City selects Queens site for $1b Police Academy campus.

The site for the new police academy has been seleted at the NYPD Tow Pound, at 31st Avenue in College Point Queens, jumpstarting one of the largest construction projects the city has ever undertaken.

A cost estimate has not been developed for the new Academy project, but the Capital Plan in the Mayor's upcoming Executive Budget will allocate $1 billion for the project. The Department of Design and Construction will oversee the project and the City expects to break ground on the new Police Academy campus by the end of 2009. Once it is designed and constructed, the new Police Academy will feature instruction space, support and administration buildings, a field house, indoor shooting ranges, a tactical village, housing facility, driver training fields, K-9 environments, parking, a vehicle maintenance facility and a utility plant.

The site-selection committee that was charged with identifying a viable site for the new Police Academy used four criteria: access by mass transportation and highways, community context, a parcel size of at least 30 acres and general feasibility. The 30-acre College Point location meets each criterion. Northern Queens is a practical

"All the successes our City has achieved are built on a solid foundation of public safety," said Mayor Bloomberg. "As we invest in our City's future, we must also strengthen this foundation.

"Today, we're taking an important step towards that goal with the selection of a site for a new 21st Century Police Academy, which will train police officers to meet the challenges of tomorrow to protect our city in an ever-changing and complex world."

The NYPD currently conducts training in numerous facilities scattered throughout the City. The main facility, the Police Academy, located in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood, is over 40 years old and is too small and outdated to meet the needs of today's Department. It was intended for a department half of the size of the current force.

"The Police Department is not the agency it was a mere five years ago, never mind 43 years ago--when the current Police Academy was constructed," said Police Commissioner Kelly. "The new Police Academy will provide what our police officers and all New Yorkers deserve: the most advanced law enforcement training facility anywhere in the world."

Before construction can begin the City must complete the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) and design and construction procurement.

The land use approval process will begin immediately as well as the selection of a design consultant to develop a master plan for the site.

This site selection committee will continue to meet to coordinate the implementation of the project as well as search for a replacement site for the NYPD's towing operation, and it will plan for the future of the Gramercy Police Academy.