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NYC: BEFORE & AFTER
@nyc.beforeandafter

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#tb 1920’s & today: The NW corner of Lexington Ave & E 105th St in East Harlem, Manhattan. . Tomorrow is the 1st day of school in New York City so I thought it’d be appropriate that today’s post features a school building: PS 72. The school, designed by David I. Stagg in a neo-Grec style, was completed in 1882 & is one of Manhattan's oldest intact school buildings. The school was primarily built to accommodate the growing student population of East Harlem, an area which at the time was rapidly becoming densely populated with primarily European immigrants who lived in crowded tenements. The building originally contained 38 classrooms and could accommodate up to 2,000 students. . Despite its size, spanning the entire length of Lexington Ave between 105th & 106th Sts, the school was immediately overcrowded in just its 1st year of operation. By the year 1894, over 2,500 students were actively attending classes in the building. In order to alleviate overcrowdedness, a freestanding annex was built in 1913 & is seen on the left side of both photos. In 1921, yet another annex had to be built across 105th Street that could accommodate a further 1,800 pupils. The student population increased even more during the 40’s as Puerto Rican & other Latino immigrants began moving into East Harlem. . By the late 60’s however, the school’s population had been steadily declining & neighborhood enrollment numbers dropped, a far cry from what had been the case in prior decades. Ultimately, in 1975, the school was shut down and the building later came to house classrooms & offices of various different institutions. Afterwards, the building sat abandoned throughout the late 80’s and early 90’s before it was given new life as the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, which it remains to this day. The former PS 72 school building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1996. . . . #eastharlem #manhattan #lexingtonavenue #east105thstreet #oldnyc #1920snyc #nychistory #eastharlemnyc #oldhighschool #thewaywewere #neogrec #lexingtonave #oldnewyork #nyc1920s #newyorkhistory #vintagenyc #roaring20s #highschool #nyclandmark #nycnostalgia #1920s #vintagenewyork #1920sstyle #nycbeforeandafter