Touro College To Open In New Brighton Beach Building; Consolidating Two Campuses

Leases are filling up fast at 360 Neptune Avenue between Brighton 1st and Brighton 3rd Streets — the biggest being Touro College, which is set to move into two floors of the modern building by the end of January.

The Touro College & University system will consolidate two NY School of Career & Applied Sciences (NYSCAS) locations — 532 Neptune Avenue and 1870 Stillwell Avenue in Bensonhurst — into 24,000 square feet of this new, Brighton Beach building. Steps to Success Pre-School has also leased a floor in the building, which received its certificate of occupancy earlier this week.

“Touro has deep roots in this community,” said Real Estate broker Igor Libo, who grew up in Brighton Beach. “It is important that they stay here even though the demographics are changing.”

For the college, the move represents both a facilities upgrade and an embodiment of their philosophy at NYSCAS, which involves bringing education to underserved, immigrant communities.

“Many schools tell applicants to come to us, but we open up schools in areas that might be in need of the education that we provide,” said Jeffrey Rosengarten, Touro’s senior vice President of operations.

“Bensonhurst has changed and we think we can offer more by being in Brighton — a growing community and a trendy community,” said Rosengarten, discussing the shifting demographics of Touro applicants in southern Brooklyn.

The move was also spurred by the impending 40-story tower Neptune/Sixth, to rise at the college’s previous Brighton address, 532 Neptune Avenue, said Real Estate broker Igor Libo. In 2015, Neptune/Sixth proposals elicited fierce criticism from local residents who were concerned about potential school overcrowding, pollution, noise levels, and parking, among other complaints.

Libo works with Ryback development, the Sheepshead Bay-based firm that has been called one of the most active developers in the neighborhood.

“I’m trying to be a part of revitalizing in South Brooklyn,” Libo told BKLYNER. “South Brooklyn real estate has not had the love that North Brooklyn has.”

Though the college is making a fresh start, the building itself carries a shadowed past from its construction phase.

A concrete subcontractor came under fire last year when its owner was indicted for manslaughter after worker Vidal Sanchez-Ramon fell to his death on the site in 2015. Salvatore Schirripa, owner of J & M Metro General Contracting, had ignored safety warnings and violations on four separate occasions, according to then-Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. In addition, the courts found that he had failed to pay into unemployment insurance funds.

In addition to the indictment, the Department of Buildings issued a $12,000 violation on the site’s primary permit holder, VDA Construction Corp., for failing to safeguard the site following the incident, said city officials.

After Ramon’s death, a ‘Stop Work’ order was slapped on the site for three months, according to city officials. Between 2015 and 2016, the site wracked up 31 complaints and 44 violations (none of which are currently active), according to Department of Buildings records.

But development in southern Brooklyn continues apace.

“Whatever happened, happened,” said Libo. “The attorneys are dealing with the investigation. We’re trying to move past that.”