8 The Courier sun • december 19, 2013 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com HOWARD BEACH SCHOOL GETS $2M CHRISTMAS GIFT BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected] Twelve feet of water rushed into the basement of P.S. 207 during Sandy, leaving the Howard Beach school with over $2 million worth of damage. Now, more than a year after the flood waters have receded, Senators Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand and Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder have announced roughly $1.82 million is on the way for repairs. “It’s been over a year since Sandy tore apart our schools in southern Queens and while we have all made significant process there is still work to be done,” Goldfeder said. “This new funding will enormously help P.S. 207 rebuild and ensure our children receive the quality education they deserve.” The FEMA federal funds will go to the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) and will provide for 90 percent of the cost of repairs throughout the building. The bulk of the damage was in the flooded basement, where a fuel oil tank rolled and spilled about 3,000 gallons of oil. Two boilers, electrical panels, lights, ductwork and the fire alarm system were also damaged. This left the school without electricity, heat and water, and closed for the months following the superstorm. Nearly 90,000 gallons of water and oil were removed from the building before it could reopen. “This infusion of federal money is helping P.S. 207 put the damaging effects of Sandy in the rear-view mirror and enabling the school to get back to educating New York City’s children without crushing back-bills,” Schumer said. The proposed homeless shelter in Glendale is entering its second phase of review, which is an environmental assessment. THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Next step for proposed homeless shelter BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] The fight over the unpopular Glendale homeless shelter is heading to round two. An environmental assessment study will be done on the site, for the second phase of review, to decide whether to transform the vacant factory at 78-16 Cooper Avenue into a homeless shelter, after the support it recently received from the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Some elected officials are confident they’ll have a chance for a knockout punch in this round. “That’s another shot we have,” Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi said at a recent Community Board 5 meeting. “I believe from anecdotal evidence that the site may be contaminated. They are not allowed to build on a contaminated site.” DHS penned a letter to the mayor’s office last week in support of nonprofit Samaritan Village’s proposal to transform the defunct factory into a shelter for 125 families, with a contract valued at $27 million. Elected officials and Glendale residents attended a public hearing on Thursday, December 12 in Manhattan to reiterate their opposition to the possible shelter, because of the contamination on the site and congestion to local schools, among other reasons. “The building was never intended for residential use. Changing this site to a residential use would require intensive remediation and expansive renovations,” Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley said at the hearing. “Think of how much further we could use $27 million. This money could be spent repairing buildings that already have the infrastructure in place, and money would likely still be left over for improvements in current shelters and providing job placement and permanent housing services.” The homeless shelter was first suggested to the city by Samaritan Village in 2011. A formal proposal was sent to the DHS earlier this year. If the proposal passes the environmental assessment round, then it will go to the Office of the City Comptroller for financial review for the third and final phase.
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