It was a relief to hear from Norm Scott that he and his wife Carol are OK. We were worried for a while as Education Notes usually posts several times a day and when we didn't hear from Norm, we naturally become concerned.
As we move ahead, there is plenty of confusion about the reopening of NYC public schools. Staff needs to report on Friday. The kids will be back on Monday, November 5.
We will leave the editorializing on the absurdity of sending us back on Friday to the South Bronx School blog.
Here is the latest information we have from the DOE followed by MTA news. Thanks to Pat Debosz for sending it around.
Dear Colleagues:
This afternoon (Wednesday), Mayor Bloomberg made several announcements related to the City's response to Hurricane Sandy, outlined below. Please review these developments and continue to monitor the news, nyc.gov, @NYCMayorsOffice and @NYCSchools for the latest information about the City's response to the storm.
School Remains Closed to Students Thursday and Friday
The Mayor has announced that schools will remain closed and will reopen to students on Monday, November 5. School based staff are not expected to report on Thursday. School Custodians will receive separate instructions from the Division of School Facilities.
Schools Reopen to Staff on Friday
Staff will be expected to report on Friday to prepare for school opening on Monday. We are making accommodations for staff based at the buildings that we are unable to occupy due to damage or power outages. We will be working with your network teams to ensure you have information about issues that would prevent school staff from being on-site and if so, alternative locations to which they should report.
In addition, we will send communication to staff by the end of the day tomorrow. We urge all teachers and staff to monitor their email, the DOE web site, Facebook, and twitter for details tomorrow evening on where to report on Friday.
Central Offices Open on Thursday
In accordance with city policy, if your office is open and you can safely report to work, please do so – but only if you can get in safely. This includes teachers assigned, Supervisors, Educational Administrators, managers and all other staff working in central and field offices.
Administrative buildings in zone A will remain closed with the exception of essential operations. Employees from administrative offices in zone A may be redeployed by supervisors to alternative work sites.
Additionally, two administrative office sites are currently closed due to power outages or damage: Tweed and 49-51 Chambers Street.
Below is a list of administrative office sites where displaced staff may report and have access to a networked computer. These sites will be able to accommodate all non-school based staff who are displaced.
Because of the lingering effects of the storm, continue to exercise caution and allow extra time for travel to work tomorrow morning. If mass transit services have not yet been restored in your neighborhood, and you have no other safe and feasible way to travel to work, then you should use your judgment and delay your arrival. There will be no penalties for transit-related lateness. If you cannot come to work, you should use annual leave, personal leave/CAR time or compensatory time to stay home. Continue to use your judgment and ensure your safety first. Administrative offices will be open and staff can report to work or take leave. For those who have no applicable leave balance, leave may be advanced for this purpose. For hourly employees who are unable to come to work, offices should make every effort to schedule make up hours within this pay period if at all possible.
Please check the MTA web site at www.mta.info for the latest on mass transit service; also, please be sure to check www.nyc.gov and the Department of Education web site for any additional information. Please distribute this memo to other staff.
Questions about this policy should be directed to Lawrence Becker atLBecker@schools.nyc.gov or Joann Molter at JMolter@schools.nyc.gov.
We will continue to update you. Thank you for your support and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dennis M. Walcott
Bldg ID
|
Address
|
02M882
| |
06M048
|
4360 Broadway, New York, NY
|
05M808
|
388 West 125th Street, New York, NY
|
08X833
|
1230 Zerega Avenue, Bronx, NY
|
10X815
|
1 Fordham Plaza, Bronx, NY
|
07X807
|
501 Courtland Avenue, Bronx, NY
|
08X953
|
3450 East Tremont, Bronx, NY
|
15K801
|
65 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY
|
15K802
|
131 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY
|
22K995
|
5618 Flatlands Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
|
23K808
|
1665 Saint Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
|
20K989
| |
22K997
|
1780 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
|
13K986
|
335 Adams Street, 4th & 5th Floors, Brooklyn, NY
|
13K986
|
335 Adams Street, 6th Floor, Brooklyn, NY
|
13K986
|
335 Adams Street, 28th & 29th Floors, Brooklyn, NY
|
13K831
|
2 Metro Tech, Brooklyn, NY
|
18K818
|
1106 E. 95th Street, Brooklyn, NY
|
13K813
|
355 Park Place, Brooklyn, NY
|
25Q859
|
30-48 Linden Place, Queens, NY
|
30Q800
|
28-11 Queens Plaza North, Queens, NY
|
30Q980
|
45 -18 Court Square, Queens NY
|
27Q823
|
82-01 Rockaway Blvd, Queens NY
|
28Q732
|
90-27 Sutphin Blvd, Queens NY
|
28Q733
| |
31R080
|
Petrides/715 Ocean Terrace- “A” Building, Staten Island, NY
|
__._,_.___
As for the subways, here is the latest from the MTA via NBC News.
The MTA will resume limited subway service Thursday as crews continue working to pump water out of flooded stations and tunnels throughout the city, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Fares are waived on commuter railways, subways and buses through Friday night.
Buses will supplement subway service between downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan. There will be no subway service between 34th Street in Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn due to power outages. Limited Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road service resumed Wednesday afternoon.
Here's a full list of subway, commuter rail, bridge and bus availability and alternative options:
SUBWAYS:
- 1 trains will operate local between 242nd Street (Bronx) and Times Square-42nd Street.
