2010 Stage - Photo by: Ashely

Yesterday was the PS 277 5th Grade Graduation Ceremony and we would like to offer our congratulations to each of the new graduates, and send them forward with our best wishes. You make us proud!

Graduation Song - Photo By: Laura

Celebrating Group Shot - Photo By: Laura

Summer is about to begin but if you look at Dr. Johns Playground at PS 277 you already know it’s here. The sprinklers have been turned on during the day for your children to enjoy.

The Parks Department would like to remind you that it is important to “Play it Safe” when visiting playgrounds.

Please follow the below safety tips when enjoying one of the 1,000 playgrounds across the city.

Supervise: An adult presence is needed to facilitate play and watch for potential hazards to ensure children’s safety. Adult supervision can greatly reduce the risk of entanglement and entrapment hazards. String on clothing or ropes used for play can cause accidental strangulation if caught on equipment.

Play your Age: Pre-schoolers, Children 5 – 12, and Teens should utilize age-appropriate equipment.

Protect Children From the Sun: A day in the sun can take its toll. Parents and caregivers should carefully monitor active recreation during the hottest part of the day, generally 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The following tips will protect children from overexposure.

• Avoid Skin Contact with Hot Surfaces: Metal and rubber play surfaces can become very hot on sunny days and can cause burns on bare skin. If the equipment feels too hot to the touch, it’s probably not safe or fun to play on.
• Always Wear Shoes: Children should always wear the appropriate shoes to prevent burns from contact with hot surfaces and other injuries. Shoes should be worn at all times, even in spray shower areas.
• Use Sunscreen: Sunburn is painful and unhealthy. Use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher and reapply frequently.
• Drink Water: Your body needs plenty of water to prevent dehydration on hot summer days. Children can become dehydrated more quickly than adults.
• Protect your Eyes: Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
• Wear Appropriate Clothing: Wear light loose flitting clothing to keep cool and a hat to keep you shaded.

Spend time in the Shade: Keep infants and small children in the shade when possible.

For the 2010-2011 School Year
Until March 12th 2010

Monday – Friday
8:30am – 1:00pm
2:00pm – 3:00pm

Required Documents

1. Proof of age (original birth certificate, Passport or original baptismal certificate)
2. Two proofs of address (mortgage statement, utility bill, health card.

Drivers License, telephone or cable are NOT acceptable proofs of address.

Seriously, for those of Gerritsen Beach still at work or who don’t have children to pick up your lucky. We’ve covered the arrival/dissmall mess before here and here and honestly we have been letting everyone off easy.

In the past posts, it was the 61st precinct bowing to pressure to enforce the double parking. Recently every now and then a traffic agent, who looks lost, comes in and writes tickets. They mostly come in before dismissal and write tickets on Gerritsen Avenue for people parked in bus stops and if they see an expired registration/inspection. I have no problem with that, that is their job. However, they still have to obey all traffic laws just like anyone else, they can’t make U-turns, double park, etc.

As I was driving out yesterday I had the pleasure privilege of driving behind a traffic agent through dismissal. The parents cars were literality double parked on both sides of Gerritsen Avenue from Channel to Brenmans, it was a particularity bad day, maybe it was the snow coupled with a friday – who knows. The above agent would stop and go, not for the safety of children, but just to be scary. This agent was TRIPLE PARKING completely blocking north and south traffic. I guess they are allergic to getting out of their cars and walking to warn or issue tickets.

The parents cars were bad, this do-nothing agent, made matters worse. Forcing people into a panic driving through RED FLASHING stop lights on school buses and pulling out without looking.

GerritsenBeach.net will be getting back out there to highlight the problem again and maybe offer a solution. What ever happened to the parking lot? (ZING)

One minor problem and its something to take note of now, it appears as though they got rid of the two foot solid white line in front of PS 277. Oh Noes!

Image above: 2004 and 2007 aerial

A 100 by 120 yard field (about 2.5 acres) behind PS 277 and next to the soccer field has been cleared and leveled with literally tons of wood chips. The wood chips have been coming in almost weekly via a local Brooklyn contractor (dragonetti) who has been dumping the wood chips and various other debris there for the last few years.

At first it was assumed that this was a parks department project because of the markings and logos on heavy machinery (caterpillars, bobcats, etc..) and trucks. However, this is not a parks department project. When asked, the parks department currently has no projects being constructed in Gerritsen Beach and has no knowledge of this project.

According to the parks department wood debris and wood chips generated from hired tree contractors are considered commercial waste and therefore cannot be used on park land.

Rumors are going around that it may become a parking lot for PS 277, a ball field, etc… Who knows? More rumors include an agreement for dumping in exchange for use of heavy equipment.

Does anyone know?

