Community Corner

In Bed-Stuy News This Week

A review of the stories that made headlines this week on Bed-Stuy Patch

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.     Educators and policymakers have spent a great deal of energy discussing the perils of the academic achievement gap that exists between white students and students of color. However, there is another, more insidious gap that is growing within communities of color like Bed-Stuy that is separating some young people from the rest of their community. Our education columnist, Reginald Richardson, looks at an issue that is rarely examined. He calls it the socio-cultural gap, and you can read his thoughts on it here.

2.     This past Monday, in celebration of Women's History Month, the Macon branch of the Brooklyn Public Library held a ceremony to re-dedicate its African-American Heritage Center "The Dionne Mack-Harvin Center," marking the first time in the institution’s 113-year history a BPL facility has been named for a library administrator. Read here the full story of Mack-Harvin’s vast contributions to Brooklyn’s library community.

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

3.     Kings District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced on Wednesday the indictment of three more people in the death of four-year-old Marchella Brett-Pierce: Two former Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) employees, Damon Adams and Chereece Bell, and Marchella’s grandmother, Loretta Brett, all of whom now face homicide charges. His decision to pursue the ACS workers – the first time in New York City’s history ACS workers have been charged with a crime. He also announced plans to launch a special Investigative Grand Jury to probe alleged systemic failures at ACS. Click here to read the full story.

4.     U.S. Census data for New York was released on Thursday. And the numbers are far lower than what demographers predicted. According to 2010 Census figures, the reported growth in Kings County is only 1.6 percent, from 2,465,531 in 2000, to 2,567,098 in 2010, a figure that seems inconsistent with the housing development boom and mass migration to the area in the last ten years. What are your observations of Brooklyn’s population growth? Read the story here, and decide for yourself whether the figures sound accurate.

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

5.     Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was the special guest at Thursday night’s 79th Precinct Community Council Meeting. Kelly joined the precinct council to answer questions from audience members concerning his work and agenda for New York City residents and, more specifically, the residents of Bed-Stuy. Click here to read about some of the hot-button issues the community raised.


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