N.Y.C. School Chancellor Resigns
Joel Klein, 64, is stepping down from his position as the New York City Schools Chancellor to become Executive Vice President of the News Corporation, according to various news reports. Klein was the longest serving school chancellor in the city’s history.
While he is credited for increased high school graduation rates, college enrollment and other successes, Klein was also disparaged for excluding school administrators, teachers and parents from citywide educational decisions.
Klein will stick around until the end of the year, when ex-publisher Cathleen Black, 66, will take the reins. Black, formerly the publisher of New York Magazine and U.S.A. Today, is now chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, which publishes Esquire, Cosmopolitan and others.
Mayor Bloomberg appointed Klein in 2002 after establishing mayoral control over the N.Y.C. public school system. He hailed Klein as “one of the most important and transformational educational leaders of our time,” according to the New York Times.
The Mayor continued, “Joel has implemented innovative changes that have made an enormous difference in the lives of millions of children.”
Seeking a compromise for dog leash policy in Battery Park
There was another emotional discussion about the dog leash policy in Battery Park at last Wednesday’s Community Board 1 Financial District Committee meeting.
Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner Bill Castro, the Downtown Dog Owners Association, Community Board 1 and the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy got together on October 29 in State Senator Daniel Squadron’s office to discuss the matter. Castro is now recommending that dog owners set up a makeshift space for their off-leash pets on a paved surface in the park between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.
“The issue seemed to be whether the proposed trial area was large enough,” said Ro Sheffe, chair of the F.D.C., on behalf of the dog owners. They also expressed concern, he said, about the trial area’s size and location.
“The dog owners’ point of view is they need to run on a natural grass surface,” Sheffe explained. “The Battery Park Conservancy’s view is that it would be damaging to the lawn and [dogs running off leash on the grass] should not be allowed.” Sheffe has established a subcommittee to rewrite a resolution to present to the full board on November 23. Until then, C.B. 1 is not taking a stance on the subject.
The group will reconvene at Squadron’s office on December 13. “It’s a closed-door meeting, and we’re expecting [Commissioner] Bill Castro to be there,” Sheffe said.
Squadron and C.B. 1 hope to obtain quantitative data from the Battery Conservancy on the various uses of the Battery Park lawn. “What we’re trying to do is assemble as much factual information as we can to make an informed decision and a workable compromise,” Sheffe said. “It remains to see what that will be.”
Post-election survey results come in
A post-Election Day survey found a varied voting experience for many New Yorkers, with most complaints centering on ballot design and privacy issues.
Nearly 1,200 New Yorkers from at least 300 different poll sites anonymously completed the City Council’s online survey. Over a third of those surveyed said the ballot was “difficult to read or confusing,” and nearly a quarter of them complained that poll workers failed to provide privacy sleeves or folders to keep their ballots private. Another quarter of the participants said a poll worker didn’t offer to help them with voting or explain the new voting system.
The survey results will be used by the City Council in an upcoming Board of Elections hearing. “This survey allowed us to gather important information on voters’ experience on election day—something the Board of Elections has been unable to do,” said Governmental Operations Chair Gale A. Brewer. “We’re looking forward to using the data as part of the Committee on Governmental Operations’ continuing oversight of the Board.”
Requiem at the W.F.C. on Friday
The World Financial Center’s Winter Garden will host a requiem for fossil fuels on Friday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. Acclaimed sound art duo O+A — Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger — composed the piece. The requiem weaves together sounds from fossil-fueled machines with four human voices to mark the end of worldwide dependence on cheap fuel.
The piece intertwines live vocals by mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn, soprano Martha Cluver, tenor Geoffrey Silver, and bass Mark Uhlemann with what O+A refer to as an eight-channel “orchestra of cities”: sounds of cars and jets, some of which were recorded outside the W.F.C. in previous years.
The free concert is a part of WNYC’s New Sounds Live series and will be hosted by the show’s John Shaefer. It has already been performed in churches in New York and Berlin.
A.B.C. to broadcast Trinity Church holiday service
A.B.C. television stations nationwide will air Trinity Church’s special “lessons and carols” service held on Saturday, December 4. The service is presented by Trinity Wall Street and the National Council of Churches U.S.A.
Lessons and carols is an Anglican liturgy that tracks the birth of the Messiah from prophecy to fulfillment in the form of song and scripture. The tradition, which developed into its full form in the 1990s, originates from a Christmas Eve service in 1880s England.
In preparation, participants are supposed to attend an informal class on Sunday, November 21 at 12:45 p.m., following the church’s 11:15 a.m. service, to learn about the filming process and rehearse the songs. Participants are asked to dress festively for the December 4 service, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. The taping is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and will last approximately one hour.
For more information or to R.S.V.P., contact Donna Presnell at 212-602-9672 or dpresnell@trinitywallstreet.org.
