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BY MARK HALLUM
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@MARKUUSAN
Rumors of P.S. 9 in Maspeth being
converted into a homeless
shelter were very premature,
according to Councilman Robert
Holden, who will be speaking at a town
hall meeting regarding this topic on
Thursday evening.
Holden said he has been fi ghting
since March to get students at P.S.
9 on 57th Street in Maspeth into a
better facility since many of children
attending that location deal with
disabilities ranging from autism to
Down’s syndrome.
But if the school is to become a
homeless shelter, it would need to go
through the Uniform Land Use Review
Process (ULURP) approval process
with the City Planning Commission.
It would also need recommendations
from Community Board 5 and the
Queens borough president.
“The reason why P.S. 9 might be available
is because I have been fi ghting
since March to get a District 75 school
out of there,” Holden said. “It was
built for all boys in 1905 and it’s very
inadequate for the student population.
There’s only one bathroom per fl oor,
yet they have both male and female students.
They have changing tables, and
I have photographs of this, in front of
urinals. So I was determined since the
springtime to fi nd a locations to build
a state-of-the-art school in my district.”
The available space at 78-16 Cooper
Ave. in Glendale has piqued the
interest of the School Construction
Authority (SCA). The city’s Department
of Homeless Services (DHS) has
revived unpopular plans to build a
homeless shelter at the Glendale site,
but Holden said he off ered help fi nding
an alternative location.
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan
issued a release on Oct. 11 responding to
rumors that a homeless shelter would
be places somewhere on the two block
corridor that is 57th Street in Maspeth
and opposed DHS using the school.
Photo: Mark Hallum/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
“I don’t want to see a homeless shelter
on 57th Street, it’s an absolutely terrible
location,” Nolan said on Friday. “The
city hasn’t followed through on anything
they said and we have homeless
people in all the hotels in Long Island
City on a small rotating basis. How many
more area we going to take? I want
to work with Councilman Holden, Assemblymen
Barnwell and Miller… and
I’m hoping we can all work together.”
The city’s Department of Environmental
Protection conducted a study
of the Cooper Avenue site and found
there to be asbestos in the roof and a
clean-up order was made for asbestos
found on the fi rst fl oor. But it is still
unclear as to whether or not the SCA
would be even use the building or
construct a new one, Holden said.
“Once DHS said the School Construction
Authority wants the Cooper
Avenue site, we have to fi nd a new
location for a homeless shelter, and
that’s where we are now, trying to
fi nd other locations,” Holden said. “Of
course, one site that was mentioned, if
District 75 moves out of P.S. 9, then P.S.
9 would obviously become available.
And that was only one of the sites
mentioned in only one discussion
as a possible location for a homeless
shelter.”
What particularly piqued the SCA’s
interest in the Cooper Avenue site, Holden
noted, was the amount of land with
space to park school buses off the street.
P.S. 9 was built before the surrounding
area turned into a more industrial
setting, and now 18-wheelers pass by
the school while reaching adjacent
buildings.
In Maspeth, 57th Street only runs
for about a block and a half between
Flushing and Grand Avenues and is
mostly lined with warehouses, about
fi ve row-houses as well as P.S. 9.
Holden has urged DHS to place a
homeless shelter away from residential
areas and in commercial districts.
The Thursday town hall will be
hosted by the Juniper Park Civic Association
at Our Lady of Hope starting
at 7:30 p.m.
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