To: Members of the Community Education Council in District 2.

Please say NO to the proposed rezoning of Tribeca. Sending the WHOLE east side of Tribeca (east of West Broadway and north of Chambers Street) to PS1 on Henry Street in Chinatown is not the solution to overcrowding issues and is divisive to our community. The D.O.E has failed to proactively provide for the needs of our growing community by adequately planning for additional school seats to go hand in hand with the increased post 9/11 residential development in our area.

• The commute to PS1 from Tribeca is dangerous. Sending children into a high traffic area with a history of deadly accidents (Chatham Square) and having them walk past areas the City has deemed high security risks (Police Plaza, etc) is irresponsible.

• As Speaker Sheldon Silver says "It is vitally important for children, especially those in elementary school, to be as close to home as possible"

• PS1 does not physically have the space to accommodate Tribeca's overcrowding issues.


In two years, Lower Manhattan will probably need 300 additional kindergarten seats. (Far more than PS 1 can provide) The only way to achieve this is to site and incubate new schools downtown immediately. The new Spruce Street School (P.S.397) has four kindergarten classes this year, even though the school is only designed to have two classrooms per grade. P.S.276 has five kindergarten classes, and is only designed for three classes per grade. So while the new Peck Slip School will have 600 seats, those seats are already filled by the overflow that currently exists. In addition, the Spruce Street School's middle school, which was promised to the community, is being unjustly put in jeopardy by the D.O.E's negligence. It's time to say ENOUGH!

• We need two more additional schools in Lower Manhattan, and we need them now!

We petition the CECD2 to please say NO! to the proposed rezoning, and ask the D.O.E to create a long term sustainable solution to the problem of overcrowding and one that will not harm two communities in the process.


Lower Manhattan Parents For More Schools

Links