Landlord To Boot P.S. 150 Out Of Tribeca

TRIBECA, NY — A landlord is booting the city from a Tribeca apartment complex, forcing the Department of Education to relocate P.S. 150 after decades in the neighborhood.

The city's lease for school space in Independence Plaza off of Greenwich Street expired over the summer and the complex's owners, Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management, agreed to a one-year extension to house the school. But the landlords have decided not to renew the city's lease beyond that and have left the Department of Education scrambling to find a new home for P.S. 150, also known as the Tribeca Learning Center.

Education officials aim to relocate the 186-seat school by the start of the 2019-20 school year into the Peck Slip School, or P.S. 343, in the Seaport District. The Tribeca institution would co-locate with Peck Slip, which currently has 284 pupils, for at least four years until new school space is built at 28-42 Trinity Place at Edgar Street, according to the Department of Education.

“The DOE is working collaboratively with the entire P.S. 150 and Peck Slip communities to find a new site for the school after we were informed by the owner of the P.S. 150 building that we could not renew our lease," said Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the Department of Education.

P.S. 150 emailed parents with the news early October.

A growing chorus of parents and local leaders are railing against uprooting the high-performing school with deep ties to Tribeca.

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the tight-knit school, which has one class per its kindergarten through fifth grades, the prestigious title of Blue Ribbon School. The honor is bestowed on institutions that have test scores in the top 15 percent of their state and no major gaps among student demographics.

"This school is a great little community and to see it uprooted from the neighborhood all because of a last minute lease issue is horrible," said Oneika Ramos, 40, a stay at home mom whose 8-year-old son Saint Michael attends third grade at P.S. 150. "It's a gem in the community."

A petition to keep the school in the neighborhood has garnered more than 500 signatures in a matter of days. This isn't the school's first brush with relocation either, in 2013 the Department of Education planned to move P.S. 150 to Chelsea, but quashed the proposal after parents vocally opposed the plan.

Some parents feel similarly about the cross-town move.

"It's really a school closure because it's leaving the neighborhood," said Mihaela Statescu, 43, whose 9-year-old son Gabriel is in third grade and is a ten minute walk from home. "We wanted [Gabriel] to go to school here, in Tribeca, now they're telling us they school could end up moving twice in a few years. That's a big adjustment."

Not all Peck Slip parents are sold on the relocation either.

"My biggest concern is if there will truly be enough space," said Margret Murphy, 38, whose daughter is in first grade at Peck Slip. "Suddenly, there will be almost 200 more kids in the building, how are they going to make sure it's a smooth transition that meets everyones needs?"

A pre-kindergarten center is departing the Peck Slip School's fourth floor next school year and the Department of Education believes the move leaves enough space to accommodate P.S. 150 and the Peck Slip School. As the proposal moves forward, the department is committed "throughout this process to ensure we are addressing the needs of students and families," said Cohen.

The primary school's move also jeopardizes the annual Taste of Tribeca food fest, a well-known foodie event and fundraiser for P.S. 150 and neighboring P.S. 234 that is in its 25th year.

Local elected officials penned an Oct. 9 letter to Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management requesting they "continue a conversation that will allow P.S. 150 to stay in a neighborhood in which it has developed strong roots" and asked for a sit down with the building owners.

"It is our hope that we can find a mutually beneficial solution that keeps in place all of the amenities that make Tribeca such a desirable place to live and raise a family," the letter reads, which was written by a coalition of elected officials including the district's Councilwoman Margaret Chin, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Senator Brian Kavanagh.

As of Oct. 12, there had been no formal response, according to Marian Guerra, Councilwoman Chin's Director of Legislation and Budget. Vornado and Stellar Management did not return requests for comment.

If the proposal moves forward, the Department of Education plans to publish an Education Impact Statement and host public hearings on the relocation before a vote by the agency's Panel for Educational Policy.

Photos courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch