The rezoning of several schools within Manhattan’s Upper West side district 3 has been approved. The contentious debate lasted over 1 year. Proponents of the plan say that it will integrate the school system and alleviate over crowding. PS 452 will move 16 blocks south to a large facility and PS 191 will get a new building as part of the Riverside Center complex. It will be in the base of the luxury rental building at 61st street and west end avenue known as 21 West end avenue. The school will also start a gift and talented program for 3rd grade and up.
Some of the buildings including part of the Lincoln Towers complex will no longer be zoned for the coveted, yet crowded PS 199 but will now be zoned for PS 191 in it’s shiny new digs.
Opponents of the plan feel that the effect of the rezone was not studied enough and believe it will not alleviate over crowding and integrate the schools.
The rezoning will take effect in September 2017. Children that are already in the schools will not be moved and their siblings will be grandfathered in.
Read the WSJ coverage of the District 3 school rezone
If you are considering buying an apartment in New York City to be zoned for a particular school, there are a couple of things to be aware.
1- Due to crowding in some public schools, there is talk of rezoning, most recently in Manhattan’s upper west side. The school in question is the desirable PS 199 on West 70th street. According to LINK, this year, there was a waitlist of almost 100 zoned students for kindergarten. As a result, there is talk about rezoning and unsurprisingly tremendous pushback from the community. The pushback comes both from parents who are zoned for PS 199 and non-parents who do not want to see the real estate values affected by a rezoning.
2-It is wise to speak to the parent coordinator for the school to see if rezoning is planned. You can find their information on the school site. They may be able help you to know if there is a planned rezoning.
DNAInfo has a breakdown of the local bilingual preschools on the Upper West in Manhattan. These days with schools admission so competitive, many parents want to give their children an advantage of learning another language at 1 or 2 years old. Also, the article reports it’s a great way to foster an interest in other cultures. See link below for full article and info on schools.
LINK
News about the NYC real estate residential and commercial markets provided and interpreted by an industry veteran licensed since 1999. Brian Silvestry of BSRG Inc. Licensed real estate broker