Queens plot may go to residential developers, despite park plan

A half-acre vacant plot of land in Jackson Heights may go to residential developers, despite a long effort to turn the land into a community green space, according to the New York Daily News. The Garden School, a private nursery-through-12th-grade school, had been in negotiations to sell the land to the city, which would then, in turn, use it to expand the adjacent Travers Park. But the school, which said it’s facing dire financial straits due to low enrollment, said the $4.7 million the city offered for 20,000 square feet of the plot is 15 percent lower than offers made by developers. The city’s alternate offer to purchase 29,000 square feet for $4.8 million, with rights to use the space during school hours, also fell short, city officials said. Further compounding the problem, according to Michael Rakosi, vice president of Garden School’s board of trustees, is the school’s inability to produce cash immediately. “If the city would come with a check today, we would sell today to the city,” Rakosi said. “[But] it would be a year or 18 months before we’d get any money [from the city] — if we can get any money.” [NYDN]