Groundbreaking ceremony held for new school in East New York

Community members, along with elected officials, held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for a soon-to-be new school.
The site is located along Atlantic Avenue in East New York.
Officials say the school will be able to hold 1,000 seats for students in pre-K through eighth grade.
“It's going to be equipped with music and art spaces, a new school yard, a green house and science labs,” says NYC Schools Commissioner Richard Carranza.
The new school will reside next to an affordable housing development, which is part of an overall neighborhood plan for the area. The plan aims to promote housing and economic development.  
“With so many new housing units coming to East New York, the children of these families needed a place to go to school and that's why today is so significant,” says community member Manny Burgos, of East New York.
City officials claim prior administrations kept putting off the project, but now they say they want to make things right.
“Any community member says ‘well why should I buy into something, the city hasn't kept its promises before,’” says Mayor Bill de Blasio. “They have a right to be skeptical.”
Officials say the school is expected to be complete for students by September 2020.