New Middle School Site Approved In Northwest Queens

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS -- A new middle school slated for Northwest Queens will open up nearly 700 seats to accommodate the neighborhood's growing number of students.

The New York City Council's five-member Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses voted unanimously to erect the new middle school on a landmarked lot that formerly housed the Sunnyside Community Garage. The roughly 25,000-square-foot space located at 38-04 48th St. currently houses a vacant former pool hall, according to the NYC Construction Authority.

The planned middle school is slated to house 697 students, grades 6-8, said Kelly Murphy, director of real estate services for NYC's School Construction Authority. It would join Community School District 30, which includes Astoria, Long Island City, Ditmars, East Elmhurst, Hunter point, Jackson Heights and parts of Sunnyside and Woodside, according to the NYC Department of Education.

Murphy joined SCA External Affairs Director Michael Mirisola to present a rough outline of the site plans for the city council's approval. The middle school, which gained approval from Community Board 2 and the Community Education Council in 2016, would replace Stein's Sunnyside Community Garage on the corner of 48th Street and Barnette Avenue, Mirisola said.

The garage, erected in 1927, is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. It has been vacant for four years, Mirisola said.

He said some community members asked the department to restore the community garage in building the new school, rather than demolish it. The locals hoped to preserve a tower on the garage, among other details it was originally built with that have since deteriorated, Mirisola said.

"The community wanted us to go back to that, or preserve what's there, but as you can see, what's there is nothing like what it was," he said. "We will try to work to bring some of those details."

Mirisola said the SCA didn't yet have a price point for the property or a timeline for the middle school's construction, but predicted the new building would stand between four and five stories tall. He said it would have all the standard requirements of a middle school - including a lunchroom, kitchen, gymnasium and, potentially, a playground.

"We’re trying very hard to add an outdoor recreation space in the backyard," he said.

That raised concerns for subcommittee Councilwoman Deborah Rose, who questioned whether the SCA had considered adding a buffer zone between the school's playground and neighboring houses.

"I always have a little issue with this, that we vote before the design has been rendered," Rose said. "As a landmarks person I always have some trepidation about how much community feedback actually gets put into the designs."

But Mirisola assured the council that the SCA had members of both the community board and education council to hold them accountable for their promises while they planned the school's construction.

"We're committed to working with them," he said.

Lead image via Shutterstock.