La Salle Academy Hydroponic Lab Offers Lesson in Service to Community

By Katie Vasquez

Fresh pieces of lettuce and micro cilantro are grown in the heart of Manhattan, by a group of 21 students at La Salle Academy, an all-boys Catholic school.

“It’s also fun learning about plants and how to grow them indoors and outdoors,” Nico Calder, a senior at La Salle Academy, told Currents News.

The “green team,” a club at the East Village New York City school, was started by biology teacher John Neering when he joined the school’s staff eight years ago.

“They had five of these towers, but they were in disrepair, and so I was tasked to get them up and running,” he explained.

The kids are growing produce and herbs using hydroponics, a farming technology that doesn’t use soil. It has helped to cultivate an interest in gardening and science for the students, like senior John Diego.

“It’s growing food in New York City. You don’t see that, especially in these hydroponic towers, [it’s] something I’ve never seen before,” said Diego.

The green team has also taken over part of La Salle’s rooftop space for the project, and they’ve done so to learn a lesson that goes beyond the classroom.

Once a week, the students take 10 pounds of their crops to a local senior center, food banks, and restaurants.

“We’re worried about food insecurity, especially in the city. A lot of people can’t afford it,” said Neering.

The students are using the lab-grown greens for a good cause: to give back to their community.

“I think it’s awesome that they’re doing it. I think it’s really important stuff for young people to learn about horticulture, things like that. I have a garden in my house, and it’s like my therapy,” Brendan Neville, culinary director at Cooper’s Craft and Cocktails, which receives some of La Salle’s greens, told Currents News.

The effort is part of the school’s mission, which written right on the building’s walls: “enter to learn, leave to serve.” Their teacher says that can’t come from a textbook.

“I want them to start serving before they even leave. So that’s ingrained in them to do,” said Neering.

It is a seed that has sprouted in young minds, thanks to a city garden.

“Just seeing the good that we do, it puts a smile on my face,” said Calder.

“The lady we were delivering to, she just got so happy and started hugging all the kids I took there, so that was one of my favorite memories,” said Diego.

The team is looking at expanding their crops and are seeing what other food they can grow in this learning space.

Hate Crime Investigation Launched After Baby Jesus Statue Smashed at Astoria Church

By Currents News and Paula Katinas

Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a male suspect who walked into Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria and smashed a statue of the Baby Jesus following Mass on April 6.

The incident is being investigated as a hate crime by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.

Police said the unidentified individual walked into the church, located at 21-47 29th St., at approximately 1:05 p.m. and smacked a religious statue to the floor, causing it to break into pieces. The individual then left the church and fled the scene on a bicycle.

Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese, the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, said the man arrived at the conclusion of the noon Spanish-language Mass and approached a priest who was talking to parishioners on the sidewalk outside the church.

“The priest who did the Mass was outside greeting the people, and this young man came on a Citi Bike and stopped there and went up to the priest and said just one word, ‘Die,’ ” Msgr. Ferrarese said.

The suspect then entered the church and walked up to the altar area, where a deacon was blessing a statue of the Baby Jesus that a woman had brought to church to be blessed.

“The deacon was in the process of blessing [the statue],” Msgr. Ferrarese said. “It had been placed on the altar rail, and this young man came up to where the deacon was blessing the statue and hit the statue off the altar rail. It crashed to the floor and broke.”

The deacon tried to hold the suspect there, but the man got away and left the church through a side door and fled the scene on a Citi Bike. No one was injured in the incident.

Police from the 114th Precinct responded to a 911 call from a parishioner and questioned witnesses.

According to Msgr. Ferrarese, the suspect, is the same man who came into the church on April 1, and spat into a Holy Water font.

If he could speak to the suspect, “I would want to know why (he’s) so angry,” Msgr. Ferrarese said.

“The spitting in the holy water font, the breaking of the statue of Baby Jesus, the going up to the priest and saying the word ‘die,’ speaks of someone who is very, very angry,” he added.

As for the parishioner whose statue was smashed, she was upset about the incident but was also undaunted, according to Msgr. Ferrarese — “She said she’ll buy another statue.”

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 4/8/2025

A Catholic high school is using the science behind hydroponics to fight hunger in New York City.

The NYPD is on the lookout for a man they say smashed a statue of Baby Jesus at a Queens church.

A new exhibition in Rome is set to display rarely seen treasures of art by Caravaggio.

Pilgrims Walk Christ’s Road to Calvary at Our Lady of Hope Church

By Currents News

The Diocese of Brooklyn is on a Lenten Pilgrimage, visiting churches across Brooklyn and Queens leading up to the Easter Triduum.

