Downtown School Rezoning Plan Approved

By Lillian Rizzo

Nearly three months after the Department of Education presented rezoning proposals for lower Manhattan, the Community Education Council 2 (CEC) announced on Wednesday, Dec. 14, they approve of the latest proposal.

Caption: The latest zoning map. (Graphic courtesy of the Department of Education).

At a public meeting held at the NYC Lab School on West 17 Street, the CEC presented District 2 residents with Resolution #47, which was presented by the DOE on Nov. 28. The proposal creates a new zone for the Peck Slip School, which will be opened in 2015 and the school will be incubated at the Tweed Courthouse starting in 2012. The latest rezoning plan will also slightly change the zones for P.S. 89 and P.S. 276, and will not change the zone for P.S. 234, the Spruce Street School that has grappled with wait lists the past few years.

After the CEC approved the plan, the panel did note its unhappiness to the DOE's response to increasing wait lists with rezoning.

"Rezoning doesn't build seats. Tushies don't need zones, they need seats," said CEC member Michael Markowitz.

In the resolution, the CEC notes lower Manhattan is in need of more schools to seat incoming students in growing neighborhoods such as the Financial District and Tribeca. It also calls for a third incubator class to be added to Tweed for the future Peck Slip School.