Borough Park - Plans For A Public School Upsets The Community

Borough Park - The Department of Education decided to place one of 36 new, small secondary schools it is opening next year inside the Montauk building which is half empty, and it seemed like a fine plan.

But the Montauk school happens to be in Borough Park, Brooklyn, a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood where virtually all residents send their children to private yeshivas. And the plan for the new school has angered community leaders, who say that any one of the neighborhood's yeshivas would be thrilled to buy the building for a fair price.
"The yeshivas are bursting - every time you turn around, there's more going up, and boy, would our community like to get those schools that are empty," said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat who represents the area.