Deputy Mayor says schools site not certain

Saying he had come “to set the record straight,” Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis M. Walcott told a standing-room only crowd in the auditorium of P.S. 214 in Flushing, that the City had no definite plans to locate two high schools at the site of the Region 3 office building on Linden Place, near the Whitestone Expressway.
Walcott told some 400 local parents and residents attending the Thursday, May 31 meeting, called by the Mitchell Linden Civic Association, that because of the recent restructuring of the Department of Education (DOE), the City-owned property at 30-48 Linden Place was available for other uses, and had to at least be considered.
“This is not the last time you will see me,” Walcott told the sometimes agitated crowd, adding, “There’s a whole process, with community input at every level, before any final decision is made. We have other sites under consideration and would welcome any suggestions you might have,” he said.
Passions have run high since recent published reports claimed that the DOE has “a prospective plan” to build schools on the site, which is close to a liquor store, pool hall, bowling alley, tobacco store and amusement arcade.
But as Walcott and Lorraine Grillo, senior director of Real Estate Services for the City’s School Construction Authority repeatedly told the audience, no actual plans could even be considered until zoning and environmental considerations had been satisfied.
Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who told The Queens Courier, “I’m just here to listen and learn,” did rise to urge Wolcott and Grillo to “consider every site” and expressed hope there was no “fait accompli.”
City Councilmember John Liu drew applause when he assured the crowd that as a member of the Land Use committee, he would work against the Linden Place site, and strongly supported the acquisition of the Home Depot store at Avery Avenue in Flushing, which has been mentioned as the preferred location for school construction.
The cost of a simple initial review of the site was pegged by Wolcott at about $15,000, not the “millions” some audience members bemoaned, to which several speakers responded by inviting Walcott and Grillo to spend “two minutes” at the nearby intersection of 31st Road and Linden Place the following morning, and save the City some money.
Arlene Fleishman, president of the Linden Towers #4 Co-op Association echoed the sentiments of many at the meeting when she said, “It’s not that we don’t want a high school, it’s just that it’s in the wrong place.” The former president of Community School Board 25 cautioned her more vocal neighbors to “keep our voices down and not lose our purpose” at the meeting.
Debra Markell Kleinert, former president of the Mitchell Linden Civic Association and former Queens director of the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, took the floor to remind the audience that the officials present “have stood with the community for years.” She also told the officials, “Traffic is impossible in that area.”
Many skeptics in the audience insisted that Grillo tell them what other sites were under consideration. She explained that “There’s no way I’m going to let property owners know that the City is interested in their land- you know what would happen to the asking price if I did.”
Grillo also suggested that because of all the attention paid to the Home Depot site, the company may decide to keep it, because of its increased value. “When you’re talking about a parcel of land that size, a little attention could cost the City $2 million” she said.