P.S. 9
Encyclopedia
Public School 9, The Sarah Anderson School (aka The Renaissance School of Music and Art), is a public elementary K–5 neighborhood catchment
school that offers two programs: Renaissance and Gifted
. Founded in 1830, P.S. 9 is located on the Upper West Side
in Manhattan
, New York City
.
and parent for whom the Board of Education renamed PS 9 at a May 1981 memorial dedication. Never married, she was the mother of three: Clarence "Pete" Anderson (1938 and living in East New York, Brooklyn
), Ronald ("Ronnie") Dean Anderson (b. 1939 Griffin GA – 2001 Griffin), and Thomas Anderson. Sarah Anderson is buried at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery, Griffin, GA. Her nickname, for those close to her, was "Peggy." Her daughter-in-law (Clarence's wife), Earnestine Anderson, also worked with Sarah as a paraprofessional at PS 9. Earnestine resides in Griffin.
In 1993, under Principal Joan Gutkin, PhD (1936–1997), PS 9 received magnet school
funding for music and art and henceforth adopted the name, "Renaissance School of Music and Art." Upon the departure of Dr. Gutkin, and with the ebb and flow of funding for the arts, PS 9 uses both names, interchangeably.
of Saint Michael's Church
(Episcopal) in the early 19th century. The vestry continued to operate the School at Bloomingdale
until a law was enacted November 19, 1824, barring church schools from participating in public school funding. On May 22, 1826, the Public School Society of New York acquired it; and, in July 1827, the Society paid $250 for a 100 x 100 foot tract at 82nd Street between 10th (Amsterdam) and 11th (West End)
Avenues. On July 19, 1830, the Society completed the construction of a one-story clapboard
school for $1,500, accommodating about 50 children. The Society transferred jurisdiction of PS 9 to the Board of Education in July 1853.
In 1889, The New York Times disclosed a letter to Mayor Hugh J. Grant (1857–1910) citing grim conditions of a PS 9 structure in the same location that housed 1,100 children:
The next year (1890), the Board of Education demolished the building. In 1894, the BOE erected a modern school building on the same site (466 West End Ave at 82nd St) — equipped with electricity
and ventilation
— Charles B.J. Snyder
, architect
. The new building inherited the name "PS 9." Designed to blend with the neighborhood, the ecclesiastical English
gothic
structure was a style prevalent of schools built by Trinity Church
.
On January 26, 1916, during a graduation ceremony, PS 9 was named after the late John Jasper (1837–1915). Mr. Jasper was an educator who had served at PS 9 as (i) a teacher in 1857 and (ii) its principal from 1867 to 1897. He went on to become Assistant Superintendent of Schools
; then, in 1898, he became Borough Associate Superintendent of Schools for Manhattan
and the Bronx.
As a marker for how times have changed, in 1961, David H. Moskowitz (1903–1962), the Deputy Superintendent for Research and Evaluation for NYC Schools, reported a high transient rate at several elementary schools, including PS 9, which ranged from 90 to 99% during the 1959–1960 school year. This phenomenon, perhaps, provides insight towards public sentiment on the funding of public schools: When enrollment was highly transient, the public viewed school funding as a minimum legal obligation. Whereas, nowadays, enrollment is highly stable; therefore, funding is likely to be viewed more as an investment in the community.
The former PS 9 building is now the home of The Mickey Mantle School PS 811, serving children with disabilities.
, Brooklyn. The new building was part of plan to spend one billion dollars on New York City school construction over a ten-year period that began in the late 1950s.
Simultaneously building the campuses of PS 9 and Brandeis High School (across the street, between 84th and 85th Streets) served a secondary purpose. It was part of a larger concerted pilot project by Mayor Robert Ferdinand Wagner’s "All-Out War on the Forces of Crime." West 84th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus, had been dubbed "The Worst Block in New York." The City relocated 800 of 1000 families from that block so that 20 condemned buildings could be demolished. Those buildings represented the recent filing of more than 2,300 recent building violations totaling $4,100 in fines to 18 landlords by the Housing Court.
For a cost of $2.4 million, Rand Construction Company, Inc., erected the current three-story building at 100 West 84th Street at Columbus. Under Arthur G. Paletta (1909–1984), Director of Architecture, the BOE Bureau of Design drafted the architect
ural blueprints. The facility opened March 12, 1965, to 800 children, pre-K-5. Retaining the name, the BOE dedicated the new building as the "John Jasper School PS 9."
Sometimes referred to as PS 174 during the planning and construction phase, the building had been slated to open September 1964. But while preparing the foundation, the BOE engineers and general contractor, Rand Construction, "discovered" an underground stream. They had overlooked two critical historic maps: (i) the Egbert Ludovicus Viélé map of 1865 and (ii) the Townsend MacCoun (1845–1932, surname rhymes with "raccoon") map of 1909, both showing an underground stream that starts at the school site (see bottom left of block bounded by 83rd & 84th Streets and 9th & 10th Avenues), joining other streams, flowing southeast under Central Park
and emptying into the East River
between 74th and 75th Streets. Failure to check the Viélé and MacCoun maps is considered a cardinal sin for construction engineers. According to Eugene Edward Hult (1915–1968), Superintendent of Design, Construction and Physical Plant for the BOE, the underground stream was "more like a pond," about two feet wide; there was earth but no rock, which required the redesign for a new foundation. Construction was held-up from March 15 to August 6, 1963; and, along with a change-order, the snafu cost the BOE an extra $100,000. The underground stream flows in an opposite direction to the surface watershed, which flows to the Hudson
.
