New P.S. 133 Not Opening Until September 2013
A reader let us know that at a meeting last night with Butler and Baltic Street residents, the School Construction Authority said the anticipated opening of the new P.S. 133 on 4th Avenue and Butler has been pushed back from September 2012 to September 2013. Hope Reichbach, the communications director for Councilman Stephen Levin’s office,…
A reader let us know that at a meeting last night with Butler and Baltic Street residents, the School Construction Authority said the anticipated opening of the new P.S. 133 on 4th Avenue and Butler has been pushed back from September 2012 to September 2013. Hope Reichbach, the communications director for Councilman Stephen Levin’s office, confirms that the city is saying it won’t be done with construction until early 2013 because of weather delays, and therefore the school won’t be able to open until September 2013. Meanwhile, Reichbach wrote in an email that St. Thomas Aquinas—which currently houses P.S. 133 students—will extend their lease to the school for the 2012-2013 school year. The reader who tipped us off about this also had the following to say: “Before, the SCA had always claimed that the Archdiocese wasn’t willing to discuss anything but a 3 year lease of space. The city must have put literally millions into the renovation there (it was worked on literally 24/7 for about 6 months in order to prep for the 133 kids) – but they have continually flat out refused to give the dollar amount spent on the work.” School overcrowding has been in the news of late as many parents have found their children wait-listed for zoned elementary schools, and one question all of this raises is whether St. Thomas Aquinas might remain a DOE facility after P.S. 133 moves to its new location.
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Chipping Away at PS 133 [Brownstoner]
PS 133: Memo on the Demo [Brownstoner]
The yard is just a slab of concrete. The school needs a proper yard- jungle gym- slides- rubber tiles, etc.
I’m not sure that “the parish” is the actual owner – my guess is the diocese – and “pressure” is a fairly loose term here – I should think that the City has lots of options in terms of making a deal pretty attractive. And, as a taxpayer and interested party, I am still interested in the amount of money the city has put into St Thomas – perhaps even more so if it turns out that the building can only be used for 4 years.
Surprised that nobody mentions the real elephant in the room: rezoning once the new school is ready – regardless if it is in 2012 or 2013….
The DOE does not own the property. It is owned by the parish. Who are you suggesting be pressured to keep it open and available? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the possibility of further business deals. Its a win-win.
One of the depressing consistencies in the DOE/SCA’s lack of transparency about the demolition of the old Snyder school shows up again in the unwillingness to give a dollar amount associated with the renovation of St Thomas – while money could never be found to keep the old school from falling into a state of disrepair. St Thomas also magically appeared as a swing space after the DOE had sworn that there was no space in district 15 to accommodate overcrowding.
It is pretty clear that a lot of money went into the renovation of St Thomas – if nothing else, the overtime costs must have been huge. Work was going on at the school 7 days a week and during evenings from early spring all through the summer. I really don’t understand why there is not an accounting of tax dollars spent on this project – especially if it ends up being only short term.
The DOE plays hardball with everyone else they deal with (parents, teachers) – why can’t there be more pressure to recoup the investment they have made in St Thomas by keeping it open and available to deal with overcrowding in district 15 – after all, it is in the district and a lot closer to the areas (like Sunset Park) from where they are now saying kids will be bussed to the new Butler school – whenever it is finished.
The STA building has a tremendous yard, what do you mean by installation of a yard?
I always thought the “temp” PS 133 space should just be kept as a new elementary school even after the “new” PS 133 opens. Both schools are necessary- especially with the dense developments all along 4th Ave. Re-zoning of PS 321 has been discussed over and over and if that happens- the kids that suddenly find themselves out of that zone need to go somewhere. More work needs to be done on the temp 133 to keep it (like installation of a yard) but more schools are necessary- and the building is more or less already there. Its just a question of money.
A New York government construction project gets delayed?
What a not surprise.
What bad weather? We had a super dry summer followed by a winter with a lot of snowfall concentrated in a few weeks, then almost none after.
I guess they could blame it on the tornado.
Diocese, not archdiocese Manhattan is an archdiocese
BK/QNS is Diocese