Ridge School Anthrax Scare

SATURDAY • SEPTEMBER 4, 2004 Including The Bensonhurst Paper Brooklyn’s REAL newspapers Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington St, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2004 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 18 pages • Vol. 27, No. 35 BRZ • Saturday, September 4, 2004 • FREE # # # # # GOP CONVENTION ’04 # Ridge school BUSH WATCHERS Protesters a mild distraction at anthrax scare Golden’s bash By Jotham Sederstrom all mailings of powdery substances being revealed, was treated at Victo- “As a precaution, our assistant di- By Jotham Sederstrom The Brooklyn Papers since the anthrax laced mailings of ry Memorial Hospital. rector subsequently received appro- priate medical testing and results The Brooklyn Papers Police and a hazardous mate- 2001 that killed five people, school By noon, authorities had ruled that More than 500 Republicans who officials erred on the side of caution. the substance was non-toxic and have come back negative,” said rials unit of the Fire Department Officials at Tutor Time, an inter- children and parents were allowed to Sharon Tse, director of marketing showed up for a bash in Manhattan evacuated a tutoring program in nationally franchised learning center return. and public relations for the Novi, hosted by state Sen. Marty Golden Bay Ridge this week after an for children ranging in age from 6 About 20 children were at the Mich.-based program, which has were treated to complimentary hors employee opened an envelope weeks to 12 years, said that police center that day, said a spokeswoman 201 outposts across the country. d’oeuvres, cocktails and a projection- containing a white, powdery were called to the building at 7817 for the program. As a safety precau- The office area itself has been se- screen showing of the Republican substance thought to be anthrax. Third Ave. around 9 am on Aug. 31 tion, the second-floor office where cured by authorities and we’ve been National Convention. The substance was later found to after the substance spilled out of the the employee opened the envelope informed that an analysis of the sub- But it was an impromptu visit by a be harmless and may have been a envelope and onto the assistant di- remained closed throughout the stance may take as long as a week. throng of anti-war demonstrators that prank pulled by a disgruntled former rector of the school. week while investigators awaited fi- However, preliminary tests done proved most captivating for the GOP loy- employee of the school. Still, as with The woman, whose name is not nal test results. See ANTHRAX on page 7 alists, who on Tuesday evening flocked to Scopa, an Italian restaurant on Madison Avenue at East 28th Street, to rally around President George W. Bush. Faces pressed to a row of windows, partygoers watched as police handcuffed and arrested several dozen demonstrators in front of the upscale Protest targets restaurant. While Republicans noshed on cabbage dumplings, protestors ate concrete. “Why are we going to re-elect [Bush]?” Callan / Tom asked Golden, his back to the crowd as he watched the melee unfold. “Because you Lafayette principal have a bunch of punks outside and they’re out of control.” By Jotham Sederstrom by the U.S. Department of Justice. Golden, who later that evening would Papers The Brooklyn The Brooklyn Papers “The world is telling this individual that work his way north to three more engage- State Sen. Marty Golden and former Giuliani commis- slowly but surely this school is becoming a See PARTY on page 4 sioner Rosemarie O’Keefe at Golden’s Manhattan party. Parents and students fed up with what snake pit,” said state Sen. Carl Kruger, who an- they call a spiraling disintegration of safe- nounced that he would send a letter asking the ty and other conditions at Lafayette High Justice Department to place onsite monitors at School, gathered across the street from the Lafayette. 65-year-old Gravesend institution this Kruger spoke alongside Bensonhurst Assem- week to demand the resignation of its blyman William Colton and Steve Chung, pres- principal. ident of the Brooklyn United Chinese Associa- Despite protests, Waving placards in both English and Chi- tion. Since earlier this year, the trio has headed nese, some reading, “Lafayette deserves a good an effort to overhaul the school, which in better principal,” the throng of more than one hundred days taught the likes of famed Dodgers pitcher protesters gathered alongside a playground on Sandy Koufax and talk-show host Larry King. Benson Avenue at Bay 43rd Street Monday to Since last year, the school has been pock- Mango / Greg call for the removal of Alan Siegel, the school’s marked by a series of highly publicized crimes, jail stays shuttered principal since 2002. including