Photo by Aline Reynolds
Recent reports claim that we may have weathered the worst part of the current recession. But the economic slump hasn’t seemed to abate the new development that continues apace on Manhattan’s West Side.
As construction workers hammered away at a high rise on the northeast side of West 53rd Street and 10th Avenue last Tuesday, politicians and community members gathered across the street at P.S. 111 to voice their concerns about the severe overcrowding in Hell’s Kitchen public schools projected for the next decade.
“We have to start planning for the future capacity of our city schools before we find ourselves hanging ‘No Vacancy’ signs on our schoolhouse gates,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, one of eight speakers at a press conference held last Tuesday by New York State Senator Tom Duane.
The Senator’s office conducted a study, along with the assistance of Community Board 4, that showed that the neighborhood’s 26 housing projects currently in the works—to add more than 11,000 new residential units—will result in an estimated 1,350 additional elementary students in Clinton-Hell’s Kitchen public schools. The study concluded that 1,026 of these children will be left without seats by 2019.
“Here in Hell’s Kitchen we have seen an explosion of construction in the past several years, and it’s not done yet,” said Duane, whose office conducted the study and organized the Aug. 11 press conference.
More apartment buildings in the neighborhood mean more school seats needed, Duane explained. “The children have to go to school. It’s the law. We want them to go to school, and we want them to have desks,” he said.
School overcrowding is posing serious problems in the wake of the city’s Department of Education’s (DOE) latest capital plan, which calls for 3,000 seats of new capacity in the borough—a 40 percent reduction from the previous capital plan.
But the DOE insists there is no reason for alarm. “Our projections show that the build-up of this neighborhood is not happening at the rate that these community members believe that it is,” said Will Havemann, a DOE spokesperson.
Working with two other city departments and in-house demographers, the DOE found that development in the neighborhood is not proceeding as quickly as originally forecast, Havemann continued. He pointed out that the city is expanding P.S. 51 to welcome double the number of students by 2012, while P.S. 111 remains under-enrolled at 70 percent capacity.
“If we need to use them [additional funds] to build a new building in that neighborhood, we absolutely will,” Havemann added. But, until then, the DOE plans to stick to the original agreement set out in the 2010-2014 capital plan.
Still, Senator Duane fears school overcrowding will threaten school quality, while New York State Congressman Jerry Nadler predicts that families will leave the community if they are turned away from the neighborhood schools.
“If local parents for one second feel that their child can’t get into a local school, they’re going to take their kids; they’re going to pack their bags; they’re going to take their tax dollars; and they’re going to leave this city so fast you will not even realize they were there,” Nadler said.
Rafael Mejia, a substitute teacher at P.S. 51 and a Hell’s Kitchen resident for over 25 years, says that he and other teachers have increasingly had to conduct classes in hallways or stairwells, since his school is currently operating at 112 percent capacity.
“We have nothing against developers. Development is good,” Mejia explained. “The problem is that when development is taking place, there is no social equity and it is not justified.”
Attempts to combat overcrowding can pose safety problems, according to many parents. Mejia, who has three young children, is also concerned about the safety precautions the city is taking in building an addition to the school while classes are in session.
“I’m worried not only about my children’s education, but about their well-being, their safety and the other children’s safety,” he said. Mejia said he and his wife are considering home-schooling their children or leaving the country.
Local politicians and community members hope that the DOE will nip school overcrowding in the bud. “There are things we tell children over and over again in schools,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is running for re-election in the district, said. “We tell them to learn from their mistakes. We tell them that proper planning prevents poor performance. That’s all we’re telling the Department of Education,” she said.
And though the community welcomes the politicians’ concerns, it wants to see the DOE as well as local and state representatives put their money where their mouth is.
“There’s nothing concrete yet, there’s no real plan,” said Watty Strouss, a Hell’s Kitchen resident. “Until it begins in legislative form…then it’s not real.”
As construction workers hammered away at a high rise on the northeast side of West 53rd Street and 10th Avenue last Tuesday, politicians and community members gathered across the street at P.S. 111 to voice their concerns about the severe overcrowding in Hell’s Kitchen public schools projected for the next decade.
“We have to start planning for the future capacity of our city schools before we find ourselves hanging ‘No Vacancy’ signs on our schoolhouse gates,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, one of eight speakers at a press conference held last Tuesday by New York State Senator Tom Duane.
The Senator’s office conducted a study, along with the assistance of Community Board 4, that showed that the neighborhood’s 26 housing projects currently in the works—to add more than 11,000 new residential units—will result in an estimated 1,350 additional elementary students in Clinton-Hell’s Kitchen public schools. The study concluded that 1,026 of these children will be left without seats by 2019.
“Here in Hell’s Kitchen we have seen an explosion of construction in the past several years, and it’s not done yet,” said Duane, whose office conducted the study and organized the Aug. 11 press conference.
More apartment buildings in the neighborhood mean more school seats needed, Duane explained. “The children have to go to school. It’s the law. We want them to go to school, and we want them to have desks,” he said.
School overcrowding is posing serious problems in the wake of the city’s Department of Education’s (DOE) latest capital plan, which calls for 3,000 seats of new capacity in the borough—a 40 percent reduction from the previous capital plan.
But the DOE insists there is no reason for alarm. “Our projections show that the build-up of this neighborhood is not happening at the rate that these community members believe that it is,” said Will Havemann, a DOE spokesperson.
Working with two other city departments and in-house demographers, the DOE found that development in the neighborhood is not proceeding as quickly as originally forecast, Havemann continued. He pointed out that the city is expanding P.S. 51 to welcome double the number of students by 2012, while P.S. 111 remains under-enrolled at 70 percent capacity.
“If we need to use them [additional funds] to build a new building in that neighborhood, we absolutely will,” Havemann added. But, until then, the DOE plans to stick to the original agreement set out in the 2010-2014 capital plan.
Still, Senator Duane fears school overcrowding will threaten school quality, while New York State Congressman Jerry Nadler predicts that families will leave the community if they are turned away from the neighborhood schools.
“If local parents for one second feel that their child can’t get into a local school, they’re going to take their kids; they’re going to pack their bags; they’re going to take their tax dollars; and they’re going to leave this city so fast you will not even realize they were there,” Nadler said.
Rafael Mejia, a substitute teacher at P.S. 51 and a Hell’s Kitchen resident for over 25 years, says that he and other teachers have increasingly had to conduct classes in hallways or stairwells, since his school is currently operating at 112 percent capacity.
“We have nothing against developers. Development is good,” Mejia explained. “The problem is that when development is taking place, there is no social equity and it is not justified.”
Attempts to combat overcrowding can pose safety problems, according to many parents. Mejia, who has three young children, is also concerned about the safety precautions the city is taking in building an addition to the school while classes are in session.
“I’m worried not only about my children’s education, but about their well-being, their safety and the other children’s safety,” he said. Mejia said he and his wife are considering home-schooling their children or leaving the country.
Local politicians and community members hope that the DOE will nip school overcrowding in the bud. “There are things we tell children over and over again in schools,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is running for re-election in the district, said. “We tell them to learn from their mistakes. We tell them that proper planning prevents poor performance. That’s all we’re telling the Department of Education,” she said.
And though the community welcomes the politicians’ concerns, it wants to see the DOE as well as local and state representatives put their money where their mouth is.
“There’s nothing concrete yet, there’s no real plan,” said Watty Strouss, a Hell’s Kitchen resident. “Until it begins in legislative form…then it’s not real.”
