February 5th, 2010
Last week we reported that District 1′s Education Council passed a resolution protesting the Department of Education’s handling of a state-mandated hearing at Manhattan Charter School. In what they said was a recurring problem, the DOE scheduled the hearing, to consider a renewal of the LES school’s charter, at the same time as the monthly Education Council meeting.
In a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver the CEC also contends they, as well as P.S. 142 (co-tenant of manhattan Charter’s building on Attorney Street), were not advised of the hearing in a timely manner. The CEC also said it was investigating reports that P.S. 142 parents were prevented from entering the hearing room and not advised of the procedure for signing up to speak. Finally the Council suggested the DOE might not be accurately relaying feedback received at public hearings to the State Board of Regents, and they called on the DOE to publicly release details of charter school applications. You can see excerpts from their resolution in our previous story.
Continue reading Education Council Takes Concerns About Charter School Hearings to Speaker Silver
February 5th, 2010
SLA Chief Dennis Rosen (left), Sen. Daniel Squadron (right)
No one can say Dennis Rosen, the new head of the State Liquor Authority, is not a patient man. For three-and-a-half hours last night, he sat on stage at P.S. 20 listening to a litany of complaints from dozens of frustrated residents and bar owners. Five months into the job, Rosen came to the Lower East Side at the request of State Senator Daniel Squadron, for a town hall meeting on nightlife issues.
The narrative inside the packed auditorium was familiar to anyone who attends monthly community board meetings, in which the two groups are routinely pitted against one another. Neighborhood activists railed against bars and clubs – which they say have overtaken the LES and destroyed their quality of life, while the SLA seems incapable of doing anything to help. Continue reading Liquor Authority Chief Listens, As Residents and Bar Owners Vent
February 5th, 2010
This weekend is full of fun family events on the Lower East Side:
Beginning at 10am with the FREE New Museum series, First Saturdays For Families, you can check out the exhibition “Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing IX” with artist Nikhil Chopra (above) as he combines theater, portraiture, landscape drawing, photography, and installation to chronicle the world through live performance.
Continue reading Weekend Fun For the Whole Family
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