While the neighborhood, part of Community Education Council District 3, enjoys some top-notch public schools, overcrowding and budget tightening are constantly threatening the balance.

The biggest concern in the district is the lack of middle school space for future classes. All last year, parents pushed to get the Department of Education to look at projections that show severe middle school overcrowding in just a few years, adding 1,500 names to a petition asking for a middle school in the district, but so far the DOE has no plans to create one.

“District 3 needs middle school space to meet the needs of the growing numbers of students entering middle school starting from the class of 2013, and the increased need for schools that have a curriculum to meet the growing needs of students who are scoring at proficient levels,” said Christine Annechino, president of the district’s CEC, which encompasses the Upper West Side as well as parts of West and Central Harlem.

Council Member Gale Brewer also said middle school space is the biggest concern for Upper West Side parents.

“There are so many kids that there’s going to be no place for them,” said Brewer. “The school at Riverside is not going to be able to handle all of them, and it’s not going to be ready in time. People worry.”

The new K-8 school will be P.S. 342, slated to be built over the next several years at the Extell Riverside Center development on West 61st Street and West End Avenue. It is expected to teach 600 elementary and middle school students when it reaches its full capacity, but that will also be accounting for the influx of children moving into the new development, and won’t necessarily solve in the overcrowding problem. Still, it will help, and advocates agree that a new school is a positive step.

“It was an incredible process that led to an incredibly valuable asset for the community,” said Mel Wymore, who was the chairperson of Community Board 7 when the board negotiated with Extell to agree to build the school. “From here, we as a community should continue to work with the DOE, the [School Construction Authority] and the developer to ensure that the school built best serves the community as a whole.”

But while the prospect of a new school is a bright spot for parents, there are still more immediate realities to contend with. Many Upper West Siders still feel they are pitted against charter schools in the district, and that the placement of charters within traditional school buildings is adding to overcrowding problems.

Charters are public schools that are privately run.

“When the DOE cheers for schools like Success Charter, don’t they see that they are not cheering for any public schools? Is this fair if they don’t work with the schools who are not charter schools and try to make them better?” said Annechino. “The disparity within the public, free school system is alarming, and District 3, which has been assaulted by this disparity, will continue to correct it. And it doesn’t mean that we are fighting against charters, we are fighting for all of these kids who are not getting the education they need in the schools they attend.”

Noah Gotbaum, an outspoken critic of charter school co-location and a member of the CEC, also said that it’s an increasingly severe problem for traditional public schools.

“Charters basically get the run of the building and the public schools are the stepchildren. It really is separate but unequal,” said Gotbaum. “It’s overtaxing not just the public school but the entire system.”

Gotbaum added that a lack of resources and budget cuts are making it more difficult for teachers and principals to do their jobs. “We’ve had 15 to 20 percent cuts to the classroom over the past five years, and our schools have had to make do with less, and they’re basically cut to the bone,” he said.

“The DOE is spending more and more on testing, assessment, charter schools, large scale tech projects, but parents don’t want that. We want our kids to have teachers in the classrooms, gym, special programs.”

One special program that was recently cut but quickly reinstated, giving parents a small victory, is the Wellness in the Schools program, which pairs professional chefs with public school cafeterias to create healthy, scratch-made menus for the kids. Earlier this week, DOE officials said that they would have to cut the program to ensure that all schools would be able to meet more stringent federal school lunch regulations or risk losing federal money.

Thanks to an immediate outcry from parents and elected officials, including Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Brewer, the DOE announced that it would keep the program and work with the schools and chefs on keeping the menus within guidelines.

For the Upper West Side community, all agree that despite some seemingly uphill battles between parents and the DOE, it’s a good thing to have such an involved community.

“The ray of light is that we have amazing parents in this district, involved and active parents, and we have phenomenal educators, principals and teachers who really, really care,” said Gotbaum. “They are making do and they’re picking up the slack where administrators are putting roadblocks in the way.”

Still far from a continuous bikeway and walkway along the East River

“You’re better off on the West Side.”

The man in the bike shop wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know, but since it had been a few years since I had ventured over to Manhattan’s East Side to ride what purports to be a riverside bike path, I figured there might be a good place to get on in the 20s, 30s or 40s.

There isn’t.

