As Tribeca parents jockey to be zoned for P.S. 234, the city warned this week that trying to fit everyone could result in something no one wants: waitlists.

“The more buildings we include in the P.S. 234 zone, the more likely there will ultimately be a lottery at P.S. 234,” said Elizabeth Rose, director of portfo- lio planning at the Dept. of Education. “That is not something we want. I don’t think it is something the community wants.”

Rose spoke Monday night at the District 2 Community Education Council’s hearing on the rezoning of Lower Manhattan’s schools. About 100 parents turned out to

weigh in on the city’s two temporary zoning options for next fall, which would guar- antee every Downtown child a seat in one of the four local schools. The C.E.C. is work- ing on a revised proposal incorporating the parents’ feedback, which they may vote on later this month, and Rose said she would consider the community’s concerns as well, though there are limits to how much the proposals can change. Kindergarten registration is scheduled to begin Feb. 1.

Most of the parents who spoke Monday night lived in sections of Tribeca that are not included in P.S. 234’s zone under one or both of the zoning options.

ALBANY — Since May, Senator Tom Duane, a Downtown Democrat and the chamber’s only out gay member, has said he had the votes to pass the mar- riage equality bill he spon- sors. The Empire State Pride Agenda, the state’s L.G.B.T. lobby, has similarly voiced confidence that a biparti-

san majority in the 62-mem- ber house would vote yes. At ESPA’s October dinner in Manhattan, Gov. David Paterson, who introduced the legislation, which has now passed the heavily Democratic Assembly three times, said of the Senate’s Democratic conference lead- er, “Senator [John] Sampson I’ve heard on occasion say

Parents try
for old and new:
P.S. 234 & 276

Cries of betrayal
as gay marriage
is soundly defeated

A shouting match between Councilmember Charles Barron and a trustee of the City University of New York disrupted an otherwise festive groundbreaking on the new Fiterman Hall Tuesday morning.

Barron sparked the dispute by call- ing Mayor Mike Bloomberg disrespect- ful, after the mayor left the ceremony early. Trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who

was sitting in the audience, shouted that Barron was the one who was being disrespectful. The two men trad- ed insults over a minute or two, with Barron calling Wiesenfeld “a sickening racist” and Wiesenfeld calling Barron “a disgrace.”

The argument came shortly after officials put shovels into a mound of dirt where Fiterman once stood, marking the beginning of construc-

tion on a new classroom building for the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The new building on W. Broadway will rise from the founda- tion of the old Fiterman Hall, which was heavily damaged on 9/11 and had to be demolished.

It would be hard to spend less money on an election than Republican Irene Horvath spent in the First City Council District this fall. Horvath, who lost to DemocratMargaret

In contrast, Chin, who swept the election with 86 percent of the vote, spent nearly $280,000, much of it on mailings, events, staff and rent. Chin still owes about $25,000 to The Parkside Group for the last mailings of the campaign. She doesn’t quite have enough money left to pay them (she’s about $1,600 short), but her campaign managerJake

When Chin takes office Jan. 1, she’ll be displacing Councilmember Alan Gerson, who lost the Democratic primary for the seat in September. Gerson appeared to be enjoying his last few weeks in office and was all smiles and handshakes at a groundbreaking for Fiterman Hall Tuesday (This was before Councilmember Charles Barron got into a shouting match with a CUNY trustee). Gerson’s smile stayed in place even when Angela Sales, with the Borough of Manhattan Community College, introduced him as “Councilman Gleason.”

Speaking of Gleason, we hear he’s shaved his post- election beard, but his campaign manager, new Democratic District Leader Paul Newell has now grown one instead.

Tribeca lawyer Salvatore Strazzullo wanted to pay for a tree in the park and hold a ceremony to give gifts to under- privileged children. But Community Board 1 smelled self- promotion in Strazzullo’s offer and took an advisory vote against it in October.

The Parks Dept. was still open to allowing the tree, as long as Strazzullo didn’t put up any signs describing his business, but Strazzullo just withdrew his application, Parks spokesperson Cristina DeLuca said.

Holloway, 36, became a familiar face at community meet- ings Downtown through his work on the Deutsche Bank building. Holloway coordinated the many changes to the city’s procedures after the fatal August 2007 fi re in the build- ing. He worked closely with the D.E.P. to overhaul asbestos abatement protocols, but his appointment raised some eye- brows because he does not have very much environmental experience.

Holloway is also a member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. board, where he has publicly pressed Chairperson Avi Schick to make sure the Deutsche Bank project has enough money. Holloway serves on the L.M.D.C. board at Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s pleasure, and he’ll stay in place unless Bloomberg removes him, city officials said.

In a reversal, Community Board 1 decided not to name a street after civil rights lawyer Frank Durkan last week. Durkan’s colleagues and relatives had been meeting with the board’s Seaport/Civic Center committee for months, and expected the full board to echo the committee’s favor- able vote.

But at last Tuesday night’s meeting, which Durkan’s widow and daughter attended, several board members objected to naming Elk St. after Durkan because he defend- ed weapons smugglers in Northern Ireland.

“We were frankly taken by surprise,” said James Cullen, a friend of Durkan, who died in 2006. “We are exploring other ways to seek this recognition for Frank.”

