SPOTLIGHT NEW YORK!!

Ok… So I wanted to bring to your attention some things that caught my eye in the Metro New York paper.

#1

I’m a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey! I love his show Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon has a good heart and I love the fact that even though he has a take “no prisoners” type attitude he genuinely cares about helping these restaurant owners save their restaurants. Therefore, I’ve seen every episode.

In the Metro, they announced that a body taken from Hudson River on Friday was actually a chef that appeared on Kitchen Nightmares, his name is Joseph Cerniglia. He appeared on the show in 2007, his restaurant Campania was having some difficult times. They are speculating that he may have jumped from the George Washington Bridge. Not good news at all! God bless his family!

#2

So hold on to those iphones!! I don’t have one but I see so many people on the train all into their phones. They’re playing games, watching videos, listening to music…they’re doing everything but paying attention to their surroundings. NYPD says that smart phone theft is the #1 reason for a 15% spike in grand larceny on the subways this year. What these people do is target people that are sitting next to the door. When they are about to get off the train they will snatch the phone and take off running. So all I can say is PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS!!

#3

Big thing on the news/TV right now is education, education, education! I truly believe that teachers need to be paid more, and the bad teachers need to be dismissed. Mayor Bloomberg has announced plans to get rid of automatic tenure for the city’s teachers. The teachers will have to prove that they have contributed to the progress of the students and the school. I totally agree. Currently in place is the “first in, first out” rule when it comes to layoffs. This means that the most recently hired are the first to go when they have layoffs. (we definitely didn’t have that rule when I got laid off from my last job. People that had been working there for over 20-25 years were let go) Bloomberg wants to get rid of that rule. 

I think that it should be based on merit. Who’s the one helping the students and the school progress and move forward?! Those are the ones who should get tenure. Bloomberg is also implementing a form of compensation that gives master teachers (teachers that mentor others) a 30% raise and a 15% raise for turn-around teachers. We need to get more serious about our education standards and policies. Our children are suffering and ranking in the bottom compared to other countries. Not good! They are our future and we need quality, dedicated teachers to help our kids and they need to be well compensated!!