22 The Queens Courier • JANUARY 16, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com $50M expansion for Woodside school BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com Overcrowding may soon be one less problem to solve at one Woodside school. Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer gathered with other elected officials, School Construction Authority (SCA) representatives, school administration, parents and students to announce the expansion of I.S. 125, located at 46-02 47th Avenue. The SCA plans to build a 600-seat annex at the middle school for approximately $50 million. The school has dealt with overcrowding for many years, according to officials. The annex is expected to replace the trailers located in the school’s playground and a “temporary” mini-building, which was erected more than 20 years ago. “I.S. 125 is finally, after years of advocacy and fighting, going to get the expansion and addition that it truly deserves,” said Van Bramer. “Students deserve to learn in a modern, state-ofthe art facility that will make everyone proud, that will only enhance learning.” Construction of the annex is expected to begin as early as this year, including the demolition of the current minibuilding, said Van Bramer. The new addition will feature a brand new cafeteria, gymnasium and state-ofthe art classrooms. “I’m so happy to be able to replace those with a brand new state-of-theart addition for these children,” said Lorraine Grillo, SCA president. “They deserve it, they have deserved it.” Seventh grader and vice president of the student government Alysia Quan, 13, said the students are really excited to have the outdoor classrooms removed because they are freezing as they make their way to class. Currently, more than 200 seventh grade students have to walk in and out of the school building, through rain and snow, in order to attend their classes inside the trailers. Around 240 students have classes in the mini-building. “We had a hope at 125, we had a hope that we would be able to have classrooms that weren’t in the cafeteria, we had a hope that there wouldn’t be classrooms in the library so that children could visit the library whenever they wanted to, we had a hope that in the auditorium we could have shows, we wouldn’t have to have classrooms,” said I.S. 125 Principal Judy Mittler. “In this world, the fact that a hope becomes a reality, and becomes a reality so quickly, is mind boggling. Thank you isn’t enough.” I.S. 125’s expansion is part of Van Bramer’s efforts in western Queens to renovate or build six new schools, which will all be fully operational by 2016. “What’s more important in life than your children,” asked Mittler. “And the students they’re my children too.” THE COURIER/ Photo by Angy Altamirano The School Construction Authority announced the addition of a 600-seat annex at I.S. 125 in Woodside. Meeting to address school rezoning BY KATELYN DISALVO & ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com Although a proposed rezoning plan hopes to alleviate overcrowding at one Jackson Heights school, some local parents have mixed feelings about the changes. The Department of Education (DOE) announced proposed rezoning changes to move the boundaries for I.S. 145, located at 33-34 80th Street, and I.S. 230, located at 73-10 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights. The changes would take effect for the 2015- 2016 academic year. Local officials, DOE and Community Education Council (CEC) 30 representatives gathered with parents at a Monday, January 13 public meeting at I.S. 145 to discuss the proposal and get input from those affected. “I believe it will have a positive impact, the school is overcrowded and in the new school the kids will have a wonderful experience and education,” said Councilmember Daniel Dromm, who attended the meeting. “We have a year to finish the project, so we have time to address these issues that have been brought up in the meeting.” I.S. 145, together with I.S. 230, is part of District 30, which suffers from a chronic overcrowding problem, according to officials. Under the rezoning, the boundaries for I.S. 230 would expand to serve a new annex located at 74-03 34th Avenue, slated to open in September. The new building is expected to accommodate 420 middle school students. Parents present at the meeting said they are mainly concerned with the safety of their children, Parents voiced their concerns at a public meeting held at I.S. 145, after being told of proposed rezoning changes planned for District 30 in Jackson Heights. as they walk to and from school after recent fatal accidents involving students. They also worry about the loss of a dual language program offered at other local schools. Other schools that might be affected by the rezoning include P.S. 69, P.S. 149, P.S. 212 and P.S. 222 in Jackson Heights, P.S. 89, P.S. 228 and P.S. 148 in East Elmhurst, and P.S. 152 in Woodside. Lousie Mulvinill, whose son attends P.S. 89 in Elmhurst, is concerned his son will no longer be offered the dual language program he has been in since kindergarten if rezoned. However, he is hopeful the plans will help with overcrowding. “This will help the overcrowding and I am hopeful they will address the other problems we the parents have voiced in this meeting, because to me the most important thing is to improve the quality of the education,” said Mulvinill. Yet according to Claudio Bassi, whose son also attends P.S. 89 and would have to walk from Elmhurst THE COURIER/ Photo by Katelyn Disalvo to the new addition at I.S. 230, overcrowding will just return, as more students move into the area. “I don’t feel that the rezoning will even really be effective in helping with the overcrowding; this is a growing community, and more and more kids will need to go to school in this area, so the school will just be overcrowded all over again,” said Bassi. “I don’t think they will implement anything we have said because the way they presented their plans, it seemed like it was a done deal.” The DOE and CEC 30 said they will take the parents’ input into account when making any changes to the plan. CEC 30 will hold a meeting on Thursday, February 13, where they will vote on the rezoning project. “I think we have to wait and see what the CEC takes away from this meeting and the feedback from parents,” said Dromm. “The CEC will have to go back and rework their plans. They are a great organization and I trust them to make the right decision.” Board backs rail line plan BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com One by one, members of the Queens Public Transit Committee (QPTC), an organization focused on improving transportation in the borough, thanked Community Board 5 (CB5) last week. The board voted to support the idea of restarting the defunct Rockaway Beach Line last month, in part to help ease traffic congestion issues on major thoroughfares, such as Woodhaven Boulevard. The news was significant for QPTC, because the 3.5-mile trail could also be transformed into a park. “Getting more people like CB5 is tremendous, because they realize overcrowding is becoming a major problem,” said Phil McManus, founder of the QPTC. In November of last year, Assemblymember Phil Goldfeder, who has voiced support for a new train, announced that Queens College will be doing an analysis of both the train and park ideas. The Friends of the QueensWay (FQW), the group pushing to transform the former rail line into a public green space, has argued against restarting the line. “After over five decades of abandonment and multiple studies concluding that rail reactivation is not feasible, the time has come to utilize the over 50 acres of land that make up the QueensWay,” according to a statement from (FQW). “As evidence shows, rebuilding this abandoned land will dramatically improve the quality of life, create jobs and safer streets, and highlight the incredible history and cultural diversity of central and southern Queens.” Not everyone has taken a side though. Members of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) would like to see formal proposals, instead of taking a side on speculation. “We want to make sure a lot of concerns are answered. Can’t say that we are for or against,” said Martin Colberg, president of the WRBA. However, the QPTC isn’t opposed to doing both ideas in some capacity. “I believe in transportation with beautification,” McManus said. “We could work it out so it could be both.”
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