It’s Electrifying How Difficult The City Makes Our Lives!

E-Cycle OR ELSE!

On your way to one of those high-end electronics shops? 

Better remember to bring that hunk of junk printer, computer or other decades-old electronic with you so you can recycle it! Remember the good old days when you could get rid of anything in your home by simply placing it curbside so the Sanitation Department (DOS) could pick it up? Thanks to environmentally friendly politicians, there’s a fine – I mean reason for properly disposing of something that’s broken or no longer needed.

Even though I’ve already read all the press releases on the new electronic recycling program, I can’t get over how many items are being added to the list of things we can’t simply dispose of outside our homes without facing an egregious penalty.

It’s a great idea to have to recycle your electronics. Got a bulky tower from an old computer or a sound system that doesn’t sound so great? Just your luck – you’re going to have to lug that dust collector to a city recycling site or your neighborhood Staples or Best Buy. But what if you’re not prone to shopping at an electronic store…and what if you can’t get to one of the city’s participating sites? What if you don’t have a car in which to load your clunky television from 2000 and haul a mile away from your home?

The city doesn’t care!

Going green is something the city’s been striving to do for years now. They’re even going to ban Styrofoam containers because they’re not “environmentally friendly.” They’ve also mandated that people in certain communities recycle food waste in special brown receptacles to be used for compost. How divine!!!

If you haven’t figured it out by now, our community already battles – to no avail – those illegal dumpers who like to leave their household refuse in grassy lots. There are people who can’t even wait until regular bulk trash pick up days on their block. They haul bags of electronics, furniture and food cartons to any vacant spot they want! In my opinion, the city, in its effort to “greenerize” things, doesn’t realize it could possibly provoke MORE people to dump their bulk trash in unsightly places.

Making someone bring their old crap to an electronic superstore is not making it easier (what if an elderly person has an old television set and they can’t travel all the way to a store – nevermind carrying something out of their car)! Let’s get real – the DOS can easily set aside one or two days, maybe twice a month, when they schedule trucks to pick up e-waste at residential properties. This way, no one has to leave their home or let garbage pile up inside.

As much as the city is trying to do something positive, we’re already feeling the wrath of those litterbugs who don’t want to be bothered making special disposal trips. To add insult to injury, they’re eventually going to charge up to a $100 fine for illegally dumping electronic waste in front of your own property. I contend that it has nothing to do with “going green” and it’s all about trying to generate revenue! The city and state are known for draining residents’ pockets by instituting ridiculous laws that will result in a fine.

FINE!

I guess there’s going to be a lot more hoarders or A LOT more illegal dumping unless the city comes up with a more convenient and practical way to get rid of electronics.  Eventually you’ll either go “green” or e-crazy!

Unpublished as of 1/30/15

Way To Waste Our Federal Dollars Cuomo! Get Out Your Raincoat!

The way I see it, winter doesn’t actually kick off until there are several days in a row where we have to deal with snow storms and temperatures that fall well below 40 degrees. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been braving what I’d consider a normal amount of snow and frigid air that one would expect to accompany the winter months.

Big deal – Mayor de Blasio and the National Weather Service didn’t get it right on January 26th when the city got less than a foot of snow when “they” predicted we’d be paralyzed and buried up to our thighs! While communities outside the tri-state area were pummeled, the blizzard that was supposed to immobilize us – so badly that they shut the city down – reportedly missed us by 50 miles. BIG DEAL! New York has dealt with tornadoes, wind storms, tropical storms and flooding for centuries and we’re only NOW pointing fingers at who’s to blame for an inaccurate meteorological reading?

So, do we need a better measurement of where a storm, of any proportion, is heading so officials don’t freak people out for “no reason”? Watching Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press conference on the potential development of a more high-tech, state-run weather detection system looked like some type of joke. Instead of using systems like the European Model and the North American Model to track storms, Cuomo plans on turning to a more accurate system since the one implemented now, “doesn’t provide real-time or localized information, nor does it collect certain environmental data that can make it easier to predict storms,” he said. Then what’s the point of broadcasting ANY weather forecast if they’re all considered flimsy bullshit predictions? And what will a more detailed prediction DO? It's not going to stop the storm and the destruction it could potentially cause.

The worst part of this development and its inception is that the Governor wants to use federal Hurricane Sandy relief funds to pay for this high tech system! I thought relief funds were supposed to be allocated for rebuilding...to make our state structurally stronger, resilient and protect against future devastation. With this new weather gadget costing about $25 million, where are the priorities and when will the money be released to get those “small” resiliency projects started?

Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Gerritsen Beach, and other neighborhoods that need federal funds to rebuild, have spent months and years discussing ways on how they can make waterfront communities stronger and protect homes from destructive flooding. When New York Rising came to our community, we had to form a rebuilding committee, map out feasible resiliency plans and propose concrete ways to safeguard residents and their properties during a storm.

How long has Gov. Cuomo been sitting on this fabulous meteorological proposal? You mean to tell me that no other government official – in our state’s history – has complained about an “inaccurate” forecast or thought about bringing a new-aged system to our vulnerable state? I guess, up until now, we’ve been relying on a “flimsy” weather antenna to tell us when we should evacuate our homes or expect flooding during high tide?

Does Cuomo want to blame his decision to call a state of emergency – when there was no real emergency – on someone (or something) else? Oh yeah! If we had our own doppler-thingy or hygrometers, we wouldn’t have had to tell the MTA to stop all of their trains because we’d be experts with our own atmospheric equipment!

What worries me is how and when the state will allocate money for this new system when thousands of waterfront communities still need funds to make their shorelines more stable after Hurricane Sandy. How can you estimate how much money you’re putting towards a huge project for the future when you haven’t even started working on community-based needs projects NOW? There are hurricane-related construction contracts waiting to be drawn, approved and funded. After all of that takes place, maybe we can start worrying about this thing called the weather, which humans will never be able to predict 100 percent of the time.

Thanks Gov. Cuomo, for blaming a massive city shut-down on a weather system you’re going to waste millions on to improve. I can’t wait to see all the cool equipment he picks out to protect us – maybe there’s a raincoat in there somewhere! Either way, Hurricane Sandy victims who need that money to rebuild will feel the wrath of Cuomo raining on their parade.

Unpublished as of 1-29-15

When Being A “Quiet” Community Is NOT A Good Thing

Spearheading a community protest takes a lot of time, participation and coordination among residents and leaders. When 15-year-old Isiah Joseph was shot in January, City Councilman Jumaane Williams held a press conference on community violence and how “we can't tolerate these heinous, ruthless acts.” Many times, after a youngster is shot, community leaders, politicians and residents take to the streets in an outrage at the tragedy. The victim's parents plead for justice and their anger is clear to the media, which smears “Violence Mars Community” in nearly every headline.

I've written up so many shooting incidents over the years and I've kept track of all the ones that provoked protests, anti-violence rallies and calls for peace in the community. I gave it the benefit of the doubt – thinking maybe Canarsie was just falling behind in how we react to violence. Maybe the more shootings we had, the more we'd be prone to come out and express how angry we are that our “quaint” neighborhood isn't what it used to be.

Whenever I get a call from an old Canarsien who says, “Things are getting worse here...” I wonder – what is anyone doing about it to make it better or bring awareness to how our community has changed? There's no question that protests and anti-violence initiatives don't actually prevent a shooting or stabbing – or even a fatal car accident caused by  speeding or a drunk driver. However, I haven't seen massive protests or press conferences hosted in Canarsie following a shooting/stabbing – no matter if it was a young person or an adult who was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The 69th Precinct Clergy Council hosts vigils at various locations where crime is high and where shootings take place. But how many people have come out to support this cause? Where are all the outraged parents holding signs and getting in front of a news camera, concerned about their child’s safety?

Once a year, precincts host National Night Out Against Crime – an event that's held across the country in an effort to “take back the streets.” What about the rest of the year? Residents in Brownsville, East New York and East Flatbush march in droves when an act of violence takes place. The only thing that appears in the news when a murder or shooting takes place in Canarsie are police lines on the street and photos of the victims – but I haven't seen groups of residents or civic leaders on the block chanting that the violence “has to come to an end.” Just because having your voice heard doesn’t necessarily result in any immediate solution – does that mean you shouldn’t speak up at all?

I'm also taken back that, with each person killed in our community, no one comes out to remember the victims. Were they all “bad” people who didn't live here, so – we figure – why should we advocate for their memory? If Isiah Joseph's parents could come out to a press conference and cry for the capture of her son's murderers, where are the parents of Canarsie youths who are shot? Maybe too many people are private and don't want to cause a stir? How about all of the unsolved murders in Canarsie? NYPD officials aren't holding press conferences in our community to prod the public for information. Maybe they don't want the public's help or support solving a years-old crime?

When they say, “Canarsie is a small and quiet community,” I truly believe and agree with those sentiments. But I think we're TOO quiet when something takes place on our block or avenue and there's no sense of public outrage.

Keep track of all the public involvement that makes the news in other communities when a violent act occurs. Perhaps some day we can learn something from those communities and become the neighborhood that makes a lot of noise in the face of travesty.

Unpublished as of 1/29/15

It’s Never The Right Time To Be “Sexy” In A Community

With all the attention “50 Shades of Grey” is getting, it’s no wonder adult novelty shops have been drumming up more business over the past couple of years. Even if you’re a guy who has no interest in the erotic trilogy – or the recent release of the long-anticipated movie trailer – you’ll definitely be interested in knowing that a sex shop exists right in your community!

When news broke that a sex shop opened on Flatbush Avenue - 'Sexy Wonders Adult Boutique' - I didn’t know which position to take. I don’t agree with having a raunchy adult shop setting up on a busy commercial strip, but where are these businesses going to operate where no one will object or start a war?

 
The shop on Flatbush Avenue isn’t exactly secretive - with pink walls all over that show from the outside - and a display window with TONS of novelty items. If the owner wanted to sell some sexy items in the back of the store and attract those erotica-driven customers, they could have simply kept the name consistent with the other items they sell, which include tobacco pipes, grinders and scales, hookahs and vaporizers. WOW! What a winning combination for a romantic evening!

I understand they’re trying to get one hell of a party going, but this store is located near a public library and within a mile radius of at least three public schools. Do you want your child walking past a sex shop – seeing items used in “50 Shades of Grey” – and asking how they’re used? If you didn’t think you’d have to have a talk with your kids about the birds and the bees just yet, they might be provoked to ask quite a few things after passing the enticing store.

A somewhat safe alternative would have been to sell community-friendly items at the front of the store and NOT give it a name that would connote sexual merchandise. Making a section in the back of the store, simply designated “For Adults Only,” might suffice.

We know there are residents who want to have a sexy time – and thanks to the internet, people don’t have to step foot inside of a store to buy dirty goodies – whether it’s for a bachelor/bachelorette party or to spice things up (again, thanks to “50 Shades,” which reportedly helped the adult novelty business take off).

Let’s get real! Where in Brooklyn will residents find it acceptable to establish a sex shop? And where do all the mega-sexy people go? Conservatives and liberals will probably agree that sexual freedom has no place in any small community – since there’s really no viable, sensible and acceptable place for an adult novelty shop to operate.

Everywhere you go, residential properties are popping up and more families are moving into Brooklyn. Neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Red Hook are growing, with community leaders and developers trying to attract families and reputable businesses. Is there room – anywhere – for a racy shop that caters to the needs of adults who aren’t shy enough to buy fuzzy handcuffs and latex…anything?  For residents who don’t want to travel outside the community for novelty items, crazy costumes and perverted party goods – where are their rights to shop?

You don’t have to be a prude to object to a business that’s in the worst possible location – too close to the legal zoning limits set forth by the city. Proprietors have been known to set up x-rated shops in places where they’re outside of the legal zoning – so what locations in our community are within legal limits?

According to reports, a law passed in 1995 banned sex shops within 500 feet of schools, residences, day-care centers, churches and other houses of worship. A New York Times article from 1998, during former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration, stated that “law violated the owners' constitutional rights to free speech because it would force them to relocate outside of Manhattan or to sites that are uninhabitable, perhaps driving them out of business entirely.”

These days, where can you set up any business in the city where you’re not within 500 feet of a school, daycare center, church, residence etc. We have more churches, schools and daycare centers than we’ve ever had before. 

Getting your freak on back in the days meant you could open an x-rated store in a somewhat empty industrial area far away from “innocent and immaculate” institutions (if you can call them ‘innocent’ – these days it seems there are more x-rated things being spoken about in our schools than in some swanky sex shop!).

Nothing is going to satisfy residents, business owners, politicians or those effervescent romantics who want to feed their fetishes. Giving adult shop entrepreneurs a list of locations they can legally and inoffensively set up shop is something to consider – depending on how much rent they can afford and how far they’re willing to travel to open up their store.  Getting anal about an inappropriate business will never be a thing of the past, but we’re sure hoping disrespectful business owners will be a thing of the past!

**As of summer 2016, business went limp and the sex shop closed indefinitely...

We’re NOT A Dying Breed – No Matter What ‘They’ Say!

Print newspapers have many downfalls, which is probably why readers will say paper publications will disappear in coming decades.  If you buy a newspaper in the morning, on your way to work, whatever you read about is most likely “old” by the time your day is over.

