Sorely-needed P.S. 33 annex on pace for 2021
Assemblyman Pichardo (r) with Councilman Fernando Cabrera, Senator Gustavo Rivera along with members of the Department of Education and the
New York City School Construction Authority during the groundbreaking in July. File Photo
Five alarm fi re hits 6-story Grand Concourse apt complex
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The Grand Concourse was
shut down as a fi ve-alarm
fi re devastated a Mount Eden
apartment complex overnight
in the late hours of Saturday,
October 5.
The six fl oor building at 1555
Grand Concourse was reported
ablaze just before 10 p.m., when
200 units and 44 EMS personnel
began to arrive, blocking
off much of the thoroughfare
between East 172nd Street and
Mount Eden Parkway.
FDNY members utilized
two ladder units to access
the roof from the Grand Concourse,
where the extinguishing
operation had began.
“The building has multiple
sections, the fi re started
on a top fl oor apartment and
spread to the cockloft space
and multiple sections of the
building,” said FDNY Chief of
Operations Thomas Richardson
at the scene of the fi re.
The FDNY indicated that
area units concentratred on
was the building’s middle section,
above the front entrance.
Richardson continued to
explain that the operation was
attempting to open up hot spots
An aireal shot of the Grand Concourse fi re. FDNY FDNY on the scene at 1555 Grand Concourse. Edwin Soto
throughout the roof in efforts
to extinguish the fl ames of the
intense fi re.
Specifi cally, the fi re is believed
to have started in unit
6W and was accidentally
caused by an electrical issue,
according to the FDNY. The
unit had smoke alarms present
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 4 CTOBER 11-17, 2019 BTR
and operational, the department
confi rmed.
New York’s Bravest brought
the fi re under control a few
minutes before midnight with
seven non-life threatening injures
reported to fi refi ghters
in addition to one civilian who
sustained minor injuries.
Shortly after the fi re was
under control that the Grand
Concourse had reopened overnight.
BY STEVEN GOODSTEIN
Renovations are currently
underway at an elementary
school along the Jerome Avenue
corridor in Fordham.
The P.S. 33 Tim Dwight
School annex has been undergoing
a massive, elaborate
renovation at its 2424 Jerome
Avenue campus thanks to a
collaboration between the
NYC School Construction Authority,
the NYC Department
of Education and local elected
offi cials such as Assemblyman
Victor Pichardo, Councilman
Fernando Cabrera and
other elected offi cials.
P.S. 33 currently enrolls almost
850 students, from Pre-K
through 5th Grade as well as
having a dedicated special education
program that will utilize
the new annex, which will
also be creating an additional
388 classroom seats once the
renovations are complete.
The $70 million renovations
of P.S. 33, will include
adding new classroom seats
to the school, a library, an exercise
room, a medical suite,
a kitchen and a student cafeteria,
a project room, a new
playground and other necessary
learning utilities avail-
able to the students.
“The P.S. 33 annex tells the
story of neighbors who came
together, with city agencies
and elected offi cials to ensure
that these students can
get an education in a new,
well-equipped, state of the art
learning environment,” said
Councilman Cabrera, who
added that P.S. 33 is one of the
most overcrowded school districts
in the city.
He joined his colleagues
in government over the summer
to literally stick a shovel
in the ground to begin the revamp
of the annex.
Its completion is slated for
the 2021 school year and it
remains on pace to open on
time, according to Pichardo’s
offi ce.
“Throughout the process
of developing the Jerome Avenue
Neighborhood plan, I
affi rmed my commitment to
this community by insisting
on investments in housing,
healthcare, economic development
and education,” Cabrera
said.
Even Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. shared his excitement
for the project.
“With so many Bronx
schools currently overcrowded,
the P.S. 33 annex
will go a long way in accommodating
our children so they
can comfortably learn and get
the most out of their time in
class,” said Diaz. “This amenity
rich and fully accessible
annex will enhance the experience
of current students in
a meaningful way as well as
accommodate new students
as our population grows,” the
borough president continued.
“P.S. 33 is a model of how
we should be investing more
in our school infrastructure
so that all students can benefi
t from a quality education,”
Diaz added.
The project was slated to
move forward since the late
fall of 2017 along with several
schools in the west Bronx.