Pre-K letters were released in NYC on Monday, May 2nd, and we have a calamity in Long Island City (LIC), Queens. It is estimated that more than 100 children were denied the right to attend their selected, zoned Pre-Kindergarten for their home in Long Island City. The schools offered as alternatives for the 2016-2017 school year are far beyond our community and place a tremendous hardship on the 3 and 4 year-old children that we are speaking for.

Our selected, zoned school, P.S. 78, has outgrown the capacity to meet the current demand. We urge you to seek an immediate, short-term solution while you work to build additional schools to accommodate the growing need in the community. 


20 rental and five condo buildings, approximately 9,000 units, are currently under construction in Long Island City according to the New York Times. Additionally, there are 52 rental and condo buildings in the planning stages. The Department of Education must act on an emergency basis to meet the dramatic spike in demand for school seats for the families who are flocking to LIC.

Children attending their neighborhood school is imperative for the success of an expanding Long Island City. Unless serious efforts are made, families will be faced with the harsh and impracticable reality of having to uproot and move out of New York City due to insufficient Pre-Kindergarten seats. 



While we understand and appreciate the hard work that is being done by our elected officials to create a long-term solution for the community, the schools that are being built with the funds appropriated to LIC will be available, at the earliest, in 2020. An enormous and pressing shortfall needs to be addressed immediately for the 2016-2017 school year.


We respectfully request the Mayor, elected officials, the Department of Education, and the Department of City Planning immediately redouble their efforts to locate and establish a temporary facility to relieve this educational emergency.