Photo Gallery

Update: April 20th 2009

This is a GB Cares project to: (via a comment)

“to help solve problems on the parkland. This area was covered with garbage and weeds before GB Cares started the project. The school had concerns with people hiding in the weeds, the softball teams could not find foul balls, the soil conditions were not very good, and this overgrown garbage filled area was changed by GB Cares.

We removed 10 (20) yard dumpsters of garbage, planted 1,000’s of daffodils, tulips and over a dozen trees in this area. GB Cares requested the wood chips as they turn into mulch (Dirt) it is used around the park. The GBPOA community gardens, bus stop gardens, GBLL area have all benifited from the mulch from the area. The insured contractor has helped St. James, Kiddie Beach, GB Little League, GBPOA gardens, Olga’s Bus stops gardens, NYC Parks, and GB Cares with Free tree removal and landscaping services for years.

The wood chip area would be clean, groomed and level right now. But, the Parks Department has requested GB Cares to stop work and resubmit a written request for approval of all the volunteer projects we do on the Parkland.

Update: April 25th 2009 Sent in Via Email:
Turns out GerritsenBeach.net was not the only one asking questions.

Take what you want from this letter.

“Kid Power and The Planet Protectors” – is a highly interactive, 50-minutes musical show, designed to help children, in grades K-6, learn the value of environmental awareness and preservation. This energetic show is packed with puppets, characters, clever visuals, and lots of singing and dancing. Through sing-a-longs, question answering, dancing, and volunteering, children are encouraged to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to make environmentally conscious choices.

The show addresses three elements of the environment: Earth, Air, and Water

A new sign popped up on the 277 grounds “NO IDLING CHILDREN BREATHING”. While I’m all for clean air for children to breathe, I’m more for saving money by avoiding fines. The city decided to cut the idling time from three minutes to 60 seconds in a school zone. They also gave the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Sanitation, along with the Police and Transportation Departments, to issue summonses, appearance tickets and violation notices for engine idling.

Watch out if your one of the parents who double park, you could get hit up with a few HEAVY taxes fines. This new law the fines range from $220 to $2,000 for repeat offenders.

Mrs. Fish warned the ENTIRE school by sending out a letter. GerritsenBeach.net warned you. Still… you didn’t care.

Now, three $115 double parking tickets were issued during dismissal at P.S. 277. Two inside the thick solid white line, and one in front of the P.S. 277 playground. They were only issuing tickets if you were double parked and no one was in the car.

Parking within the thick solid white line is only supposed to be a drop off and pick up zone. Example: 15 minutes tops without leaving your car double parked with no one inside.

Favorite line from a parents: “This is F#$!@$# nuts, what are we supposed to do?”

What do you get when you park a patrol car with flashing lights at the PS 277 entrance? A lot of freaked out parents! but obviously not all got the message.

Some parents heeded our earlier warning and avoided the area by parking further away from 277, or dropping off their kids within the solid white lines and not sticking around to chit-chat, pulling away.

There was a good number of parents still double parking, making U-turns, all in front of an officer. What happened to them you ask? Well nothing… turns out the officer is just going to sit in his idling patrol car. Maybe just having a presence is “enforcement”.

At the last Property Owners meeting it was said that a traffic/moving violation would have to be witness by an officer, what good is having an officer present, if he’s not going to walk around, or enforce anything once in a while?

The whole situation might be a work in progress but my favorite moment came when someone said “I would stay and chat with you but I’m afraid of getting a ticket.”

Update: Dismissal
Same thing, different time, more proof . This time a guy that got out of his car to curse me out for stopping for a school bus stop sign. People are amazing.

Someone blew by the bus, while an officer witnessed it. I love selective enforcement. Why even call it enforcement when its just a presence?

Here is a photo gallery

Update: Letter (March 4th) Mrs. Fish

As you know double and triple parking is a serious problem in front of our school and across the street, in the bus stop at arrival and dismissal time. We have received
numerous complaints from many of you and from other members of the Gerritsen Beach community. I am once again asking your cooperation to solve this issue which affects the safety and well-being of our children.

When driving your child to school, please stop long enough to drop off your child and proceed so that other parents may do the same. When picking up your child, I urge you not to park illegally. Do not park in the city bus stop, in the school bus stops and/or double or triple park in front of the school. In addition to being illegal it also presents a serious safety hazard for our children.

After receiving many complaints from parents and members of the Gerritsen Beach community, Community Affairs Liaison, Police Officer Grant of the 61·t Precinct, has
informed me that beginning next week, traffic violations will be issued for the above mentioned infractions. I would not like to see any of you receiving a summons, but more importantly, I want to avoid any of our children becoming seriously injured.

I thank you for your cooperation in this matter.