Westchester Square / Zerega Improvement Org

As you have read last week, the lawsuit Westchester Square v DHS is moving ahead. I was really pleasantly surprised that Justice DeGrasse allowed us to proceed with discovery. All this means is that we have won the right to be heard and proceed in collecting and giving testimony. We have NOT won the case, as some people think, only the right to engage the adversary in court.

Recent happenings: We noticed last weekend that for the first time in many years the Westchester Square library display window was tagged. We went right back there at night and removed the graffiti, and I am happy to say that the library was also aware of it and had put in for it to be removed as well. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated, and we wanted to send a personal message to that effect by removing the graffiti right away.

Also, we had our holiday crafts workshop at the library this past Saturday. 55 kids attended, and we all had a fun time. Afterwards, we went over to the homeless shelter on St Peter’s Avenue to help out with Councilman Vacca’s Christmas party for the kids who live there. It was very nice, with Santa and his helpers, and we did crafts and facepainting. I must say here, that the kids were really great. They were patient and very sweet, and very friendly. After I painted a rainbow and a smiling cloud on her hands, one little girl of 4 took the rainbow paint cake and a sponge and painted my hands and even made a smiley cloud too. She really got into the paints and enjoyed watching us as we painted everyone’s face. She was so cute. The way their face lights up when they see how they look in the mirror is why we enjoy doing the kids’ activities. Their smiles are priceless.

These were our last events for 2011; all together we organized or participated in 17 events last year. Thank you to the loyal and intrepid WSZIO volunteers Woody, Tony, Stephanny, Ellen, Diana, Paul, Desiree, Katherine, Dorothy, Ricky, and Robbie who made our events so successful this year, and to our supporters and friends. We had a great year, and look forward to a better year coming up!

The winter holidays are my favorite time of year. I enjoy the glittery displays (you all know how much I LOVE glitter; Stephanny says I’m a magpie) and the beautiful lights, and the baking, and decorating, and the entertaining and spending time at home with family. It’s a gentle way to ease into the bleak, gray, cold days of the upcoming winter.

This year has been a very difficult one for a lot of people: so many are jobless or homeless. Money’s tight for most of us (we in the 99%, that is). No matter what your beliefs may be, I think we all can appreciate a time of kindness, cheer, warmth and compassion.

To all our friends and neighbors, we wish you a happy, warm, and loving Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and a healthy and prosperous New Year. May this be a year of peace and joy, and “God bless us, everyone.”

More rants to come in 2012, but for now: TTFN.

Press Release (For immediate release)

In a joint statement, issued by Stephen Kaufman, Esq. and Robert Swetnick, Esq., and their clients, merchants and residents of the Westchester Square community, it is announced that:

The Appellate Division First Department released an order today, entered on November 22, 2011,denying the City of New York’s motion for a stay and leave to appeal a lower court order dated May 18, 2011 in the case of Westchester Square v. the Department of Homeless Services, et. al.

The Certificate Denying Leave (see attached) was dated November 14, 2011.  It sought to appeal a decision of the lower court, which granted the Westchester Square community and the New York City Comptroller’s office (who intervened in the case) the right to perform discovery and subpoena witnesses in an Article 78 proceeding arising from the City’s placement of a homeless shelter in a building that was zoned and built as a residential housing complex.

The Appellate Division’s decision is seen as a major blow to the Bloomberg administration’s homeless policy, which has come under attack this year from groups throughout the City, most recently by the City Council which voted to sue the administration over a new policy requiring new homeless applicants to prove they have nowhere else to go.

