Many people have written via Twitter or email to ask if I am okay, and the short answer is yes.
Unlike many in New York City, I and my family emerged unscathed. There was a lot of wind and rain, but no damage to body or property.
Many people, including good friends, did suffer terribly. One lives in a neighborhood that was devastated by a terrible fire. Others experienced flood damage.
And the city remains crippled.
The mass transit system is out of commission, so people can’t get to work and children–in this city so dependent on school choice–can’t get to school.
Most Americans depend on private transportation and find it hard to imagine a city where public transportation is critical to the life of the city.
This Forbes blogger explains here how she can’t get to work and her son can’t get to school. Without the subways, people are simply unable to reach their destinations.
Mayor Bloomberg has done a great job as a leader and an explainer during these past few days.
But several people have written to me to complain that the Mayor’s policy of free-market choice for middle schools and high schools has made it impossible for students to get to school when so many depend on the subways to take them on journeys of 45 minutes to an hour from home.
New Yorkers are incredibly resilient and we will get through these trying times, as we got through the horrific aftermath of 9/11 and through various blackouts.
Events like these reinforce our sense of mutual interdependence and our need for a strong and effective government. We live in an age when some extremists want to gut government services, want to strangle the government and reduce it to impotence. I invite them to live in New York City during a blackout or a hurricane and rethink their rugged individualism. Individualism helps to survive, but government is necessary to bring individuals together as a community and support those in trouble.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Well. I just saw a clip on CNN, thanks to my generator, of the opening of Wall Street. I didn’t have my glasses on, but there were many suits clapping and standing around staring lovingly at a very short balding man. Of all the places to be this morning I would think Bloomberg would skip Wall Street. If it wasn’t your mayor, I apolpgize, but I am pretty sure it was him. Can he now go to Queens or one of the school/shelters?
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Romney avoids FEMA questions:
“Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?” a print pooler shouted, receiving no response.
Wires reporters asked more questions about FEMA that were ignored.
Romney kept coming over near pool to pick up more water. He ignored these questions:
“Gov are you going to see some storm damage?”
“Gov has [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie invited you to come survey storm damage?”
“Gov you’ve been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the question?”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/10/30/mitt-romney-fema_n_2044213.html?1351617484
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In many ways I think Cuomo ran this show. Bloomberg proved his lack of leadership during the blizzard and other storms and the media called him on it. Do you know DoE and some teacher-line employees are still expected to get to work?? Emails that are very confusing or going out. One said if transit is still not in operation, it will be okay if you are delayed.
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I agree – Bloomberg downplayed the storm beforehand, said it would be “less dangerous” than Irene, said landfall was expected in Delaware or Maryland when every reliable model said it was hitting in Central to South Jersey, said Monday was going to be “just a regular work day” and that many people would be going to work later in the day.
Worse, he didn’t make the evacuation call until very late in the game – Sunday at 11:30 AM, when the MTA was shutting down at 7 PM. And Sunday morning, the city was told Flood Zone B was at risk – Bloomberg did not communicate that information to people.
I can’t speak to his handling of the aftermath because I have been without power, but I can speak to how he handled it beforehand. Cuomo forced his hand on the evacuations by his MTA call.
He’s lucky there weren’t mass casualties with this.
I think Cuomo and Christie have handled this magnificently.
I thought Bloomberg handled the pre-storm almost as badly as he handled the Boxer Day Blizzard.
But the media narrative has emerged that Bloomberg is a hero.
He truly is made from teflon.
Review the Friday/Saturday tapes of his pressers and see how he donwplayed this storm.
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One of my daughters who lives in Brooklyn reminded me that there is another reason schools can’t open: many are being used as shelters for people who live in low-lying areas– like Red Hook where my other daughter lives. I agree that Bloomberg has done an admirable job— but so has Obama. Now if only Obama would use this teachable moment (as you have done) to point out that “big government” is important
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I cruised lower Manhattan last night in the Prius… No street lights, traffic lights… Wall St black… Guy fishing off Battery Park… BPC has power and no more water… Stuyvesant HS there is fine they say… Cars and police and taxis going slowly — carefully and with respect… I am amazed they did not close streets—NO traffic lights or street lights below 34th Street… So “anarchy” can work when people care and are attentive!
I have been on UWS at Columbia since ’62… w 5 children starting 1978… Two are still in public school— MSC at W 93 and Talent Unlimited at Julia Richman… How can it be that there is NO local great HS? (And Brandeis just did not work… With THAT name, there should be effort for NEW fine Brandeis HS!… )
Teachers College is W 120… JTS, Barnard, Riverside Church and St John the Divine all nearby… COLUMBIA…Amazing: NO LOCAL HS!!! (Parents started PS 333—MSC— Lucy Wicks, et al… And now we need NEW public HS here!— McCourt is running now at Brandeis location…
Makes no sense for Morningside Heights/Columbia/UWS to have no local fine HS!!!
