Taking A Holiday Off From School Is Getting Easier Every Year

What did your child do on their day off last Monday? How will they spend their day off on Thursday, June 4th? Let me ask you THIS, how often do our kids even go to school any more?

I’ve been waiting a while to voice my opinion on two Muslim holidays that will be observed by New York City public schools in the coming year. In addition to the Jewish holidays they already have off when school starts – including Rosh Hashanah on September 14th and 15th and Yom Kippur on September 23rd – classes also won’t be in session on September 24th for the observance of Eid al-Adha. The other Muslim holiday falls on July 17th, so children attending summer school will have this day off as well.

So…when WILL our children go to school?

I have nothing against giving our students off on a day that religiously or politically affects our citizens. However, students will soon be able to plan the upcoming school year and how many MORE days they’re going to have off.

On the other hand, if we’re going to be fair to the mélange of cultures and causes that exist, we need to observe all the other holidays that make a mark on our lives.

Are children given off a day to observe the Chinese New Year? Public schools haven’t allocated a day so that children of Asian decent can ring in the new year. Hey, we observe our new year in America and students have this day off – why leave out new year’s celebrations recognized by another culture?

Also, with the increase of Haitian immigrants living in the city, why can’t we add some of their holidays to the school calendar?  A calendar of Haitian holidays lists October 17th as Dessalines Day – which is a national/legal holiday. Even though it falls on a Saturday, why can’t we give our students a day off that week to observe this holiday? November 18th falls on a Wednesday and is Vertieres Day. Why won’t public schools close every year on this day as well? According to next year’s school calendar, middle school kids’ schedules will not be affected on this day anyway for parent-teachers conferences.

What upsets me more than anything – and maybe it upsets thousands of people across the country – is that we’re quick to observe Muslim holidays – without hesitation – but we’re still not observing the day our city – our COUNTRY – was attacked: September 11th! We’re still not giving students off on a day that changed history… a day that our country was torn apart by terrorists…a day we lost so many FDNY and NYPD heroes and first responders who risked their lives.

The same way we honor veterans, laborers and those faithful Americans who perished at war, why aren’t we giving students off on a day when some of them might have lost a loved one in the World Trade Center attacks? Where’s de Blasio’s sense of patriotism when it comes to observing a day that changed our country forever?

Another angle we haven’t looked at is – how are students going to make up holidays as they’re added? Good for you Mayor de Blasio! You’re giving observational rights to the increasing number of Muslims living in the city but you’re also going to send our kids to school when there’s a blizzard. Sure! Keep public schools open when it’s dangerous for parents to drive their children around!

Let’s get real! There are so many days that children have off from school for so many academic reasons adults have created – parent-teacher conferences, superintendent and principal meetings…Shouldn’t we be a little more particular when it comes to which holidays they observe?  We’re so focused on students being able to excel, being able to opt out of standardized tests, and we’re obsessed with keeping them off the streets and helping them create a future for themselves.

Well…If they’re not learning because they’ve got five holidays coming up where they won’t be in school, when are they catching up on their studies? Another day off to some kids is just another day they can be lazy and give their brain a rest from productivity.

I know I’d love more days off from work! Give me off for Valentine’s Day…Ground Hog’s Day…Boss’ Day, Administrative Professionals Day…Then again, if we had all of those days off and the Canarsie Courier was closed, no work would get done and our newspaper would be less productive. That’s an observation that wouldn’t benefit anyone…

The Curtain’s Going To Remain Down At This Theater

Some of you who have lived in Canarsie for over 20 years might remember the last movie you saw at the Canarsie Movie Theater on East 93rd Street and Avenue L. Some of you might remember what you did that day on Avenue L when the theater showed its last movie. Perhaps you can still remember the sticky floors and the tight seats you tolerated – after all, the theater was close enough to all of those fun eateries on the commercial strip and your house wasn’t that far away, so who cared about a couple of hours of discomfort? 

Those who have only lived in our community for a little over 10 years don’t know what the old days of Canarsie were like – and, if you ask me, they’ve accepted the doomed fate of the property that once gave so many residents memories of a lifetime.

I’ve received so many letters and calls about the condition of the defunct movie house, which was, at one point, slated to be a catering hall…and then a skating rink. You guessed it – NONE of that happened and everyone just accepted that, too. Sadly, the letters and calls we get are mostly from old timers and those who see the horrible recent photos posted on Facebook. Some memories of the good old days overshadow the carelessness of the punks out there and plenty of people want to know why “we’ve” let things deteriorate so badly.

Our decrepit movie theater remains...decrepit!

Residents don’t seem to care about the condition of the beloved old movie house. They and their children are too busy defacing its property, with overflowing trash bags near the corner, leaving the ruins of the building…ruined! With all of the negative attention that location gets, who would be attracted to that parcel of land?

