Community Corner

In Bed-Stuy News This Past Week

The city council holds hearing on the blizzard fiasco; a Bed-Stuy local heads to LA for a national dance competition; and a hoarder's home catches fire

Here's a chance to catch up on all the news highlights you may have missed throughout the week. To follow is a quick recap of what made the headlines on Bed-Stuy Patch. Even if you recognize some of the stories, feel free to review and share your feedback.

1.     Two weeks after one of New York City's worst snowstorms in history, the New York City Council grills city officials in an attempt to make sense of the city’s failure to adequately handle snow removal. Bed-Stuy Patch is live from the trenches, the City Council's temporary home at the Emigrant Savings Bank building on Chambers Street in Manhattan. It seemed to come down to budgetary issues, an underestimation of the blizzard’s severity, slow orders from the top, and a lack of a cohesive and coordinated response that contributed to the primary problem, which was vehicles stuck in the street impeding emergency response efforts. Read the blow-by-blow updates of this past Tuesday’s hearing, the testimony and the panel’s conclusions.

2.     A State Supreme Court judge ruled on Monday that New York City can make teacher performance ratings public. Lawyers filed on behalf of the United Federation of teachers that the ratings were terribly flawed, and therefore unsuitable for public scrutiny and evaluation. Even State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, a longtime champion of children’s education, expressed some concern around the test methodology which, she says, should be independently verified by a recognized authority. If it is flawed, the actions taken could ruin the careers of valuable educators and hurt the school system and our children, said Montgomery.However, in a nine-page decision, Justice Cynthia Kern wrote that the city’s decision to release the data was reasonable, because the TDRs are statistical, not subjective. See both sides of the argument .

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3.     When Roosevelt “China Black” Anderson auditioned recently for Paula Abdul’s new show, "Live to Dance," he left all three judges slack jawed. “You are unique with a capital U,” Abdul said. Anderson is a member of the Bed Stuy Veterans (BSV), a popular dance collective based in Brooklyn. They specialize in Bruk-Up, a Jamaican inspired style loosely related to pop locking. The relatively new street style may be going international soon, as next Wednesday, January 19th, Anderson will fly to Los Angeles to compete on national television against other premier dancers of all ages and genres. Stay tuned this Wednesday for the next competition. But catch up on Anderson’s past moves .

4.     Hundreds of Haitian-Americans from across the five boroughs, community organizers, elected officials and a host of rabbis and priests gathered yesterday afternoon in Times Square to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti.The event, dubbed “Marching for Change,” sought to raise awareness of the ongoing need for relief and rebuilding in Haiti. But questions surrounding Haiti’s unstable government and possible misuse of relief funds may be cause for pause amongst many would-be generous Haiti sympathizers. Read the entire story .

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

5.     Twelve fire units and 65 firemen rushed to a four-story brownstone on Madison Street and Nostrand Avenue, after a blaze started on the second floor of what officials termed a “Colliers Mansion,” loosely defined as a hoarder’s dwelling. The building’s four tenants evacuated with no major injuries. According to one of the tenants, Louise Coulthurst, the fire started after a spark ignited under a bed. Click to read the story and story and see the “mansion.”


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