This is an email sent from Quinn to Hell's Kitchen community on Jan. 28th ... suggesting that a temporary location for PS 51 will jeopardize the "enormous victory" of middle income housing --what about our kid's health and safety?! All issues are NOT being addressed and they ARE ALREADY a problem.
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From: Speaker Christine C. Quinn <CSTAT03@council.nyc.ny.us>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 7:02 PM
Subject: PS 51 Update
January 28, 2011
Dear Neighbor,
I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on work happening at the PS 51 site. As you may remember, in March of 2010, the New York City Council approved a rezoning of West 44 and West 45 Streets between 10 and 11 Avenues. This rezoning went through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), an extensive public review process. As a result of this public process, we as a community were able to achieve a number of substantial benefits.
This rezoning is in the development phase and it will bring the community two vital additions: a new school building and permanently affordable housing.
The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) has begun the process of building the new PS 51 school building. While the current PS 51 building has served this community well it lacks all the modern necessary functions found in other schools, such as a separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and auditorium. When completed, this building will at long last meet the needs of the PS 51 community. We owe it to our children to provide them with the best learning complex possible- and with this new building we will be meeting is goal.
In addition to the new school, the Gotham Organization has been selected by the City to develop the residential housing on this site. This development is one of a kind. Recognizing a critical need for permanent middle and moderate income housing, we will be creating at least 600 new units on this block. This is unprecedented and an enormous victory for our neighborhood.
At the same time, we must acknowledge the challenges that lay ahead of us. To this end, we have created a Task Force whose participants include the PS 51 school administration, the PS 51 PTA, the SCA, the Gotham Organization, Community Board 4, local elected officials, and local community groups. We have been and will continue to meet regularly to ensure that all issues are addressed before they have a chance to become a problem. If something becomes a problem we have the decision makers assembled and in place to make the necessary changes.
All the issues raised by the parents, administration, and greater community have and will continue to be discussed at the task force- this includes exploring the possibility of relocating the PS 51 community for the duration of the construction. We have explored this option with the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the SCA. Unfortunately, the PS 51 project has commenced and any major changes in the specifications to the bid would generate costs overruns that could result in the project's cancellation. That said, I will continue to explore all new possibilities to ensure that while construction is occurring we are constantly reevaluating our situation and if something better arises, we take all the appropriate steps.
I want to thank the PS 51 administration and PTA who have participated in every meeting; before and during the ULURP process. They have advocated strongly for this project to include a new school building, which is what is being created, and not the minor addition the DOE and SCA originally suggested. They knew that their community needed more seats for our children and we are creating those seats today.
If you would like to work with me on this issue, or just stay updated on our progress, please contact Melanie La Rocca in my office at Mlarocca@council.nyc.gov or (212) 564-7757 to be added to my email list.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
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