The former Sports Authority site. (Photo: QueensPost)
Aug. 29, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A new school could soon be coming to the Woodside area.
The School Construction Authority, the agency in charge of building schools, is proposing a 1,000 seat high school at 51-30 Northern Blvd., the large lot that currently sees the shut-down Sports Authority store.
The lot area totals more than 82,000 square feet, and is within school district 30, which stretches from Long Island City and Astoria to Woodside and parts of Jackson Heights. It is unclear, however, if the school will be built on the entire lot.
The lot outline for 51-30 Northern Blvd. (Google Maps)
SCA records from February 2018, along with city council capital budget records, show the high school is part of the agency’s five-year capital plan for fiscal year 2015 to 2019, with funding to also roll over to the next agency plan for 2020 to 2024.
The high school is expected to seat 1,016 students, with construction possibly starting as soon as April 2019 and wrapping up in June 2023.
The estimated cost for the school is roughly $112 million.
The sporting goods store closed some time in 2016, when the Colorado-based company liquidated all of its U.S. locations.
The Northern Boulevard site was soon proposed by many locals as an alternate location for a new middle school the city was eyeing for Barnett Avenue.
But the SCA carried on with plans to build a middle school on Barnett Avenue, leaving the former Sports Authority lot open for consideration.
Records show that the Northern Boulevard site is currently owned by Pine Tree Realty Corp, a commercial real estate development company.
The high school, along with dozens of other projects, are part of the agency’s plan to add capacity across the city.
The SCA will give a presentation on the proposed school site in the upcoming Community Board 2 meeting on Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m., located at 41-31 39th St.
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40 Comments
Build a specialized high-school for the bright, the intelligent of all colors and races based on educational merit, on test scores and they will apply and come.
No Windows High School. Depressing
Why do you think that there will be no windows? The current building will be demolished.
I was hoping it would have been a Trader Joe’s… now we have to see high school students carrying no books and cursing along Northern blvd after getting their free breakfast n lunch at their daycare centers.
You’ve never been to a Trader Joe’s have you?
That already exists, as Bryant High School is nearby. It will just be more prevalent now.
Will the SCA and DOT be putting in additional bike lanes to accommodate all of the students, staff, and parents that may wish to bike to school each day from all avenues and side streets? (Being a Sunnysider-I just had to say it for fun.)
It is absurd that the SCA is proposing a 1,000 seat school for a site this large. A newish 1,000 seat high school in Maspeth, on a much smaller site, is getting 3-4,000 applications per year for 250 seats (1,000 divided by 4 grades). In addition, as the SCA constantly complains about the high price of land being a limiting factor in purchasing new sites, it behooves them to maximize a site this size by building a larger high school. Perhaps an existing school currently in a leased facility (Bard, Baccalaureate etc.) could be co-housed here along with a district-30 preference high school.
The intersectoin of Northern Blvd. and Broadway is already a “Barnes’ Dance” making it especially safe for pedestrians. Bigger question is where will the athletic fields and parking lots that teachers and staff always insist on be found? Good public transit tho’ – 2 subway lines and two bus lines right at the corner.
If kids do not understand or are unable to cross the street I have no hope for humanity.
The School Construction Authority rejected this site for the middle school, putting it instead in the middle of a residential neighborhood, a terrible location. At the time, SCA said it was unsuitable and dangerous for children. So what changed??????
High schoolers can navigate intersections better than middle schoolers. And a traffic cop will most likely be placed at this intersection. Calming a busy intersection is an easily solvable problem. Finding an adequately large space to build a school is not. Especially in New York City.
Bullshit. They planned all along to put the high school here, they just wouldn’t say so during the discussions about the much-hated, long-dreaded middle school. I’m sure JVB and the McGowan’s knew though, which is why they never publicly considered the suggestions residents threw out. They were just patronizing us all along. that’s what engenders this deep resentment toward them all. They weren’t asking for input, they were hoping to manipulate opinion to staunch public outrage.
Well said Haironfire.
The space chosen for the middle school is not an adequately large space.
Yes, so horrible for a school for 12-14 year olds to be in the middle of neighborhood! If only we didn’t have to live with kids that age either!
It probably would not hurt to have a new school in place to support the planned population boom in Sunnyside. One of the rare cases that NYC builds out public infrastructure in line with unchecked growth.