Thanks again to DR! Neal 🙂
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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As a relatively new citizen of the USA I continue to be surprised by the negative attitudes towards the role of government expressed by so many. I understand fluctuating levels of cynicism about various politicians. They don’t all invite a sense of confidence. But there seems to be something much deeper here and that is a profound lack of belief in the value of government at all.
I am also an Australian (surprising to many Americans that dual citizenship is possible) and we expect our government to do things well and are highly critical when it doesn’t. We have an excellent social medicine program, for example. But in the USA there seems to be an expectation among many that the government cannot be trusted with anything important, that it will break anything it touches. This doesn’t jibe with reality – there are so many examples of government programs we take for granted and that work well.
Where does this lack of belief in our own democracy come from?
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Hatred is rampant among bigots.
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Reblogged this on Kmareka.com and commented:
Diane Ravitch kind of says it all here, and eloquently. She also points out how NYC’s system of school choice has made it so that many children must commute heavily to get to school, and now cannot get to school due to the flooding.
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My ex grew up in the Bronx and he took public transport everyday, albeit to a performing arts magnet school. I always thought that was dangerous especially back in those days.
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I am very upset for American people! But you are big nation and can manipulate it.
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Glad to hear that you and yours are ok, Diane. Sorry to hear about your friends, though.
Here in New Jersey, we are without power except for a small generator feed for the frig, modem, and TV. I cannot believe how incredibly cold it is without heat this time of year, but I’m thankful that we aren’t in the thick of winter.
I live in the western-most section of a coastal county. The coast is a mess–people’s homes ruined. Some who did not think they were close enough to the water to evacuate are still there awaiting rescue because the massive storm surge was wholly unpredictable. I can live without power for a week or so despite the chill in the air. I don’t know what I would do without a home to come back to.
Schools will have been closed for four days in the non-flooded areas, and for the entire week in flood zones (probably even longer). Rutgers University is out for the week in New Brunswick due to no power and a compromised water supply. Life has come to a halt here. Somehow, evaluations tied to test scores don’t matter much right now. We just want to survive and get back to life here in NJ.
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“I cannot believe how incredibly cold it is without heat this time of year”
I hope all is well with you folks on the storm ravaged east coast!
Over here in the middle of the country I managed to fall asleep with my bedroom window open last night (it got down to about 35 degrees) and the furnace didn’t kick on as the thermostat is in the living room and that part of the house is warmer. I was fine but then again my friends don’t call me the bear for nothing as I have plenty of natural insulation!. Bring on the winter-will be camping (in a tent) and standing in the river fishing for some trout the week between Christmas and New Years.
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I think I would get eaten by wolves if I had to camp out in the winter. Thank goodness I have a cat sitting on my lap now–makes a nice little furnace until he decides to jump off.
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In previous events when there was no heat, I was very happy to have a fireplace and some wood to burn.
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Alas, I have no fireplace in my condo. If I would have just purchased that McMansion on my luxurious teacher salary (with the Cadillac benefits), I could have enjoyed some warmth. 😛
The good news for us is that there is plenty of hot water due to our natural gas water heater. Thank goodness for the little things. In the meantime, I have on four layers plus two pairs of fuzzy socks. I’m under a blanket constantly drinking hot tea (great to have a gas stove) and cuddling with one of three warm cats at any given moment. We ordered a generator yesterday for future outages. Who knows what blizzards winter has in store for us.
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Wish you luck in enjoying lower temperatures. Layering is always good and cats are a great heat source.
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Gracias, Duane. The sun came out today, and it was actually a little warmer outside. Still no power.
School is closed here until Monday (as of now). Also, NJEA canceled teacher convention for next week–smart move. I’m sure this school year will extend until July. Then we’ll be complaining about the heat, no doubt.
Some communities have power already. We were told it could be 7-10 days, but my neighbor talked to a power company worker who said it could be 30 days in some parts.
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Communities, community schools, community support are so important and it is times like this that remind us we need one another. My prayers are with those suffering from loss, and I hope from this, we become a kinder and more understanding world.
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Great news that you and your family were unscathed.
What I found disconcerting throughout the storm was the lack of specific online updates. I had power and Internet access the entire time, but the online news reports tended toward the vague and dramatic. I followed links to various webcams, but the pages froze–presumaby because so many people were trying to access them. (I don’t have TV.)
From where I am in Brooklyn, the storm didn’t seem all that bad. Only later, when I heard about the damage in the city and received news of school cancellations, did I start to understand what had happened.
From all that I have gathered, Mayor Bloomberg handled the emergency splendidly. I am not a fan of his, but I agree that he deserves credit in this case.