- 2 trains will operate between 241st Street (Bronx) and Times Square-42nd Street, with express service between 96th Street and Times Square.
- 3 trains are suspended.
- 4 trains will operate in two sections making all local stops:
- Between Woodlawn (Bronx) and Grand Central-42nd Street
- Between Borough Hall and New Lots Avenue
- 5 trains will operate express in Brooklyn between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Flatbush Avenue.
- 6 trains will operate local between Pelham Bay Park and Grand Central-42nd Street.
- 7 trains are suspended.
- 42nd Street Shuttle S trains will operate between Times Square and Grand Central.
- A trains will operate in two sections making all local stops:
**Between 168th Street (Manhattan) and 34th Street-Penn Station
**Between Jay Street/MetroTech and Lefferts Blvd.
**Between Jay Street/MetroTech and Lefferts Blvd.
- B and C service is suspended.
- D trains operate in two sections:
**Between 205th Street (Bronx) and 34th Street-Herald Square making all local stops
**In Brooklyn, between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Bay Parkway making express stops between Pacific Street and 36th Street
**In Brooklyn, between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Bay Parkway making express stops between Pacific Street and 36th Street
- E trains are suspended.
- F trains operate in two sections making all local stops:
**Between 179th Street (Queens) and 34th Street-Herald Square
**In Brooklyn, between Jay Street-MetroTech and Avenue X
**In Brooklyn, between Jay Street-MetroTech and Avenue X
- G trains are suspended.
- J trains operate between Jamaica Center and Hewes Street making all local stops.
- L trains operate between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Parkway making all local stops.
- M trains operate between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Metropolitan Avenue.
- N trains operate between Ditmars Blvd. (Queens) and 34th Street-Herald Square making all local stops.
- Q trains are suspended.
- R trains operate in Brooklyn between Jay Street-MetroTech and 95th Street making all local stops.
- Both the Franklin Avenue and Rockaway Park S shuttles are suspended.
SHUTTLE BUSES:
- All shuttle buses will operate north on 3rd Avenue and south on Lexington Avenue.
- Between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Manhattan Bridge
- Between Jay Street-MetroTech and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Manhattan Bridge
- Between Hewes Street and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Williamsburg Bridge
MTA BUSES:
- Local, Limited-Stop and Express Bus service are operating as close to a normal weekday schedule as possible. Fares are waived Wednesday.
- Access-A-Ride began limited service Wednesday and is accepting reservations for travel after noon Thursday.
NJ TRANSIT
- Rail services remains suspended on all lines. There is no estimated time for the resumption of service
- Bus service will operate in Camden County only on the following lines:
**Full Service: Nos. 400, 401, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 410,412, 413, 414, 418, 419 (with detour at Rancocas Creek), 450, 451, 452, 453, 455 (with detour b/t National Park and Paulsboro), 457, 459 and 463
**Partial Service: Nos. 402 and 409
**Partial Service: Nos. 402 and 409
- Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and Newark Light Rail service remains suspended until further notice
- River Line Light Rail service resumed at 3 p.m. Wednesday between Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden and Trenton Transit Center, operating every 30 minutes. Service remains suspended between Walter Rand Transportation Center and the Entertainment Center
- Access Link Paratransit Service remains suspended. There is no estimated time for restoration
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD:
- City Terminal – (Jamaica - Penn Station): LIMITED: Starting 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, hourly; off-peak trains stop at Kew Gardens and Woodside.
- Ronkonkoma Branch: LIMITED: Main Line to Penn Station, hourly
- Port Washington Branch: LIMITED: Great Neck to Penn Station, hourly
- Babylon Branch: Suspended
- Port Jefferson Branch: Suspended
- Montauk Branch: Suspended
- Hempstead Branch: Suspended
- Long Beach: Suspended
- Far Rockaway: Suspended
- Oyster Bay Branch: Suspended
- West Hempstead: Suspended
METRO-NORTH:
- Hudson Line: Suspended
- Upper Harlem Line: Suspended
- Lower Harlem Line: LIMITED
- New Haven Line: LIMITED
- New Canaan Branch: Suspended
- Danbury Branch: Suspended
- Waterbury Branch: Suspended
West-of-Hudson:
- Pascack Valley: Suspended
- Port Jervis: Suspended
MTA BRIDGES AND TUNNELS:
- Robert F. Kennedy Bridge: Open
- Henry Hudson Bridge: Open
- Throgs Neck Bridge: Open
- Bronx-Whitestone Bridge: Open
- Verrazano-Narrows Bridge: Open
- Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge: Open
- Cross Bay Veterans Memorial: Open northbound to Broad Chanel; Open southbound to Rockaways but subject to period closures for emergency equipment
- Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (Hugh L. Carey): Closed
- Queens Midtown Tunnel: Closed
I think this is insane. So many teachers have lost property including their cars to this storm, yet they are asked to take a day to "prepare a classroom". They have no electricity and I am wondering how they are supposed to know to report to work or read an email. Many are stuck because of fallen trees and wires making them prisoners in their own homes.
ReplyDeleteAt least give them Friday and the weekend to try to get some accommodations.
On top of that, Bloomberg is back to charging for meter parking. Had it been up to him, teachers would have reported to work on Monday. The man is heartless.