The city is asking Brooklynites for help.
The School Construction Authority (SCA) is struggling to find suitable locations to build new schools in the borough, especially in cramped neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Park Slope, so officials want area residents to inform them of newly available sites.
The SCA and city Department of Education (DOE) “rely heavily” on local residents for tips about possible locations, Kenrick Ou, SCA’s director of real estate, explained at a recent meeting of District 15’s Community Education Council (CEC).
“We encourage anybody who may have recommendations to contact me,” Ou said.
The SCA has struggled to find locations for two reasons — one, much of Brooklyn is already developed, and two, the department needs a site large enough to accommodate a school building.
“A lot of the challenge is the size of the property,” Ou said. “We can’t build a school on a 2,000-square-foot lot.”
“We would need 40,000 square feet,” he explained. “That’s very difficult to find.”
The SCA and DOE are looking to build new schools in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bay Ridge, Park Slope and Sunset Park.
“Sunset Park has been a very challenging neighborhood for us to site in,” Ou explained.
“We are asking our real estate consultants to take another block by block analysis” in search of possible sites, he said.
Also, “We are investigating the Park Slope Armory,” Ou said.
The SCA can be reached at 718-472-8000.
