Yesterday my wife had her left eye cataract surgery, 2 weeks after doing her right eye. She now has perfect vision and can see without glasses, which she's been wearing since she is 4. (So she actually can see what she married.) Today we had a follow-up appointment with the eye surgeon to make sure all was well. I originally intended to head back home and go back to the city later for the rally at Union Square and the meeting at Legacy HS tonight.
But the weather was too perfect -- Feb. 1 and 60 degrees was amazing -- so we walked down to the half price ticket line near Times Sq just to see what was available. We got there before 11:30 and there was no line. And they had Porgy and Bess for the first time (they said) with center orchestra tickets --- really as good seats you can get even in the best circumstances. What is going on here? Is the fact there was no line and perfect tics to a great show an economic indicator?
Well, we had two and a half hours to kill so we spent a half hour doing our favorite thing --- looking for a restaurant where we could kill at least an hour and a half. We ended up at Joe Allen on restaurant row -- first time we've been there in about 20 years. It is still restaurant week so I had the 3-courser despite my diet. Pulled pork and fries. I won't even get into the details of the brownie covered with vanilla ice cream.
On the way over we ran into my wife's former boss' wife who was going to the same show with advanced tickets in the mezzanine for probably double what we paid. That makes any show so much more enjoyable. (I am my 94 year old father's son who doesn't enjoy food unless he gets it at a bargain).
Well the show was perfect --- not the original P and B but a somewhat controversial modified version. I tried to entice my wife to go down for a peek at Union Square but no go. Anyway the tweets from Gotham followed by Leonie's tweets from the Legacy hearing gives a pretty good picture. Do you get a feeling things are beginning to crumble for WalBloom? Not to worry though. They will leave as much destruction as they can before they leave and humpty will not be put back together again.
First -- Rachel Kromidas just posted a good story at Gotham with a great pic:
Students from three boroughs protest school closure policy
Here are her tweets:
Juan Pagan, a Legacy parent, plays guitar at the closure protest. yfrog.com/ocibcocj
Students from CUNY and Hunter College have joined Legacy. No sign of more high schools, but Gompers, Lehman and Irving are expected to show.
"These are the schools that are closing," students chant, unrolling a banner list of closure and turnaround schools. yfrog.com/g0vv0kqjj
The throng of students gathers on Union Square steps, while police officers, activists and park-goers look on. yfrog.com/kih9htfj
Last night a handful of Legacy students sat in Irving HS for its closure hearing. "We are all a community, we support them," one told me.
student organizer estimates 300 from Legacy are here. "I don't get it, why are they closing the school?" X-ing guard at 5th and 14th asks.
crowd of Legacy students are walking toward Union Square protest. line stretches almost the length of block. Some chant: Save Our Schools.
Students from Legacy High School for Integrated Studies are gathering outside their Union Square school. yfrog.com/es27rixj
Leonie from the hearing:
New principal of legacy only has1 yr of data; how can DOE evaluate her leadership or Schl progress?
Speaker quinn's rep reads letter signed also by congressman Nadler state sen Duane & AM Glick asking Doe to keep Schl open
Someone calls out Doe is low performing why don't we shut u down?
From Jaisal Noor (look for his video in a few days).Across the country cuts to education are threatening programs and services. Texas school officials say arts and culture programs could get hit after lawmakers approved a $4 billion drop in public education funding. And in Los Angeles, the city’s long-running Adult Education program - which serves many from the city’s immigrant and low-income communities - could be virtually wiped out if a current budget proposal is approved. But the cuts are also prompting action. In New York, high school students have called for a city-wide walkout today to protest the latest round of school closings and budget cuts. Community News Production Institute Reporter Jaisal Noor visited some of the schools taking part and brings us this report.
Listen here.
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FEB. 4- STATE OF THE UNION: TIME TO FIGHT BACK Register at: http://stateoftheunionconference-estw.eventbrite.com/ See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.