one in its hallways in which a student While Lafayette has had a troubled reputa- knocked Siegel unconscious while fleeing from By Jess Wisloski explained the Correction officer. “From what I un- tion since the early 1980s, the school has at- a fellow student he had just robbed. More re- tracted intense scrutiny the last two years in the cently, the father of a student attacked two sis- Papers The Brooklyn The Brooklyn Papers derstand, Manhattan’s been holding their own this week,” he said. wake of at least five violent crimes and an in- ters outside of the school and, two days later, a Sign placed in front of Lafayette High School A Department of Correction officer stood Despite the record-breaking number of arrests in vestigation into alleged discriminatory policies See SCHOOL on page 7 calls for the dismissal of principal Alan Siegel. at attention Tuesday night outside the the past week caused by protesters who came to Brooklyn House of Detention on Atlantic town for the Republican National Convention, the Avenue. Three MTA buses were parked in police department managed to take care of all the front of him, engines off, waiting for the call processing at their makeshift center in Chelsea, that might or might not come. which had room to accommodate 1,000 prisoners. If and when the call came, the buses would rum- On Tuesday, when, the police department an- ble to life and head out to Pier 57 in Manhattan, nounced 1,187 arrests, most prisoners were charged Cyclones win the pennant where hundreds of protesters would be corralled with minor crimes. and loaded onto the buses, to be shipped out to the “We haven’t had a tsunami of arrests,” Correction By Ed Shakespeare infamous “House of D,” as it is commonly known. Department spokesman Thomas Antenen told the But the call never came. Brooklyn Papers. “It’s an ongoing process. An in-and- for The Brooklyn Papers “They were only going to send protesters out out process. People get arrested, they go to Pier 57.” FISHKILL, NY — The Brooks have done it again. here if it became too much to handle over there,” Many of the people at the pier, called a Post Arrest With a 3-2 win over the second-place Hudson Valley Renegades Thurs- Screening Site, or PASS, were day night, the Brooklyn Cyclones locked up the McNamara Division — a penned into holding cells of feat they’ve accomplished three times in their four-year history. chain-link fencing with drinking The first round of the play- water and portable toilets avail- offs begins Monday night at able to them. Police department THIS WEEKEND Keyspan Park, at 7 pm, press releases described them as against the Tri-City Valley “clean, well-equipped, orderly” Cats, the Stedler Division and “humane.” Lawyers were champs. not allowed to visit their clients On Thursday, the Cyclones on the site. Callan Tom began the scoring in the sec- About half of those arrest- ond inning when, with one ed, the ones who received mi- out, Jim Burt singled, Dante / Rebecca Cetta nor-enough charges, were Brinkley walked and Jesus processed and issued desk ap- Flores knocked in Burt with a pearance tickets for court at a single to center. later date. The police depart- Papers File / The Brooklyn The Renegades tied things ment released a statement up in the fourth when Cy- Papers The Brooklyn Tuesday night that repeatedly clones starter Joe Williams al- Cyclones celebrate clinching playoff asserted that no prisoners were lowed a double to Pat Cottrell birth Thursday in upstate Fishkill. detained any longer than eight Join the carnival who later scored on Jake hours, and described the Man- A spectacular combination of Las at Grand Army Plaza. The service Ritchie’s single to left. hattan facility as clean. Vegas glitz and Caribbean music will roads have stands of vendors lined up In the fifth inning, Brooklyn regained the lead when Matt Fisher dou- “We had planned that facili- overflow Brooklyn’s streets on Labor selling foods, crafts, books, clothing, bled home Grant Psomas, who had reached on a wild pitch strikeout ty to handle over a thousand Day, Monday, Sept. 6, as the 37th an- art, jewelry and more. and was later sacrificed to second. persons,” said Deputy Chief nual West Indian American Day pa- Festival organizers, the West Indi- But Hudson Valley again came back, scoring a tally in the bottom of Michael Collins, a spokesman rade kicks off at 11 am. an-American Day Carnival Associa- the seventh off Cyclones reliever Chuck Smith. Pinch hitter Shaun for the NYPD. He said the Featuring live music, stilt dancers, tion, predict this year’s fest to attract Cumberland singled to center, advanced to second on a bunt,went to Tuesday arrests were “scattered Caribbean foods and more, the color- more than 3 million participants.

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