FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 7, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Cuomo signs law for Flushing Meadows pre-K center
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Corona kids will soon have a pre-K center
dedicated to science, technology, engineering,
art and math (STEAM) education
aft er a bill was passed to allow public
parkland to be used for this purpose.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill
on Nov. 30 introduced by state Senator
Jose Peralta and Assemblyman Jeff rion
Aubry in June in response to the Public
Park Doctrine, which requires that the
State Legislature grant permission to use
parkland for non-park use.
Th e center would accommodate 306 students
at 47-01 111th St. Th e site is currently
a parking lot for the New York Hall
of Science (NYSCI), which is located at
Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Th e Department of Education (DOE) will
partner with the NYSCI and the Department
of Cultural Aff airs to create curriculum
focusing on STEAM education. Th e plan
was fi rst announced in August 2016.
“It is unthinkable that in 2017 New York
City children are learning in classroom
trailers, and this is why the construction
of a state-of-the-art pre-K school next to
the Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows-
Corona Park will benefi t the community,”
Peralta said in a statement. “We are
talking about the use of one acre of parkland,
which is currently a parking lot.
More than 300 new seats in a space that
is used for cars will now be available for
children from Corona, which is one of
the most school overcrowded areas in the
entire City of New York.”
Peralta and Aubry introduced their bill
aft er Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz expressed concern about the city’s procedure.
In a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio,
she stated that while she is not against a
preschool at this site, she “requests that
proper procedure be followed to utilize
public parkland in this manner.”
Th e Hall of Science was allowed to be
built due to New York City Code 18-120,
which stated that the nonprofi t could
enter into an agreement with the city
for “the adequate keeping, maintenance,
extension, preservation, management and
operation of such hall of science and scientifi
c exhibits.”
In a statement, Katz said that if the
city did not get approval from the State
Legislature proceeding with the plan
“would have set a dangerous precedent.”
“Th e use of public parkland must go
through the proper channels – even by the
City of New York,” she said. “Th e action
eff ectively creates hundreds of new pre-K
seats with STEM curriculum, and it was
critical to follow the proper procedures of
the public trust doctrine in the interest of
protecting public parkland from unfettered
development. Th anks to the leadership of
our state legislators, this is now a prime
example of how the process can work.”
Members of Community Board 4 also
expressed reservations about public parkland
being used for this school. At a CB
4 meeting in Corona in May 2016, board
member and teacher Judy D’Andrea,
echoed the borough president’s concerns
and requested that the board send a letter
to the city stating that they support the conservation
of parkland and would like to see
the center built somewhere else.
Christian Cassagnol, district manager of
CB 4, declined to comment. QNS is awaiting
response from other board members.
Freddi Goldstein, a spokesperson for the
mayor, previously told QNS that the DOE
plans to begin construction immediately if
the bill is signed “and is working to get the
doors open as quickly as possible.”
Th e pre-K center is slated for a 2020
opening. Th e city will also allocate $20
million for park-related improvements
in the area.
Rendering courtesy of M D Szerbaty Associates Architecture
A new pre-K center will be constructed at the site of a parking lot for the New York Hall of Science.
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