PS9 receives $30M in funding

Last year, Council Member Holden submitted a proposal for a District 75 special needs school at 78-16 Cooper Ave believing that not only was School Construction Authority Commissioner Lorraine Grillo in favor of the site for a new school, but she also wanted to close PS9, a District 75 School in Maspeth, despite it being in the middle of a $14M renovation. The Council Member also stated at Juniper Park Civic Association's October 2018 meeting that a deal to build a new school at Cooper Ave was 90 percent done, and that he was just waiting on one signature, that of Mayor de Blasio, for the project to start the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Process. But this month Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza dropped a bomb via a letter to Holden, stating that after having visited PS9 he decided that it would remain where it is and that DOE would spend an additional $16M to make it more handicapped accessible, provide a total renovation of the basement and build new music, sensory, and computer rooms. CBM is in favor of schools at both locations because we need more school space in general, especially in District 24. Holden continues to search for a location for a new D75 school. 
(Historic photo shows PS9 when it was PS86, circa 1920.)