Is Baldwin, NY A Safe Neighborhood - Thinking of Buying a Home? (Hempstead: appointed, condo)

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

If the Baldwin SD is no longer considered "any good" then why are people taking the train to get there from other places? If I were trying to sneak into another school district I would at least choose one that is worth sneaking into.

I'm assuming these kids (if this is true) are coming from the city. It's a quick ride on the LIRR from Jamaica, Rosedale, Laurelton, etc. to Baldwin. If that's the case, Baldwin HS might be a step up in quality in many cases.

[ginovino]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

If the Baldwin SD is no longer considered "any good" then why are people taking the train to get there from other places? If I were trying to sneak into another school district I would at least choose one that is worth sneaking into. I guess what you are saying is the people sneaking into the Baldwin SD are the ones who caused it to go downhill.

As for administrators being afraid to check up on residency because of political correctness, that is ridiculous. In Valley Stream they are very stringent about this and do thorough residency checks, "politically correct" or not. If anyone wants to see the stats they are publicized in the newsletter, just like if anyone wants to take a tour of the capital improvements made to district schools, they are welcome to. If you were still in Baldwin, I would say reach out to the SD and tell them to confer with Valley Stream SD about how to properly do residency checks, but since you are not, I assume it does not matter to you anymore.

This is not a flaming of your comments. But oh so naive they ring.

Forget about administrators being responsive to the populace, PC is the norm of the day. Deny, Deny, and deny again. As for your comments about getting off the train to attend a school system which is heading southbound is vapid.

There is no doubt in my view, The Baldwin school system at large, is still light years ahead of the vast majority of NYC schools and thereby a quantum leap educationally and socially for these "transient" students, ergo the reason for their usurping.

"Black" does not mean "Bad" in my lexicon. There is a dichotomy in cultures between the Caribbean born Afro Americans and native born. Those born in the Caribbean were raised educationally and socially under the British form of government. Statistically, with higher educational scores then native black Americans at large. The % of unplanned teenage pregnancies is dramatically lower among the Caribbean is also lower than the U.S. national average among teen girls according to the United Nations statistics.

Remember the axiom that the bad apple ruins the barrel, not the reverse...

Its a matter of time and simple economics.

Minorities tend to have larger families, therefor producing more school age children, who attend schools which are unable to accommodate burgeoning class size, and so it goes. I've already addressed the quality of teachers and administrators in my prior post.

At the moment my school taxes are approaching $9,000, with local and county taxes nearly another $4,000! Fortunately for me, my retirement income allows me to afford to begrudgingly pay this amount. Though add to this the cost of a mortgage of a typical $500,000 4 bedroom home, here in Baldwin Harbor with a 20% down payment ($100,000), the monthly cost to the new home buyer including taxes would amount to $3150 per month!

That's not an insignificant amount! And likely require two incomes to support that.

What I find so telling, is the number of folks who continue to find excuses for what seems so obvious to the rest of us. Face it, we live in a "socio economic caste system". I can no more live in Beverly Hills, West Palm Beach, East Hampton or the Central Park South then, the current residents of Roosevelt and Hempstead have the ability to live in Baldwin Harbor.

Why is that so hard to comphrehend?

Since the Turn of century, every new group which entered the U.S. faced and dealt with various forms of bigotry until such time as they elevateed themselves and their culture above it through education and the work ethic, thereby proving their value to society at large.

North Baldwin (above Seaman avenue) is really South hempstead and it shows.

In fact, plans call for the 1st precinct to move to the vacant shopping center located next to the High School within the Next year. So much for school safety...

I rest my case.

[LINative]

One thing not mentioned is the importance of the 4 lane Grand Avenue to the hamlet of Baldwin itself. I worked in Baldwin for a few years and I began to hate the road. It is the only major north-south road and it is used by some people from Oceanside and Baldwin Harbor also. The lanes are narrow and there are no turning lanes. Frequently the left hand lane comes to a complete standstill (especially by Pathmark, Waldbaums or Seamans Avenue) even when just one person wants to make a left hand turn.

[ginovino]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

The stereotypes trotted out above about the woman in Waldbaums is a little much.
Why so? You expect us to believe you have never encountered such persons in the super market? My comments aren't stereotyped, it's very much common place in the NY metro area.

However, I did feel that north Baldwin was a very different proposition. I also heard many neighbors say that they thought students from Hempstead, Roosevelt, and Freeport were using family members' addresses to get into Baldwin schools.

This is very much the issue I presented in my earlier post and you just confirmed it. Thank you.

As for Grand avenue being an over an taxed north south 4 lane road, nothing can be truer. There has been much talk about renovating Grand ave between Sunrise hwy and Merrick road, pulling down the 2 story storefronts between the post office and merrick road. The deal fell through.
Current news is the "Kohls" stores is in the works for that spot... I'm not holding my breath. That means the few high rise buildings and Parking area behind the fire house would have to be sacrificed.