Looking from publically accessible areas, the construction of the Sunnyside LIRR station along with improvements to the yard seem to include installation of seemingly purposeless pilings (of the variety that could plausibly be used as deck supports). Makes me wonder if “decking over the Sunnyside Yards” is more than just an academic debate at this point.
Cuomo, de Blasio and their appendages have been quite good at gaslighting NY residents so far and doing whatever they damn well please. What other surprises do they have for us?
Most middle school are in the middle of residential areas. That’s because kids attend them, and kids live in residential areas. This isn’t a retirement village.
“This isn’t a retirement village.” Wow, what an ignorant, heartless comment, Mr. Anonymous!
I’ll bet you’ve never stepped foot in a retirement village, or have any idea (or care) where the nearest nursing home is. Done anything at all to help an elderly neighbor? My guess is no.
Good luck growing old here pal (and old in NYC is over 50), cause the Golden Rule will come back to bite you in the ass.
Thank you Garden Watcher. I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates children in this neighborhood. The brats think they are entitled to education.
If try want to go to school for free, at least it should be in an inconvenient location near a highway overpass amongst used car lots. Not near a leafy park and homes! People are so silly.
Ignorance and bigotry are not welcome in Sunnyside, A. We’ve welcomed people from all over the world for decades to join our ranks and work to make a better Sunnyside. The most abrasive, least neighborly and by far the most despised are the group you are in. I don’t have a name for you all but for sheer egotistical smugness you win the gold-plated turd.
Good. While you’re at it, turn all the ratty car dealerships into greenspaces and affordable housing.
Thanks,
All of Queens
Why must this always be an idea to populate the area more some how? Next thing you tell me it’s also a Charter or Magnet school, this way they can bus them in from wherever or commute from wherever. Nice.
Populate the area? The idea is to create more schools because Queens schools are massively overpopulated.
Unless they plan on fixing the dangerous road in which cars constantly speed/disregard the lights, there will be lots of casualties in this location. Everyone who walks in Northern Boulevard knows that you have to constantly look both sides and cars are running 30-40 mph easily. Considering these are long blocks, accidents are just waiting to happen. This is a terrible spot for a school. Kids are kids and will not pay attention to these roads at all.
Build an overpass, problem solved.
ADA problem multiplied.
Not an inspiring location.
It’s right off a subway stop, which is a plus. It would also beautify what is otherwise a useless deteriorating lot. The intersection is a concern, but maybe it will motivate the appropriate agencies to enact some safety measures, maybe some easy to see painted lanes and crosswalks. Do you have any better proposals?
There goes the neighborhood
Yeah, who do these people think they are, trying to effectively educate our children? ?
Move.
It is not the middle of a neighborhood. It is the edge, chosen specifically as the site of a garage because it was on the edge. It is underneath the LIRR. It is on a corner of a through road and Barnett Avenue. Traffic will funnel there twice a day every day and create blockades that will effect people for blocks around. The people in this tiny neck of the woods have never had the experience of living so near a school but they don’t seem to be happy about the prospect. Get all self-righteous if you want to but many people have already been through the experience of raising kids and don’t relish being forced into a front row seat to see other people raise theirs. Been there, done that, want something different now. Those are some more facts of life you haven’t gotten to yet.
The site should have been the new middle school instead of Barnett Avenue. The students would be from Woodside/Sunnyside area and students would not have crossed Northern Blvd since the zoned students for PS 11 and PS 150 are south of Northern Blvd. SCA should have selected this site instead of the small site on Barnett Avenue which will not hold the full capacity of all the graduates from the Woodside/Sunnyside schools once it is built. If there is time and Barnett Avenue is not signed for, the plan should be changed back and built on a larger site, with a larger building and full school yard. The middle school zoned students would not cross Northern Blvd and the entrance can be on 54 Street.
Where exactly do all of the graduating middle schoolers in Woodside/Sunnyside go to high school now?
Bryant or LIC High School
Rock and Roll High School
Bryant , LIC High School, Aviation, et al . Middle schoolers can apply to high schools around the City.
Historically, Bryant or LIC were the zoned high schools for the majority of students graduating from IS 125.
Any kid worth their salt or from a family that are aware of the state of NYC public schools would do whatever they can to enroll in better performing schools elsewhere.
Sports Authority High School