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Photo source: The Gothamist

Ever since Taja, 10, joined the Keltic Dreams, the Irish dance troupe that is the unlikely pride of her Bronx elementary school, she has been so consumed by high kicks, heel clicks and treble hop backs that she practices “on the street, at the bus stop, sometimes at the train station, in the living room, on the bus when I’m standing up and there’s no seats.”

Oh, and also in class. In class? That’s right, with her fingers, she explained, demonstrating the way her index finger acts as the left foot and her middle finger as the right.

“I look at the teacher,” Taja chirped, her eyes gleaming mischievously behind wire-rimmed glasses, “and do it at the same time.”

With a student body that is 71 percent Hispanic and 27 percent black, Public School 59 does not seem an obvious home for a thriving Irish dance troupe. And when Caroline Duggan first arrived from Dublin at age 23 to try her hand as a New York City public school music teacher, it wasn’t. Many of her students had never heard of Ireland. Why, they wanted to know, did she talk funny?

Then, to stave off homesickness, Ms. Duggan hung a “Riverdance” poster in her fifth-floor classroom, and one thing led to another. The children pointed to a long-haired dancer on the poster and asked if it was her. No, she laughed, but I could show you a few steps. The impromptu lesson grew into a wildly popular after-school program and, for the first time last year, a trip to Ireland that still inspires dreamy looks among those lucky enough to go.

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Orono & Bronx Kids Learn ABout Each Other: The Laramie Project

ORONO, Maine - This weekend’s production of “The Laramie Project” is about bringing attention to some tough issues, while offering students the chance to learn about their peers and make some new friends.

Orono High School students have been participating in a program called Operation Breaking Stereotypes that pairs up schools from Maine with schools from New York City with the goal of addressing the issues of stereotyping and working to build awareness of the problem.

Students from Orono have been working with students from Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy in Bronx, N.Y., for several months. The Orono students went to the Bronx last fall where they put on a joint performance of “The Laramie Project.”

“I think it sends a really important message that the little things that people say and do can really add up quickly, and horrible things can happen because of things that people don’t think about,” OHS sophomore Emily Bottie, 15, said Thursday. “It’s great to show a bunch of different people this story.”

The play is based on reactions to the 1998 murder of a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, in Laramie, Wyo., and demonstrates how a small town reacted to one of the most publicized hate crimes in the country.

After the production, the students will assist in leading a discussion with the audience to talk about some of the issues brought up in the play, including homosexuality, homophobia and stereotypes.

“We need to look beyond what we see every day,” OHS sophomore Colby Brown, 16, said. “Everyone in their own way is being discriminated upon by someone somewhere. I think people need to have a reminder in today’s society. As much as we don’t want to believe it’s happening, it is.”

During their stay, local families are hosting students from the Bronx, and on Friday the students got a chance to shadow their OHS partners during the school day.

“What surprised me the most is that the kids there are exactly like us,” Brown said. “They talk a little bit different, but that’s about it. They live and do everything else just the same way we do.”

“It really surprised me how alike we were from the kids that live in the Bronx,” Bottie said. “I thought they would all be the stereotype that I have in my head.”

The students were scheduled to perform “The Laramie Project” for their peers Friday and will host a free performance open to the community at 7 p.m. today at the Church of Universal Fellowship, 82 Main St.

“Hopefully they can see what reality is as far as people discriminating — what really happens,” OHS sophomore Jake Doing, 15, said. “I’ve heard of a few things, but I never heard it’s a big problem. People don’t really come out and talk about things like that, and this is right in your face.”

SOURCE: BangorNews.com

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Riker’s Island Inmates Relocation Plans 

Western Queens elected officials are renewing their call for the city to reduce the number of inmates in Rikers Island, which is located in the Bronx but can only be reached from Astoria, and open correctional facilities in other boroughs.

The city Correction Department has been drawing up a plan that would relocate 25 percent of the inmates from Rikers Island to other facilities in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the hopes of lowering costs associated with busing prisoners from Rikers to courts all over the five boroughs, Deputy Commissioner Steve Morello said.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) said the city’s current jail network is outdated and inconvenient to Astoria. He said thousands of prisoners, guards, legal staff and visitors pass through Astoria en route to the Rikers Island Bridge, located at Hazen and 19th streets, each day, increasing neighborhood pollution and traffic.

“Jail is meant to punish those guilty of crimes, but there’s no reason why our jails should punish the innocent residents of a single neighborhood,” he said. “Crime is a problem shared by the entire city and, therefore, the responsibility of handling our criminals should also be shared.”

Rikers Island, which has housed inmates since 1920, is technically located in the Bronx, but can only be accessed by crossing the Rikers Island Bridge in Astoria.

The Correction Department’s plan would include lowering the jail’s daily average of 12,000 inmates by 3,000 and housing inmates at jails closer to the communities into which they will eventually be released, Morello said. Corrections Commissioner Martin Horn has proposed constructing a new jail in the Bronx as well as reopening and doubling the size of the Brooklyn House of Detention (275 Atlantic Ave.), he said.

“The neighborhood has maintained 80 percent of the city’s jail population for many decades,” Morello said. “And Rikers Island is a long way from neighborhoods where inmates are from, making it hard for visitors and attorneys to come there.”

Morello said the completion of a new jail would take four years. The Corrections Department would need the City Council’s approval to acquire land for the jail, he said.

“One of the many burdens in this community is traffic from Rikers Island,” said state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria). “Anything we can do to alleviate the burdens on this community would be welcome.”

SOURCE: TimesLedger.com

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