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As this season’s legislative session nears an end, a legal “loophole” that allows the city’s School Construction Authority to build schools on leased sites with minimal public oversight may be allowed to survive, despite intense criticism in recent weeks.
The city’s Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, was the latest to enter the fray, when her office released a report summarizing the issue last week.
"The (School Construction Authority) has chosen a number of sites for new schools without conducting an environmental assessment that meets the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act ... or submitting to meaningful public review,” the report reads.
At issue are sections 1731 and 1732 of the state’s Public Authorities Law, which require that all school construction on city-owned property undergo a lengthy public review process. As part of the process, the SCA must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement per SERQA requirements, which are made available for public and legislative scrutiny. Under law, the SCA must also file copies of the site plan with the City Planning Commission, the relevant Community Education Council and community board and with the City Council for final approval.
The problem, some say, is that the law does not specifically mention schools on sites leased by the city, which critics have characterized as a “loophole” that needs to be closed. Under current law, an EIS is not required for a leased school site, nor is approval by the City Council or submittal to the relevant community board for review.
According to a Department of Education, memo, the SCA currently conducts environmental reviews for any proposed leasing site, which “work(s) to insure that new and leased facilities are environmentally safe for our children and staff.” In what could perhaps be read as justification for the difference in processes between city-owned and leased sites, the department cited a “scarcity of sites for school construction in the city’s more densely populated areas,” and a need to “provide desperately needed seats on an expedited basis.”
Unsurprisingly, Queens, often cited as having the most overcrowded schools in the city, is at the very center of the debate, with several existing or planned schools on leased sites.
The Robert F. Wagner Jr. School, in Hunters Point, is one example. The school was built on a Queens West Development Corp. industrial site, which underwent extensive environmental clean-up. In 2006, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued a “certificate of completion” for parts of the site under the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.
Though there have been no reported problems, critics contend that the public is merely being asked to trust the DOE and SCA because the environmental review was not public. There is a history of contamination on other parts of Queens West, and the Brownfield environmental easement agreement for the site restricts the use of underlying groundwater and prohibits vegetable gardens.
Similar transparency concerns have arisen in recent years over Information Technology High School in Long Island City, located in a former metal plating factory, P.S. 65 in Ozone Park, a former airline parts factory, and the Art and Leather High School, currently under construction in Elmhurst at the site of a former leather tannery.
As the public advocate’s report makes clear, there is no documented evidence that any current or future school poses a risk to children. Still, the report argues that it is precisely this documentation that is lacking in the public sphere, which leaves the process open to less oversight.
“If it’s policy for newly acquired property, why wouldn’t it be necessary for leased property?” asked Dmytro Fedkowskyj, the newly appointed Queens representative on the city’s Panel for Education Policy. “The issues and concerns are the same. And we need to be absolutely certain that the area is safe from toxins for our students.”
The Democratic-led state Assembly passed a bill last June, introduced by Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood), that would have closed the loophole, but the bill died in the Republican-led state Senate in January and was returned to the Assembly. The bill, A.8838, was passed again on April 30 with a nearly unanimous vote and was returned once again to the Senate.
Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) was the only dissenting vote when the Assembly bill to close the loophole was passed 140-1.
In a telephone interview, Clark explained the reasons for her vote, citing the difficulty in finding adequate building sites for schools. She also emphasized the need to swiftly address overcrowding concerns, focusing on “safety, but also expediency, in getting things done.”
The bill has strong support from the City Council, however. Though the council has no legislative authority over the matter, last year its members unanimously passed a resolution that called on both state legislative bodies to act to pass bill A.8838.
The state Assembly has already done its half, but the bill must be passed by the state Senate and signed by the governor before becoming law. To that end, Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) has introduced a bill that is the same as A.8838.
The bill has once again met with opposition, as some Senators work to pass a separate bill, introduced by State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). S.6393 would require the SCA to conduct documentary review and, if deemed necessary, a follow-up field investigation based on American Society of Testing and Materials guidelines. The bill has the support of the mayor’s office and the DOE, and would also require the DOE and local CECs to make the plan available for public review for up to 60 days, as well as to conduct a public hearing
Padavan has come under fire in recent weeks by critics who see no reason why schools on city-owned and leased sites should be reviewed any differently.
Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), one of Padavan’s more outspoken critics and his presumptive opponent for state Senate in 2008, said in a joint press conference at City Hall on April 28 that “Padavan and the Senate majority should be ashamed of themselves for letting this bill get watered down and die in Albany.” Gennaro was joined by Councilmen Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and John Liu (D-Flushing).
