6 times • MAY 19, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Overcrowded Middle Village school breaks ground on $31.5M expansion BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GiudiceReport After years of complaints, a Middle Village school is finally getting a much-needed expansion. In 2009 P.S./I.S. 49, located at 63-60 80th St., received an expansion to grow the school into a kindergarten through eighth-grade facility. With the expansion came more students than the school could handle, so many parents from the neighborhood were forced to send their children to other schools further away. Since that time, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley has advocated for funding to bring yet another expansion to the school. She has now secured the funding for the $31.5 million expansion project with the School Construction Authority (SCA). “There are just too many students that live in our community that want to go to P.S./I.S. 49 because it is an excellent school,” Crowley told the students on hand for the ceremonial groundbreaking. “Today represents an investment in our community, in our children and in our collective futures.” The school is currently bursting at the seams, serving 1,117 students, according to P.S./I.S. 49’s principal, Tom Carty. “We needed this desperately,” Carty said of the expansion. “We are right now unable to accommodate all the families in the neighborhood. Our teachers are sharing classrooms, which works, but is less than ideal. This will really go a long way to alleviate that and better serve the kids.” When complete, the expansion will bring P.S./ I.S. 49 a new 26,000-squarefoot, three-story facility, housing a larger cafeteria, 333 new seats across 12 new classrooms, four new special education classrooms, a computer lab and an exercise City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and P.S./I.S.49 students break ground on the school’s new extension. room. The expansion will be ready for operations in September 2017, just in time for the new school year. The expansion is being built in a portion of the school’s playground area, which will cut down the available space for the kids to play. “It’s much smaller, but we will still be able to get the kids outside,” Carty said. “We will have the playground for the younger kids.” RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photos by Anthony Giudice The design of this expansion will blend seamlessly into the previous expansion from 2009 and the original building, which was erected in 1933, said Chuck Heaphy from John Ciardullo P.C., the architectural firm responsible for the design. Senate bill would mandate public notice on potential school sites BY the ridgewood sta ff [email protected] Legislation that would require city agencies to properly notify residents about new school construction in their neighborhood passed the state Senate last week. The bill (S.5387) requires education agencies such as the School Construction Authority (SCA) and the Department of Education to inform residents about land purchased for a new school and hold a public forum to gather feedback from the community. State Senator Joseph Addabbo, who voted for the bill, said his decision was largely inspired by the recent proposed construction of P.S. 335, a new public school in Ozone Park. “Very often, residents of a particular community have a much better understanding of their area and how it would be impacted by the siting of a new school or other facility than the city bureaucracy,” Addabbo said. “This legislation would help to ensure that the people who have the most at stake when a new school is being proposed for their area have a chance to let the heads of the appropriate education policy and construction agencies know whether they are going down the right or wrong path. Furthermore, they would be in the position to suggest improvements that might ultimately keep a needed school project on track.” Under the bill, the New York City Board of Education or Panel for Educational Policy, together with the New York City School Construction Authority, would be required to notify the local community board about real property acquired for a new school. Within 45 to 90 days of the notification, the agencies must hold a community forum to gather input from local residents on whether the proposed location is appropriate to the purpose. The time, date and location of the forum would be decided in conjunction with the local community board to help ensure it is being held in a way most convenient for residents of the neighborhood. The bill was sent to the Assembly for its consideration. Joe’s Restaurant Right here in the heart of Ridgewood 1-718-497-1300 or 1-718-497-3734 • Between Gates Ave & Palmetto St. Gift Certificates Available 66-11 FOREST AVENUE You can find us on www.joesrestaurantny.com HIGH ACCLAIM 1/2 Daily News Accepting Credit Cards Font: Engravers Old English Normal OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR LUNCH AND DINNER ––––– A Small Sampling of Our Menu Items ––––– Pollo CHICKEN CUTLET ..................................................$11.45 CHICKEN CUTLET WITH SAUCE ........................$12.45 CHICKEN CUTLET PARMIGIANA ......................$13.45 CHICKEN MARSALA ..............................................$13.45 CHICKEN CACCIATORE .......................................$14.75 CHICKEN FRANCESE ..............................................$13.45 Pesce FRIED CALAMARI ....................................................$9.00 BAKED CLAMS ...........................................................$9.00 STEAMED CLAMS RED OR WHITE ........................9.00 STEAMED MUSSELS RED OR WHITE .................$9.00 LITTLE NECK CLAMS ON THE HALF SHELL ..$9.00 SHRIMP COCKTAIL ..................................................$9.00 ANTIPASTO SML. $9.45 LGE .................................$13.45 MIXED SALAD .......................................................... $5.00 CAESAR SALAD......................................................... $5.45 CAESAR SALAD with GRILLED CHICKEN .........$9.00 SLICED TOMATOES with AVOCADO & HEARTS OF PALM ...........................$9.00 SLICED TOMATOES with ANCHOVIES. ...............$8.00 SLICED TOMATOES with MOZZARELLA ...........$9.00 LOBSTER & SHRIMP & MUSSELS .....................$27.45 FILET OF SOLE FRANCESE ..................................$15.45 CALAMARI FRA DIAVOLO ...................................$15.45 CALAMARI MARINARA ....................................... $14.45 SHRIMP FRA DIAVOLO .........................................$17.45 EVERYTHING COOKED TO ORDER • ASK FOR OUR DAILY SPECIALS NOW ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS FOR ANY OCCASION. CATERING MENU AVAILABLE
RT05192016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above