P.S. 41 green roof gets green light

By Jill Stern

In April, Chelsea Now’s sister paper, The Villager, first reported on P.S. 41’s plan to build a 10,000-square-foot working green laboratory on the W. 11th St. building’s rooftop.

Original plans were stymied for various reasons and a revised plan was

created that incorporated a more feasible, phased building schedule. The new plan was submitted to the School Construction Authority and an approval came last Thursday, allowing work to begin in the summer of 2008.

Margie Feinberg, a Department of Education spokesperson, said, “The Department of Education is very supportive and will guide the school and help them where we can.”

Unfortunately D.O.E. isn’t providing help in the form of dollars. The school’s parent-teacher association has already raised some money and will continue its fundraising efforts.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who promised to allocate some funds, said, “Schools are an obvious place to start greening New York’s

rooftops, and I’m delighted to be partnering with the parents of P.S. 41 on what will be a model for the whole city. Having a living, environmental laboratory on the roof of a school is a win-win for students’ education and for the environment.”

The school has hired the Jonathan Rose Companies to oversee the

project. Jonathan Rose is currently working on more than 10 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects and constructing two green-roof projects and designing at least half a dozen more in New York City.

“We saw the P.S. 41 project as a real opportunity to directly support the mayor’s PlaNYC goals for a more sustainable City,” said Sarah Haga, a Jonathan Rose representative. “Our hope is that P.S. 41, in coordination with the city and School Construction Authority, can work out a method for all schools in the city to tap into PlaNYC Water Quality Initiative No. 9 [which provides incentives for green roofs],” Haga said.