Community Board 8 members have known since last October the School Construction Authority wanted to build a school on a shady block across from Van Cortlandt Park where the former Church of the Visitation sits consumed by weeds. But, now they want to know the details — and they are prepared to leverage their influence. more

Schools are overcrowding across the city, and this part of the Bronx is hardly immune. But ever since the Vatican closed the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and its parochial school and the land was deconsecrated in 2017, many have eyed its valuable West 239th Street land next to Van Cortlandt Park as the perfect site to build a new public school. more