The pilgrims went into the weekend walking Christ’s road to Calvary.

Bishop Robert Brennan led his flock through the 14 Stations of the Cross on April 4 at Our Lady of Hope Church in Middle Village, Queens.

The Brooklyn shepherd then took part in Eucharistic adoration with the pilgrims.

Lenten Pilgrimage Mass Honors Persecuted Christians

By Currents News

The faithful from Brooklyn and Queens remembered their brothers and sisters suffering around the world at St. Rose of Lima Church in Kensington during the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage.

They paid tribute to persecuted Christians with a Mass celebrated by Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan.

It’s part of the “Courage in Faith” initiative organized by the papal charity “Aid to the Church in Need.” Every year, the week before Holy Week, the organization looks to modern-day Christian martyrs and those facing persecution.

Bishop Brennan said the Mass was a chance for the pilgrims of Brooklyn and Queens to “come together in a sense of solidarity and a sense of awareness.”

TONIGHT AT 7: Catholic High School Explores Hydroponic Farming

By Currents News

La Salle Academy, a Catholic high school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has launched a Green Team that uses hydroponic farming to grow produce and plants without soil. This initiative educates students in science while supplying fresh crops to help feed hungry communities.

Diocese of Brooklyn Priest Seeks Wedding Gowns to Help Rebuild War Torn Churches in Ukraine

By Currents News

A Diocese of Brooklyn priest is hoping some brides will say “I do,” to helping Ukraine as he sets out to replace priestly vestments that have been destroyed in attacks on churches.

The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than three years and some 600 churches have been decimated. Currents News anchor Christine Persichette sits down with Father Michael Perry, pastor emeritus of Our Lady of Refuge in Midwood on his plan.

Queens Parishioners Share Mixed Feelings About Casino Plan for Citi Field

By Katie Vasquez

Citi Field in Flushing, Queens is the home of the New York Mets baseball team, but there’s a plan to replace 50 acres of parking lots with public park space as well as a Hard Rock hotel, restaurants, bars, a food hall and a casino. Some local Catholics are supporting the idea, like Jose Palaguachi.

“If you make it close to here, it is good for me, because I can go to play. Sometimes I have nothing to do,” said Palaguachi, a parishioner at Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

Others, like Aimee Rosato, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria, can’t back this bet.

“I think it is going to be terrible for our neighborhoods and I think as a Catholic, we have to. We have to make good economic choices and economic structures like casinos are at their base, predatory,” she told Currents News.

Over in Corona, Jose Cedeno who attends Our Lady of Sorrows believes the casino could be a win for all.

“For me, it’s going to be like a step forward for this community. Have a great park to take out the family on the weekends, on our day off and having opportunities for us, for this community to have great jobs,” said Cedeno.

Uber driver Louis Herrera has mixed feelings on the issue.

“For the economy. it’s good, but, it’s going to create… I think it’s going to be a lot of more traffic than we already have,” he said.

But whether they are for or against, these Catholics believe God will make the right call in the end.

“I really have my faith strong on God. I think he wants us to have these opportunities. I think he’s the one always making good things happen to us,” said Cedeno.

“Saint Augustine tells us that hope is seeing something wrong with the world and having the courage to take action, to do something, to fix it,” said Rosato.

In March, the New York City Council approved the entertainment park which includes the casino.

The group behind the project will apply for a casino license later this year, but it faces some challenges from the state legislature.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 4/7/2025

Citi Field is facing some backlash over the decision to turn 50 acres of property into a green space and casino, and parishioners in Queens are speaking out.

The Diocese of Brooklyn is continuing its Lenten Pilgrimage – one group of pilgrims visited six special churches along the route in just one day.

Pope Francis surprised the crowd at St. Peter’s Square over the weekend with an unexpected appearance.

Pilgrims Make Lenten Jubilee Journey Through the Diocese of Brooklyn

By Currents News

The Diocese of Brooklyn is continuing its Lenten Pilgrimage, visiting close to 40 churches in the days leading up to the Easter Triduum.

But for more than a dozen parishioners, they went on a pilgrimage within the pilgrimage.

Thirteen people from Saint Joan of Arc church in Jackson Heights, Queens spent a Saturday visiting six special parishes on the route.

Those churches are the six Jubilee station churches that allow those in the Diocese of Brooklyn to celebrate the 2025 Holy Year.

Pilgrims who visit those parishes can receive a plenary indulgence and be free of the temporal punishment for their sins.

You’ll need to meet certain conditions such as confessing your sins, receiving the Eucharist, and praying for the intentions of Pope Francis.