The current issue
Neighborhood Map
Bay Ridge
  • Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights
Brooklyn Heights
  • Downtown, DUMBO
Carroll Gardens
  • Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill
Fort Greene
  • Clinton Hill, Crown Heights
North Brooklyn
  • Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
Park Slope
  • Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights
GO Brooklyn
Dining Guide
Where to GO
Events calendar
Classifieds
The Brooklyn Wire
Not Just Nets
Police Blotter
Perspective
Parenting
Politics
Transit
Podcasts
Brooklyn Cyclones
Merchant news
About The Paper
RSS Feeds
Upscale Lighting

‘Green Church’ school approved

By Ben Muessig
The Brooklyn Paper
Enlarge this image
The Brooklyn Paper / Joe Marino
The long saga of the Green Church in Bay Ridge first involved protests about a plan to destroy the church to build condos…
Enlarge this image
The Brooklyn Paper / Joe Marino
…then led to the demolition itself…
Enlarge this image
The Brooklyn Paper / Ben Muessig
…which led to the decision to sell the land instead. Now, the site will house a school.

Tools

Print this story
digg
del.icio.us

Plans to build a school on the site of the demolished “Green Church” earned an A+ last week.

The City Council approved a proposal to construct a 680-seat elementary school on the corner of Fourth and Ovington avenues — where the century-old, moss-hued Bay Ridge United Methodist Church stood until it was torn down in October by the shrinking congregation to make room for a smaller house of worship and luxury condos.

All Car Rent-A-Car

After that controversial demolition, developer Abe Betesh announced that instead of going ahead with the condo portion of the plan, a portion of land was for sale.

That’s when the main opponent of the demolition, Councilman Vince Gentile (D-Bay Ridge), suggested that the city erect a school atop the emerald-tinged rubble.

Surprisingly enough, city officials listened. The Council moved last week to give the School Construction Authority permission to acquire land and build the newly christened PS 331K beside the still-to-be-built church.

Gentile was ecstatic.

Ryann: Sustainable Fashion

“[Bay Ridge] is home to dedicated teachers and inspiring students,” he said in a statement. “And now we’re a step closer to getting them the space and resources they deserve!”

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

←Fort Greene: A rape in Fort Greene
→Smash or Trash: This ‘Honeymoon’ is over!

Reader Feedback

Enter your comment below

By submitting this comment, you agree to the following terms:

You agree that you, and not BrooklynPaper.com or its affiliates, are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually-oriented material or any material that may violate applicable law; doing so may lead to the removal of your post and to your being permanently banned from posting to the site. You grant to BrooklynPaper.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part world-wide and to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

First name
Last name
Your neighborhood
Email address
Daytime phone

Your letter must be signed and include all of the information requested above. (Only your name and neighborhood are published with the letter.) Letters should be as brief as possible; while they may discuss any topic of interest to our readers, priority will be given to letters that relate to stories covered by The Brooklyn Paper.

Letters will be edited at the sole discretion of the editor, may be published in whole or part in any media, and upon publication become the property of The Brooklyn Paper. The earlier in the week you send your letter, the better.