Facilitating long-term recovery through education

Investments in early childhood and daycare facilities play a dual role in caring for our children and supporting working parents. Over the next 10 years, the City will continue to expand the use of technology to promote learning and access to early childhood education for all New Yorkers.

Investing in public schools

With nearly one million students across 1,800 schools, New York City has the largest public school system in the country. The SCA’s Fiscal Year 2020-2024 Capital Plan invests $19.4 billion in support of building and improving facilities and expanding initiatives. The current plan supports almost 46,000 new seats to alleviate overcrowding and improve access to schools in growing neighborhoods. The City will also launch the first district school in city history dedicated solely to supporting students with dyslexia and make dyslexia screenings available in every public school. The City is committed to giving every child the support they need to read at or above grade level. For more details on how SCA is making our schools more accessible for children, staff, and parents with mobility impairments and other disabilities, see the call-out box on Pedestrian Mobility and Accessibility.

Improving school connectivity, bandwidth, and data centers

The City has addressed the school connectivity and bandwidth limitations that presented challenges to educational infrastructure in the recent past. DOE’s Division of Instructional and Information Technology (DIIT) has made enhancements to the school’s bandwidth network infrastructure. All schools have been allocated increased bandwidth over the past two years. DIIT continues to monitor bandwidth usage (average and peak) by school and allocate additional bandwidth to schools that need it.

To date, DOE has spent $350 million on school and administrative office improvements and $80 million on back- end network infrastructure and data center improvements. The City plans to spend an additional $120 million to bring this to completion. DOE is also committing $62 million in capital funding to upgrade its primary data center 2 Metrotech Center. When the work is completed, DOE will have two modern, secure data centers to operate its systems and manage its data.

Expanding access to keystone cultural resources

New York City continues to be a global cultural capital. Over the next 10 years, we will make investments to maintain and improve keystone cultural resources throughout the five boroughs, with a focus on improving access so that all New Yorkers can enjoy and benefit from our rich cultural landscape

Major theaters will get capital renovations, ensuring New Yorkers can continue to enjoy them for years to come. A $15.7 million restoration and interior renovation of the historic Apollo Theater will increase theater space and add new functions to the building. The City also allocated $25.5 million towards funding the fit-out of the National Black Theater, a new 24,000-square-foot theater facility in a mixed- use development on 125th Street. The project will include a 99-seat flexible theater and a 199-seat assembly space. Additionally, funds are allocated in support of a $6 million renovation and reconfiguration of the Vineyard Theatre that will allow for flexible seating/stage arrangements, improved accessibility, and an improved façade to provide greater exterior visibility from Union Square.

In Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, the City will renovate the original 1892 Music Hall building with a new 700-seat audience space. The renovation also includes new lighting, a new hearing loop system to help people who use a hearing aid hear sound more clearly, and new air handlers to improve comfort and accessibility. And, at the Queens Museum, the City is funding an over $6.5 million renovation of the original drum theatre, known as the Claire Shulman Theatre, with a new 100-seat audience space and stage deck with updated lighting, rigging, and sound systems.

The City is also investing in Bronx-based cultural institutions, both established and new, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the New York Botanical Garden, The Point Community Development Corporation, Pregones Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Wave Hill, and the Bronx Zoo. The City will invest $19.7 million to fit out a new 52,000-square-foot location of the Universal Hip Hop Museum at the Bronx Point development at Mill Pond Park.