Publisher's Notebook

Before I relate the reason why I think it’s an outrage for an NYPD Traffic officer to park his department SUV in front of a hydrant while he gets his lunch at KFC, as we illustrate on this website, let me first point out the reasons I am not focusing on:

PUBLISHER'S NOTEBOOK

The recent incident at Madison High School, with two female teachers allegedly caught undressed together in an empty classroom during school hours, goes beyond the sensationalist headlines of the Daily News and the Post.

The real issue is the teachers’ union-mandated “rubber room.”

Kings Highway, Avenue U, Coney Island Avenue, or any of the other shopping rows in oceanfront Brooklyn are not in any danger of becoming phantom strips, but, as we report in this issue, the number of “For Rent” signs popping up along these thoroughfares is disturbing. We’re confident these storefronts will be soon reopened as new businesses move in, but seeing all the vacant properties can be discouraging.

We have some suggestions to help ameliorate the problem.

Firstly, the landlords of the storefronts should earnestly try to reduce the rents they charge – especially since the business owners are saddled with paying the property taxes in addition to their rent.  There’s nothing wrong with landlords wanting to make a profit, but one doesn’t need an MBA to know that it’s best all around if the rents could be reduced to a level that won’t drive a merchant out of business. Isn’t it better to have an occupant staying and paying than having a store sit vacant for month after month?

PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK

If you have followed Bay Currents over the years, you’ve probably noticed that we haven’t made any endorsements in local or national elections. This was intentional – we were concerned that any articles on candidates we presented would be viewed with skepticism, as in “You’re just reporting such and such because you don’t like (or do like) Candidate X.”

We’re still holding to this, but, particularly in light of our columnist, I. Friedin describing Bloomberg as every evil thing short of ax murderer, I thought I would offer here some of the positives about the mayor.

PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK

I noticed on Haring Street the other day a small front lawn with two items next to each other – a blue and white sign urging, “SUPPORT OUR TROOPS,” and a Halloween display of two gravestones.

This struck me as an ironic juxtaposition. Those who display Support Our Troops signs generally support the war effort in Iran and Afghanistan. Both wars have sent thousands of these same troops home in flag-draped coffins – to be buried under very real gravestones.

I don’t know whether the homeowners who are proudly displaying these images have given this much thought, but that’s the problem. If more people started thinking less of the flag-waving, patriotic glory of our two simultaneous wars of very questionable justification, and more about the almost daily burials they cause, they might rewrite the signs to read: “Support Our Troops – Bring Them Home.”