25 Vallone: Turn pool area into ice rink BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Astoria Park could soon be the next site to go skating for the holidays. Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. sent a letter to Parks Department Commissioner Veronica White on November 19, asking the agency to develop the Astoria Park pool area into an ice skating rink. The area being proposed for the rink is next to the pool and used for sprinklers during the summer. “This area in the Astoria Park Pool would make the perfect space for an ice skating rink for the residents of Queens to enjoy during the winter months,” said Vallone. “With the addition of an ice skating rink to the existing skate park and upcoming amphitheater, Astoria Park will be a destination for every season.” Vallone hopes an agreement could be reached for the Astoria Park Pool, like the one created between the Parks department and Open Space Alliance of North Brooklyn to maintain and operate the ice rink at the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn. The McCarren Park Pool uses its beach area, next to the main pool, for its skating rink. Photo Courtesy Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. www.queenscourier.com I LIC COURIER I DECEMBER 2013 The Astoria Park Pool area could be turned into an ice skating rink. Rendering Courtesy of SCA P.S. 339 will bring 472 school seats to Woodside by 2016. Woodside school breaks ground BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Shovels full of dirt hit the ground to alleviate overcrowded classrooms in Woodside. Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer gathered with city offi cials and the community on November 15 at the corner of 58th Street and 39th Avenue to break ground on the construction of P.S. 339. “This new school is going to help so much here in Woodside,” said Van Bramer. “Here in Woodside, in our district, we have a serious overcrowding situation and I’m so thrilled that we’ve had a lot of these groundbreakings and that we’re building a lot of new schools in our district. The children of Woodside, Sunnyside and Long Island City deserve nothing but the very best.” P.S. 339 is one of six new schools expected to be fully operational by 2016 in western Queens. Located at 39-07 57th Street, it will serve 472 students from pre-kindergarten through fi fth grade. The new fi ve-story building will feature 22 standard classrooms, two special-education classrooms, multiple resource rooms, a music classroom, art classroom and “gymatorium.” The school will also have a library, cafeteria, kitchen, a community room, a general use and early childhood playground, and administrative, guidance and medical offi ces. P.S. 339 is slated to open September 2015, with the facility fully operational by 2016. Along with the new school, Van Bramer also announced the construction of a state-of-the-art extension to nearby P.S. 11, located at 54-25 Skillman Ave, which will add 350 seats and is expected to be open by 2016.
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