In a statement, Padavan, like the DOE and the mayor, said that his “number one priority has been and will always be safeguarding the health, safety and well being of our children,” adding that his second priority was “to continue the recent success the (DOE) has achieved in significantly reducing overcrowded classrooms in our schools.
At issue are sections 1731 and 1732 of the state’s Public Authorities Law, which require that all school construction on city-owned property undergo a lengthy public review process. As part of the process, the SCA must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement per SERQA requirements, which are made available for public and legislative scrutiny. Under law, the SCA must also file copies of the site plan with the City Planning Commission, the relevant Community Education Council and community board and with the City Council for final approval.
The problem, some say, is that the law does not specifically mention schools on sites leased by the city, which critics have characterized as a “loophole” that needs to be closed. Under current law, an EIS is not required for a leased school site, nor is approval by the City Council or submittal to the relevant community board for review.
According to a Department of Education, memo, the SCA currently conducts environmental reviews for any proposed leasing site, which “work(s) to insure that new and leased facilities are environmentally safe for our children and staff.” In what could perhaps be read as justification for the difference in processes between city-owned and leased sites, the department cited a “scarcity of sites for school construction in the city’s more densely populated areas,” and a need to “provide desperately needed seats on an expedited basis.”
Unsurprisingly, Queens, often cited as having the most overcrowded schools in the city, is at the very center of the debate, with several existing or planned schools on leased sites.
The Robert F. Wagner Jr. School, in Hunters Point, is one example. The school was built on a Queens West Development Corp. industrial site, which underwent extensive environmental clean-up. In 2006, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued a “certificate of completion” for parts of the site under the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.
Though there have been no reported problems, critics contend that the public is merely being asked to trust the DOE and SCA because the environmental review was not public. There is a history of contamination on other parts of Queens West, and the Brownfield environmental easement agreement for the site restricts the use of underlying groundwater and prohibits vegetable gardens.
Similar transparency concerns have arisen in recent years over Information Technology High School in Long Island City, located in a former metal plating factory, P.S. 65 in Ozone Park, a former airline parts factory, and the Art and Leather High School, currently under construction in Elmhurst at the site of a former leather tannery.
As the public advocate’s report makes clear, there is no documented evidence that any current or future school poses a risk to children. Still, the report argues that it is precisely this documentation that is lacking in the public sphere, which leaves the process open to less oversight.
“If it’s policy for newly acquired property, why wouldn’t it be necessary for leased property?” asked Dmytro Fedkowskyj, the newly appointed Queens representative on the city’s Panel for Education Policy. “The issues and concerns are the same. And we need to be absolutely certain that the area is safe from toxins for our students.”
The Democratic-led state Assembly passed a bill last June, introduced by Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood), that would have closed the loophole, but the bill died in the Republican-led state Senate in January and was returned to the Assembly. The bill, A.8838, was passed again on April 30 with a nearly unanimous vote and was returned once again to the Senate.
Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) was the only dissenting vote when the Assembly bill to close the loophole was passed 140-1.
In a telephone interview, Clark explained the reasons for her vote, citing the difficulty in finding adequate building sites for schools. She also emphasized the need to swiftly address overcrowding concerns, focusing on “safety, but also expediency, in getting things done.”
The bill has strong support from the City Council, however. Though the council has no legislative authority over the matter, last year its members unanimously passed a resolution that called on both state legislative bodies to act to pass bill A.8838.
The state Assembly has already done its half, but the bill must be passed by the state Senate and signed by the governor before becoming law. To that end, Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) has introduced a bill that is the same as A.8838.
The bill has once again met with opposition, as some Senators work to pass a separate bill, introduced by State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). S.6393 would require the SCA to conduct documentary review and, if deemed necessary, a follow-up field investigation based on American Society of Testing and Materials guidelines. The bill has the support of the mayor’s office and the DOE, and would also require the DOE and local CECs to make the plan available for public review for up to 60 days, as well as to conduct a public hearing
Padavan has come under fire in recent weeks by critics who see no reason why schools on city-owned and leased sites should be reviewed any differently.
Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), one of Padavan’s more outspoken critics and his presumptive opponent for state Senate in 2008, said in a joint press conference at City Hall on April 28 that “Padavan and the Senate majority should be ashamed of themselves for letting this bill get watered down and die in Albany.” Gennaro was joined by Councilmen Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and John Liu (D-Flushing).
In a statement, Padavan, like the DOE and the mayor, said that his “number one priority has been and will always be safeguarding the health, safety and well being of our children,” adding that his second priority was “to continue the recent success the (DOE) has achieved in significantly reducing overcrowded classrooms in our schools.