Let’s get real! Canarsie is not a community where millions upon millions of dollars are spent on renovating private businesses. While the Kings Theater is thriving in Flatbush after being closed since the 1970s, what’s our excuse for leaving our old theater abandoned? Are we waiting for Donald Trump to rediscover real estate on our next-to-empty shopping strip? If any business owner looks to establish something at the huge property, where else would the hundreds of patrons go on the avenue? One of the Chinese food take-out places with less than 10 seats? Maybe they’d get their nails done…

Since Avenue L really has little to offer shoppers, what would the incentive be to place anything of substance at that corner? 

If you visit well-to-do towns in the suburbs, you’ll see their communities reviving old movie houses and making progress. Just for the hell of it, I looked up theater renovations that took place in the suburbs within the past couple of years.

According to The New York Times, the Westbury Theater, built in the 1920s, was a local movie house in Nassau County that featured art films through the 80s and 90s. In the 2000s, it closed and fell into disrepair. Like our theater, it was riddled with graffiti and derelicts until a real estate developer saw an auction for the property and toured the crumbling building in 2004. By 2013, the property was acquired for about $1.7 million and the entire site was renovated with about 1,000 parking spots (imagine having to make this kind of space on Avenue L!). For this project, The New York Times noted, plenty of Long Islanders wanted to get involved and utilize the new and exciting space.

Why can’t that be our story? The truth is, no one CARES enough! For all the people writing in about Avenue L’s fate – do YOU have the money to put into our community? Can you easily take out millions of dollars in loans and remodel the building you’re bragging that once meant so much to you?

Is it really a shame when there are no developers out there who are willing to take a chance on our crappy-looking commercial strip where there are no popular restaurants, no clothing stores, no franchises, no variety of specialty shops and no recreational facilities for children?

I propose that a developer think on a much smaller scale when it comes to this eyesore. Knock down the whole building and don’t worry about its “potential” to serve as one establishment. The only thing that might survive the nightmare of Avenue L is a strip of average-performing shops that don’t require extensive parking or massive crowds. Turn that one site into three or four small stores – and rent them out to business owners who want to offer something different to our community.

The fact that nothing is being done – period – irks us even more than the decrepit conditions of the old movie house. Constant complaining and choosing to not take any action to bring something to our community doesn't make things better, don’t you think? I grew up a couple of blocks from Avenue L and remember ‘the good old days,’ but since I don’t have the money and I’m not business savvy enough to get a sustainable idea going, I choose not to get annoyed. Another bag of microwaved popcorn please!

This Memorial Day, Let’s Not Celebrate – Let’s Commemorate!

Having a three-day weekend is always a pleasure – especially when the weather warms up. Plenty of holidays fall on a Monday – and not too many people truly observe the honors or celebrations that they get off from work and school. Canarsie, as a community, observes Memorial Day by hosting a parade every year. Whenever the Canarsie Courier has a photographer cover the parade, it seems like fewer people participate each year. Sure, there are still local organizations and youths who lead the parade – but where are the hundreds of residents who are thankful for those who died for our freedom?

Do the scant amount of people who join the parade even know what and who it’s really for?

I recently spoke to Canarsie Lion Josephine Bolus who’s been involved in the parade since 2000. She noted that the lack of surviving war veterans still living in Canarsie is one of many reasons for our skeletal parades. Lack of understanding what Memorial Day truly commemorates is an even bigger obstacle.

Memorial Day Parade in Canarsie -circa 1980.

Josephine told me that most residents, when they see the parade coming through, just hear the noise and see the small crowd making its way along local streets. There are no thoughts about what our war heroes experienced while serving our country.

“A lot of people don’t know what it’s like to be drafted and to be told ‘you’re going to war,’” she said. “Many who served came home with missing limbs and had to be treated at V.A. hospitals.”

Do our children see the parade from this angle? How about residents who simply take free American flags – just because they’re handed out – and DON’T hang them outside their homes to show how grateful they are for our heroes?

It’s fair to say that back in the 1970s and 1980s – even into the early 1990s – Canarsie had a lot more residents who were patriotic – and more children took part in the parade because their parents had patriotic values too! No matter what country you’re from – you’re living in America and there’s a reason you’re here! Aren’t you grateful to be able to live in a country where citizens have sacrificed their lives so YOU can live in freedom in the United States?

In decades-old issues of the Canarsie Courier, we ran full pages with photos showing residents lined up along their blocks outside of their home, waiting for the parade and cheering on – proudly waving flags. They joined civic leaders for honorary salutes at our local cemetery and at the Veterans’ Circle located right at the foot of the Belt Parkway.

Is it fair to assume that a lot of those residents lost a family member to war and honoring their heroes helps them feel more connected to their loved ones?

Let’s get real! Big events led by war veterans and honorable residents are dwindling down.  Canarsie used to have organizations like the Joint Council of Senior Citizens Club and the American Legion Post 573 Ladies Auxiliary. Civic organizations – with plenty of members to fill our streets – were in full force with regular meetings. Invitations to join their board were even published in our newspaper every week.

Instead of our parade attracting more residents as it travels through our streets, you might, instead, see confused spectators standing with their arms folded as if to say, “What the hell is going on here?” Sadly, that’s what parade organizers are asking as volunteers and participants try to recruit more people who are truly grateful for their freedom…