Controversial Pre-K site to be discussed at two meetings tonight

A controversial maybe-Pre K will be the topic of conversation at not one but two public meetings scheduled for Wednesday evening, January 20.

Community Education Council 20 will play host to a public hearing on the matter from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m at P.S./I.S. 104 (9115 Fifth Avenue). Meanwhile, CB 10 will host a joint committee meeting at which residents can speak freely on the subject at 7 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus (1305 86^th Street).

The site – located at 621 86^th Street – is the long-vacant former office of Community Board 10 which, pending a site selection review, could possibly become a 108-seat Pre-K.

Despite intense overcrowding in District 20, board members and local residents are concerned that the corner building – which has been vacant for the past seven years, despite the community board’s best efforts to re-purpose the site into a community center – might not be the safest place to squeeze students.

“We received notification from the School Construction Authority that they are looking to develop the site into a Pre-K,” explained District Manager of CB10 Josephine Beckmann. “We certainly have a need for additional Pre-K. The question is, is this an appropriate site?”

The space sits at the corner of 86th Street and Gatling Place, an oft-congested corner at the end of Bay Ridge’s 86th Street shopping strip, home to both a busy Gowanus Expressway service road and four lanes of traffic.