Photo by Carol Brewer.
June 10, 2019 Weather: Rainy, with a high of 68 degrees.
Notices:
Concerts, readings and many other local events are on our calendar.
News:
Teachers at PS 333 apparently have problems with the principal. “In written ballots, 62 of 78 staff members at Public School 333, the Manhattan School for Children — nearly 80% of the school’s employees — said they don’t support the continued leadership of Principal Claire Lowenstein, one source told the Daily News…Department of Education spokeswoman Danielle Filson said ‘the executive superintendent is visiting the school on Monday to hear from the community and address their concerns.'”
After a man was killed by a train on Tuesday, another subway crash on Friday also resulted in a fatality. “The man, who police said appeared to have been in his 50s, was already on the tracks when he was hit around 10:30 a.m. by a northbound No. 2 train between the West 86th Street and West 96th Street stations, police and the FDNY said. The victim, who police said appeared to have been homeless, was pronounced dead at the scene, an FDNY spokesman said.”
Comedian and SNL star Leslie Jones was very unhappy with the treatment at Sephora at 2103 Broadway, writing on social media that “you got to close your store to teach your employees sensitivity.” “Jones published the tweet the day before Sephora was scheduled to conduct ‘inclusivity’ training at more than 400 of its stores across the country.” The catalyst for Jones’ complaint wasn’t clear.
Love the photo!
Characterizing the unfortunate death of the man on the subway tracks as a crash is an exaggeration of the term. Better to say he was struck by a moving train.
He wasn’t a homeless man; he was sad, complex and broken human being struggling with debilitating mental illness, and I knew him. He lived in a transitional residence for adults with Mental Disabilities here on the Upper West Side
For years, a team of us volunteers have visited the home to bring friendship, relationship and any small inkling of joy and presence into the lives of these adults. This man participated when he could, revealed fascinating and tragic parts of his life, when he could, and shared stories about his family, his upbringing, his love for music, and his inquiries into faith, God and religion.
He was a human being with a history, a story, and lived a life filled with heartache, yet one that mattered and matters.
We mourn the tragic end to his life, in this way, and lament with his family as they hear the news.
Better to say “rest in peace, condolences to his family and friends” and let the rest go.
This has nothing to do with sympathy, which I do have. The word “crash” in a subway incident almost aways suggests negligence on the part of an employee or negligence in the maintenance of equipment. Repeated use of that term strengthens the impression that the subways are increasingly unreliable from the standpoint of safety. That does not seem to be the case in this situation.
WINNER !!!
Kvetch-of-the-week, and it’s only Monday !
Fascinating story about Manhattan School for Children. I have heard a lot of mixed reviews – some people love it, some people are not fans. The concept of a more inclusive school is great, as well as the fact that it is k-8, but clearly there is something wrong. Any thoughts from MSC families?
In my experience, this principal was put in a really, really tough spot. First, she is a data driven technocrat who was chosen to lead a truly progressive schoo. Unfortunately, with the recent pressure to teach to the test, progressive education has fallen on hard times because the kids don’t test well. And of course, because NYC schools are insanely underfunded, it’s hard to teach “the right way” with 30 kids in a classroom.
So, she focused exclusively on getting test scores up.She was getting LD kids out of the building to raise the scores. She went to war against IEP students, did the bare bare minimum to support them, and usually denied there was a problem. She very much protected failing, burned out teachers and would ignore parent’s pleas for attention or help. I assume the 20% of teachers who voted for her to stay were these pension-sucking leeches that she defended all the time. The other 80% were rightfully outraged. Parents were outraged.
Sadly, this probably signals the end of progressive education in NYC, and the kids in that school still have be taught by teachers who don’t want to be there and are burned out.
I understand your point about teaching to the test, but MSC scores well above average.
Yes, see the point about refusing IEPs, etc. Plus, let’s face it, this school’s lottery is a joke. Most kids get in on the wait list, of which the principal has control.
Glad to hear teachers are in mutiny at PS 333. Not sure if it is all the principal’s fault, but she certainly didn’t make things better by ignoring and obstructing IEPs and defending awful teachers who should’ve been gone decades ago.
Agree with you completely. The IEP process is difficult enough but Claire Lowenstein does everything she can to delay and make it impossible to get help for a child.
She is more concern with her image and certainly not helping children or parents
Nancy D
DOE pays about $125K a year extra for my kids to be educated elsewhere, instead of spending about that on a teacher or 2 who can teach kids with dyslexia. Great job, Claire.
Unfortunately its all true. The principal is not a good person.
any idea who the dancer was
and her back story i.e. prepping for audition or rehearsal?
if leslie jone s is unhappy.. i’m unhappy. boo sephora.
Thank you, Leslie Jones! She is SOOO right about that Sephora. I won’t go into that store or any Sephora location ever again after the disgustingly rude treatment I got when they first opened. Sensitivity treatment is not enough.
This Leslie Jones story has been making rounds of various news media for several days now and quite frankly is becoming a bore.
Wife of Miss. Jones “best friend” required cosmetics and lessons on how to apply. Miss. Jones sent her make-up artist and the woman to Sephora, and the rest as they say is history.
No one is saying exactly what happened, but later the make-up artist called Miss. Jones in tears at apparently both women suffered some sort of perceived abuse or slight by Sephora staff.
https://pagesix.com/2019/06/06/leslie-jones-slams-sephora-for-bad-customer-service/
https://blackamericaweb.com/2019/06/10/leslie-jones-sephora-racism/
What a fabulous photo!
I no longer bother checking that Sephora, even when I need something and am walking by it. Since its opening 99% of employees are busy talking to each other and not stepping up to help. Being ignored cuts across racial lines in that store. I’m white and ignored. Can’t believe their doors are still open. They never seem to have more than a couple of customers
in the store.
IIRC both Sephora and Ulta are strictly wage (minimum of a hair above) jobs without commission. Thus just like every where else these days service is going to be hit or miss. You simply get what you pay for.
Anyone who wants beauty/cosmetic advice is far better off going to MAC or any of the department stores. Those places do often pay advisors/make-up artists commission thus there is an incentive to not only push goods, but offer good CS as well.
Still cannot understand why a professional make-up artist would expect any sort of “advice” from Sephora employees. Everyone knows on average the place just isn’t cut out for that sort of thing.