4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 18, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Crime drops,
but break-ins
still irk the
111th Precinct
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck
saw lower crime numbers at the end
of the year — but home break-ins continue
to be a nuisance, according to
authorities.
On Jan. 8, police offi cer John
Erdman told attendees at the monthly
Community Board 11 meeting the
111th Precinct fi nished 2017 down in all
seven major crime categories. Th e precinct
saw a 12.5 percent decrease yearover
year, with 850 incidents reported
in 2016 and 744 reported in 2017.
“I don’t know how much lower those
numbers can go, but as long as they
keep going down, it’s a great thing for
this community,” Erdman said.
Despite this, the offi cer continued, a
burglary trend in the area continues to
be problematic.
Th ose who don’t have an alarm system
should consider one, he said.
Residents who already have alarm systems
installed are encouraged to engage
them whenever there is no one at the
home or business.
Windows and doors should always
be locked and secured and entrances
should be well lit. Th ose who live
in an apartment should make sure to
close the building’s lobby door upon
entering.
Security cameras are “a great thing,”
Erdman continued. Th ey oft en deter
burglars, especially career criminals,
from breaking into homes or businesses.
Burglars are generally in and out in
between four to seven minutes, Erdman
said, making a quick response time critical.
“Take the necessary steps to prevent
burglaries from happening,” Erdman
said.
Th e police offi cer urged residents
who think they see something out of
the ordinary to always call 911.
“Nobody knows who lives on your
block better than you do,” he said.
“We’d rather show up and have it turn
out to be nothing than fi nd out two
days later somebody’s house was broken
into.”
Divine Wisdom Academy closing its Bayside campus
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@starnetwork.com
@smont76
Due to declining enrollment and
changing demographics, Divine Wisdom
Catholic Academy is consolidating its
Bayside and Douglaston campuses later
this year.
Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy will
offi cially shutter the Bayside campus (formerly
St. Robert Bellarmine School), located
at 56-10 214th St., on June 30, according
to Diocese of Brooklyn spokesperson
Carolyn Erstad. Th e academy will continue
to operate out of its Douglaston school.
Bayside students are invited to continue
their education at the Douglaston campus
(which was once St. Anastasia School)
during the 2018-19 school year. Staff from
both campuses will merge together in
Douglaston, as well.
Erstad told QNS the merger was
spurred on by declining enrollment at
both campuses and Bayside’s changing
demographics. Total enrollment at
Divine Wisdom has decreased by 10 percent
in the last year. Th is declining enrollment
has led to a projected fi nancial defi -
cit of $325,000 for the 2017-2018 school
year, the spokesperson noted.
No capital improvements at the
Douglaston campus are necessary to
accommodate the larger student population.
Th is is largely due to a project completed
at the site this past summer, which
added improvements including a stateof
the-art STEM lab, a music conservatory
and an early childhood development
center. Th e project was funded by school
benefactors.
Since improvements were completed,
students at the Bayside campus have been
traveling between campuses to use the
Douglaston STEM lab on a weekly basis,
Erstad noted. In the new school year, former
Bayside students will benefi t from
having the lab and other new resources at
their immediate disposal.
Th e Bayside and Douglaston campuses
are about two miles apart. Th e merger is
not expected to impose signifi cant transportation
inconveniences for enrolled
families.
Th e future of the Bayside building is
still up in the air, according to Erstad.
“Th ere is no immediate plan to rent the
Bayside building,” she said. “Th is could
change in the future.”
Registration and open houses for the
next school year will open during Catholic
Schools Week, beginning Jan. 28. Learn
more on the Divine Wisdom website.
Divine Wisdom was established in
September 2009 to serve the parishes of
St. Anastasia, Saint Robert Bellarmine,
American Martyrs and Saint Paul Chong
Ha-Sang. It originally operated out of the
former St. Anastasia School, but expanded
to the former St. Robert Bellarmine
campus in Bayside in 2013.
Th e Bayside campus of Divine Wisdom
is the second Catholic school in Queens
marked for closure this year. Last week,
the diocese announced that Glendale’s St.
Pancras School, which has operated for
nearly 110 years, will close its doors forever
at the end of the current school year.
New elementary school in Long Island
City will begin admitting students in 2021
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Plans are underway to start construction
on a new elementary school in Long
Island City.
Permits were fi led with the Department
of Buildings on Jan. 4 for a four-story,
75,093-square-foot building at 1-35
57th Ave.
P.S. 375Q will be built near the Hunters
Point South aff ordable housing complex
and is a part of the project’s second phase
of construction.
Offi cials fi rst announced that the school
would be built in February 2016 at the
cost of $60 million. Parents in the neighborhood
have been asking for additional
schools to cater the infl ux of families
moving in.
Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2016 allocated
$225 million for the construction of three
new schools in the area and one school in
neighboring Woodside.
According to the SCA, the school will
accommodate 612 students and feature
an art classroom, a music classroom, a
science resource classroom, a gymatorium,
a library, guidance and medical
suites, a cafeteria and an outdoor playground.
Th e second phase of construction at
Hunters Point South will also include
almost 1,200 units, 800 of which will be
aff ordable. Th e two residential towers will
stand 55 and 44 stories, respectively.
Photo via Shutterstock
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
Divine Wisdom's Bayside campus
Photo courtesy of School Construction Authority
P.S. 375Q will be constructed in Long Island City as part of the Hunters Point South project.