Update: As of March 11, the parking lot is to remain open until further notice.
On February 14, 2026 the parking lot located behind the FHHS field will close. The reason for this is the annex construction accepted by the borough officials back in November 2024 to prevent overcrowding in the school.
For decades, this lot provided parking spaces for many teachers and staff members behind the Jackie Robinson field. The lot provided ease and a little more confidence that they’ll have a spot in the morning.
Ms. Franke, an English teacher, has been parking regularly in this lot for almost 10 years. She said that because of the recent snow and ice, the lot has been partially closed and unplowed. “The whole lot is not being utilized… so I ended up having to park on the street, and I parked like, 6 blocks away from the school,” she said.
The parking in and outside of the lot for many, especially with the snow and ice, has been a struggle over the last few weeks.
However, there is a reason for such a sudden change. There is a plan to build new annex for the school, which is going to be built behind the Jackie Robinson field. According to qns.com, the new annex is going to add 700 seats and 26 classrooms to address overcrowding in the school, which can be traced all the way back to the early 70s.
Mr. Rosenblatt, AP of Organization, mentioned another reason for the new annex — the new building is going to have “state classroom size mandates.”
Mr. Rosenblatt refers to the NYS legislation passed in 2022 that limits the number of students in a single class to 25 for every high school in the city by summer 2028.
The plan also requires that an additional 20% of classrooms fall under the cap each year. Since there is overenrollment and a lack of land surrounding FHHS, school authorities had no other choice but to use the land between the FHHS field and the Grand Central Pkwy for the extension.
Mr. Rosenblatt also stated that the annex building is going to be on the 66th Rd. side of the field, not by 67th Rd. where the parking lot is located.
However, the lot is still going to close, because, according to Mr. Rosenblatt, it is going to be used as a “staging area for the construction.” It is where all equipment is going to be placed.
Staging is going to begin in spring, and the project is planned to be completed by the 2029-2030 school year. Throughout the construction, streets will be the only parking space available for the teachers.
“Not the best option,” said Mr. Rosenblatt, “but it is what it is.”
Lack of parking slots will result in approximately 40 extra cars looking for a place to park every morning, worsening already complicated traffic conditions near FHHS. In addition, some B-session staff members will have to leave home earlier each morning to prepare for the lack of parking.
Ms. Franke revealed, “I will have to give myself probably, like, an extra half hour in the morning to find parking.” She also pointed out that “it’s competitive, because there are many teachers who work at this school… So it’s going to be a little bit difficult.”
Many teachers are not happy about the parking lot closeure since it creates numerous inconveniences, but at the same time, the closing is necessary for the new annex.
The annex is predicted to solve the long-standing problem of overcrowding in the school and will allow more efficient learning with smaller classrooms. It is difficult to evaluate the impacts of this decision at the current moment, but it will definitely be a significant change for Forest Hills High School.
