School Construction Plan At Creedmoor Gets Thumbs Up

 "Establishing three new schools, complete with playgrounds, athletic fields and open space, is a bold move that will produce tremendous benefits for our children, our public schools and the entire Queens community," Pataki said. "Rather than allowing this unused property to languish in the hands of a State bureaucracy, we are moving ahead with a terrific plan to put it back to work for the benefit of the children of New York City."
In responding to the possible safety problems that might be posed by the schools being built near one of the States largest mental health hospitals, Jill Daniels, spokesperson for the Office of Mental Health, said the Governors latest move was a win-win situation.
"Pataki did a good job in terms of beefing up security around Creedmoor so that the hospital will pose no threat to the students that attend the schools," Daniels told The Queens Courier. "The property where the schools will be situated is far removed from the hospital facility and is completely unused."
The Glen Oaks School Campus, as the complex will be called, will be developed on 19.2 acres on the northern side of the property. The remaining 13.3 acres will include new access road from Union Turnpike to the south, and Cross Island Parkway to the west. The campus will provide jobs for approximately 277 teachers and staff. Construction is estimated to cost $195 million.
The Queens Courier reported in its Feb. 21 issue that P.S. 112 in Long Island City operates at 114 percent over its capacity. The school is so crowded, administrators had to turn a second floor plumbing closet into a speech therapy classroom. In another report four months earlier, residents around John Bowne High School in Flushing said they wanted to close down the school because its overcrowding problem increased violence and vandalism in the community surrounding the school.
"I want to thank the Governor for recognizing the importance of building schools in Queens," said Queens Borough President Claire Shulman. "This plan will relieve overcrowding and reap dividends for years to come. There can be no better use for this surplus State land."