By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DOWNTOWN — Although a proposal to build a soaring 65-story academic/residential complex in partnership with Forest City Ratner fell through last year, New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is forging ahead with plans to construct a new academic building at the corner of Tillary and Jay streets.

City Tech, the senior-level college of technology of the City University of New York (CUNY), has an “acute need� for more classrooms and high-tech labs. The school enrolls more than 14,000 students in baccalaureate and associate degree programs, plus about 15,000 students annually in continuing-ed and partnership programs.

The new 350,000-square-foot building – referred to as “Academic Building 1� for the time being -- will rise on the site of the existing Klitgord Auditorium building at the corner of Jay and Tillary streets. Klitgord, along with a small building housing the former Department of Education's TV station, will be demolished.

“The building will be eight or nine stories high,� a City Tech spokesperson told the Brooklyn Eagle. She said the building would house the college’s health and science programs. “It will include labs, classrooms, a 1,000-seat auditorium, and a gym.�

She added, “By legislative arrangement, the site of the former TV station will be part of the construction site.�

City Tech provided no figures about the cost of the new building.

High School Parents Worry

Not everyone is thrilled to hear about the new building’s upcoming construction, however. Parents at Westinghouse High School, just east of the building site, are worried about air quality and noise problems.

“Are they going to assure us about our kids health?� said parent Israel Rosario, Jr., a Westinghouse dad. Rosario said parents were especially concerned about asbestos lurking in the old Klitgord buildings. “We don’t know what’s in that building ... We’re not saying don’t build – we’re saying, assure us our kids will be fine.�

While a City Tech spokesperson said there was no date set for starting demolition, Rosario said that parents at Westinghouse were told work could start as early as September.

City Department of Education spokesperson Margie Feinberg told the Brooklyn Eagle yesterday that the city would stay on top of conditions associated with the demolition. “We will meet with CUNY to confirm the demolition schedule,� she said. “Parents can be assured that demolition will be permitted according to DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] requirements to prevent asbestos from becoming airborne. Those requirements are very detailed.�

City Tech’s spokesperson said, “With respect to the demolition of Klitgord and the new building construction, we are confident that the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) will exercise all due caution in the demolition and construction.�

Rosario said parents would be discussing their fears at a meeting next week.

Last year’s abandoned design, a soaring, glass-walled complex of both academic space and residential condos, was conceived by the celebrated architect Renzo Piano. It would have been Brooklyn's tallest building and the city's tallest residential tower.

The plan fell through as the economy soured and the college’s partner, Forest City Ratner, pulled out.

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