Results tagged “deputymayordenniswalcott”

Last night, parents of students who attend public schools at 345 Dean Street in Brooklyn convened for an emergency meeting with the Department of Education. The emergency was the fact that the DOE wants to move an Arabic-themed specialized school, named after the poet Khalil Gibran, into the building.

City Councilman Leroy Comrie wants the city to ban the n-word. Comrie said he hoped that a dialogue would be sparked by his resolution and that society can move "toward a place where the n-word is simply unacceptable to be used in any context." And hip hop pioneer Kurtis Blow, who joined Comrie at the press conference, said, "We need to stop looking at ourselves like we are niggas or niggers, so that we can elevate our minds to a better future. So I challenge the hip-hop community, I challenge you to abolish that word during the month of February - Black History Month - and beyond."

Last night, the family and friends of Sean Bell were joined by hundreds for Bell's funeral in Queens. Bell was killed during a chaotic confrontation with police officers last weekend. The Reverend Al Sharpton spoke during the service. From the Daily News:

"We must give Sean a legacy, a legacy of justice, a legacy of fairness, not a legacy against police. We don't hate cops. We don't hate race. We hate wrong. We dislike wickedness in high places."

Continue reading "Queens Shooting: Funeral for Sean Bell, Fourth Man, "50 Shots," and a Legacy of Mourning"

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum stepped into the hot debate about cell phones in the schools with e-mails from parents that detail why cell phones are necessary. Here are a few of the stories:

One mother wrote, “I have three children in New York City public schools. As a working single mother, I need to be able to communicate with my children at any given time…Just a week ago, my daughter…was attacked by three students in her school. I tried furiously to reach the school but couldn’t [get] through [because of] the voice prompts. She has a cell phone but can’t take it to school because it will be confiscated. By the time I was able to reach her, she had already been taken to the hospital with a broken arm…If she had been able to call me, I would have known what hospital she was taken to and may have been able to help her get out of the situation.”

Continue reading "Tales of NYC School Kids' Cell Phone-less Horror"

A week after mentioning the lack of development at the World Trade Center when being questioned about the lack of development in post-Katrina New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin is in New York City to bring attention to his city's redevelopment needs. But first, Nagin had to apologize for his remarks on 60 Minutes (). From the AP:

"I want to say to all New Yorkers that I love New York City and have been here on many occasions," Nagin said. "We as New Orleanians and as New Yorkers understand what tragedy is all about and understand the difficulty of recovering from tragedy." He also said he especially regretted the term he'd used to describe ground zero, where more than 2,700 people died after terrorists piloted two commercial flights into the twin towers, causing the buildings to collapse.

Continue reading "Mayor Nagin: "I love New York City ""