By Carol Tannenhauser
Monday, October 3, 2022
Cloudy, with morning rain. High 57 degrees.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events! Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner.
Vital and free health care services are being offered this week by State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, in partnership with Mount Sinai, Goddard Riverside, and the Italian-American Cancer Society.
* Free Flu Shots, Thursday, October 6, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center at 250 West 65 Street, between Amsterdam and West End Avenues. Appointments are required. Call 212-873-6368 or email rosenthall@nyassembly.gov to book a spot.
* Free Mammograms, Friday, October 7. A mammogram screening event will be held in front of Rosenthal’s district office at 230 West 72nd Street. Appointments are available from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Anyone between the ages of 40 and 79 who has not had a screening in the last year can attend. No insurance is necessary. To make an appointment, email rosenthall@nyassembly.gov or call the office at 212-873-6368.
Vera wrote: “Hi WSR! I found a ring near the Great Hill in Central Park on Friday. Would you be able to help me find the owner?” Sure. If you lost a ring, email info@westsiderag.com and we’ll connect you with Vera.
News
The education pendulum has swung again. Mayor Eric Adams has reversed former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s guidelines for admission to the city’s selective middle schools and most elite high schools. Those admission standards had been lowered by de Blasio in the throes of the pandemic (when standardized testing was suspended). The existing lottery system was expanded to include a broader range of students, with a goal of increasing integration of these schools, which have historically had relatively fewer Black and Latino students. On Thursday, NYC Department of Education Chancellor David Banks announced that “New York City’s selective middle schools can once again use grades to choose which students to admit … Selective high schools will also be able to prioritize top-performing students,” The New York Times reported.
This past April, Adams and Banks also reinstated and expanded the city’s Gifted and Talented program, which de Blasio had been phasing out. Politicians and educators have long struggled with two competing goals: bringing more equity to the admissions process while keeping middle-class families within the public school system. “I don’t want to de-incentivize hard work,” Banks said. “I think it’s really important that if you’re working hard and making the grade, you should not be thrown in a lottery with just everybody.”
Banks is “threading the needle,” the Daily News said in an editorial. “Importantly, [he] recognizes that there are brilliant kids capable of exceptional achievement in every corner of New York, which is why he’s also creating new accelerated high schools with local priority entry in Brownsville, the South Bronx and Southeast Queens — and pledging more rigorous instruction in non-screened high schools.”
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Two Upper West Side Restaurants — Chick Chick, a Korean fried chicken spot, and Covacha, serving Mexican food — were named 2022 Michelin “Bib Gourmands.” “These are restaurants where diners can, in the eyes of the Michelin inspectors, order two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for under $49,” Eater explained. “The Bibs, considered a serious accolade among some chefs and observers, are deemed a consolation prize by others, as these venues will be ineligible for stars this year.” The stars will be announced on October 6.
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Finally, a chess grandmaster with a chess school at 110 West 79nd Street (Columbus-Amsterdam) — Max Chess Academy — has admitted to cheating multiple times in past tournaments. “Maxim Dlugy was banned from Chess.com in 2017 and 2020 for repeatedly cheating in its tournaments, according to emails reviewed by Motherboard in which Dlugy admits to cheating,” Vice reported. “They include a lengthy explanation from Dlugy in which he says that students from his chess academy were watching him play in a Chess.com tournament, and that one of them was using a chess AI [program] to feed him moves.” Said Dlugy, “I promise it will not happen again.” Dlugy is a coach of Hans Niemann, one of the top-ranked chess players in the world, who has also recently been accused of cheating. (Thanks to Michael for the tip.)
Chick Chick is fantastic. Well deserved mention on the bib list!
Though it is definitely a positive step, the changes to school admissions are far from where they were. Schools restoring admissions criteria will focus them primarily on grades, not test scores. Which will lead to pressure on teachers to give good grades. Adding the additional schools in these neighborhoods is great.
I think that G&T at the elementary school level should be de-emphasized because differentiating kids at that age is a crapshoot. On the UWS, there are a number of gen-ed schools that equally or more rigorous than G&T. Focus more on improving elementary schools across the city. But at the middle and high school levels, there should be differentiation as students have more of a track record. Students of like abilities should be able to go to school together – it is better for all parties involved.
The NY Times reporting on NYC public schools is absolutely horrible. The writer who was covering them for a while was suffering from a horrible case of privileged white guilt, and the new writer who wrote this article is only slightly better.
The new mayor and chancellor have made some progress, but there is still a ways to go. Hopefully they will continue to make improvements.
As a G&T parent, I can attest that differentiating kids at that age is NOT a crapshoot. That said, there are many more children who would do well in a G&T classroom, but the DOE has limited the number of seats.
With regard to District 3 gen ed schools I’ve met several families from PS 9, 87, and 199 (the most coveted gen ed schools in this district) whose children were bored/not engaged at school. I recall from a prior exchange with you that you offhandedly dismissed these families as “snowflakes” and made mean comments about G&T kids. Your constant maligning of G&T programs, families, and kids is not appreciated. You do not speak for all families and are not as knowledgeable as you clearly think you are.
RE: the chess story. The Chess Academy was teaching its students how to cheat??? Wow!!! That’s quite a school. Shut it down. Forever.
Nice to hear that the Chess Academy is giving those students a heads up on how to cheat the system. I’m sure some of them will be inspired to have dubious careers working in the markets using non-public information to their advantage. When they’re caught, they’ll blame it all on their childhood chess club.