Affected By P.S. 32's Construction? Neighbors In Carroll Gardens/Gowanus Holding Community Meeting On The Matter Tonight

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The construction project at  Public School 32, the Samuel Mills Sprole School, located at 317 Hoyt Street between Union and President Streets in Carroll Gardens/ Gowanus, continues to be loud and disruptive to those who live nearby.

Neighbors are organizing a meeting tonight, March 19 from 7 to 8 at PS 32, to seek answers from representatives of the NYC School Construction Authority and to ask for help from our local officials Councilman Brad Lander  and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon.

The organizers of the meeting have also launched a new "P.S.32 Construction" Facebook Page here.  

The construction relates to the expansion of P.S.32 with a new three-story addition directly behind the current 1950's area structure. Designed by Edelman Sultan Knox Wood/ Architects, the addition will provide the school with approximately 200 additional seats and replaces the trailers that had being used for the lower grades at the back of the schoolyard.
The new building will house a large dining area, administrative offices, as well as pre-k and kindergarten on its first floor. Occupancy of this new wing is slated for September 2020.

In March 2017, the New York City School Construction Authority and Councilman Brad Lander held a joint public meeting meant to give neighbors of the school a chance to address their concerns regarding the construction. A similar meeting was held with parents of students.
At the meeting, Councilman Lander stated: "It is an indisputable fact that we need more school seats in District 15," he told local residents. "It is also an indisputable fact that it is a headache living near a construction site."
Yvette Knight, the Project Support Manager for SCA, assured local residents that her agency has managed many projects like this and "is very experienced in doing this kind of work with kids in the building." However, she added, "I am not going to sugar coat this. Please do not expect that there will be no noise."

Construction began with the demolition of the trailers this fall. Currently, steel piles are being driven into the ground on the site of the new building. The piles are needed to stabilize a structure of this size, and are most probably an indication of the poor soil in the area. The noise from the pile driving has been reverberating all the way to Smith Street in Carroll Gardens and across the Gowanus Canal in Gowanus.  (One wonders how the kids in the school can even concentrate during classtime.)