Monthly Archives: July 2009

Religion

New Principal of Saint Saviour Elementary School: Maura Lorenzen

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On Thursday a letter went out to parents and guardians of Saint Saviour Elementary School from Fr. Murphy. Here is a text of the letter, which was emailed to me by one of the school's parents.

Dear Parents and Guardians:

It is with joy that I announce to you that Maura Lorenzen is the new principal of St.
Saviour Elementary School.

Maura is a life long parishioner of St. Saviour. She is a graduate of both our elementary
school and our high school. Currently, Maura is a member of our Parish Council, our
Welcome Team, and our Hospitality Committee as well as being a catechist in our School
of Religion. Maura is also one of the lay leaders representing St. Saviour at the cluster
meetings of our local parishes.

Maura has been an educator since 1982. After graduating from St. Joseph's College she
started her career as a classroom teacher at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School,
teaching 5th and 6th grade children. She then went on to teach at Congregation Elohim's
Early Childhood Center. Her experience in administration began in 1989 when she was
named Lower Day Camp Director at CBE. In 1995 she became a director of the entire
Early Childhood Center, including the nursery school, toddler program and the summer
day camp program.

Gail Harvey, our assistant principal, assures me she will work closely with our new
principal in order to provide a smooth transition.

In the 5 years that I have known her, Maura has consistently demonstrated to me all the
skills and qualities that are essential to lead our school into the future. Please join me in
praying for God's abundant blessings upon Maura Lorenzen as she assumes this
important position.

Enjoy the summer.

God Bless You.

Sincerely,

Fr. Murphy, Pastor

Civics and Urban Life

So How Was Your Trip, Dr. Metzl? I Was Quarantined in China

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He was supposed to lecture at a Chinese medical school but things didn't turn out as planned for Dr. Jonathan Metzel, a psychoanalyst who lives in Kansas City.  This is an excerpt from a post by Metzel for  Midwest Voices, a blog associated with the Kansas City Star.

This morning, Chinese medical observation officers woke me from a
deep sleep. I opened my eyes to three figures, draped from head to toe
in infection control gowns, goggles, gloves, shoe covers, and face
masks, who surrounded my bed in a remote room in a run-down motel in
rural China.

Temperature” said the first officer though his mask
before placing a thermometer under my arm. “Food ok, yes?” asked the
second.

After my temperature read as normal, the third officer handed
me a small bouquet of flowers to celebrate the start of my fifth day in
H1N1/swine flu quarantine. The hazmat trio left after five minutes, and
I was left to ponder yet another day in isolation.

It was not
supposed to be this way. Six days ago, I flew from Detroit to Shanghai
to lecture at an esteemed Chinese medical school. As a physician, I
knew of China’s aggressive public health response to the H1N1 virus.
Thus I was not wholly surprised when a team of masked public health
officials met our flight and took temperatures from every arriving
passenger. The display seemed excessive and somewhat nonsensical (“Have
you had contact with pigs?” each passenger was asked), but we were
quickly set free. I passed through customs and cabbed to my downtown
hote
Postcard from the Slope

My Coney Island Walks

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I frequently take the F-train to Coney Island to visit my friend Rose who recently had knee replacement surgery.

Currently she's staying in a rehabilitation hospital on 29th Street and Surf Avenue. Her room has a nice view of the ocean, the beach and the boardwalk.

I usually take a $2 cab from the Stillwell Avenue subway station to the hospital. But on my way home I always walk on the Boardwalk back to train.

Yesterday was an utterly blue-sky gorgeous day. Clearly I wasn't the only one who had the idea to walk on the Boardwalk. By 2 p.m. the beach was crowded and the Boardwalk was filled with walkers, bikers, and sunbathers.

There was such a strong summer at the beach vibe—amazing for an urban beach just blocks from City housing and a neighborhood in the midst of a controversial transition.

Up by 29th Street, people make quiet recreational use of the Boardwalk for jogging, walking, biking. Russian couples sit and read newspapers; the elderly take in the sun; young lovers make out; loners like me take slow, meditative steps.

The blue and white RIngling Brothers Circus Tents add a festive feeling to the Upper Boardwalk. I noticed  signs yesterday about a cafe and animal viewing area open every day until 9 p.m. Then there's Keystone Park with signs about upcoming games and the Wilco/Yo Lo Tengo concert coming up on Monday July 13th (doors open at 6 p.m.).

A large swath of the beach has been closed off for a stage and stadium seating for the 2009 Village Voice Siren Festival. This year's concert features Built to Spill, Spank Rock, The Ravonettes, Tiny Masters of Today and many more bands and will happen on Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 12:00 noon – 9:00 p.m.

As I got closer to what's left of the amusement park, the Boardwalk throbs with energy—even on a Tuesday afternoon. Radios balring Michael Jackson, girls parading around fearlessly in skimpy bikinis, boys in low cut surfer shorts, children slathered in suntan lotion.

I strolled into the area that used to be Astroland and was disgusted to see the poor excuse for an amusement park that the City (?) has put in there. There's a freak show thing as well with huge vintage looking circus posters about two headed ladies and babies. One exhibit boasts the world's largest rat. Gross: that one really freaked me out.

The new Flea By the Sea seems to be getting off the ground slowly. I've been there a couple of times and found it hugely disappointing with a scant number of vendors. Pretty pathetic. But an OTBKB had this to say. 

I know this flea market took a long time to pull together and it started
off VERY slowly but it is now up and running and this weekend was a huge
success…If you already went to the flea market when it
was first opened please give it another chance, it is very, very
much improved since those first days.  I am not
one of the people running the flea market so I have no ulterior motive here but
to let everyone know there is a great thing happening in Coney Island.

