The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Battle of P.S. 234

Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 7 Comments

Julia Vitullo-Martin in the New York Post:

Tribeca is embroiled in a bitter neighborhood-school war that some residents say is jeopardizing its sense of community, as well as its future. It’s a story repeated from time to time all across New York. The key question will be decided tonight: Which families will be forced out of the beloved PS 234?
The school is widely deemed the city’s best public elementary school, in part thanks to fervent community support. But over the last decade, the neighborhood has transformed itself from a commercial to a mixed-use area, with thousands of new residents, including young families — and PS 234 is bursting at the seams . . .
Across the street from PS 234 is the 35-story 101 Warren (sometimes called the Whole Foods complex), which opened in 2006. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, its 228 condo units have sold for between $1.175 million and $12 million. In the same complex as PS 234 is the 30-story, 258-condo 200 Chambers St. Both developments were marketed as “zoned for 234” — a status now much in dispute. . . .

OK, I don’t normally cover New York City school-board issues and some readers might be scratching their heads, but there’s an explanation.

People sometimes ask me why I smoke Parliament Lights — kind of an effete brand for a populist Old School guy — and the answer is Kim Romagnuolo, who used to work on the copy desk at The Washington Times.

Kim is half Jewish, half Italian and 100% hot. On summer days, she’d sometimes show up for work in a white “wife-beater” tank top and I’d get pop-up messages at my desk computer: “Guess who’s wearing her wife-beater today?” Professional journalists aren’t supposed to notice such things, but they do.

Kim smoked Parliament Lights and I’d occasionally bum one from her in the smoking area outside the office. Then one day I noticed the convenience store at the corner of New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road had a buy-one-get-one-free special on Parliament Lights, so I started buying them.

Now it appears that Kim’s gone into the public-relations business and how she got my e-mail is a mystery, but when I saw her name in the e-mail inbox I was like, Dude, whatever she’s pitching, I’m going to write about it.

So whoever hired Kim to publicize the fight over P.S. 234 made a smart move. One of the joys of being an independent blogger is that I can admit stuff like that without worrying about being sued for harassment.

Don’t hate me for my freedom.

UPDATE: These kids today don’t know from Old School. Jason Mattera on Twitter:

@rsmccain i thought married men aren’t supposed to call other women 100% hot??? Huh, Mr. McCain.

So I had to educate him about Old School ethics:

@JasonMattera You forget that I’m a professional journalist. That’s just a neutral objective fact.

@JasonMattera I have an obligation to my readers to report the facts; BIGGEST NEWS STORY EVAH! http://bit.ly/bqLRcp

To which Jason responded:

@rsmccain and when Mrs. McCain clobbers you on the head, that will also be a neutral objective fact 🙂

Yeah. That’s Old School, too. And it’s my professional obligation to report the neutral objective fact that Mrs. Other McCain is also 100% hot. And reads my blog. Hit the tip jar so I can take her to dinner soon.

Speaking of professional ethics, Jason “Big Sexy” Mattera has just written Obama Zombies: How the Obama Machine Brainwashed My Generation. This exciting new book will be published March 30, but every conservative on the planet must pre-order it at Amazon immediately.

Yes, I know: It’s sad that Jason and Suzanna “100%” Logan went their separate ways, but . . . well, life is like a box of chocolates.

Category: Education, Journalism, New York, Rule 5

Comments

7 Responses to “The Battle of P.S. 234”

  1. Paul A'Barge
    January 27th, 2010 @ 5:08 pm

    Is this Kim?
    “http://www.facebook.com/people/Kim-Romagnuolo/596084162”

  2. Paul A'Barge
    January 27th, 2010 @ 12:08 pm

    Is this Kim?
    “http://www.facebook.com/people/Kim-Romagnuolo/596084162”

  3. JC
    January 27th, 2010 @ 12:32 pm

    Sweet baby Jesus and his eight tiny reindeer! Well over half a billion dollars spent to send the kids to a Public School! There’s something just weird here.

  4. JC
    January 27th, 2010 @ 5:32 pm

    Sweet baby Jesus and his eight tiny reindeer! Well over half a billion dollars spent to send the kids to a Public School! There’s something just weird here.

  5. uberVU - social comments
    January 27th, 2010 @ 8:56 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by rsmccain: @JasonMattera @vjmorton The Battle of P.S. 234: http://bit.ly/bqLRcp The World’s Most Important News Story Today!…

  6. Katie
    February 3rd, 2010 @ 8:12 pm

    Kim sent this to me, and I laughed out loud. I don’t even wanna know what you guys used to say about me in the newsroom. I’m sure it was a lot less flattering! Oh well, I’m hot now and that’s what counts, right?

  7. Katie
    February 3rd, 2010 @ 3:12 pm

    Kim sent this to me, and I laughed out loud. I don’t even wanna know what you guys used to say about me in the newsroom. I’m sure it was a lot less flattering! Oh well, I’m hot now and that’s what counts, right?