor homeowner.

As the year comes to an end, we find our community seemingly a little bit better than when we started 2007. The holidays saw community residents becoming slightly more involved in general activities, but we're still grateful to all those who have kept the home fires burning in existing civic groups, etc. With the closing - or the change - of Canarsie High School, we'll be starting the new year with a negative, and it's up to us to us, together, to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and start propelling ourselves forward. We've certainly gotten off to a good start from a crime standpoint. There's no reason why we can't do the same in a societal setting as well.

Happy New Year!