Sunset Park Families Demand New Schools to Alleviate Crowding
Even in New York City, where crowded schools have become the norm, Sunset Park stands out. At least nine of its elementary schools are well beyond their capacity, some with utilization rates of more than 140 percent.
The Brooklyn neighborhood is one of most densely packed pockets in the city, with new immigrants from Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, plus other New Yorkers looking for affordable housing. As the schools have grown more crowded, families have started demanding solutions.
"The people that are responsible for building new schools have not taken appropriate action," said Jovita Sosa, a local parent who grew up in the neighborhood.
Parent associations from several local schools, including P.S. 169, held rallies over the past year. They also have spent several weeks preparing for one big event: a community education council meeting with Chancellor Carmen Fariña on Nov. 24.
Earlier this month, Sosa and another local mom, Victoria Quiroz-Becerra, urged parents at P.S. 1 to sign a petition demanding new schools, and to attend the meeting with the chancellor. They spoke in Spanish for the 100 or so attendees, many of whom do not speak English.
Quiroz-Becerra is an academic who started a new group called Voces Ciudadanas (Citizen Voices) to help organize parents by "just talking to them about an issue that is important to them that really hits home."
Maria Valle, who has two children at P.S. 1, was moved by the meeting. "We have to do something," she said. The school built an annex in the playground and also leased additional space to accommodate its nearly 1300 pupils.
The city built one new elementary school in Sunset Park a few years ago. Department of Education spokesman Harry Hartfield said this eliminated the kindergarten waiting lists. The current five-year capital plan also includes two more buildings for the neighborhood, promising 1,100 seats soon.
But the city's own documents acknowledge that's 1,500 seats short of what's needed. Additionally, the city has not found any sites for the new schools. Mayor Bill de Blasio told parents at a recent town hall meeting in Queens, where there are also concerns about crowding, the city often has trouble finding places to put new schools.
"We have a money problem and we have a space issue that we are working against," he said.
Many families in Sunset Park want to turn a former hotel on 39th Street into a school, now that it's been closed down over allegations of prostitution. They have urged the city to use eminent domain, if necessary, to seize the property. The Department of Education wouldn't comment on that idea, but said it's looking into the site.
Meanwhile, City Councilman Carlos Menchaca said he expected his constituents to continue pressuring the powers that be. This year, they voted on how to spend $2.5 million in capital funds through a process called participatory budgeting. The top priority was school technology among the 6,300 voters, the highest turnout of any council district with participatory budgeting.
"When you look at the demographics of people who are voting, these are predominantly women in the district, predominantly foreign-born," Menchaca said, noting the strength of the immigrant community.
"Two thirds of the votes that were cast were using Spanish and Chinese ballots. These are our immigrant families that are saying enough is enough, and we're going to be part of building better schools in our district."
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