A rendering of H.S. 472 planned for 51-30 Northern Blvd. in Woodside. The rendering fronts onto Northern Boulevard (SCA)
June 14, 2020 By Christian Murray
The rendering of a high school slated to go up on Northern Boulevard was released last week and its design was not lavished with praise.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, whose district borders the school site, as well as many residents said it looked like more like a jail than a school. The rendering–first released by the Queens Post– was subject to harsh criticism on social media.
Ramos said that she was not happy with the design and called the School Construction Authority for it to change. She said it was out of character to the neighborhood and that a more traditional design was needed—like P.S. 398 Q/ The Hector Figueroa School that opened in September 2019.
I found out about this from a neighbor’s Facebook post. It’s across the street from my district and would serve young minds #SeenIn13 from Woodside Houses and the area. I mean. C’mon. You tell me. Are you seeing what I’m seeing? https://t.co/hwUwiHVzIO
— Jessica Ramos (@jessicaramos) June 11, 2020
The SCA plans to build a 3,079-seat high school at 51-30 Northern Blvd., on the site of the former Sports Authority and adjacent parking lot. The initial plans called for a six-story building.
“I picked up the phone and called [School Construction Authority] Commissioner Lorraine Grillo,” Ramos said. “She assured me that they would rethink it and come up with a new design.”
Ramos said she was disappointed that the SCA did not seek community feedback as it put the design together. She said she saw the design for the first time on social media.
Ramos said that she was assured that the community would become more involved in the design.
The school will house three high school programs, including a District 75 program for students with specialized needs. The SCA aims to open it in September 2023, although that date may change. Progress has been slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a SCA spokesperson said.
The school is being built at 51-30 Northern Blvd., which incorporates the former Sports Authority and adjacent parking area (Photo: Queens Post)
Featured Events
11 Comments
This is an actual plan? The fact somebody would even submit something this awful to begin with is reason enough to have them removed from the project., This is disgraceful!!
Not only is the design ugly and prison like but leave it to the DOE to place a school next to a subway stop that does not have access for people with disabilities.
Scrap the whole plan, we have Bryant HS 3 blocks away!
The city and state are broke. They will be furloughing thousands of city workers soon.
The future of educating will require less space not more.
How about something more like the Frank Sinatra School in Astoria – a welcoming environment for students, parents, employees and the community
That is a pretty unusual location for a school of any kind. Traffic is very heavy from early morning until after the evening rush hour on NB. I wonder about the safety and security of student, faculty and staff who will be tenant of this HS.
Now we have a Design Police?
is this a hard labor federal supermax prison? no way would i ever let my kids go there.
just need some chicken wire rolling across the top and a cop wearing shades in a lookout tower.
Modern day archictects have no souls. It’s obvious from all the creepy, featureless eye-sores they build.
I really, really doubt that was anything even close to a final design, at least for the facade. It looks like a partial concept rendering with several placeholding elements meant for people to review.
The school should be Grades 6-12 instead of two high schools! It should have a Middle School and a High School and District 75 inside! The Middle School being built on Barnett Avenue isn’t big enough to take three years of students graduating from PS 150, PS 11 and PS 361 when at full capacity! IS 230 and IS 145 are overcrowded and they are building newer elementary schools like PS 398. Where are these students going to middle school in a few years? In a few years they will be looking for more middle school space in the area, so why not be ready now with the new building having a middle school and a high school? I hope State Senator Ramos addresses this with SCA , too! We are in a budget crisis that will last for years to come so if we are building this structure now, let us plan ahead for the neighborhoods needs in a few years for another middle school.