I found myself riding into the same unscenic dead ends that I used to whenever I had the urge to give the East River waterfront another try. Until I backtracked at East 35th Street and headed back to ride with the traffic last weekend, it took mere minutes to see several groups of riders forced to do the same thing.

One was a family of six German tourists, ranging in age from about 12 to 70. The father said biking in Germany was “very better.” Looking at the cars whizzing by us on the foreboding FDR Drive, he added, “New York—you can’t ride bikes, you ride cars. Germany, everyone rides bikes.” I might have explored the irony of the country’s apparent aversion to cars in light of the autobahn and Mercedes-Benz, but he had to catch up to his family, and his English probably was not up to it.

The sorry state of affairs on the East Side affects more than just bikers. People who like to stroll, jog and sunbathe would benefit from a better waterfront, as would lots of others. But however big the group of beneficiaries is, they do not make a good argument for government investment in park space during tough economic times. You have to balance it against more pressing needs such as public safety, maintaining infrastructure and education.

Squishy, tree-hugger-type arguments can never survive in austere times, but what should hold up and seldom does is the notion that parks are actually smart economic development investments. Just look at real estate prices around Central Park, Hudson River Park and even the High Line, which surprisingly, has helped spawn luxury buildings even though park visitors generate noise and get close-up views into some of the homes.

The elevated FDR hovers over and haunts the East Side waterfront, making it difficult to make improvements. Civitas, an Upper East Side nonprofit, recently organized an international design competition to “reimagine” the waterfront from East 60th to 125th streets. (The group looked at the more problematic area below 60th Street a year ago.) Most of the top designs, now on display at the Museum of the City of New York, proposed expanding the land out in the river to create enough space for real parks.

It’s easy to dismiss these design competitions as folly, but as an editor who has seen way more than my share of pretty pictures of things that will never be built—at the World Trade Center and elsewhere in Lower Manhattan—I know these efforts can be the first step to making progress eventually.

After the pictures, what you need are savvy advocates, powerful government supporters and large public use. Significant park construction did not begin on Hudson River Park or Governors Island until many people started going there to see how good they were and how great they could be.

Let the East River imagination continue. In the meantime, how about better signs to avoid the dead ends?

Every day, Rose Coffield’s pre-kindergarten students are the stars of their own show.

“I see myself in more of a supporting role,” said Coffield, 34, who teaches pre-kindergarten at The Weekday School at Riverside Church.

Of course, Coffield’s self-described supportive role doesn’t mean she isn’t in charge of leading and educating her 4- and 5-year-old students. She’s just developed her own approach.

“Our curriculum comes from what the children are interested in,” said Coffield. “Whatever they want to do, I help come up with a plan, an idea of how to execute it and help collect the materials they need to use.”

Coffield said the progressive, play-based approach she uses with her students allows for a great amount of choice during the day. Although her students follow a regular daily schedule, much of the day is spent in “choice time,” where students choose activities they want to participate in independently or with other classmates.

“The children become the masters of their education,” said Coffield. “Because of this, they feel very connected to what they are doing.”

Coffield, too, feels a great connection to her work as a teacher. Seven years ago, this wasn’t the case, so at 27, she made two major moves; she leapt from the West Coast to the East Coast and enrolled as a graduate student at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. As a student teacher and substitute teacher, Coffield got her first taste of progressive education at The Little Red School House.

In the five years since she started at The Weekday School, she’s honed her own approach to teaching by reflecting on the happenings in her classroom and experimenting with ways to solve problems.

“Videotaping was an interesting evolution,” said Coffield.

Last year, Coffield had a “very physically active” class of nine boys and five girls. On the playground, the group engaged in rough-and-tumble play that Coffield said she struggled with “policing.” What was natural and fun for the children Coffield found overwhelming.

Coffield consulted with the school’s on-staff psychotherapist, who helped her understand the way children play. Armed with information, Coffield decided to begin a conversation with her students that they could more easily understand.
“I started to videotape them so we could have more concrete discussions with visual examples of the [physical] play and what I thought needed more structure and rules,” said Coffield.

“The children really took to the video and were having some great conversations about their feelings,” said Coffield.
This year, Coffield has expanded the use of video to other parts of the curriculum. And with the school psychotherapist, she’s even touted her work with video to other teachers at workshops and conferences.

Without knowing it, Coffield may be moving from a supporting role in her classroom to a starring role in education.

