PS 84 Jose de Diego’s first PTA meeting of the 2012 school year was, by all measures, well attended. And after listening to impassioned speeches by parents (translated into Spanish and English by the PTA co-presidents), one hundred of those parents and teachers, from a variety of economic and ethnic backgrounds, joined teams to work on a range of activities, from fundraising, to advocacy, to outreach.

This is a stunning contrast to the PTA meetings I remember attending when my oldest daughter attended PS 84 in September 2006. At that time the school was rife with racial tensions, and there were regular shouting matches and a volatility that necessitated constant police presence. What happened at PS 84 six years ago, and how the school was transformed into a working model of diversity, we can all be proud of. It’s a story of the gaping wounds of gentrification, the ills of the New York City Department of Education (DOE), and the vital importance of strong leadership skills in a school principal to steer communities together for a common purpose.

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There are particular windows of opportunity in one’s life that are narrow, notably the once in a lifetime sweet spot that youth doesn’t realize or appreciate until years after the fact. It’s the period of time between college graduation and mid-20s, between dating and family commitment. It’s similar to the theme in the cult movie “The Girlfriend Experience” (2009) starring Sasha Grey whose character is an ultra high-priced escort whose opportunity to make obscene bucks has an extremely short shelf-life based solely on her youth and looks.

Manhattan. The geographically small island boasts astronomical rents where recent graduates are willing to pay for the Manhattan Experience. It represents extreme luxury on a small, 13 mile long Fantasy Island slightly larger than a gigantic luxury yacht with two heliports.

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While walking along the Williamsburg waterfront, have you ever felt that you were being watched? During such strolls, do you have that eerie, creepy sensation that makes the hair stand up on the back of your  neck, that even gives you a sense of foreboding? You’re not paranoid, because it’s them. It’s those waterfront glass Frankentowers—Northside Piers and The Edge—the new, gated communities that cast their menacing shadows over the nabe and shroud the local citizenry in darkness. The multiple towers comprise a colony, an unequal community within a surrounding neighborhood of distinct and incongruous architectural designs. While they’re mute, their sun-reflected, unblinking, glassy stare is a silent scream.

The new glass condo towers are the 21st century’s architectural aliens, with corporate designs that are sterile, cold, and unwelcome in an outer-borough world. Their imposing height and glass exude luxury and exclusivity, while at the same time conveying emotional detachment from the community. This is nothing less than architectural apartheid because these radical structures have a deleterious impact on the community on several levels.

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The lure of Williamsburg is that it’s just one short subway stop away from Manhattan. But when the trains are not running, it might as well not exist. It’s hardly “the vibrant street scene” envisioned in the 2005 rezoning for the neighborhood, and unfortunately it’s the businesses that are left holding the bag. The Williamsburg neighborhood depends on the L train.

The final straw occurred this past November when there was a non-disclosed scheduled shutdown for construction by the MTA, regrettably, on the busiest shopping days of the year: Thanksgiving weekend’s Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. What were the managers at the MTA smoking?

Unfortunately, the MTA relies on 10-year-old records, from a period when very few people came to the neighborhood on weekends. In the meanwhile, ridership has increased a whopping 141% above capacity. There are as many people using the L train on weekends and late nights as during rush hours. It has become just about the most crowded subway line in the city.

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The December 26, 2011 New York Observer article entitled “Campus Confidential”  discussed the possible irregular procurement process in connection with the joint venture winners, Cornell University and the Israeli firm Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (CTJV), who will receive $100 million in grant funding to build “a new engineering mecca” on Roosevelt Island. I strongly recommend that the community engage politicians, businesses, and educational institutions for alliances and partnerships to promote the growth of high-tech facilities in Williamsburg-Greenpoint.

The explosive growth of high-tech firms in New York City is undoubtedly exciting. This is the birth of new 21st-century technology that is replacing the moribund and defunct blue collar manufacturing of the 20th century. Brooklyn’s DUMBO can attest to the successful conversion of manufacturing and warehouse buildings into high-tech firms. Even downtown Brooklyn will spawn additional high-tech facilities, as New York University is interested in establishing its applied science and urban facility at the former New York City Transit building on Jay Street.

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