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SECOND AVENUE CRASH-WAY TRAFFIC Taxi accidents are on the rise along Second Avenue in the subway construction zone BY MARY KEKATOS
approximately 45 percent, according to an Our Town analysis. While accidents totaled 96 for the fivemonth period from January to May in 2012, they rose to a startling 139 during the same period in 2014. Undoubtedly, taxi drivers say that the cause for the rise in accidents is the construction. Joseph, who declined to give his last name, has been a taxi driver for over 20 years and he has noticed how much the construction has affected traffic. “You have a lane, two lanes, out of commission so everyone’s scrunched together,” he said. “And when you’re all scrunched together, people are gonna crash. You can blame some of the accidents on just bad driving but I don’t think that most of them are because of that. Maybe if the construction lasted for one block you could blame it on poor
UPPER EAST SIDE Second Avenue has long been a cause of strife for New Yorkers on the East side. From restaurant owners losing profits due to subway construction to pedestrians being forced onto the street thanks to closed sidewalks, the avenue has been the source of no shortage of headaches. Now, a new problem has come into focus: taxi accidents. Over the course of the past three years, from January 2012 to May 2014, accidents involving taxicabs on Second Avenue between 59th Street and 96th Street have risen by CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
SCHOOL IS BACK. WHERE DOES YOURS RANK? SPECIAL REPORT Like everything else in New York, education is something of a competitive sport. What are the best high schools and how do you get into them? Where do you need to live if you want to give your kid a decent kindergarten? How do you tell one private school from another? What about schools for adults? These are some of the questions we sought to answer with this year’s Report Card on Fall Education, a 16-page section that starts on p. 13. Instead of offering up generic
advice on how to help your kids study or ways to understand the mind of an adolescent (we’d need a lot more than 16 pages for that!), we went to the heart of the matter: Once you cut through the clutter, what’s the best school for my kid or even for me? Our lists are based on a combination of city data and outside ranking services, and look at everything from attendance and test scores to diversity. That’s been combined with our own reporting, from listening and working in the neighborhood where you live. So dig in. School starts in a week. -- The Editors
WEEK OF AUGUST
21 2014
OURTOWNNY.COM
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In Brief SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT IN CITY SCHOOL TEST SCORES The number of New York City students passing statewide math and reading exams rose in 2014, a gain touted as a victory in light of tougher Common Core standards. According to the data, the number of students in the city passing the reading exam increased to 29 percent, from 27 percent, while in math, the pass rate jumped about four percentage points from last year. City kids continue to lag their counterparts in the rest of the state in their scores, even factoring in the most recent gains. Despite all of that, Mayor de Blasio touted the numbers as evidence that the tide is turning when it comes to the performance of city kids on standardized tests, though he conceded there is a “very long road ahead.”
SEAWRIGHT SNAGS TEACHER ENDORSEMENT New York State United Teachers, the state affiliate of the city’s United Federation of Teachers, endorsed Rebecca Seawright, the Democratic candidate for the 76th state Assembly District on the Upper East Side. The union represents approximately 200,000 members, including teachers, classroom paraprofessionals, school secretaries and retired workers. In making the announcement, UFT President Michael Mulgrew praised Seawright’s proven track record of championing public education and the needs of working-class New Yorkers.
Jewish women and girls light Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunse Friday August 22 – 7:25 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.