300 New Sunset Park School Seats Could Come to 8th Avenue

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The city's School Construction Authority (SCA) will initiate a public review process to determine whether a 300-seat elementary school can be built at 4525 8th Ave., Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca and the SCA announced Friday.

The review process for the 13,000 square foot site, formerly home to a C-Town supermarket, will likely begin in January, an SCA spokesperson said.

That review will start with 45 days of public comment on the site, the spokesman said, as well as hearings at the Community Education Council for District 15, which covers Park Slope and Sunset Park, and hearings at Community Board 7. The SCA will also conduct an environmental review of the site.

At that point, the proposal will head for the City Council and, if approved there, to the Mayor's office, the SCA spokesperson said. If all levels of government have signed off on the project, the SCA can purchase the site and begin construction.

The planned school will be ADA compliant, air conditioned, and include an outdoor play space, according to the councilman's office, though its design has yet to be finalized.

The SCA spokesperson said he could not estimate how long the review process would take or when the school would be open to students.

District 15 is in need of thousands of new school sets to meet the demands of its families. The city has pledged to spend $325 million over the next five years adding 3,840 sets to the district, including 1,096 seats in Sunset Park.

In an October letter, the SCA listed eight other sites within District 15 (besides the C-Town property) that it thinks might also be acceptable to host a school, though it has yet to initiate a review process concerning any of them.

[Editor's note: this story has been updated for clarity and accuracy.]

Pictured at top: 4525 8th Ave. Image via Google Maps.