So, here's the deal. Gothamist runs a little item in a slightly flip tone riffing off a harrowing story in the New York Post about a pregnant woman getting assaulted just off Union Square by some students from the notorious Washington Irving High School on Irving Place. The comment board then lights up with predictably inflammatory remarks accusing the author of the Gothamist piece, John Del Signore, of being a sophomoric race-baiter and many other unpleasant things. While, yes, it's irresponsible to make sweeping generalizations, anyone who has ever walked by or even remotely near said high school during hours of operation (or, worse yet, right after the dismissal bell rings) can tell you that it's inarguably a wretched hive of scum and villainy (to borrow a line from Obi Wan Kenobi). The fact that Del Signore cited several other violent incidents associated with the school did little to dissuade the detractors. I've seen these students in action myself, and it's usually pretty jarring. So, yeah, while Del Signore could maybe have excised some of his more obviously provocative prose, let's please stop pretending that this high school doesn't have a well-earned reputation.
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