Also, I am ambivalent about the question of “free-market choice” of middle and high schools. Overall I consider this a good thing; these are public schools, and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone the opportunity to attend a selective school or a partially zoned, partially selective school like Murrow. Still, I’d say this “free choice” has been taken too far with the creation of hundreds of new schools in NYC over the past decade.
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As much as I deplore what Governor Christie says and does when it comes to public workers and our schools, I am grateful for what he is doing for New Jersey in the wake of this storm. He threw politics out the window. The more we can rely on federal disaster relief funds, the less he will have to tap into the state budget. I only hope he keeps his hand out of the public school cookie jars if he does need to use state funds to get us back on our collective feet.
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Diana,
While there is some validity in providing more choices to students and their families, please keep in mind that it has occurred at the expense of the near complete destruction of neighborhood high schools. That intentional destabilization and destruction is now working its way down to the elementary school level.
Additionally, the small high schools that have replaced the zoned neighborhood schools are usually mired in Darwinian struggles over space and resources, and have few or none of the electives and other programs that characterized the comprehensive high schools.
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I am aware of the issues, having followed them closely (the trajectory of Dewey, for instance) and having taught at schools that shared buildings with other schools. I have seen the struggle for space and resources and have read many accounts of this as well. Also, as my writings indicate, I am skeptical of excessive newness and so-called innovation; a school needs institutional wisdom and experience in order to do good work.
I stated clearly that “free choice” was being taken too far, in my view. My point was that some degree of choice of high school is not a bad thing.
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Doesn’t it all depend on the reasons for choice? Choice is a good thing when it is an opportunity to select from a variety of desirable offerings – to choose, for example, between a school that specializes in the arts or another that has a strong science program. Sadly, too often choice is instead about avoidance – trying to make sure your kid doesn’t have to go to a school that is seen to be failing academically or dealing with disruptive social issues. Choice is powerful when we have a number of good options. It is tragic when it is seen as means of avoiding rather than fixing problems.
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“Choice is powerful when we have a number of good options. It is tragic when it is seen as means of avoiding rather than fixing problems.”
You have explained succinctly the “myth of choice” in middle/High School selection in NYC. It’s not a choice when you don’t score high enough on the Pearson exam and the “good” schools won’t even look at your application. Parents scramble to get their kids into “good” schools because the alternatives are “bad” schools.
We have killed the concept of the neighborhood school.
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Well-said, Diane. I was thinking Chris Christie probably won’t complain about the govt spending and govt workers cleaning up NJ. The social contract lives!
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I am no fan of Christie, but his handling of this and Irene is to be commended. Reality-Based Educator is right. Bloomberg did initially announce that NYC would not be impacted. It wasn’t until Cuomo shut down mass transit that he had to act accordingly. My biggest concern is that Bloomberg didn’t make evacuations mandatory. People were comparing this to Irene, and no 2 storms are the same. Breezy had many residents who also didn’t leave, and thank God no deaths have been reported. I still haven’t heard from my friend in Rockaway “EdNotes”. Yesterday’s NYTimes had a heartbreaking story on people who died during this storm–many who did not heed warnings. The bodies of 2 young people who were walking a dog in Brooklyn weren’t found until Tuesday morning. They were crushed by a falling tree.
Romney is an idiot for wanting to cut FEMA. I think Christie is sending him a message because he has been praising Obama more than he did during Irene. He even gave Fox News a piece of his mind when asked if Romney would visit the area.
Maureen Dowd has a pretty good column today. She feels Christie is starting to pull away from the Right Wing.
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“She feels Christie is starting to pull away from the Right Wing.”
Riiiigggghhhhtttt! Please tell Maureen that I have some great ocean front property down at Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri for sale cheaply!!!!!
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In other hurricane news, the NJEA is considering canceling or postponing their teacher’s convention in Atlantic City that is scheduled for next week. NJEA will make a decision tomorrow. I think it would be prudent to postpone–however, because so many districts are scheduled to be closed for those days, it would certainly impact the school calendar and district funding to reschedule. As well, AC needs the revenue during the off-season, but can it sustain the traffic as early as next Wednesday? From the reports I’ve read, the hotels and convention center are largely ok barring power outages.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/post_290.html
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Dr. Ravitch, thank goodness you and yours are safe. My son lives in Queens and was lucky in that he and his roommates did not lose power. Here in Connecticut, most of the town I’m in is without power. At my house, we were in the dark for about a day, then we got lights again. Schools are all closed all week. Condolences to all who lost loved ones.
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I have one question-if the students were able to walk to school,there still wouldn’t be any teachers ,would there?How would they get to the schools?
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The schools are closed.
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Relieved to learn you are ok, as are many of my friends. Grew up in Queens and watching the devastation is especially heartbreaking. My comment and/or question stems from the fact that millions of people will be unable to vote on Tuesday because of the storm. How come no one is talking about this?
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