As New York City schools plan to reopen this fall, space limitations are making social distancing impossible in Brooklyn’s overcrowded school buildings. Public schools are forced to offer in-person classes part time, and in some cases, kids will only be able to attend for one day a week. Many Brooklyn families are left struggling to find safe, engaging and affordable care for their children on “off days”. 

PS9 has always aspired to be more than a school. We are a community that values both students and their families, and tries to provide for all. This crisis is exacerbating racial and economic divides, and we are dedicated to finding a community wide solution that will help close gaps instead of making them worse. To that end, we are attempting, in a way few other schools are, to provide “off day” care that is accessible to every family at our incredibly diverse school and to meet a variety of needs. Unfortunately, the space to provide consistent care at this scale is proving elusive.

Barclays Center, at the corner of our neighborhood and on the border of our school zone, has abundant space. There are extensive areas for use; the meeting rooms, atrium, Tidal Theater, unused restaurant spaces, practice courts, arena and concourses, that can be used  to help our children in their greatest time of need. We’re writing to demand to  make it available to the students of PS9 and other local DOE schools, so that they will be safely cared for on the days when they can’t attend school.

We, the parent community of PS9, are in discussions with a variety of providers for staffing and care. We are diligently reviewing the health and safety requirements.  And we are asking other community organizations and businesses to help us if they can.

Barclays Center pays no taxes. It is on publicly owned land. Its owners rely on huge public subsidies. And while our public school students face a massive new space crunch due to coronavirus, and their very safety and education is on the line, it sits empty. The public has donated so much to Barclays Center—it’s time to get something back. The Empire State Development Corporation promised to give space for “local academic institutions” in its proposal for Barclays Center, but those promises remain unfulfilled. It’s time for Barclays Center to live up to that commitment.

Barclays Center has shared our neighborhood for the past eight years. But this unprecedented crisis is an opportunity for it to truly become part of the Prospect Heights community. As we struggle to find resources for our children on their off days, Barclays sits empty. We would love an opportunity to partner with them (or any other stakeholders in this space, like the Brooklyn Nets  or the New York Liberty) on this overwhelming, but very necessary, initiative.