Plans for East Side School Raise Variety of Concerns by Barry Owens Members of Community Board 1 last month had their first peek at floor plans for the new school slated to be included in a 75-story residential tower that will be constructed on the parking lot of NYU Downtown Hospital on Beekman Street. The plans have not been made public, but board members who had seen them shared details at a meeting of the board's Youth and Education Committee on June 23. While the plans call for a rooftop play area, they do not include a schoolyard for children to assemble for pick-up after school. According to the board members, hospital representatives are concerned that the lack of such space will lead to children gathering noisily close to the medical facility and disturbing patients. "They are very concerned about that," said board member Marc Donnenfeld, "and I am very concerned about that." The school will occupy 100,000 square feet on five floors of the building, which will be constructed by developer Bruce Ratner. Community Board 1 and elected officials had pushed hard for a school to be included in the private development. As the plans move forward, the committee also wants to make sure that a school designed for 600 students will be big enough for the neighborhood. The Department of Education is drawing on numbers from the 2000 census for its plan for the school. Committee members insisted that more accurate population projections be used, even if it means that board volunteers must do the count themselves. "We're putting all this political capital into getting a school built that may not be adequate," said George Olsen. "Everybody has numbers, but nobody feels confident about them," said David Feiner, an aide to Councilman Alan Gerson. "They are designing this school for 600. If 700 kids show up, it is going to open crowded." Those who reviewed the plans during the closed-door meeting with school officials last month were board members Donnenfeld and Paul Hovitz, former chairwoman Madelyn Wils and CB1 district manager Paul Goldstein. "We could do better," Hovitz said in a telephone interview. "Clearly there needs to be some more fine tuning and we will be pursuing that with the developer and with the hospital." "It would be lovely if we could get some more space," said Donnenfeld, "but I don't think that is going to happen."