Ann Maggio, the president of Citizens for a Better Ridgewood, read a letter the group received from Grover Cleveland High School thanking them for helping staff and students fight the Department of Education’s plan to close the school. Forum Newsgroup Photo By Jeremiah Dobruck.
Members of the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) civic group will send a letter to Community Board 5’s transportation committee asking them to consider resizing or eliminating a bus stop along Stanhope Street in Ridgewood.
There are three stops within three blocks along Stanhope next to Cleveland Park, members reported, taking up space where a stop might not be needed.
“Something that we’re always looking for in Ridgewood is additional parking,” Michael Hetzer, CBR’s vice president, said.
The B38 bus line has stops along Stanhope Street at Grandview, Fairview and Woodward avenues—each separated by a block.
Members discussed eliminating the middle stop on Fairview to free up about six or seven new parking spaces in front of Cleveland Park.
“The question is does every block need a bus stop for every bus in the city of New York? Hetzer said.
Some elder residents at the meeting, however, worried that an extra block of walking is a significant concern to some of the senior population in the area.
CBR settled on sending a letter and attending CB 5’s next transportation committee meeting to ask for consideration of the idea.
They will discuss the situation with the committee, which can make a recommendation to the Department of Transportation.
Members also noted that the stop seems abnormally long, and, if nothing else, it can be shortened to create a parking spot or two.
P.S. 305 Want
St. Aloysius Building
Lynn Botfeld, P.S. 305’s principal attended the meeting to lay out a vision for her school expanding to a new building planned to replace the St. Aloysius school building at 360 Seneca Avenue.
The Department of Education (DOE) is planning on demolishing the old school their, which has been vacant since 2009, and building a new 444-steat primary school in its place.
Botfeld hopes the new building will be under P.S. 305’s umbrella.
She explained that P.S. 305 and P.S. 81 currently draw students from the same geographical area.
P.S. 305 teaches preschool through third grade. P.S. 81 teaches all the way up to fifth grade.
So when students hit fourth grade, they must transfer away from P.S. 305 and inflate P.S. 81’s higher grades.
Botfeld said the new building would be perfect to house fourth and fifth grades for her school because it’s across the street from P.S. 305.
She asked for help lobbying the DOE to consider that plan.
“We can’t imagine what would make more sense,” she said.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com
