Closing Bishop Ford High School is like 'A death in the family' - NY Daily News

Closing Bishop Ford High School is like 'A death in the family' - NY Daily News
by Denis Hamill, April 17, 2014

Closing Bishop Ford High School is like 'A death in the family'
If Bishop Ford closes, he will lose another part of his Catholic youth, writes Hamill. The Bishop Ford board of directors is closing the school because of reductions in enrollment. But the alumni association is looking for ways to save the school.

(Excerpt)
"On Monday, Principal Thomas Arria addressed a general assembly with news about Bishop Ford that was even darker than O’Keefe’s humiliating old rant. “He walked on stage and told us that Bishop Ford would be closing forever in June,” says Sean. “Everyone was shocked. Some kids broke into hysterical crying. Some needed counseling from the school psychologist. It was a death in the family.”
Dr. Daniel Ricciardi, a noted rheumatologist, of the Bishop Ford Class of 1970, says the closing smells like a land grab to many alums. “That square block of land in desirable Windsor Terrace must be worth at least a quarter-billion dollars,” he says. “There’s been lots of mismanagement at Ford. The alums raised a half-million dollars recently that just went to pay outstanding bills. We met with Bishop DiMarzio last year asking if we raised $3 million could he guarantee Ford would remain open. He wouldn’t guarantee it.”