Kensington Library Pulls Misused iPads

It appears that a pilot program to make iPads available for Kensington Library patrons between the ages of 2-5 went south.  After two years of use and abuse, public library officials decided to scrub the iPads availability due to older kids and even some parents covertly used the hand-held computers to make on-line purchases, play violent video games, and visit porn sites.

The 18th Avenue branch equipped the iPads with age-appropriate applications designed to help children learn to read, and other educational functions. Unfortunately it happened all too often that older kids took the iPads away from the younger children, changed passwords, installed the apps that they wanted, and then played on the devices. One older child even took a picture of himself and set it as the background picture for the iPad.

Kensington Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library

The last straw came when patrons saw inappropriate videos and nudity displayed on the iPads, prompting library officials to remove them from the library. Officials are now exploring other ways of using the computers.

“We’ve had the most success with iPads that are used as part of our programming, including literacy classes for adults and programs for children with special needs,” said Emma Woods, spokeswoman for the library.

Hurtful Graffiti Found on Kensington Mailbox

After weeks of rising anti-semitism throughout the world;  reports of Hamas terrorists shooting rockets into Israeli civilian populations; and the use of women and children in Gaza as human shields; some anti-Muslim graffiti has turned up on a mailbox in the Kensington section of Brooklyn.

The graffiti consisted of the words “Allah is evil” and “Islam is barbaric,” spray painted on a mailbox on Ocean Parkway. There is some speculation that, although the neighborhood is composed of both Jewish and Muslim residents who usually live together in peace, the fact that the month of Ramadan coincided with the defensive battle Israel launched in Gaza to protect its civilian population could have caused the perpetrators to resort to this form of insulting speech.

The NYPD are investigating the incident, which resembles a similar event that occurred in November 2013 when the same exact words were seen on a mailbox and a Muni Meter.