Addabbo Urges City to Enforce School Zoning for New Centerville Elementary School

Howard Beach, NY (July 29, 2016) In light of plans recently unveiled by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to construct a new elementary school in Ozone Park, Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. is urging the agency to ensure the new K through 5 facility is opened strictly to children who live nearby.

With PS 335 slated to open in Centerville in time for the start of the 2017 academic year, Community Education Council (CEC) 27, which represents the area, recently voted in favor of keeping the new school zoned for families in nearby neighborhoods. In a letter sent to the DOE last week, Senator Addabbo asked the agency to see that this decision is upheld in order to help ease overcrowding in not only this new school and in other Ozone Park schools, but also the overcrowding that exists in other nearby schools, like PS 146 in Howard Beach. The Senator stated that PS 335 could ultimately make the trip to school much safer by avoiding having younger students cross major roadways.

“Though this project may not have started off as smoothly as many had hoped for, we can no longer deny that there is a serious need for an elementary school in the Centerville area,” said Addabbo, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “As I visit schools throughout my district, I have personally seen that schools in this area are bursting at the seams, which ultimately leads to overcrowding in surrounding neighborhoods like Howard Beach. PS 146, for example, is overflowing with students who live in the Ozone Park area because this is their closest available option. PS 335 could also alleviate overcrowding in PS 63 and PS 108. The construction of PS 335 has the potential to help ease some of this congestion, but only if done right. It is vital that the DOE makes sure PS 335 serves Ozone Park first and foremost, before filling yet another school with children who live outside the district.”

In the letter sent to the DOE, Addabbo asks that zoning boundaries for PS 335, which were recommended to CEC 27 – namely east of Cross Bay Boulevard to Aqueduct Race Track and south of Rockaway Boulevard to North Conduit Avenue – be enforced.