Kings and politicians ask Xavier cagers are aiming high mayor for greatest gift SPORTS OLD P.S. 64, continued from p. 20
stressed, adding that these sorely needed facilities play a key role in helping neighborhoods’ “mental health.” “There’s not enough money for mental health services,” she said. “One of the ways to do it is to put money into the arts and buildings like this.” Suddenly, the man who could answer the crowd’s holiday wishes came walking by on his way into City Hall. “There he is!” someone shouted as Mayor de Blasio was passing by, waving and flashing a smile. “Give it back! Give it back!” the East Villagers shouted, as the three kings made their way over toward the mayor to give him their boxes of “gold, frankincense and myrrh.” But with his long strides, de Blasio was up the stairs before they could reach him. Sara Romanoski, executive director of the East Village Community Coalition, added that the old P.S. 64, historically, when it was a school, was always a building that was “open to the community. It was progressive,” she said. At the press conference’s conclusion, grabbing the box of holiday cards to deliver to the mayor, Mendez said, “This building is owned by someone who has held onto it out of spite. We hope, with this community and this mayor, we can get it back. It won’t be easy. It’s been more than 15 years.”
She also delivered to the mayor a letter asking to meet with him about the issue, signed by her and other elected officials, including Congressmembers Nydia Velazquez and Carolyn Maloney, state Senators Brad Hoylman and Daniel Squadron, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, Councilmember Margaret Chin, Brewer and Comptroller Scott Stringer. When she came back out of City Hall, Mendez described to The Villager the two scenarios under which the community could get the building back. Under the first, the community would negotiate directly with Singer to sell them the building. Under the second option, the de Blasio administration would take the building back through eminent domain. For that to happen, though, a judge would first have to show an “important government interest” for doing so. “It will be up to a judge to determine,” she said. Either way, the building’s fair-market value that would have to be paid could be as much as $30 million to $40 million, she said. Afterward, asked by The Villager if the mayor would, like Santa, grant the community activists their wish, the Mayor’s Press Office issued a brief statement: “We’re committed to working with community groups and our elected officials to address New Yorkers’ concerns surrounding land use decisions, and we will review the requests we received today.” Singer could not be reached for comment by press time.
BY ROBERT ELKIN
O
ff to a decent start, the varsity basketball team at Xavier High School ended the month of December with a 4-5 record with the last game a 64-42 victory blowout over Monsignor McClancy on the latter’s home court across the river in Queens. Xavier, part of the Catholic High School Athletic Association, is noted for its very successful sports programs in baseball, football and basketball. Yet, the school, at 30 W. 16th St., does not have its own outdoor athletic facilities. Ryan Kennedy starred against McClancy, leading all scorers with 23 points. Xavier blew it open with a 12-0 spurt in the decisive third quarter when Kennedy scored eight points. The players are certainly showing tremendous teamwork sharing the basketball on offense and playing good defense. After starting off the season slowly, they seemed to come on strong toward the end of December. “It’s not easy at times,” said Joe McGrane, now in his 24th year as basketball head coach. “It’s getting tougher and tougher as the year goes on,” he said of coaching. At the same time, he added, “The kids are great, work very hard and
are very coachable. This makes it rewarding. “With the potential that this team has, the sky is the limit,” he predicted. “I think that if they continue to work hard, we’ll be a team to be reckoned with come playoff time.” The captains are Kennedy and Joe Santangelo. Some of the students compete in more than one sport, but, of course, not during the same time of the school year. Malik Fisher, for example, plays three sports: football, basketball and rugby. J.P. Moran is another three-sport athlete, on the football, basketball and baseball teams. During a given school year, Fisher, who is 6-feet-2 would start off in the fall with football, then quickly move over to basketball, though missing some early hoops practices, and do the same in the winter for rugby. “Already, the school started workouts in rugby,” Fisher noted after the McClancy game. When asked how he does it all, he said, “It’s not that hard. I’m used to it now.” However, football is his main sport. “I’ve been playing it the longest,” he said. “I’ll probably go for a football scholarship.” One of his goals is to work more on his physical strength. As for right now, he feels the Xavier cagers can go a long way during this basketball season. “We have the talent to do it,” he said.
Xavier’s Ryan Kennedy starred against Monsignor McClancy, pouring in 23 points. TheVillager.com
January 8, 2015
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