Yassky, BHA: Why
Not Build Up P.S. 8?
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
DUMBO -- As a controversial plan to build a 17-story apartment complex on DUMBO’s Dock Street heads toward the city’s certification process, community groups and City Councilman David Yassky are pushing for an alternative site for a new middle school -- P.S. 8, in Brooklyn Heights.
Since DOE already committed to build an annex at the site, “Why not try to build P.S. 8 as big as you can?” said Jake Maguire, spokesperson for Councilman David Yassky. “A lot of people would be more likely to allow a small zoning change at P.S. 8 than destroy a historic district in DUMBO.”
The proposed DUMBO site, bounded by Water, Dock and Front streets next to the Brooklyn Bridge, would contain a 300-seat middle school in addition to housing, retail and off-street parking. The developer, Two Trees Management, is offering the school space to the Department of Education at a cost of $1 a year.
School Construction Authority President Sharon Greenberger, during a July 29 press conference revealing plans for a new annex at Brooklyn Heights’ P.S. 8., announced the city’s support for a middle school at Dock Street.
“We heard the request for a middle school and met with Two Trees,” she said. “We believe Dock Street is the best option – recognizing it has to go through a public review process.” This process could take more than a year.
School As a Real Estate Ploy?
While parents in booming DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights and Vinegar Hill are desperate for a public middle school, opponents say the developer’s promise of free school space is merely a ploy to push through an oversized structure that would block Brooklyn Bridge views.
In a joint statement, the Brooklyn Heights Association, Fulton Ferry Association and DUMBO Neighborhood Association contend the proposed project “will profoundly diminish the views from and of the Brooklyn Bridge.”
Yassky: DOE Failed to See Need
“Dock Street seems like a good idea because it seems like the only one left. It speaks to the Department of Education’s neglect of Downtown Brooklyn,” said Maguire.
Maguire said that Councilman Yassky proposed several alternate middle school sites, but the DOE turned them all down.
“We need a middle school in DUMBO today. The city controller identified this need; the borough president identified this need; David [Yassky] identified this need and parents in this community identified this need.”
But the Department of Education never actually committed to a need for a middle school in the area, Maguire said.
A report released by Comptroller William C. Thompson in May said that “flawed” DOE capital planning failed to detect the need for more schools in neighborhoods experiencing construction booms.
BHA Would Fund Feasibility Study
“The Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) wants to build on P.S. 8 school property – we think there’s room,” said Judy Stanton, executive director of the BHA. “We would consider a commitment of funds to do a feasibility study to see if, in fact, there is room.”
But Margie Feinberg, spokesperson for the City’s Department of Education, says that DOE is not considering adding a middle school to the current P.S. 8 site.
“We have said we support a middle school at Dock Street, but it’s still being considered,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle. The P.S. 8 annex only “addresses the existing overcrowding issues,” she said. “So far, there’s no zoning change, nothing.
“That’s what we were clear about from the start, and that’s all we’re going to say.”
A long-time community insider commented, “Why should DOE want to pay for a school when they can get one for free?”
New Plans for Dock Street
To answer its critics, Two Trees has come up with a new plan that “reorients the building to increase its physical distance from the Brooklyn Bridge and to minimize view obstructions from its view path.” The new design has won plaudits from several commentators, such as Pratt’s Dean of Architecture Thomas Hanrahan and Councilwoman Letitia James.
Opponents, however, say that the new design would still create a visual barrier at the entrance to the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.
“Obviously, it’s not enough,” Maguire said. “The building certainly shouldn’t be any taller than the Brooklyn Bridge. Two Trees will say that other buildings are this tall – but they are not in places that will usurp the qualities the bridge affords to the neighborhood.”
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