But, if you acknowledge the fact that France’s satirical publication Charlie Hebdo sold over five million copies of their controversial newspaper, you’ll understand why print will never die! Anyone can go online and see why Charlie Hebdo’s deadly issue – showing a cartoon of the prophet Muhammed – sold out on many Paris newsstands. The Daily News showed people waiting in line for the paper and other outlets show readers who bought multiple issues  - possibly to save a few copies as historical memorabilia.

There are so many reasons why communities – especially ones like Canarsie – need newspapers. Whether it’s due to the exclusive stories we publish that you won’t find anywhere else, or the fact that you’ve been a subscriber for years, there are lots of basic benefits of buying a print paper!

Clippings Are Historical: If you’re reading the Canarsie Courier and catch a photo of yourself, a friend or family member who accomplished something or received an award, it might be a photo and story you’ll want to keep. Those who enjoy nostalgia will save the page or preserve the entire paper to remember the milestone – or to simply show someone else years down the road. Ever notice how tacky it is to print out a story from a news web site on 8 1/2 x 11 paper from your printer and try to preserve that? Half of the time, you have to hope the web site has a “printable version” that does the story justice and that the photos and captions aren’t in strange locations. Let’s face it! The printouts you get from online are nothing like the newspapers’ hard copy.

Do Away With Passwords: So…You sign on to a publication’s website to which you’ve subscribed. Sign on? When you buy a newspaper in the store, you don’t have to log in, ‘forget your password’ or, hell, remember a password! Getting a hard copy of a paper or magazine, unless it’s days and weeks old, ensures you’ve got the news in front of you to read without typing something in a box or jotting down usernames and passwords – and you won’t get any of those “server is down” messages while you’re opening each page of a publication.

Commercials Are For Television: Most people who watch news clips on social media are forced to open a link that shows you a commercial before you even get to the main story. It’s getting more and more tedious to follow a story online when you have to “wait 30 seconds for your story to load” while you’re forced to not look at detergent or car insurance commercials. Buying a newspaper or magazine means YOU choose when you see advertisements – whether it’s waaay after reading the main stories or…not at all!

A Sign Of The Times: I’m sure there are parents and grandparents who want to pull up artifacts from the “old days” – including periodicals from when they grew up. Try saving (in a physical location) a link to a story that’s over a decade old! In most instances, unless it’s a well-archived online paper, the link will probably change or relocate if the web site has updated their look or undergone renovations to look more modern. Believe me – there’s nothing like thumbing through an actual paper that shows a sign of times, including old advertisements, fonts that no one uses anymore and typesetting that demonstrates some form of creative flowing text.

Young whippersnappers might turn to their iThings for “news” and we might see a slow-down in the appreciation of print media, but there’s no denying that holding a paper in your hand – specifically when it comes to a special edition of a publication that you want to cherish for years to come –never goes out of style!

Unpublished as of January 14, 2014

A Life Lost: When Spending Millions On Surveillance Isn't Enough

On December 30th, an elevator shooting that was caught on camera was released to the public. A clear image of a hooded thug aiming his weapon at someone in a Gates Avenue building elevator – shooting the guy in the stomach – will hopefully result in an arrest.

If I had the resources, the time – and maybe an intern – I would investigate how many criminals were arrested based on surveillance findings last year and how many unsolved cases still exist despite footage capturing someone in the act.

A young man, shown on camera walking through the Bayview Houses in Canarsie in March 2014, was apprehended for robbery shortly after his image was released to the public. Whether the arrest was a result of the new technology installed at the housing development or thanks to quick-acting residents who recognized the thug in time, it’s not worth much when you realize that cameras won’t literally prevent crime from occurring.

Yes, criminals might be deterred from committing an act if they know they’re on camera, but they could easily conceal their identity and get away with murder, should they feel the need to commit one. Unless there’s a security guard behind the scenes, watching the live video feed who will act promptly before the suspect flees scene, too many tragedies will occurr with only a video camera in place.

In my opinion, it won’t be enough to spend millions upon million of dollars on installing cameras in city buildings, as per Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement last year. Let’s get real! When the media publishes the headline and story: “shooter/stabber/robber caught on camera,” the horrific act has already been committed. A life has already been lost, changed or impacted…A wallet or phone has already been stolen and an attack has already traumatized the victim.

Most criminals aren’t banking on getting arrested – or most of them wouldn’t be committing the crime in the first place (unless we’re under the assumption that all criminals are somehow mentally unfit, which results in them making irrational decisions)! We’ve seen plenty of camera footage where gunmen opened fire in the middle of the street outside of a club or house party. It’s great that we have images of the reckless punks, but in many unfortunate cases, police were unable to respond fast enough to catch up with the suspects – who already left multiple people with wounds that perhaps scarred them for life.

