Re Name School Campus In Glen Oaks In Padavan's Honor
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Senator Padavan, NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Assemblywoman Barbara Clark following the unveiling of the Frank Padavan Campus at Glen Oaks.

In recognition of state Senator Frank Padavan's leadership in getting approval for construction of the schools that make up the Glen Oaks Campus in Eastern Queens, the city Department of Education has renamed the campus in Padavan's honor.

Padavan, in accepting, responded: "This is truly a deep honor for me and I am so very grateful for this prestigious recognition."

The veteran lawmaker, now in his fourth decade of service, thanked Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott "for bestowing me with this distinction".

Padavan also acknowledged he was proud to be joined at the ceremony by the many friends and colleagues who helped in the establishment of the 30-acre campus on the grounds of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital.

"To know that generation after generation of students will learn and grow on this campus means so much to me and is something I will cherish forever," Padavan added.

Senator Padavan thanks the City Department of Education, Chancellor Klein and local community and education leaders assembled during the renaming ceremony.

Padavan (R- C, Bellerose) got the idea for the campus in 1998 and approached then Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew and suggested using the surplus stateowned land at Creedmoor as a schools site. Then, as now, there was the problem of severe overcrowding in the schools and there was a need to build new schools to relieve the crush.

Crew went for the idea, so Padavan and Assemblymember Mark Weprin (D- Little Neck) introduced legislation that allowed for the transfer of the available property at Creedmoor from the State of New York to the city DOE. The bipartisan bills passed easily.

Throughout the process, Padavan personally conducted and led numerous community meetings with various community groups, the New York City School Construction Authority, and the Office of Mental Health to address the concerns raised by the community and to stress importance of the building the new schools to help address the overcrowding issue in Queens.

Padavan also worked with traffic engineer Sam Schwartz to ensure that there would be a minimal traffic impact on the community. Faced with significant obstacles, Senator Padavan was able to secure the necessary roadway easements through the north and south side of the Creedmoor Campus in order to mitigate the impact the new schools would have on local traffic.

Now nearly 10 years later, the newly named Frank Padavan Campus at Glen Oaks is home to the Queens H.S. of Teaching, P.S./I.S. 266 and P.S./I.S. 208 and is home to one of the only schools throughout the city to have a campus setting. The Frank Padavan Campus at Glen Oaks is one of the largest public school campuses in the nation.