The Downtown leaders who revived the Lower Manhattan School Overcrowding Task Force — including, from right, Community Board 1 chairwoman Chatherine McVay Hughes, Councilmember Margaret Chin, Borough President Gale Brewer, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and State Sen. Daniel Squadron — attempt a jedi mind trick to convince School Construction Authority chief of staff Melanie La Rocca, at left, to add more classroom seats to the school planned for 77 Greenwich St.
BY YANNIC RACK |
It was perhaps the second-most-anticipated sequel ever. The newly revived Lower Manhattan School Overcrowding Task Force held its first meeting last week since the downfall of its disgraced founder, convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
But the focus wasn’t on the past — instead it was on the future of a new school planned for the Financial District. Downtown parents, principals, activists, and elected officials sat down with representatives from the School Construction Authority on Feb. 5 to push for more classroom space and facilities at the 476-seat school slated for 77 Greenwich St.
“We’re in a situation where, because of the shortages [in school seats and community facilities], we need this school to be a lot of things to a lot of people,” said Tricia Joyce, co-chair of Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee.
“We need to think into the future a little bit with this one.” Downtowners have long complained that the city’s planning for new schools has lagged far behind the recent surge in Lower Manhattan’s population.
Just looking at the new residential developments announced since the city’s last school-needs assessment, CB1 will need more than 500 additional school seats beyond those now promised at Greenwich St. just to keep up with current demand, according to Downtown resident Eric Greenleaf. “In other words, a school that is larger than this new school that has just been announced,” Greenleaf said.
And that’s using the city’s notoriously stingy formula for calculating the need for new seats. The city assumes that 100 new residential units will bring only 12 new elementary school students to a neighborhood — or 0.12 kids per household.
“The city’s formula for determining the need for school seats is totally outdated. We need a more realistic assessment.” said Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who was one the local elected officials who took up the cause of the task force — along with Councilmember Margaret Chin, State Sen. Daniel Squadron, and Borough President Gale Brewer — after Silver’s conviction on federal corruption charges last year.
Even with the city’s miserly formula, no one can deny that Downtown has an urgent need to build more schools. A survey of planned residential units by CB1 shows that Lower Manhattan can expect at least 6,000 new apartments in the next few years. So by the city’s own figures, the area will need at least another 720 new school seats.
“There’s no indication that the growing residential development will slow down,” said CB1’s planning and land-use director Diana Switaj.
The S.C.A. reps were receptive to the community’s requests, but also made clear that the possibility for negotiations was limited when bargaining with the developers. “It’s very early, we’re working with the developer now. We’ll be in touch as we go through the design process, which should be done by the end of the summer,” said S.C.A. spokesman Michael Mirisola. “We’ll certainly take all your concerns back and try your best to give you everything you’re looking for. But I can’t promise you that you will get everything you want.”
Paul Hovitz, co-chair of CB1’s Youth and Education Committee, suggested that the community would support letting the developer build more floors in exchange for a larger school. “Whatever it takes, within reason for the quality of life and the community,” he said.
But S.C.A. chief of staff Melanie La Rocca said that Trinity Place Holdings, the owner of the site, was already allowed to build a high tower as-of-right, and its plans wouldn’t depend on any concessions. “It’ll be a negotiated deal with the developer. We do have a framework deal with them now,” La Rocca said.
“We’re still happy to have a new school, but we were clearly hoping to hear more,” said Wendy Chapman, a local parent and co-founder of the advocacy group Build Schools Now. “We have this opportunity now, especially since things are still on the drawing board,” she said, adding that she hoped the elected officials would try lobbying the developers directly as well.
After the meeting, the attendees said they were hopeful, but said they would not let up pressure on the S.C.A., which has agreed to meet every month to report on progress.
The new Greenwich St. school will be included within the mixed-use development planned for the site of the former Syms discount clothing store between Rector and Edgar Sts., expected to begin construction later this year and be completed in 2019.
The 500- foot tower will include about 85 luxury condominiums and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail on Greenwich St., in addition to the long-awaited school. What it likely won’t include, according to the S.C.A. officials, is the full gym and separate auditorium that locals were hoping for.
“Gymnatoriums are our standard,” La Rocca said.