Explore the High Life
Everyone knows that the High Line is a wonder of modern urban greenery and should be showed off to tourists of all provenances, but not everyone knows you can score a free guided tour of the elevated park this summer. The organization Friends of the High Line runs the events, starting from the High Line on West 14th Street and wandering through the park. Guides will explain how the unique park came into existence, focusing on the design, public artworks and horticulture that make the structure into an experience, as well as the history of the High Line before it became the city gem it is today. Tours are about an hour long and are wheelchair accessible. Guides suggest paying extra attention to the weather when dressing for the tours and arriving early to guarantee a spot.
Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m.; free. Meet at the entrance to the High Line at W. 14th St. & 10th Ave. For questions, email karla.osorio-perez@thehighline.org.

CENTRAL PARK
Moonlight Ride Through the Park
The environmental action group TIME’S UP has been leading cyclists through the evening glow of Central Park for 20 years, so you’re in good hands, even if you’re a newbie to nighttime riding. The first Friday of every month, weather permitting, a group of bicyclists meet at 10 p.m. at Columbus Circle, and guides in the front and back of the gang bring everyone safely and at a leisurely pace through the tranquil park, hopefully by the light of the moon, if it cooperates. The total journey is about 10 miles and ends back where it started around midnight.
times-up.org

CENTRAL PARK
The Park as Art Exhibit
Most residents strolling through Central Park don’t stop to ponder the very design of the place, not to mention the majestic additions of the Belvedere Castle and other landmarks. Luckily, the Central Park Conservancy offers free guided tours to enlighten oblivious observers. At various times over the summer, tours meet outside the Tavern on the Green visitor center, inside the park at 67th Street and Central Park West, and guides take groups on an eye-opening walk that shows off the park’s majestic landscapes and romantic vistas that many would miss on a hasty jog. Groups of seven or more can arrange for custom tours by calling 212-360-2726 or emailing tours@centralparknyc.org.
centralparknyc.org

UPPER WEST SIDE
Lincoln Center, Outside
The famous institution known for its stately theaters takes its programming into the wilds of the West Side this summer for the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival. All events at the Damrosch Park Bandshell, Hearst Plaza and Josie Robertson Plaza are free. This year, highlights include a performance from the Chinese American Arts Council Acrobatic Group, From Chinatown with Love, family days with the Bindlestiff Cirkus and the U.S. premiere of Tangle, an interactive, audience-created kid-friendly show from Australian troupe Polyglot Theatre. The event concludes with the 29th annual Roots of American Music Festival Aug.11-12.
July 5-Aug. 12. lcoutofdoors.org.

UPPER WEST SIDE
The Lotus Garden
It’s rare that a private garden opens its gates to the public, but every Sunday, The Lotus Garden allows people inside without a key to view its harmonious collection of fragrant blooms and even a couple of small fish ponds. Situated 20 feet above 97th Street on top of a parking garage, it’s a blissful and unexpected escape from the city.
Sundays, 1-4 p.m.; free. The Lotus Garden, W. 97th St. betw. Broadway & West End Ave., thelotusgarden.org.

UPTOWN
Wedding Watching in the Cloisters
Who says you need a formal invitation to watch Jane and John tie the knot? The lush gardens and scenic overlooks of Fort Tryon Park serve as the perfect wedding backdrop, and come just about any weekend afternoon, you can gaze at the gowns and rings. Just stay at arm’s length from the invited guests—nobody likes a wedding crasher—and keep your cell phone on vibrate during the vows. If you get a chance, tell the bride the ceremony was lovely; such compliments are probably half the reason they wed in the park to begin with. Mazel tov!

UPTOWN
Traipse into New Jersey by Way of the George Washington Bridge
The East Side has the Brooklyn Bridge, but the George Washington Bridge and the Palisades beyond it beckon just as seductively from the west. We dare you to cross it. Only the south side of the bridge is open to pedestrians, which means you won’t miss out on the sight of Manhattan’s western flank. Cross at sunset and see the city bathed in gold toned hues. It does get windy up there, so you will not regret leaving your air conditioned, hermetically sealed apartment. You might even want to pack a picnic; on the other side is Fort Lee Historic Park, the forested site atop the Palisades where the Continental Army held a position over the Hudson River. Start your adventure at 177th and Cabrini, where you can access the pedestrian walkway from 6 a.m. until midnight.

