4 MARCH 28, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Holden seeks new high school for district
BY MAX PARROTT
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Councilman Robert Holden
of Middle Village released a
statement last week calling
for the construction of a new high
school within his district, citing his
constituents’ frustrations with the
high school application process as
justification.
“When parents are telling me
their child has excellent grades and
test scores but is not being accepted
into the schools they desire, there is
something fundamentally wrong with
the placement system,” Holden said in a
March 22 statement. “The students in my
district deserve more quality choices.”
After high school acceptance
letters were mailed out over a week
ago, parents in District 30 whose
children were not placed in highperforming
schools such as Maspeth
High School (MHS) have inundated
the councilman’s offi ce with phone
calls and letters.
The tension in Holden’s district
stems from two issues: systemic
overcrowding and inconsistent
quality between area high schools.
The legislative district falls into
Community School District 24,
The exterior of Maspeth High School Photo by Max Parrott
which has the fourth-highest level of
overcrowding in the city, according to
a report the City Council released in
2018. MHS is a prime example. In 2017-
18, the high school — ranked as one of
U.S. News and World Report’s best in
the country — was nearly 300 students
over its planned capacity of 905.
Lyft driver takes own life in
Glendale ‘chemical suicide’
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
A 49-year-old man covered in a
powder was found dead inside a
parked car in Glendale early on
Saturday morning, prompting a large
response from the Fire Department.
Officers from the 104th Precinct
and numerous FDNY units
responded to a 911 call of a man
unconscious inside a parked car
at the corner of Myrtle Avenue
and 75th Street at around 4 a.m. on
March 23.
Upon arriving at the scene, police
said, they found the unidentified
man unconscious and unresponsive
inside a four-door Hyundai sedan.
Later on Saturday, the New York
Post reported that the man was a
Lyft driver.
Preliminary reports circulated
on Breaking News Network
indicated that the man was covered
in an unknown white powder,
and the incident appeared to be a
“chemical suicide.”
This prompted a response by
the FDNY’s Haz-Mat Unit, which
worked to make the area safe for
firefighters to pull the man’s body
out of the car.
Paramedics pronounced him
dead at the scene; police withheld
his identity, pending family
notification.
According to the NYPD, his body
was transported to the Medical
Examiner’s office for an autopsy
to determine the cause of death.
No foul play is suspected at this
time, sources familiar with the
investigation said.
A chemical suicide, as defined by
the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, involves death
by exposure to chemical vapors
from household chemicals or
other products in a confined area.
It poses serious risk of injury to
first responders and others who
may become exposed to the fumes.
A number of area parents believe
that the quality of the community’s
zoned schools like Newtown High
School or Grover Cleveland High
School, which guarantee admission,
is not on par with that of Queens
Metropolitan High School or MHS,
whose lottery-based enrollment
systems do not appear to be giving
priority to nearby students as they
are designed to do.
Some parents suspect that the
process at MHS in particular excludes
local children or students from
parochial schools.
Robin Herget Bisighini, a Middle
Village resident whose seventhgrade
granddaughter will enter the
application process next year, is
worried that MHS chooses students
based on what will boost its statistics
rather than considering the applicants’
geographical priority.
“Do I have proof of that? No. Do I
know that fi rsthand? No,” Bisighini
said. “But from a lot of families I’ve
spoken to with children who are a
little older than my granddaughter
who have gone through this whole
process, there’s a lot of frustration
that goes on around it.”
Bisighini would like more
transparency about the lottery
process, but believes a new school is
a step in the right direction.
As a part of his campaign, Holden
promised to introduce legislation
that would guarantee that students
throughout the city will gain
admission to their closest school
if they list them as their top choice.
Holden’s spokesperson said he is still
looking into introducing legislation
on this issue as he awaits data from
the Department of Education.
In the short-term, Holden is
pursuing the school construction
approach. His spokesperson said
that the councilman has presented
several locations for a new school to
the DOE, and the agency expressed
a strong interest in one in particular,
but Holden could not reveal the exact
spot yet.
Ridgewood Property Owners
& Civic Association
General Membership Meeting
Thursday April 4th, 2019
7:00 pm
Ridgewood Presbyterian Church
59-14 70 Avenue Ridgewood, 11385
1/4 block East of Forest Avenue Entrance from side parking lot – no steps
Please join us for the Installation
of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board
of the Ridgewood Property Owner’s and Civic Association
Councilmember Robert Holden will officiate.
A special presentation by Matthew Brill of Em Power Solar
will bring you up to date on the newest tax incentives
and the green energy alternatives available to Ridgewood homeowners.
Sandwiches, Coffee and an Installation Cake are being provided
by Frank’s Deli in Maspeth, Courtesy of Kerzner Realty, Inc
Property owners in Ridgewood are always welcome to submit a membership
application, subject to RPOCA Board approval.
For information call Paul Kerzner, Counsel - 718 381 3366
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