Heartless vandals trash students' spring vision

Nearly 80 shrubs at PS 32 in Great Kills are tossed into street twice in one night

Thursday, May 04, 2006

By MELISSA ANELLI

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Determined vandals uprooted a school's spirit when they yanked out nearly all of the 80 shrubs that fence in the front yard at PS 32 in Great Kills and tossed them into the street -- twice.

The miscreants first ripped up the plants at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, school officials and neighbors said, and threw them pell-mell into Elverton Avenue. Considerate motorists moved them back from the street, but the shrubs were dumped back onto the asphalt within a few hours.

"They (the children) were so upset," said Lorraine Farren, PTA president; the dug-up mess was conspicuous at the start of the school day yesterday. "You're devastated. It's not just the money, but it's the kids' hard work. It's a shame."

The Winter Gem Boxwood plants cost the school PTA $1,700, Mrs. Farren said, the proceeds of a fund-raising dinner. Schoolchildren, teachers and parents spent a Saturday in October planting them.

Neighbors and parents say they are constantly calling 311 to report a group of teens who often play football on the school's lawn; the shrubs fetter the range of play, so some suspect the same group uprooted them.

Laura Rakvin, who lives across the street and has two children at the school, heard the football game going at about 9:15 p.m. She says that since September, she has called 311 to report them about 12 times, whenever they get too loud or disruptive.

"I can imagine they would do that (to the shrubs)," she said.

Besides worrying that the plants will only be yanked again, Mrs. Farren wonders about the prospects for the long-needed school sign soon to be installed on the lawn. The sign cost $6,500, and will allow the school to display important information, such as closings and graduation dates; and it will certainly further impede would-be nighttime football players.

The school also contacted Councilman Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore), who promised to make room in the city budget to request an electronic surveillance system. If it is approved, it would be installed around July.

"It just so happens that we're going through the budget process right now," Lanza said. "We're going to take their request and going to make it."

By midday, custodians had replanted the shrubs, and the only horticulturally challenged portion of the lawn held some wilted flowers.

Even so, Dennis Hansen of Greenside Up Nursery in Huguenot came by to smooth over things professionally. At least 12 of the plants were destroyed, so he donated nearly $1,000 in material and labor to make sure the school lawn remains pristine.

That also should ensure that the children's upcoming project for the May 13 Ecology Fair at the Staten Island Mall -- about the Winter Gem Boxwoods -- remains relevant.

 

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