The city would “support” the creation of a middle school in a controversial new development.
The head of the School Construction Authority (SCA), which develops new public schools, said the construction of a middle school in Two Trees Management’s Dock Street development “would be a project we would support,” according to a city Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson.
Two Trees Management’s plan to build a 17-story apartment complex in DUMBO has been met with criticism from community residents who say the building would be too large and block the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. There have been calls for the building to be brought down to about eight stories.
In spite of concerns about the building’s size, some residents have offered support for the project because of Two Trees Management’s plan to construct a middle school in the building.
Area residents contend that a new middle school is needed because none of School District 13’s junior high schools are in close proximity to Brooklyn Heights or DUMBO.
According to its plan, Two Trees would build a 300-seat school. But there is no guarantee that it would be used as a middle school or that it would even house a new school. Instead, an existing small school could relocate to the building.
A source at Two Trees has acknowledged that the DOE – and not Two Trees – would determine what kind of school would be housed at the site.
Since the process is in the early planning stages, the DOE declined to say how it would use the site.
Even if the building is eventually home to a new middle school, the neighborhood’s problems would not be solved. That’s because the school would only have 300 seats – much less than what’s needed to accommodate all of the neighborhood’s children. Most junior high schools have more than 1,000 seats.
