With the prospect of having to close 14 more Catholic schools within the Diocese of Brooklyn on top of the 32 they have already shut down since 2005, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has turned to the city in an attempt to secularize at least four of them into public charter schools. At a press conference alongside DiMarzio, Mayor Bloomberg said about the potentially closing schools, “Many if not most of the students would be likely to seek admission in Brooklyn and Queens public schools that are already at or near capacity, which gives us all a shared interest in finding innovative ways to keep these school doors open.” The mayor says that he supports any legislation needed to make it happen since such a conversion would currently be prohibited by statewide regulations. A similar plan was enacted in Washington DC where seven parochial schools have been converted into charter schools. Catholic schools throughout the five boroughs have been closing in rapid succession with enrollment declines over the last few years.