After a 15 month process including 3 Public Hearings and submission of a mountain of documentation, I am thrilled to report that this morning the NYC Board of Standards and Appeal (BSA) has approved the variance for the proposed new building. This approval will permit the construction of a new building with three floors and a new gym/auditorium,” said St. Nicks Alliance’s Executive Director in an announcement to community leaders who had helped along the way and were hoping for this news.
“We thank our elected officials BP Eric Adams and Diana Reyna, Joseph Lentol for the continued budgetary advocacy and especially CM Reynoso for his testimony at the last hearing which was pivotal to finally closing the hearing process. Thanks to John D’Arienzo (School Sett Board President), Taylor Erkkinen, Vanessa Scorsone, Kate Yourke, all parents, and Kerry Roeder for their advocacy at the public hearings and Community Board #1,” continued Rochford.
School Settlement worked closely with its long term educational partners who advised on programming for the new building. Principal Beth Lubeck and staff of PS 132 were acknowledged with much appreciation.
$18M must be raised for this to become a brick and mortar reality. School Settlement and St. Nicks Alliance will now launch a formal capital campaign to raise the $18 million for the project. The City Council and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams have committed over $4M, but the raising money from additional private philanthropic sources was delayed due to the uncertainty of the BSA process.
The new fundraising campaign will kick off with the sale of the The School Settlement Community Cookbook. The history of settlement houses is the inspiration for this cookbook that contains nearly 40 recipes from all sorts of community neighbors representing many cultures. The book will be available to purchase on December 12th via Kickstarter.
Then in the early spring, The “Ready, Sett, Dance II” will be the next fundraising step. If it is the success of the first “Ready, Sett, Dance” the community will be even closer to their dream of a new community center.
The building that houses School Sett at 120 Jackson Street was built 100 years ago to meet the needs of its day. The ensuing years have taken a major toll where so that the building in its current state struggles to meet the community’s needs of today.
For more information or to purchase The School Settlement Community Cookbook visit the School Sett website: http://schoolsettlement.org/
The Greenline 