New Bayside School Plan Nixed After Locals Fear Crowding

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A northeast Queens community board voted against a proposal that would bring a 572-seat primary school to Bayside, with locals citing limited parking, pedestrian safety, and neighborhood crowding as reasons to not move forward with the plan.

On Monday evening, the city’s School Construction Authority (SCA), which oversees the planning and building of the city’s public schools, held a public hearing at a Community Board 7 meeting to discuss the agency’s earlier proposal to build a school at a vacant lot in Bay Terrace.

At the meeting, the Community Board turned down the SCA’s plan in a vote of 13 to 23, with nearly two thirds of the voting body opposed to the plan — a sentiment that is echoed by many community members, though some are in favor of expanding the number of public school seats in a rapidly growing district.

Concerns about parking and pedestrian safety

Prior to the public hearing Patch reported that locals and community leaders raised concerns about a lack of community input in the proposal, as well as worries about its impact on street parking and pedestrian safety.

In response to the Community Board’s vote, other local residents echoed those concerns in a neighborhood Facebook group.

“That is not a good area,” wrote one. “Parking is already extremely limited. Also, it’s near where Bell curves. A few accidents have happened there,” they added.

Another agreed that Bay Terrace is “too overcrowded, with no parking! It would be a nightmare!” they wrote of the school.

A third commented that the city should “choose another [location] with more vehicle access and a little [less] population density.”

Concerns about overcrowding

However, those in favor of the plan also have concerns — theirs are about overcrowding in the area’s public school district.

Community School District 25, where the proposed school would be located, covers a large swath of northeastern Queens, including parts of Bayside. By 2026 the district is expected to see a 41.5 percent increase in the number of students compared to those enrolled during the 2018-19 academic year, according to SCA data cited by the Queens Chronicle.

On the same neighborhood thread a couple of locals expressed concerns that nearby public schools were at capacity, and that this school is “needed to address the overcrowding issue,” as one put it.

Overcrowding is also a concern for the SCA.

In a written statement, Kevin Ortiz, SCA communications and external affairs manager, said that the SCA is "disappointed in the Community Board’s vote to reject the new Primary School."

"District 25 schools are overcrowded, and there is clearly a need for new school capacity, particularly in this sub-district. We'll continue to work with stakeholders and our partners at DOE to provide the seats and resources our students need and deserve," he wrote.

Despite several years of discussions about public school overcrowding in the district, proposals for new schools have historically not been met with enthusiasm.

In 2015, a proposal to build a new high school in Bayside was met with so much community opposition that the SCA eventually withdrew their plan, even though the district’s schools were operating at an average of about 40 percent over capacity at the time, according to officials.

Although the Community Board voted against the Bay Terrace school, that decision is not binding. The fate of the primary school is still unknown.

The SCA is still accepting comments about this site over email, at sites@nycssca.org, through July 20.