School expansion will ditch trailers
New building at P.S. 85 to increase capacity and bring better classroom conditions
Councilman Costa Constantinides announces that a new brick-and-mortar building will replace the trailer classrooms at P.S. 85 Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
BY MAX PARROTT
Astoria Councilman
Costa Constantinides
held a joint event with
the Department of
Education and the School
Construction Authority
on April 25 to announce
that a new brick-andmortar
building housing
476 students will replace
the trailer classrooms at
P.S. 85, the Judge Charles
Vallone School.
Removing these trailers
will clear the 22nd
Council District, which
Constantinides represents,
of all such temporary
classrooms, which have
been much maligned for
lacking proper heating,
cooling and other basic
amenities for students.
“I remember this trailer
when it got really cold
one year and the heating
system froze out,” said
Constantinides, pointing to
the trailers at P.S. 85 where
his son attended pre-K and
kindergarten. “They had
to divide up the classes
because there was nothing
else they could do. And my
son said ‘Daddy, I’m in
fourth grade now.’”
In addition to
the environmental
improvements, the annex
building will provide
desperately needed relief for
the school’s overcrowding.
P.S. 85 currently operates at
140% capacity. It falls into
Community School District
30, which is tied with three
others for the seventh most
overcrowded school district
in the city, according to
a report the City Council
released in 2018.
The new building will
nearly double the school’s
capacity. The school
currently has more than
100 pre-K and kindergarten
students having class
in trailers.
The transportable
classroom units (TCU), as
they are officially called,
were originally intended to
be short-term facilities, but
have been in place for over
20 years.
“As part of the School
Construction Authority’s
(SCA) steadfast commitment
to remove all TCUs across
the City, 94 TCUs have been
removed in Queens, and
an additional 31 have been
identified for removal,” said
Lorraine Grillo, president
and CEO of the SCA.
The event serves
as a benchmark for
Constantinides. “All of the
four schools that had these
trailers, these transportable
classrooms – we have a plan
to remove each and every
one of them,” he said.
C o n s t a n t i n i d e s
announced in 2017 that a
modular building at P.S. 2
in East Elmhurst will be
replaced with a permanent
facility. He has also
partnered with Grillo and
Borough President Melinda
Katz to close trailers at P.S.
151 in Woodside and P.S. 70
in Astoria.
Construction for the
annex at P.S. 85, which is
currently in the design
phase, is tentatively
scheduled to begin in 2020
and complete in 2023. Grillo
said that the SCA did not
have an estimate of the
cost yet.
The plan features 24
new classrooms, including
seven for kindergarten
and pre-K, a gymnasiumauditorium,
exercise room,
cafeteria and kitchen.
“No longer will any child
in this Council District
have to shiver through a
math lesson with his or her
coat on, or suffer through
hot temperatures in one
of these trailers,” said
Constantinides.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by email at
mparrott@schnepsmedia.
com or by calling (718) 224-
5863, ext. 226.
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