There is already a Kohls in Oceanside. Frankly, it should be placed where the former Chrysler dealership was on Sunrise hwy. This was to be a Toyota dealership before the economy killed that.

Lets face it, Baldwin and Baldwin Harbor had their best days behind them. They are not Oceanside, nor Rockville Centre. Without a serious business tax base the burden falls on the home owner and for how much longer? $12K+ homeowners taxes aren't going to attract many, especially young folks.

[SamTheCatRocks]

Ginovino, you've made some excellent points.

I live in Rockville Centre, but smack midway between the Baldwin and RVC train stations. My husband and I opt to take the train from Baldwin (more spaces, no permit required, earlier point on the route to get a seat). I've been comuting to NYC for nearly 6 years now and the area around the LIRR station in Baldwin (Grand Avenue and Sunrise Highway) has declined. There are no less than 3 homeless men who are in the area under the platform more often then not. One is a very tall, very solid looking man who frequently talks to himself as he pushes his belongings in a shopping cart. The part that is most scary is not knowing if someone has a mental illness or may attack a commuter as he or she is going up to the platform. After hours, I don't feel as safe as I do at other stations that I will sometimes take (RVC, Oceanside, Merrick).

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by ginovino

"Black" does not mean "Bad" in my lexicon. There is a dichotomy in cultures between the Caribbean born Afro Americans and native born. Those born in the Caribbean were raised educationally and socially under the British form of government. Statistically, with higher educational scores then native black Americans at large. The % of unplanned teenage pregnancies is dramatically lower among the Caribbean is also lower than the U.S. national average among teen girls according to the United Nations statistics.

I do not subscribe to the racist theory that "some" blacks (be they Africans or Caribbean) are better than others, especially that foreigners are better than American blacks! For example, if you watch the "Gang Nation" program on Jamaica, you will find the culture of many of those blacks to be mainly based on murdering each other in cold blood, not "education." I also do not find Africans superior morally or educationally either ... "Nigerian" scam anyone? I don't agree with the put-down towards American blacks and find it started as, for lack of a better term, "racism" from foreign blacks who were trying to make themselves feel better by putting Americans down.

Originally Posted by ginovino

"North Baldwin (above Seaman avenue) is really South hempstead and it shows.

You clearly don't know as much as you think you do. South Hempstead is and has been a small mostly white enclave full of city police officers, firefighters, etc., and the children of the residents mainly go to Rockville Centre schools. So how can this be the same as North Baldwin? It's not. You don't know what you are talking about.

As for my "naivete," I am just wondering if they are going to take the train from the city to attend a suburban school, WHY choose Baldwin and not something much better? If someone is going to go to all that trouble to sneak into a school district they don't actually live in, I don't see why they are settling for Baldwin when they can get off the train somewhere else like Rockville Centre, which is closer to the city PLUS a stronger school district.

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

As for my "naivete," I am just wondering if they are going to take the train from the city to attend a suburban school, WHY choose Baldwin and not something much better? If someone is going to go to all that trouble to sneak into a school district they don't actually live in, I don't see why they are settling for Baldwin when they can get off the train somewhere else like Rockville Centre, which is closer to the city PLUS a stronger school district.

well you can't just show up at any old high school, attend classes, and say "where's my diploma?"

You have to be able to show residency, even if its illegitimate...which may be where the "dozens of cousins" scenario mentioned earlier in the thread comes into play.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by S.I.B.

well you can't just show up at any old high school, attend classes, and say "where's my diploma?"

You have to be able to show residency, even if its illegitimate...which may be where the "dozens of cousins" scenario mentioned earlier in the thread comes into play.

Well they are getting the fake residency stuff for Baldwin, so why not try other places? Yeah, perhaps they are using the address of relatives in Baldwin, but I would think people in most towns on LI have relatives in the city. I know someone who lives in an apartment building in Rockville Centre and mail arrives from the school district addressed to people who don't even live in the building ... apparently they are getting away with it.

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

Well they are getting the fake residency stuff for Baldwin, so why not try other places? Yeah, perhaps they are using the address of relatives in Baldwin, but I would think people in most towns on LI have relatives in the city. I know someone who lives in an apartment building in Rockville Centre and mail arrives from the school district addressed to people who don't even live in the building ... apparently they are getting away with it.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen elsewhere, but I think its safe to assume that in this case, the kids in question have relatives in Baldwin so that's where they're attending school. If they had relatives in RVC or Lynbrook or somewhere else near the LIRR, they'd be claiming residency there.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by S.I.B.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen elsewhere, but I think its safe to assume that in this case, the kids in question have relatives in Baldwin so that's where they're attending school. If they had relatives in RVC or Lynbrook or somewhere else near the LIRR, they'd be claiming residency there.

Judging from one poster saying he's seen 40-50 kids get off the eastbound train in the AM and some take cabs and some walk to the high school, it sounds like it is rampant in Baldwin ...