UPTOWN
See the Light Side of the Moon from Inwood Hill Park
When it comes to seeing stars, New Yorkers are more likely to see the red-carpet-walking, Oscar-statue-wielding kind than the fiery masses suspended in the cosmos. The opposite is true, however, at Inwood Hill Park, in Manhattan’s northernmost reaches. At sporadic but frequent stargazing sessions led by NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Jason Kendall, the starry-eyed will get an opportunity to see if there is a man on the moon, discover constellations and become a little more familiar with the cosmos. In a recent event, stargazers held a Jupiter and Venus conjunction party to see the two bright planets pass within two degrees of each other.
moonbeam.net/inwoodastronomy

UPTOWN
Free Paddling on the Hudson
The Inwood Canoe Club has been run since 1902 by paddling enthusiasts, mostly volunteers, who love the river and want to spread the joy of a day spent skimming the surface of the Hudson. Rivergoers should wear clothes that can get splashed (or soaked) and be able to swim. The club provides kayaks, life vests and paddles free of charge, though insurance is required. The club is at the far west end of Dyckman Street; there is a sign at the marina gate directing visitors to the red boathouse.
Sundays, May 27-Sept. 2, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.; free, $4 insurance required per visit or $15 for the season. Inwood Canoe Club, at the Hudson River at Dyckman St., inwoodcanoeclub.com

CITYWIDE
Big City, Big Fish
New Yorkers are always looking for ways to feel like adventurers, trapped as we may be in our concrete jungle. The charter company Big City Fish lets you feel like a true captain of the high seas, if only for a day, as it guides clients to the most gigantic fish the Hudson and East Rivers have to offer up. The real captain, Craig Gantner, has been fishing since childhood, and is licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard. He champions catch-and-release, mindful of keeping fish populations plentiful for all customers, and can teach landlubbers the arts of fly and spin fishing, as well as simple pole-and-tackle conventional fishing. Gantner’s boat holds up to four people and can pick up passengers from Manhattan or the Jersey City marina.
908-963-0215, thebigcityfish.com

CITYWIDE
Summer Days on the River
Riverside Park’s Summer on the Hudson series gives New Yorkers a chance to get groovy on the river all summer long. The park holds tons of events, from Zumba, yoga, Pilates and tai chi classes to concerts for kids to kayaking, all on a regular basis. There are also the special features of the season, including the Sing for Hope Street Pianos—real pianos are placed around the park and are available for players, both pros and tinkerers, to plunk out tunes for two weeks starting June 1. On several Friday evenings, dance troupes from Harlem will show their stuff and encourage others to join in, teaching kids dance moves as well as confidence. There are also DJ dance parties, French films, a fishing festival, and a number of sports activities and lessons.
riversideparkfund.org

The new school, which will be called P.S. 342/Riverside Center School, will be located on the corner of West 61st Street and West End Avenue, in one of the five buildings that are planned to make up the new high-rise development. Riverside Center is the last piece of the Riverside South development puzzle, building out what was once abandoned rail yards into shiny new communities on the Upper West Side. The area bounded by West 61st Street, West End Avenue, West 59th Street and Riverside Boulevard will be home to five residential buildings, with an estimated 2,500 apartments. There will also be 3.4 acres of public open space, retail space, restaurants with outdoor dining, a movie theater and an underground parking garage for residents. The original plans, however, didn’t account for the assured influx of children into the local school system.

Helen Rosenthal, a member of Community Board 7 who was chair at the time when the plans first came before the board, said that when Extell presented their proposal, the community was still smarting from the overcrowding that resulted from the construction of the Trump Tower buildings south of West 72nd Street.

Though the developers had made a deal with the city to offer a piece of land for sale to build a school, the Department of Education determined in 2006 that there was no need for a new school in the district. Meanwhile, Rosenthal said, P.S. 99 was keeping track of the stream of new students coming from those addresses and parents were growing more concerned about overcrowding problems at all the Upper West Side elementary schools.

“We were started to track this big overcrowding at 199 and we knew it was going to hit P.S. 87,” Rosenthal said. “Clearly this was the most important piece of infrastructure that had to come with new development. We had learned our lesson that with many apartments going up, of course there’s a need for a public school.”

