Greenpoint, Brooklyn, has transformed dramatically over the past two decades. Its once-industrial waterfront is now lined with gleaming residential high-rises, but as the neighborhood’s population swells, so do other community needs.

Zachary Eisenstat, a father of two, has been closely following New York City’s plan to build a new elementary school at 257 Franklin St., a site located diagonally across from the NuHart Superfund site, a former plastics manufacturer where toxic chemicals once leaked into the ground.

“I think that the exploding population of Greenpoint needs more infrastructure,” Eisenstat said.  

The school will not sit directly on the Superfund site, but nearby contaminated land is home to two underground toxic plumes. That area has since been remediated and redeveloped into a residential building.

“Primarily a perception issue”

The city’s plans were originally met with skepticism by many neighbors, but Eisenstat says several meetings made him see the development as safe.

“I see no evidence that they would say it’s safe and willing to work there if it’s not,” he said. 

Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler said he’s confident in the city’s decision.

“It’s not my first choice of where the school should have been built,” Restler said. “But we’ve looked at it carefully, and I do think that it is safe … So, the issue is primarily a perception issue.”

Still, some longtime residents remain uneasy.  

“So many people in my family have gotten sick”

Laura Hofmann was a plaintiff in an unrelated environmental pollution lawsuit against ExxonMobil which ended in a settlement. The lifelong Greenpoint resident lives a block away and serves on the local community board’s environmental committee.

“I was the only person who voted no against the plan,” Hofmann said. “I know I’m kind of like a lone voice in the neighborhood. Maybe that’s because, you know, so many people in my family have gotten sick.”

A spokesperson for the School Construction Authority said multiple studies confirm that “contaminants from the NuHart site have not reached the school property.”

The agency added that a 25-foot-deep hydraulic barrier prevents any chemical plume from migrating.

Officials also note that Greenpoint’s existing schools, some built as far back as the 1860s, are aging and nearing full capacity.

Addresses a pressing need

The School Construction Authority says the new school in Greenpoint is still in early planning stages, but it will likely be five to six stories tall, with a play yard and an all-electric design.

Restler said the need for new facilities is pressing, since the three closest schools to this part of the neighborhood are all about a mile away.

“For families who live in the northern tip of Greenpoint, they’ve got to walk 25 minutes to get to public school,” he said. “That’s not an easy thing to do with a kindergartner.”

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