Hey Greenberg, you SCHMUCK. Is this what you serve your kids for dinner?
Yep, that's dinner at Gary's house.
A plate brimming with Rice Krispy Treats served with a cup of artificially-flavored, eerily phosphorescent Kool Aid. Only he doesn't have a slop sink so his tasty, glowing beverage is prepared in the next best thing- his toilet bowl.
Yum! Even better than a janitor's slop sink.
Do you think that's what's on the menu at Gary Greenberg's house? Is that what he feeds his kids (if he's got them)?
Of course, not.
Right, Gary?
GA's been hearing about the horrors over there for a while. I've written about it.
Thank G-d, Amanda Staub of Patch is bringing even more sunlight to this injustice in Hoboken.
It's called constructive eviction:
Hmmm... WHO could that possibly be?
Any DIRECTOR who withholds meals from hungry kids with the excuse of missing 'activities' AT THE SAME TIME he leases out their activity space during Club hours is full of shit.
What a disgrace.
Why the silence from 4th Ward Councilman Timmy Occhipinti who planted a lovely, photo-op garden at the B&G then left it to die?
And B&G Vice President Scott Delea? He's pretty.
Who is going to speak up for these children?
 |
| Under new Boys and Girl's Club Director, Gary Greenberg, dinner went from hot, nutritious meals to THIS. And the Kool Aid is prepared in a SLOP SINK. Greenberg says it's not because of "funding" but "efficiency." |
Yep, that's dinner at Gary's house.
A plate brimming with Rice Krispy Treats served with a cup of artificially-flavored, eerily phosphorescent Kool Aid. Only he doesn't have a slop sink so his tasty, glowing beverage is prepared in the next best thing- his toilet bowl.
Yum! Even better than a janitor's slop sink.
Do you think that's what's on the menu at Gary Greenberg's house? Is that what he feeds his kids (if he's got them)?
Of course, not.
But it's good enough for the mainly black and Hispanic kids at the Boys and Girls Club.
GA's been hearing about the horrors over there for a while. I've written about it.
Thank G-d, Amanda Staub of Patch is bringing even more sunlight to this injustice in Hoboken.
It was a wonderful place for a kid," said one parent who wished not to be named. She said that after spending thousands of dollars on an afterschool program for her child, she was surprised to find a quality program for just $12 a year at the Boys and Girls Club. But now, she said, the club has reduced its services, most notably the hot meals program, which was replaced by a snack program about a year ago.Folks, GA believes what's happening at the Boys & Girl's Club- the diminution of services and betrayal of it's mission- is exactly what landlords do to get rid of tenants illegally.
"Every child got a warm meal," she said. "It was chicken, baked chicken, with rice and beans. They’d have chili. I saw they had a little shredded beef. They had a good meal with protein every night." And the kids need it, she said, since many of them live in the Hoboken Housing Authority and have parents who are "low-functioning," meaning alcoholics or addicts.
Without the meal at the Boys and Girls Club, the parent said, some kids would go hungry.
Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hudson County Gary Greenberg said the decision to end the hot meals program had to do with efficiency, not with funding.
"It took up a tremendous amount of time with prepping it, serving it, cleaning up after it," Greenberg said. "It cut down so much on activity time." Now the kids are offered a Rice Krispies Treat and Kool-Aid.
It's called constructive eviction:
The disturbance, by a landlord, of a tenant's possession of premises that the landlord makes uninhabitable and unsuitable for the purposes for which they were leased, causing the tenant to surrender possession.GA believes that Greenberg is carrying out a 'constructive eviction' of the Boys & Girls Club- the systematic reduction of services and deteriorating quality; the dismantling of it's mission, and he's doing it on behalf of OTHERS.
Constructive eviction arises when a landlord does not actually evict but does something that renders the premises untenantable. This might occur, for example, where a tenant vacates an apartment because a landlord turns off the heat or water.
The term is also used to mean the breach of a Covenant of Warranty and Quiet Enjoyment of real property, which prevents a purchaser from obtaining possession of property due to the existence of a paramount claim of title.
Hmmm... WHO could that possibly be?
Any DIRECTOR who withholds meals from hungry kids with the excuse of missing 'activities' AT THE SAME TIME he leases out their activity space during Club hours is full of shit.
What a disgrace.
Why the silence from 4th Ward Councilman Timmy Occhipinti who planted a lovely, photo-op garden at the B&G then left it to die?
And B&G Vice President Scott Delea? He's pretty.
Who is going to speak up for these children?
"It took a tremendous amount of time cooking it, prepping it..."
ReplyDeleteWell, don't fire the B&G club staff, Gary!! The B&G Club children see Hola's "eat healthy" signs posted everywhere, too. They're reading it while munching on the Rice Crispy treats. Disgusting.
Disgusting. And what about THAT honors these B&G principles?
Deletehttp://www.bgchc.org/about/index.html
"Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County offers that and more. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County is a safe place to learn and grow – all while having fun. It is truly The Positive Place For Kids."
I can't think of anything to undermine their sense of worth more than to be fed Rice Krispy Treats and Kool Aid from a slop sink while HoLa kids are looked after properly.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds beyond callous. (But when is that ever a surprise in Hoboken, especially when politics & children are in the mix?)
ReplyDeleteBaby carrots & hummus, along with 100% fruit juice (or even just bottled water), would be easy to serve & far healthier than the Frankenfood described above.
How many youths usually receive meals?
How about some of the following suggestions, to address Greenberg et al's alleged "concerns"?
What about organizing adult volunteers to help with the food prep/clean-up, to free up staff for more direct program-interaction with the participants? Some of Hoboken's senior citizens, for example, might enjoy the experience & would have the time available.
Under adult supervision, the food service might even be structured as a service-learning project for high school students in town. How about an ongoing Stevens community service project (one of the frats, for ex.)?
Or rotate the food prep, as a supervised learning experience for the Club's participants, to teach an important life-skill, e.g. healthy, nutritionally-balanced meal preparation. This approach also teaches cooperation, team-building, etc.
(Along with exercise, this is one of the First Lady's well-publicized "pet projects" in the battle against the childhood obesity epidemic. Perhaps there are already boiler-plated materials---age-appropriate recipes, etc.---readily available as a result of her organized effort.)
With the plethora of restaurants in Hoboken, what about coordinating something like Manhattan's City Harvest, on a much, much smaller scale? Or partnering that effort with the shelter?