We've heard from some parents over at The Neighborhood School/PS 63 on East Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...
As we understand it, officials from the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) announced last week that they will begin removing asbestos from the building this fall ahead of a 2- to 3-year school renovation... the removal will occur after school hours starting at 4, which will disrupt a fair number of programs
From an email from a parent that is in circulation:
[Last] week my fellow parents and I were alarmed to find out that the scaffolding surrounding our school is there to take out asbestos and remove lead paint. I was even more upset to discover that no work was done over the summer and that the contractor wants to start now when school is session. We cannot allow this to happen!!! Asbestos and lead that are airborne due to construction pose serious health threats.
There's a meeting this morning with school officials to begin to address these issues (available parents are encouraged to show support outside the school, per the above flyer) ... there will be also be a Neighborhood School community meeting on Thursday morning at 8:40 with SCA reps.
The parents hope to postpone the work until next summer ...
Updated 9 a.m.
Serena Solomon has more details on this story over at DNAinfo.