The Brooklyn Paper reports this week that City Councilman David Yassky (D- Brooklyn Heights) is supporting a plan to add a middle school to the Brooklyn House of Detention development plan:
Brooklyn Paper: Lock ‘Em Up: As a result, Corrections Commissioner Martin Horn told a group of local pols and community activists at a Jan. 2 meeting that he is considering housing a new middle school in the jail.
Councilman David Yassky (D–Brooklyn Heights) strongly supported the idea, according to people who attended the meeting at Borough Hall.
Yassky’s support for a jailhouse middle school follows his opposition to a plan by DUMBO developer David Walentas to include a middle school in his proposed Dock Street apartment tower because part of that building might block some views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“David’s position has always been that we need a new middle school in the general Downtown area,†said Sam Rockwell, Yassky’s spokesman, adding that the councilman would certainly consider the school-in-a-jail concept.
It is NOT accurate to say that the Council Member supports the placement of a middle school in the Brooklyn House of Detention. It is accurate to say, however, that he does not reject the idea out of hand. If there were a school at that location, it is entirely possible that it could be built without any contact or connection to the HOD (thereby eliminating the “school-in-a-jail” characterization). Without seeing even a rough outline of the plans for the HOD, it is impossible to make an informed decision at this point. Any input from the community is more than welcome, and will help us come to an informed decision (the office number is 718 875 5200).
So are you saying the Brooklyn Paper report is inaccurate?
Blasphemy!
“One more spitball, Timmy, and I’ll throw you in the punk tank with the trannies!”
I am not saying that the Brooklyn Paper reported inaccurately. Mike McLaughlin’s article cites “people who attended the meeting at Borough Hall” as saying the Council Member supports the idea. These participants in the meeting must have simply understood the Council Member’s curiosity as support, which it was not.