4 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 16, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Derelict boats removed as part of Jamaica Bay cleanup initiative
BY PAUL FRANGIPANE AND
ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Several crumbling boats were recently
removed from Jamaica Bay, as part of an
initiative to clean up the waterway.
Councilman Eric Ulrich and NYC
Parks Department Senior Manager of
Citywide Marinas Nate Grove were joined
by Councilwoman-elect Joann Ariola and
community volunteers in Howard Beach
on Friday, Dec. 10, where a barge held
three derelict boats that were recently
Photo by Paul Frangipane
Derelict boats that were left stranded and sunk in Jamaica Bay lay on a barge after being retrieved as part of an initiative to remove dumped vessels
from the water in and around the bay on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021.
City offi cials break ground on Northern Boulevard High School in Woodside
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
As real estate development exploded
across western Queens for more than a
decade, essential infrastructure improvements
have lagged far behind the needs of
its growing population.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, the School
Construction Authority broke ground
on the massive state-of-the-art, 3,066-
seat Northern Boulevard High School in
Woodside, which will be the largest facility
ever constructed by the SCA.
“Th is school represents our mission to
invest in New York City’s future, continuing to
create the school buildings that our students
need and deserve,” SCA President and CEO
Nina Kubota said. “Today’s groundbreaking
marks the next step in bringing thousands of
new seats to Queens working with all of our
partners to provide the infrastructure critical
to the success of our students.”
Construction is underway on the huge
lot at Northern Boulevard and 54th Street,
which was the location of an old Sports
Authority store and most recently hosted
one of the city’s COVID-19 testing hubs.
Th e new, six-story school building will
be a fully air-conditioned, accessible facility
and will contain 94 regular classrooms,
six resource rooms, a 55-seat auditorium,
a library, a full kitchen complex with two
student dining areas, as well as a competition
sized gymnasium with bleachers and
locker rooms.
“I am thrilled to break ground on the new
Northern Boulevard High School, which will
make a signifi cant dent in the school overcrowding
situation here in Queens,” Queens
Borough President Donovan Richards said.
“Every child in our borough deserves a
quality education, and more quality schools
should be something we all strive for.”
Th e new building will house three high
schools, including a District 75 program
providing instructional support for students
with special needs.
When he was fi rst elected in 2009,
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer used to
drive around his district looking for potential
sites for new schools. As he fi nishes his
last term as councilman, his list of accomplishments
includes 15 new schools that
have been funded, built or started bringing
more than 10,000 new seats to District 26.
“Th e groundbreaking for the Northern
Boulevard H.S. is a momentous occasion,”
Van Bramer said. “At a time when many
of New York City’s schools are over capacity,
the inclusion of three high schools and
seats for more than 3,000 students, including
a program for students with specialized
needs, is a welcome addition, not only for
Woodside but New York City as a whole.”
Th e school is expected to open at the start
of the 2025-2026 school year.
“One of the biggest issues we are facing
in education is rising class sizes,”
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell said. “We
have been advocating for new school construction
that will help lower the studentto
teacher ratio for classes. Today, we
make a big stride in lowering class sizes
for our students by the beginning of construction
on this new high school.”
Outgoing Schools Chancellor Meisha
Porter took part in the groundbreaking ceremony
and said the new facility will help the
DOE and SCA bring more than 6,200 seats
to borough schools by 2026.
“Th is historic project will bring thousands
of new seats to Queens and provide
students with state-of-the-art facilities
where they can learn, grow and thrive,”
Porter said. “Th ank you to our partners at
the School Construction Authority, community
leaders and local Queens families
for helping us bring Northern Boulevard
High School to life.”
retrieved from Jamaica Bay.
Th e most recent removal is part of an
ongoing battle to clean up Jamaica Bay
and New York City’s waterways. Termlimited
Ulrich helped fund the initiative
in the last three fi scal years, with $65,000
secured this year to remove abandoned
boats in the Howard Beach and Broad
Channel waters.
“We all have a responsibility at every
level of government to keep our environment
clean, to clean our waterways and to
improve the quality of life in our communities,
and that’s exactly what this funding
is paying for,” Ulrich said.
He noted the current contract is cleaning
up fi ve boats in the area, with three of
those on a barge behind the offi cials during
the press conference on Dec. 10.
Th e last boat located in Hamilton Beach
will be removed on Dec. 20 of this year.
Abandoned boats are considered among
the biggest problems in the city’s waterways,
which present a multitude of ecological,
transportation and safety hazards. Vessels
are usually abandoned when owners can
no longer aff ord to maintain them, leaving
them to drift into Jamaica Bay instead of
properly removing them.
Dan Mundy, vice president of Jamaica
Bay Ecowatchers, said that while they
at times fi nd derelict boats and report
them, there “isn’t
s o m e o n e
tasked with
the job” in
the city
g o v e r n -
ment.
“We need to make this somebody’s job. It’s
well worth it. It needs to be done,” Mundy
said. “Th is is just a great success story that
we’re getting it done right before Christmas.”
Ariola pledged to continue funding the
eff ort when she takes offi ce next year.
“We all talk about quality of life. When we
think about quality of life, we think about
garbage and graffi ti and such, but we have a
quality of life in the integrity of Jamaica Bay,”
Ariola said. “We are a coastal community
and we have to continue this program so that
we can remove derelict boats from our bay.”
She said she plans to introduce legislation
to increase fi nes for anyone who dumps
a boat in the water of Jamaica Bay or surrounding
areas.
“Only until it starts to hit them in the
pocket will it end,” Ariola said.
Ariola also said she’s considering having
sanctioned dumping events where people
can responsibly and legally get rid of
their boats.
Roger Gendron, president of New
Hamilton Beach Civic Association, noted
that the boat that will be removed on Dec.
20 has been in Hamilton Beach since
Superstorm Sandy hit the area.
“It’s been nothing but an eyesore and a
concern because should it break free from
where it’s tied off on, it would now block the
northern end of Hawtree Basin,” Gendron
said. “It’s a huge, huge relief to know that this
is going to be remedied and aft er 10 years,
I know the folks who live on the water …
cannot wait for this day to see that boat out
of there.”
Photo courtesy of SCA
Western Queens leaders join city offi cials for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Northern Boulevard High School in Woodside.
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