BROOKLYN — Public schools in East New York will receive $17.45 million to upgrade facilities as part of the East New York Rezoning Plan that passed in April, Councilman Rafael L. Espinal announced Friday.
Twenty-seven schools in Council District 37, which covers areas of East New York, Bushwick and Cypress Hills, will buy new technology and upgrades to aging infrastructure, the councilman said in a statement.
“These are some of the most systematically underserved schools in New York City,” Councilman Espinal said, “and it is time we show our commitment to our students by investing in the tools that will guarantee their success.”
The money will provide the schools with new desktop computers, laptops and smart boards as well as renovations to libraries, gyms and auditoriums, according to the councilman’s spokeswoman.
The East New York Plan is part of Mayor de Blasio’s broader effort to build 200,000 units of affordable housing in New York City 15 neighborhoods and includes major overhauls to those neighborhoods’ infrastructure, public spaces and school systems.
The plan allocates more than $98 million to build a new 1,000-seat school at the at Dinsmore Place and Chestnut Street and will seek funding for a childcare center at 3289 Fulton St.
But local activists worry that new housing will worsen an overcrowding problem so severe that students are taught in classroom trailers parked in school lots and that one new school will not be enough to house them all.
The Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, a nonprofit advocacy group in northeast Brooklyn, estimates that the plan will require more than 3,400 additional seats in the area’s public schools and wants to see four to six new schools built in the area.
