Leviton High?

In local parlance it's already referred to as a "campus."

Sitting on eight acres of prime city property, the former Leviton manufacturing facility on Little Neck Parkway recently became the subject of speculation as the site of northeast Queens' newest high school.

The talk comes despite likely community opposition and reluctance to build near the Nassau County border on the part of the city School Construction Authority.

"I know the Leviton site has come up," said Mary Leas, SCA senior manager of external affairs at Wednesday night's Community District Education Council at J.H.S. 67 in Little Neck. "Though it's ideal for the people around here, it's not an ideal location for a school."

Vacant since electrical wiring maker Leviton decamped for another location on Long Island in June 2009, the to a real estate investment firm which leases dozens of commercial facilities across Nassau County.

In a with community leaders, representatives from the new owners of the Leviton property, Steel Equities, said a search for tenants had just begun.

A source with knowledge of past efforts on the part of the city Department of Education to open new schools in the area, predicted stiff opposition from nearby residents if Leviton were selected by SCA as a possible site. 

Leas told CDEC last night that the city had commenced a search for properties of at least one acre for a new school to alleviate overcrowding at two District 26 high schools, Bayside and Benjamin N. Cardozo. 

However, it seemed unlikely that SCA would settle on the Leviton site, due to what Leas said were concerns about access to public transportation and its location a couple blocks away from the city limits.

At least one CDEC board member, Glen Oaks resident Ismael Fuentes, took exception to SCA's seeming reluctance from even considering the Little Neck property for a high school.

"We're not in the country. This is still Queens," Fuentes said. "I think it should get serious consideration no matter where it is located."