My walks in Coney Island are always a bouyant and moody mix. I think about Robert Guskind and how he should be still alive to walk around and take pictures.  I think about Rose in the rehab hospital and all the iterations of Coney Island she has witnessed in her 40+ years living there.

I think about my own Brooklyn relatives, living and dead, who surely spent time on the Boardwalk in their youth.

And now I am a regular walker there, too. Visiting my friend Rose and always enjoying my stroll from 29th Street to the Stillwell Avenue train. Taking in the breeze, the sky, the atmosphere on a summery Brooklyn day.

 
real estate

Coney Island Re-Zoning Hearing in Progress

Going on right now: a City Council re-zoning hearing about Bloomberg's plan to rezone 20 blocks of the Coney Island
waterfront for high-rise condo towers, apartments and hotels

A city-owned amusement park in one section is also part of the plan.

And guess what? City
officials are reserving the use of eminent domain to acquire the
property if necessary.

Luckily, the beach and the boardwalk will stay the same, as will the Cyclone Roller Coaster and Wonder Wheel, which are protected by landmark status.

Phew.

The hearing of the City Council's Zoning and Franchises began at 10 this morning. The council will vote on this matter by August 7th.

Civics and Urban Life

Pastor to Announce New Principal for Park Slope Catholic School

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Despite the fact that school is out for summer, 50 parents protesting the dismissal of James Flanagan, the school's long-time principal, held another vigil last night in front of Saint Saviour, a Park Slope Catholic elementary school.

"Not
bad given the heavy rain at the beginning of it," one parent wrote in an email to OTBKB. "I have it on a great source that a letter is going out either today
or tomorrow (unless the Diocese stops him) announcing the new principal."

Rumor has it that the job is going to a friend of Fr. Murphy's, who
recently lost her job at Beth Elohim. I assume this person was employed by Beth Elohim Early Childhood
Center, a local nursery
school/kindergarten program run by Congregation Beth Elohim, a reform Jewish congregation in Park Slope.

But the plot thickens. In an article in today's Daily News, the paper quotes from six pages of complaints against the principal penned by Fr. Murphy:

"As pastor, I should have received a personal invitation with a
complimentary ticket," Murphy wrote in six pages of complaints against
the principal about the $200 he had to shell out for the March 2007 and
October 2008 events.

Murphy also complained he had never
received financial reports about the galas, and that Flanagan had
spoken publicly about using some of the funds raised as an endowment
without consulting him or the school's finance committee.

Murphy denied those issues prompted Flanagan's dismissal, saying that it came down to an "erosion of trust" between them.

"You
can't renew the contract of someone who's lost trustworthiness and has
shown by his actions some insubordination," Murphy said.

One parent who saw the news article responded in this way: This is despicable, and I knew he had no "vision."  You would
think a pastor would be happy that we raised $90,000 for the school –
not bad for a fired principal and some "small group" of parents."

Principal Flanagan told the Daily News that the decision not to send Fr. Murphy a personalized invitation was not his. He also said that he told the pastor about the $90,000 raised by the gala that is being used to renovate the school's library.

Mr. Flanagan has asked the Diocese for a mediation but a spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese told the Daily News that the matter was "off the table."

Why? Because the pastor has final word on hiring and firing of school principals.

.  

Music

OTBKB Music: The Score at Halftime

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I thought I'd take a look at a few of the albums released during the
first half of 2009 that I felt were particularly good.  But I will
admit that if you've been reading my posts all along, this list will
not be all that surprising.  Listed in nifty random order:

OneLast Century The Damnwells – One Last Century: One Last Century is just plain
wonderful.  You could call it rock power pop with wonderful songs and
great vocals.  If you need a reference point, The Gin Blossoms aren't
all that far away from this.  There is no reason not to own this album;
it was released as a free download here. Yes, it's legal!

Lesliemen Leslie Mendelson – Swan Feathers:  Adult pop, mostly piano based. 
Leslie's lyrics are literate and as many people have noted, playfully
sexy.  A couple of the songs on this album have been rearranged from
the way Leslie had been doing them live to provide the opportunity for
Leslie to step out from behind the piano and onto center stage,
including the first single, Hit the Spot. 

The Killer In Me Amy Speace – The Killer in Me:  This is a reflective album as the songs
in this collection were written during the break up of Amy's marriage. 
Instead of the mostly country sounds of her last collection, Songs for
Bright Street, this material lends itself to a folk rock treatment for
the most part.  And although Amy ruefully decides that "the only thing
I've learned is I haven't learned a thing" she does kicks up her heels
during a very spirited Would I Lie.

New York Town Israel Nash Gripka – New York Town:  Too young to have been around
during the classic rock era, Israel reaches back to what was good in
the 70s as inspiration for this set.  And yes, it does seem he's
channeling John Fogerty in the song Pray for Rain.

On The Moon Li'l Mo and the Monicats – On the Moon:  After a few years away from
the music biz, Li'l Mo returns with a collection that runs from country
to blues to rockabilly to 60s pop.  Most of the songs are originals but
a cover of the Bill Hailey song Rocking Chair on the Moon gives the
album its title.  Standouts include I Really Love (To Really Love You)
and The Boy Who Loved the Blues.

N58487907213_7816 Kristin Diable – Extended Play:  Even though she recently left Brooklyn
to return to her native Louisiana, I'll still include Kristin's EP. 
This is a mix of six studio and three live tracks, a heady mixture of
blues, rock and soul held together with Kristin's smooth Louisiana
drawl.  You can also find Kristin singing in the background of a recent
series of Jeep TV ads.

 –Eliot Wagner