You are reading

Plans to Add a Floor to an Astoria Middle School Gets Thumbs Up from Community Board

Rendering that includes the proposed fourth floor addition (Source: Board of Standards and Appeals)

May 5, 2021 By Christina Santucci

Community Board 1 voted to approve a plan last month that calls for an additional floor to be built at an Astoria middle school.

The board, by a vote of 21-17, approved an application filed by Trinity Lutheran Church to add an extra floor to its three-story school building at 31-20 37th St., which is now used by Our World Neighborhood Charter School.

The church is seeking a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) in order to expand the building. The proposed expansion would increase the building’s height from 30 to 45 feet.

The board voted in support of the proposal after a lengthy discussion about how it would impact neighboring residents.

Chris Wright, an attorney representing Trinity Lutheran Church, which is located next door to the school building, spoke about the plan at the CB1 meeting prior to the vote.

“[The building] needs to be modernized, and it needs to be expanded,” Wright said. “The idea is we want to build a fourth floor that matches the bottom three floors.”

An architect representing the church also presented a study of shadows cast by the building – as is, and if another floor were added.

Several residents who live near the school addressed the board and said they opposed the expansion, arguing that it would have a negative impact on their quality of life.

Rendering that includes the proposed addition (Source: Board of Standards and Appeals)

“My garden might seem small when you pass by, but to me it is a paradise,” said neighbor Barbara Lambrakis. “Another story on the building would be very devastating. It would block the precious sun. It would be dark, and in the brutal New York winters, my home would also be much colder. My flowers would wither, and the birds would go. Please reconsider.”

Another neighbor told the board that his property would no longer be as appealing.

“We are going to lose value, that’s for sure. Our properties are going to be less desirable,” said another resident named John.

Although the planned expansion would be within the zoning limits for the property’s floor area and height, Wright said zoning regulations would require the fourth story to be set back in the front and rear – decreasing the square footage. The BSA application is to waive the setback requirements.

“If we are forced to do the setbacks … the floor gets cut in half,” Wright told the board. “The current tenant’s lease is up in January, and they are going to leave if we can’t expand.”

Wright said that the charter school currently using the building may still opt to leave, and without the expansion, the space would be insufficient to lure other schools as prospective tenants.

He said that the goal of the additional floor was to provide more space for the current enrollment, which is now at about 300 students.

“We are not looking for more classrooms to have more students. We are looking to have more classrooms and more services for the existing students,” Wright said. He added that the expansion would also include upgrades to the building to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It is unclear where funding for the addition – which the church estimated in a Facebook post would likely cost $12 million – would come from if the variance is approved by the BSA.

The application is still pending and a public hearing will be held before the BSA renders a decision. No timeline was available as to when that hearing might take place.

Rendering that includes the proposed addition (Source: Board of Standards and Appeals)

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.