New York City Mayor Eric Adams has opened six new school buildings in Queens ahead of the 2024-25 school year as part of a city-wide initiative to provide students with state-of-the-art learning facilities across the city.
Adams announced the completion and opening of 24 school buildings across the city on Wednesday, providing 11,010 new seats to students in New York City. It represents the most new K-12 seats opened by New York’s School Construction Authority since 2003.
The Mayor, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks and School Construction Authority (SCA) President and CEO Nina Kubota announced the opening of six new school buildings in Queens, including P.S. 032Q in Flushing, P.S. 041Q in Bayside, P.S. 096Q in South Ozone Park, the Paul Vallone Community Campus in Bay Terrace, P.S. 174Q in Rego Park and P.S. 085Q in Astoria.
P.S. 032Q in Flushing has received four pre-K classrooms, two kindergarten classrooms, five standard classrooms and three special education classrooms as part of the initiative. The new building has a capacity of 346 and includes an art and music room, a science resource room and parent and community room.
The new building at P.S. 041Q in Bayside, meanwhile, has a capacity of 473 and features four pre-K rooms, two kindergarten rooms, 12 standard classrooms and three special education classrooms, including a music and art room, a reading and speech resource room and a science resource room.
P.S. 096Q in South Ozone Park has received three standard classrooms, one special education room and a gymnasium as part of the initiative, with the new building boasting a capacity of 143.
The new addition to the Paul Vallone Community Campus in Bay Terrace boasts a capacity of 627 and features 16 standard classrooms, five kindergarten rooms and three special education rooms, while P.S. 174Q in Rego Park boasts a capacity of 403 and features four pre-K rooms, four kindergarten rooms, nine standard classrooms and one community district special education classroom.
Finally, in Astoria, the newly constructed annex for P.S. 085Q has received 15 standard classrooms, four pre-K rooms, three kindergarten rooms and two special education classrooms, boasting a capacity of 451.
The six new buildings boast a combined capacity of 2,443, making up just under a quarter of the new seats added to schools across the city.
Various artists installed site-specific artworks in new school buildings this year as part of the SCA’s Public Art for Public Schools Program.
Adams said in a statement that access to state-of-the-art facilities is a critical aspect of providing children with first-class education.
“The 24 new buildings we’re opening ahead of this school year — with the most K-12 seats the city has opened in two decades — will provide 11,000 additional students with seats and set our children and our communities up for success,” Adams said in a statement.
“With modern and flexible spaces, state-of-the-art technology, science labs, music rooms, sensory gyms and more, these new schools are going to be incredible spaces for students and staff alike.”
New school buildings have been completed in four of the five boroughs, including nine in Brooklyn, eight in the Bronx, one in Manhattan and the six new buildings in Queens.
The new school buildings feature modern classrooms, advanced technology and versatile learning spaces to meet the needs of New York’s diverse student population.
Meanwhile, the Adams Administration’s 2025-2029 capital plan provides funding for an additional 33,417 seats in New York City schools over the next five years.
