* Protests, lawsuits and contentious conversation have followed the announcement the city plans to shutter 19 schools for poor performance. The city has since 2002 closed 91 schools, many large high schools that have reopened as smaller and charter schools. A recent New York Times article offers insight into some of the city politics behind these closures. The new comptroller, John Liu, is adding his two cents–he questioned the school vote when he appeared last week on Local 237 President Greg Floyd’s new radio show, the Daily News reported.

* Other school issues have hit close to home. The Brooklyn Eagle last week covered a meeting about the slated consolidation of students from District 13 (Fort Green, Downtown, Park Slope) and District 15 (Sunset Park, Red Hook, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace). The building that houses P.S. 133 will be rebuilt, and students from Sunset Park’s overcrowded schools will join them in a new, larger building. “Sunset Park is in a crisis situation,” James Devor, president of CEC-15, a governing body for District 15, told the Brooklyn Eagle. But not everyone was pleased with the plan. The Eagle reports race issues bubbled up, with parents from P.S. 133 worried that their 300 children would get short shrift after the arrival of 660 students from District 15, who are predominantly white.

* Though the Bloomberg administration has touted its success slashing fat and fillers, the Daily News reports lunches may not be as healthy as they look. Cheese sandwiches, mozzarella sticks and pizza still make regular appearances on school menus. These dishes feature unpronounceables like azodicarbonamide (a bleach used in food), the maligned high-fructose corn syrup, and processes food with high levels of fat and salt.

I had heard whispers, but the blogs blew it up–Brownstoner reported yesterday on the new yoga studio to open on the north side of Sunset Park.

Suryasta Yoga will open the doors at its 36th Street loft this weekend.  Founder Jenya Andrianova, a Sunset Park resident, is among the studio’s four teachers. The schedule lists morning and evening classes on weekdays, kids classes on weekends at 10am, and community classes (which are generally offered at a discount) Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:15pm. Classes cost $10 throughout February.

Curious? You can check out the studio this Sunday, January 31st from 5-7pm at a welcome that will include wine, food, hobnobbing and maybe even a little downward dog.

(The pairing of edibles and oms is also rather timely given this article in the New York Times today).

Suryasta Yoga, 462 36th Street, Brooklyn, NY off the N, R and D trains.

H1N1 cases jumped in Sunset Park last weekend. The rise in pediatric cases at Maimonides Hospital in Sunset Park caused the facility to trigger its emergency preparedness and surge capacity plan for the first time, ABC news reported.

Read the full story

This is the first in a series of posts that will use maps, graphs, and other web visualizations to take a look at what’s happening in the neighborhood. Curious about something? Have a question about the neighborhood you’d like to see drawn out? Shoot an email, or leave a comment.

View Sunset Park Pharmacies in a larger map

Duane Reade has made its debut, and now settled into its shiny plate-glass storefront on 5th Ave. Best View in Brooklyn gives a great description of the space, and a resident’s viewpoint on how it compares in price and feel to longer term spots like Ike’s Party Party and the Mini Max.

“I wonder what’s gonna happen to all the little mom and pops,” said local Stacy Mosher, who said she has gone out of her way to shop elsewhere.

Read the full story