In the Westchester Square case, the suit challenges the City’s policy of claiming “emergency” needs under an outdated case, Ferrer v. Dinkins, that allowed the conversion of a motel into a homeless shelter.  Petitioners here argue that Ferrer is misapplied since the complex in question, a shelter located at 1564 St. Peter’s Avenue in the Bronx, was zoned and built as a permanent residential facility (unlike a motel that is zoned and built as a transient facility) and that the City’s subsequent contract with the shelter’s landlord, required a new ULURP proceeding under the provisions of the New York City Charter.  The Department of Homeless Services skipped these requirements, claiming that they were not required to notify the community board or hold a Fair Share Hearing because they didn’t enter into a lease. The lower court disagreed and ruled in favor of the Petitioners, calling the City’s procedure in this matter a “sham” when it was revealed that the City subsequently moved to contract with the landlord.

This latest decision opens the door to complete discovery of the City’s records in the case, including communication between DHS, Basic Housing, the landlord, and others.  It also enables Petitioners to subpeona testimony from City officials and the former Commissioner of DHS.

For further information, contact:

Stephen Kaufman, Attorney For Petitioner, 718-822-0500  or

Robert Swetnick, Attorney For Petitioner, 212-349-2800

Once again we have another predictable “crisis.” Everyone has known for at least 20 years that the school population in the city was increasing, but the answer was not to build more schools, because that would cost money (although there always seems to be enough money for multi-million dollar contracts for “technology consultants” who live in Westchester, and Connecticut), but to create a “shell game” of micro and mini schools in existing buildings, creating the illusion that more schools were opening in response to the increasing population. The Bloomberg administration has caused chaos in the public school system by systematically privatizing it. His strategy has been to create charter schools privately funded by corporations that can cherry pick their population or have openings given out by lottery, leaving the “left over” (read high-needs) kids to fill large “traditional” schools, then starve these schools of resources and space (in many cases locating a charter school in a public school building, literally forcing out the public school due to lack of space) and rate them as failing, only to shut them down and begin the breaking up process all over again. He began with high schools, and is now extending his madness to middle schools and elementary schools.

So, how has this strategy worked? Test scores and graduation rates (after accounting for cheating and faking of data) have not significantly improved. Only 21% of kids graduating from high school are college-ready. Overcrowding is much worse than before because each one of these mini schools (up to 7 in a building) needs administrative staff offices that take away valuable classroom space. What it HAS achieved has been the destabilization of the school system in this city and the invited but dangerous and insidious interference of corporations and billionaires in public education and the introduction of the profit motive into the educational process.

And what of those few traditional public schools that have managed to somehow survive and actually work well for their students and communities? They become overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids trying to get in. It’s like the survivors of the Titanic all trying to climb aboard the same lifeboat; you can’t have a few isolated successes in a sea of failure.

And now, this planned instability hits home, right where we live:

Lehman High School, which was always among the best in the Bronx, began its decline several years ago when its enrollment reached an all-time high of 5000, in a school originally built for 2700. It is now rated an “F”, and I have no doubt will soon be closed down to reopen with 6-7 “new” charter schools or mini-academies, but with LESS classroom space.

The PS/MS 194 debacle: For 10 years we fought to get the city to build a school for the Westchester Square-Zerega community because there was no public school for our kids to go to (they went to PS 108, PS 83 in Morris Park, and later schools in CO-OP City) and we didn’t want the busing of thousands of kids out of the community each day to continue destabilizing our neighborhood. It was a long, hard fight, but FINALLY the school was built in 2003, is considered one of the best in the Bronx, and has become a magnet, attracting families to buy homes and live nearby, revitalizing the area. But our dream (after only 8 years) turned into a nightmare, with overcrowding so severe (1400 kids in a school built for 1000) in 194 that kids are being taken out almost 3 months into the school year and bused to schools miles away AGAIN (ironically, PS 108 is one of the schools, so we have really come full-circle). This is heartbreaking.

It does not take the genius of an Einstein to figure out that there is a critical need to BUILD MORE SCHOOLS because all the expensive technology in the world cannot make up for the instability and damage being caused by such severe overcrowding, and that rather than dismantling and selling off pieces of the school system, we should be working to support and reward success with the resources needed to maintain it.

Between this and the failure of the homeless housing policies in NY, we will be living with the fallout from these disastrous policies for decades to come. Is anybody listening?