Yes, schools approved for 491 Dean, at base of B15 tower across from arena block. Enthusiasm, plus a warning about dangerous Atlantic Ave. nearby.

The relocation in September of a middle-school and a high school, plus a special needs program, to the base of 662 Pacific Street (aka B15 or Plank Road), was approved as expected Feb. 27 by the Department of Education's Panel for Educational Policy (PEP). The school address is 491 Dean Street.

View of the school from 6th Ave./Norman Oder

The vote was unanimous, as it was for other proposals the PEP was considering. Here's the video.

The building is just across Sixth Avenue from the arena block, and one block from busy, sometimes dangerous Atlantic Avenue. So, despite the general enthusiasm about this new school space, one speaker voiced concerns about pupil safety, crossing Atlantic.

(As I've written, immediate neighbors have concerns about staff parking, student pick-ups, and other operations in the tight space near police and fire stations. There should be a public meeting to address that closer to the school opening.)

The DOE sees the 806-seat K653 it as not just a solution to a small, crowded existing intermediate school (M.S. 915; Bridges: a School of Exploration and Equity) in Downtown Brooklyn, but more so the permanent home of the new Design Works High School, which for its launch was temporarily sited into a Downtown Brooklyn space intended for an elementary school.

The move also include space for a small program for middle-school students with special needs, P369K@K915.

This better shows the fifth-floor outdoor space

CM Restler's enthusiasm

Council Member Lincoln Restler, who represents Downtown Brooklyn among other neighborhood, called the move "a great solution for District 13 students and for Brooklynites," noting that his colleague Crystal Hudson, in whose district the school sits, and other elected officials joined in a letter praising the plan.

The two schools being relocated are currently in his district, he noted, but are constrained by space. 

M.S. 915, for example, lacks both an auditorium and a gymnasium. Design Works, a partnership between the Pratt Institute and the Bank Street College of Education could "bring many more diverse young people, especially Brooklynites, into design professions," Restler said.

Atlantic Avenue concerns

Jessamyn Lee, a parent member on the PEP, commended the move, saying, "I am really excited to see one of these development deals actually produce a school." She cited Greenpoint Landing and the Domino project in north Brooklyn as other expected locations. 

(Some Prospect Heights residents remember when the school at B15 was once due in 2018, so it's six years late.)

Referencing the Department of Transportation's Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray, she added, "We need to do something about Atlantic Avenue because what we are doing infrastructurally is putting kids in harm's way. Atlantic Avenue is now the new 'Boulevard of Death' when it comes to pedestrian safety, and we need to work, agency to agency, in collaboration to ensure kids can actually get to school and actually get from school without getting killed... We're going to putting a couple of hundred kids there, and they're going to need to cross the street."

That's worth consideration, but that might not be the only issue, given the site's complicated location. Stay tuned.

At ground level

Below, the view looking northwest from Dean Street just east of Sixth Avenue, at the northeast corner. 

Below, a photo of the inside of that below-grade cafeteria (?) space, taken from a spot where the construction paper does not completely cover the window.