Public School 186 was a gorgeous Italian Renaissance–style school on 145th Street off Broadway.
There it is, with wide windows and a courtyard, circa 1920 in the photo (courtesy of the NYPL Digital Collection) on the right, just 17 years after opening.
Here it is today, a ruin so dilapidated, trees grow out of the second floor windows and trash mars the courtyard where generations of kids used to play.
A weathered wrought-iron fence tops the original cement barrier between the school and the street.
P.S. 186 is in shocking condition—but how did it get this way?
The city closed the school in 1975; the building changed hands until it was bought (for $215,000!) by the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem in 1986.
The club did nothing with it, letting it fall into disrepair until finally signing on with a developer in 2009 to help turn it into a community center, low-cost housing, and possibly another school, according to a New York Times article from 2010.
Scaffolding on the outside hints that P.S. 186 may finally be getting its makeover.
Nathan Kensinger has incredible photos of the outside and interior of the ghostly, eerie school, taken in 2009.
Tags: Abandoned buildings NYC, abandoned schools New York City, Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, Harlem elementary school, Harlem in 1920, Harlem Street, Nathan Kensinger, New York school buildings, PS 186, West 145th Street
June 7, 2012 at 12:11 pm |
So unfortunate the state of this building. Apparently preservationists want it used for adaptive reuse purposes but the community board hasn’t been all that proactive about it. http://harlembespoke.blogspot.com/2012/05/dwell-comparing-ps90-and-ps186.html
I’d love to get in there and shoot like Nathan Kensinger did.
June 7, 2012 at 2:03 pm |
I live about five blocks from P.S. 186, and its condition is sad (although it is a magnificent ruin). I would love to see it utilized, but I worry that it will be turned into some sort of “exclusive” high-priced something-or-other that would completely change the tone of neighborhood. BTW, the best Mexican food truck regularly parks across the street from PS 186 on 145th St.
June 7, 2012 at 2:15 pm |
I can’t believe this beautiful structure has been allowed to deteriorate to its present condition. Sad. At this point, I think that just about any reuse of the building would be better than having it torn down.
June 12, 2012 at 6:16 pm |
These pictures make me wonder how long it would be before a hypothetically abandoned NYC would start to look like the island sold to Peter Minuit.
July 6, 2012 at 6:27 pm |
Such a sad story for a great school and dedicated teachers. I lived on 143rd St. and started at the school in the 3rd grade. Completed grade six in 1949 and then on to JHS 43.
October 25, 2012 at 1:38 am |
I was in the 3rd grade in 1950 at P.S. 186 and I lived on 144th St. around the corner for three years.
February 16, 2013 at 1:58 am |
I attended the school from kinder to 5th grade, 1968. It had great teachers who cared about the kids. I still remember all my teacher’s names and hold great memories about this school
April 18, 2013 at 12:42 pm |
My mother attended PS 186 in the 1930s, and remembers it vividly. But I’ve been unable to discover the location of the next school she attended, Junior High School 43, in the same neighborhood. I have a feeling that it wasn’t the same building now used for JHS 43 (also known as Adam Clayton Powell JHS). Does anyone know the address of the original building of JHS 43, and its ultimate fate?