The elderly gentleman sat comfortably on the couch, enjoying a leisurely conversation with several NYCHA youth.  “Do you have homework every day?” he asked one of the children.

“I wish I didn’t ever have any homework,” the child responded.

“What subject do you have the most homework in?”

“Math,” the child fretted, hanging his head down.  “But I’m good at it!” he exclaimed as he picked his head back up.

This conversation between Joseph Rosenblatt, a real estate executive, and Julian Figueroa, a 10-year old Berry Street-South 9th Street Houses resident, underscored the opening of the Wizard’s Corner at the Independence Towers Community Center, a new afterschool study program funded by Mr. Rosenblatt’s $250,000 donation.  Wizard’s Corner also will run at Williamsburg Houses and Taylor-Wythe Houses.  The funds will be administered by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City in coordination with NYCHA’s Office of Public/Private Partnerships. 

Mr. Rosenblatt was inspired by a tour of an apartment building he took in which he noticed families had no place to do homework.  “In the half-dozen apartments I was in, there were three or four kids living in each one, and I didn’t see one book, or one table, or one desk or one chair,” the lifelong New Yorker said.  “I said to myself, ‘I have to do something about this.’”

Wizard’s Corner will provide desks, lamps and chairs to eligible children aged five to 11 to use in their homes in the three Brooklyn developments.  It also will set up dedicated study spaces in the community centers that imitate the setup the children will have at home.  “Mr. Rosenblatt’s wish to provide the most basic necessities to help our children learn the proper practices and habits of studying and completing assignments emphasizes the importance of education, and will help to prepare them for lifelong learning and success,” said NYCHA Chairman John B. Rhea.

Wizard’s Corner follows a tenet of Plan NYCHA to collaborate with partners to ensure residents receive critically-needed community services.  The desks and chairs will be bought from Gothic Cabinet Craft, which will deliver the already-assembled furniture to the developments for families to pick up.  NYC & Company provided creative services pro-bono to design the Wizard’s Corner logo, and printing services were donated by Duggal Visual Solutions, Inc.

Children who use the community centers will have access to the Wizard’s Corner on Monday to Friday from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  “It looks nice and beautiful,” said nine-year old Keyana Loggins from Independence Towers, as she looked at the red walls.  “And it’s my favorite color!”

By Eric Deutsch 
Feburary 1, 2012