Manhattan Beep Scott Stringer is now taking applica- tions for new community board members. Downtown residents and workers who are looking for a voice in local politics (and a place to spend several evenings a month) are encouraged to apply.

Stringer’s offi ce is holding an information session next Thurs., Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at 1 Centre St. Applications are due Jan. 15.

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The upcoming week’s schedule of Community Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all committee meetings are held at the board office, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709 at 6 p.m.

Force will meet at 5:15 p.m. The Youth & Education Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. The Quality of Life Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. in room 501

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Both of the city’s proposed options zone 80 Chambers for the Spruce Street School, not P.S. 234. Fifty-nine of the building’s 85 apartments have signed a petition asking that the city reconsider and zone 80 Chambers for P.S. 234, another building resident said.

Gearhart, whose son will start kindergarten in 2010, said she is worried about the long walk to the Spruce Street School, which includes crossing Broadway and Park Row. Other parents in her building said they stayed Downtown to rebuild Tribeca after 9/11 and have attended fundraisers at P.S. 234 for years, thinking they were supporting their child’s future school.

Parents at 80 Chambers and other south Tribeca build- ings said families as far south as Murray St. and as far east as Broadway should be included in P.S. 234’s zone.

Rose replied that there are not enough seats in P.S. 234 to encompass such a broad area. The city put forward two options for who will attend P.S. 234: a “horizontal option” that includes all of Tribeca from West St. to Lafayette St. but only goes as far south as Warren and Chambers Sts.; and a “vertical option” that goes all the way from Canal St. down to Liberty St. but only as far east as Church St.

“P.S. 234 is the logical choice for more families than 234 can logically serve,” Rose said. “That is the dilemma we are dealing with. There is no way around that dilemma. We’re trying to make the best choices we can.”

In response to parents complaining that their building was purposely left out — particularly parents who live in rentals at 89 Murray St., whose building was split in half, with the adjacent condos at 101 Warren St. allowed into P.S. 234 but the 89 Murray rentals zoned for Spruce — Rose replied that the decisions were made on a larger scale.

“No building was singled out,” she said. “We did not at any point say we want to put this building in and exclude that building.”

Although most of the Tribeca parents who spoke said they had nothing against the Spruce Street School, many sounded wary of the location, which is between William and Nassau Sts. near the Seaport.

“I’m not entirely sure where Spruce St. is,” said John Keeler, who lives at 24 Warren St. and has a son entering kindergarten next fall. “It’s a completely different neighbor- hood. It’s probably a perfectly fi ne and nice neighborhood, but it’s not our neighborhood.”

across Manhattan and in Brooklyn. Learan Kahanov, whose son is in kindergarten at Spruce, said that traveling from Tribeca to Spruce is not an insurmountable hardship.

While the Tribeca parents fi ght for their children to attend an existing school rather than a new one, a group of Battery Park City parents are fighting for just the opposite. A handful of Gateway Plaza residents said Monday that they would rather be zoned for P.S./I.S. 276, the new green school opening in southern B.P.C., but the city wants to keep them zoned for P.S. 89 instead.

“Gateway Plaza residents deserve access to the new school that we waited a really long time for,” said Ed Long, who has lived in B.P.C. for 26 years and has a 4-year-old son.

Long and several other Gateway Plaza residents said their children have made friends in southern B.P.C. and the Financial District, and P.S. 89 on the other side of North Cover feels like a different neighborhood.

Both of the city’s zoning proposals use Albany St. as the divider between P.S. 89 and P.S. 276, but several residents said Vesey St. or Liberty St. would make more sense.

One advantage of P.S. 276 and the Spruce Street School that few parents mentioned is that they will both be K-8s, giving graduating fifth graders a guaranteed middle school seat. Students at P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 will not have that same opportunity.

Toward the end of Monday night’s meeting, Denise Cordivano, director of the Battery Park City Day Nursery, had some advice for the many riled parents.

“Take a deep breath,” Cordivano said. “Yes, fi ght for what you believe in. But when the dust settles, remember that your children are resilient.”

The C.E.C. will hold its second (and likely final) hearing on Lower Manhattan rezoning Wed., Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Assembly hearing room at 250 Broadway, 19th fl oor. Parents can also e-mail feedback to the C.E.C. at D2zoning@ gmail.com.

‘Gateway Plaza residents deserve access to the new school that we waited a really long time for.’

Northbound R/W trains at the Cortlandt St. station are up and running once again, but not as widely used as expected.

The station reopened on Nov. 25, but on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee in the token booth said he’d seen fewer than 30 people in the two hours that he’d been on duty that day. Several people used the station as an underpass to get out of the rain for a block, and a few asked how to go southbound (the M.T.A. doesn’t expect to open that platform until Sept. 11, 2011).

Corey Rose, who commutes from New Jersey to Brooklyn every day, said the new station was great, and long overdue. “I’ve been waiting for this,” he said. “This will make things a lot easier for my commute.”

The station was badly damaged on 9/11, and initially reopened in September of 2002, only to be closed down again in August of 2005 to accommodate construction on part of the Fulton St. Transit Center.

Even at 5:15 p.m. Monday, 25 out of the 30 passengers using the subway station were tourists speaking different lan- guages and toting Century 21 bags.