UPPER WEST SIDE — PTA leaders are pushing for their school and other local schools to cut a class offered by a local nonprofit, after the organization signed on to a lawsuit to halt the reconstruction of the school's controversial playground.
Landmark West, a neighborhood preservation organization, joined a group of parents and residents called Friends of Playground 89 in filing a lawsuit in late June to prevent the reconstruction of the playground on the cusp of the construction groundbreaking.
The playground — which one group deems unsafe for children, while the other calls the claims overblown — sits next to P.S. 166 on West 89th Street and is jointly used by the school and the public.
The PTA, which favors reconstruction, is "deeply disappointed and honestly baffled" by the "frivolous" lawsuit brought by Landmark West, they wrote in a July 8 letter to the organization.
Led by co-presidents Erin Volkmar and Kerri Keiger, the PTA is firing back by recommending that P.S. 166's principal and other schools cancel an education program offered by Landmark West.
For the past several years, the group has offered a class called "Keeping the Past for the Future" to at least eight schools throughout the district, including to second-graders at P.S. 166. The class teaches students about neighborhood preservation, architecture and landmarks.
P.S. 166 Principal Debra Mastriano did not respond to a DNAinfo inquiry regarding the PTA's request.
City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal has set aside $3,500 in funding for Landmark West for its "Keeping the Past for the Future" class for the upcoming school year, a contribution that was arranged before news of the lawsuit spread.
Along with City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Borough President Gale Brewer, Rosenthal helped fund the reconstruction of Playground 89, with a $300,000 grant.
Rosenthal did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The PTA rebuked Landmark West for stalling construction on the playground, which was supposed to begin this summer, claiming the delay means future work will interfere not only with students' outdoor play time in the fall, but also with an important October PTA fundraiser.
"The school could lose approximately $20,000 raised at an annual fall fundraiser that requires use of the playground as well as West 89th Street," the PTA wrote in its July 8 letter to the organization.
The Parks Department did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the fundraiser. The department has declined to comment on the construction timetable, citing pending litigation.
Landmark West did not immediately comment.
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