The board negotiated with Extell, originally asking for a 150,000-square-foot school. Eventually Extell agreed to construct the “core and shell”—walls, ceilings, electrical and HVAC systems—for a 100,000-square foot school, after they initially pushed back against the cost of providing a school building.

One of the questions that had been lingering was whether or not the School Construction Authority could afford to utilize all 100,000 square feet of the space or if the school would be confined to 85,000 square feet. The Department of Education confirmed in February that it would exercise that option, turning the potential 488 seats into an expanded 600 seats.

The school, which is slated for a parcel of land that Extell is currently selling, is currently expected to open in 2015. Extell Vice President Donna Gargano wrote to state Sen. Tom Duane, in response to his letter expressing local concern that the sale would delay the school, to assure him and his constituents that the school would still go up as scheduled, no matter who owns the land.

“The land use approvals granted to Riverside Center by the City Planning Commission and the City Council require that the school be located in one of the first two of the project’s buildings to be completed,” Gargano wrote. “This obligation, like the other obligations incorporated in these approvals, is binding on all successor owners of any portion of the Riverside Center site, including any purchaser as a result of the current offering.”

The school is planned for three sections, with two pre-kindergarten classes, but there is no decision as of yet as to how it will be filled—whether it will be a zoned or district school, and what kinds of programming it will adopt, are now under the purview of the Community Education Council and the Department of Education.

That’s because the developer had no information to present about the board’s suggested meeting topic: environmental sustainability. Instead, the chair of Board 7’s Green Committee read aloud sustainability concerns, covering topics like

Board 7’s Green Committee catalogued its sustainability concerns for the Riverside Center project, which stretches from West 59th to 61st streets between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

green building standards, an underground “Energy District” that could efficiently provide heating, cooling and electricity, and the use of “greywater” for irrigation and industrial uses. Extell representatives mostly declined to respond, noting that they were present only to listen. After the meeting, the board sent questions to the developer in hopes of a reply.

In a statement, George Arzt, a spokesman for Extell, said, “As we stated at the meeting, we are reviewing these issues and will be addressing them during the ULURP process,” using the acronym for the city’s land-use review procedure.

At the meeting, Extell representatives mentioned that they are currently in the process of studying cogeneration, when heat from generating electricity is used to heat and cool buildings and produce hot water. And in response to concerns about too many parking spaces, representatives said the number was carefully chosen based on current use and proposed future demand.

Participants also once again raised the possibility of including a Metro North station on or near the site. Dan Brucker, a spokesperson for Metro North, said in a separate interview that in the coming weeks, the agency plans to involve the public, local businesses and government officials in discussions about the proposal.

“We are definitely considering it, and considering it seriously, because indeed we do want to serve that area, and we think there are many benefits for it,” he said.

Although the meeting was billed as a discussion focused on sustainability, architect Paul Willen presented “A New Proposal for Riverside Center.” Willen is an advisor for the Riverside South Planning Corporation, but the proposal was his independent work in collaboration with Dan Gutman.

Willen pointed out that the “green” space in the current proposal seems “private” and inward looking, ill-suited for public activity. The arrangement of buildings would create shadows, limiting direct sunlight in the park, and would prohibit direct access to the waterfront park and the Con Edison IRT powerhouse, which is being considered for landmark status. Willen proposed removing one of the buildings to solve the problem.

Another plan presented at the meeting came from Craig Whitaker, an architect working for the Coalition for a Livable West Side. Whitaker pointed out that under the current arrangement, retail planned within the project will be difficult to sell, as it will face park area rather than highly traversed streets. He added that most of the park space doesn’t feel like true public space because it is situated among scattered buildings. Whitaker suggested clearly separating buildings from the park area, using gridded streets to delineate the park border in a similar fashion to Gramercy and Washington Square parks. The arrangement would have all buildings facing the park, and would create approximately two acres of true public space. He added that in many of the possible configurations for such a plan, the developer would actually have more land on which to build. Moreover, the streets and park could be installed before the buildings are constructed, allowing the community to enjoy the park before the project’s 2018 completion.

Helen Rosenthal, chair of Community Board 7, hopes the Riverside Center Working Group can meet in September to discuss a status update and community concerns. Once Extell’s application is certified by the Department of City Planning, which will likely happen this fall, the board will have 60 days to issue a formal recommendation.