It’s satisfying knowing that justice will be served and that a criminal will do time as a result of being positively identified via technology. But for scum-of-the-earth nutcases like Daniel St. Hubert, who brutally stabbed two innocent children in an elevator in the Linden Boulevard Houses in 2014, justice can’t come soon enough even though he was arrested within a few days of the stabbings. 

We’re still waiting for him to be officially sentenced and serve his time in prison. As of this week, there’s no word on when St. Hubert will serve his 25 to life sentence. So would it have mattered if a camera were installed in those buildings? Even if he knew he was on camera, I don’t think he was in a sensible, normal frame of mind to realize what he was doing was in the first place. A normal person takes a knife to two defenseless children?

We need more human presence than we need machines and technology to simply observe a crime going down. Let’s see if the billions of dollars spent on installing cameras will spare the lives of thousands of victims waiting to be shot, stabbed, robbed and attacked.

When crime decreases in buildings that already have cameras, we might have a chance to capture the moment – and the crook – before it’s too late.

Phone In A Safer Environment For Our City’s Students

Everyone says today’s world is “different than it used to be” for children. What does that mean? Are there more kidnappings? More youth involved shootings? More crime? Yes, the increase is true – but which decade are we comparing today’s level of “safety” to? The 1980s when crime in New York was at its highest?

Some say our schools are more dangerous now than they ever were in the past – and that parents need to know what’s going on at all times. I’m not sure what has specifically changed or when, exactly, we began to fear sending our children to school without a communication device. The ability to provide children with a cell phone, in the event of an emergency, has become a frame of mind that no one thought about before the 1990s.

Students didn’t start carrying cell phones to school until recent years. Almost out of nowhere, parents felt there was a need to keep in touch with their children and keep tabs on their status before and after school. What did we do with our children before cell phones – back in the old days when kids went to school and hung out afterwards?

Now that Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña gave the okay for students to bring cell phones to school – lifting the ban that they said infringed on students’ safety – we can rest easy, right?

Looking back at my school years, I don’t think we missed much by not having cell phones, which are mini-computers in today’s society. We called our guardians from a pay phone or our friends’ home phones to let them know where we were. It was a bit frustrating when we couldn’t reach someone, but we managed.

During last week’s press conference, Chancellor Fariña also said, “Lifting the cell phone ban is about common sense, while ensuring student safety as well as high-level learning in our classrooms…As a parent and a grandmother, I know that families and children feel safer when our students have access to cell phones.”

Let’s get real! Students’ safety has gotten WORSE since kids have been carrying cell phones. When a child gets attacked and robbed of their cell phone while they’re on their way home, how is that making matters safer?

When I walked home from Bildersee as a teenager, I didn’t own or carry any gadgets that some rugrat could steal, hack into and use to compromise my information. If city officials are saying students’ safety isn’t ensured without cell phones, that’s pretty sad!

How will kids communicate with their parents without a cell phone?

While I understand having a cell phone is now a necessity, as opposed to being a luxury, it sounds like the Chancellor and Mayor are saying students didn’t feel safe before. Aren’t our children supposed to feel safe in and around schools even if they don’t have cell phones? Aren’t children, in the event of an emergency, supposed to be able to count on educators? You mean to tell me that if a student had an emergency at dismissal time, they can’t use a school phone to contact their guardian? 

Suddenly technology is safer than a school official!

The good thing is, each school can make their own policy on where students should keep their cell phone – whether it’s in a book bag, locker or a “designated area.” The best “designated area” for a kids use their cell phones is AT HOME – where their phone won’t be a distraction from their studies (despite the fact that the new ban lift states the phones will be prohibited during exams and other vital academic drills).

I don’t think cell phones should be banned from schools – but I also don’t think it’s necessary for students to take one to school in the first place in order to feel “safe.” Kids have been attending school for centuries without the assistance of technology. How did their parents, grandparents and ancestors make it through all those years?

When you think about all of the school massacres which took place over the years, cell phones didn’t save too many students who were victims of a madman’s rampage – whether it was in a prestigious college or suburban elementary school.  Students were able to use their mobile device to tell their friends and family they were okay – but how “safe” did those phones really make anyone’s life?

Call me old fashioned, but let’s get kids to focus on their studies and the importance of undiluted education instead of them worrying about a communication device!