The May 18th meeting of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association (MMHCA), held at the Carmine Carro Community Center in Marine Park, gave residents an opportunity to voice concerns and share community updates, as a scheduled Parent & Teen Workshop on Understanding Teen Dating Abuse was cancelled at the last minute, resulting in a shorter meeting.
MMHCA President Elizabeth Morrissey addressed an issue that has come up in previous meetings about Marine Park Junior High students being disruptive to the homes neighboring the school. She said there has been an increased police presence by the youth coordination officers, and the issue seems to have been resolved. The civic has not received any new complaints about unruly students.
Morrissey also spoke about the recent Floyd Bennett Field meeting to discuss the charter school that will be developed in the park. It will be a secondary location for Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School. The school’s current location at 1580 Dean Street teaches with an emphasis on social justice and equity.
The new location will have an emphasis on environmental justice, farming and sustainability, complete with gardens, farms, an amphitheater, outdoor classrooms, ecological labs and sports facilities.
“They’re doing wonderful things there,” Morrissey said. “They’re really building it up and they’re doing a lot over there. They’re trying to really make the kids appreciate it.”
However, Morrissey did address the fact that there were concerns from community members that the school is a charter school rather than a public school.
Additionally, there was controversy about a potential migrant camp that the state government may set up at Floyd Bennett Field. “It’s not so much that we don’t want to help people — it’s just, you’re planting people on the other end of Brooklyn. There’s no transportation, there’s no forms of income, there’s no food,” she said. “There’s nothing.”
In terms of crime, Morrissey said the neighborhood is a low-level crime community, but that there have been some recent car break-ins and package thefts. “The summer’s coming; please watch yourself,” she said.
The June meeting will feature a tax lawyer as the guest speaker, and MMHCA won’t meet again until September, which will tentatively have a discussion on Medicare.