In the 1950s, many architects used the older red brick for apartment buildings — although its use in public housing projects gave it an unwelcome tinge for the luxury market. Nonetheless, all-white brick buildings became standard for supposed elegance, but there was also a chromatic undercurrent. The architects of public schools in the mid-1950s began incorporating color into their buildings, like the yellow-glazed brick on PS 41. The use of blue bricks at PS 34, erected in 1956 at 12th Street and Avenue D, outraged City Controller Lawrence Ettore Gerosa (1894–1972), who, in well-publicized hearings in 1958, accused the BOE of wasteful extravagance.
Transforming the block, without any effort to blend in, white bricks on the new PS 9 face east to Columbus Avenue and west to the schoolyard. Facing the north and south to the streets the blue glazed bricks frame the classroom windows — inviting, perhaps subliminal of the Santa Fe blue-framed windows that keep evil spirits from entering, the white bricks suggestive of stucco. The building is strongly modernist
— functional
, "ornamentation is a crime."
The three-story wall facing Columbus is windowless. Windowless walls facing major avenues is rare in New York City architecture. It's as if the architects wanted "no blending" and "no seeing" of a major avenue. Because trucks are banned on four nearby major traffic arteries — West Side Highway
, West End Avenue
, Central Park West
, and Central Park's inner drive — Amsterdam, Columbus, and Broadway carry heavy truck traffic. And, West 83rd Street (contiguous to the Kindergarten playground) is a major west-bound transverse for non truck traffic continuing from the 81st street crossing Central Park. West 83rd Street, on the same block, also is home to the Planetarium Station Post Office, the New York City Fire Department
, several parking garages, and car rental companies.
The unsightly blue cages on the first floor windows are a post-design add-on legacy of an anti-vandal initiative instituted in 1959 by Michael Luke Radoslovich (1902–1975), director of architecture for the school system. To make it look even worse, someone painted columns of white bricks light blue, between the windows on the north wall, in an apparent ill-fated attempt to match the glazed blue brick. On the west wall facing the schoolyard, and on the east wall facing Columbus Avenue, someone painted the white bricks beige on the lower portions, seemingly as a poor remedy for a splash-guard. And interspersed around the building someone painted the glazed blue bricks beige on the first level.
Two then contemporary events in history influenced one aspect of the building's architecture. In 1957 the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite. 1962 was the year of the Cuban missile crisis
. Hence the building has an antiquated fallout shelter
.
The auditorium
foyer
(aka, "the Well") features an 8 x 21 foot glass mosaic
, "Man In Space," (completed 1965) by Vincent Cavallaro
(b. Nov. 8, 1912, Cambridge, MA - d. May 22, 1985 New York City), commissioned in 1963 for the building by Public Art for Public Schools. At the time of the commission, NASA
had completed seven one-man space missions under the Mercury Program
. The mosaic commemorates not only what was then the frontier of space exploration
, but also the importance of science education
for children. Mr. Cavallaro, a painter, sculptor and abstract artist, created many works related to space exploration; one in particular was a bronze sculpture by the same title, "Man In Space," (1967), located at Junior High School 88, Brooklyn. Mr. Cavallaro completed formal studies in art in 1933 at Accademia di Brera in Milan
.
20th Precinct from West 68th Street to 120 West 82nd Street (one block from the school) into a newly built $2.8 million three-story building.
Catchment area (human geography)
In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...
school that offers two programs: Renaissance and Gifted
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
. Founded in 1830, P.S. 9 is located on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Principals
- Ms. Bernadette Castronuovo O'Brien — PS 9 | August 1984 – August 1989
-
- In 1971, Ms. O'Brien had founded, developed, and directed Learning to Read through the Arts, (LTRTA), a widely used and highly effective program. In 1984, at the urging of District 3 Superintendent Albertha Toppins, Ms. O'Brien sought the position of principal at PS 9, with a mandate to use her LTRTA expertise to turn-around PS 9, a failing school with less than 200 students and a candidate for closure. From 1984 to 1986 there was a great infusion of the arts and humanities in the school with reading and language arts at its core in an experiential, interdisciplinary, integrated, thematic, multicultural curriculum that included the visual arts, performing arts (drama, dance), and foreign languages.
- She implemented pedagogy that cultivated extended thinking that provided opportunities for open ended questions and answers. For instance, there could be several approaches to finding an answer to a question, several answers to a question, more creative ways to solve problems and reaching for the unknown — all of which challenged students and teachers to go beyond standard replies.
- In the 1980s, residents of District 3 could enroll their children in any school within the District. Parents, at the time, did not prefer PS 9. There was a budget crisis in the city. Monies were allocated to the schools based on enrollment. So, when a group of parents proposed adding a program for a gifted program, Ms. O'Brien embraced the idea, thinking that, in many ways, it would benefit all the students in the building; namely, it would advance the learning environment and warrant more funding from the BOE.
- Joan Gutkin, PhD (née Gotlieb; 1936–1997) — PS 9 | 1989–1997
- Ms. Diane Brady — PS 9 | 1997 – Present
School name
The Sarah Anderson School (PS 9) is named after Sarah Anderson (b. 7-31-1922 Birmingham, AL - d. 2-2-1981 Griffin, GA), a beloved school paraprofessionalParaprofessional
Paraprofessional is a job title given to persons in various occupational fields, such as education, healthcare, engineering and law, who are trained to assist professionals but are not themselves licensed at a professional level...
and parent for whom the Board of Education renamed PS 9 at a May 1981 memorial dedication. Never married, she was the mother of three: Clarence "Pete" Anderson (1938 and living in East New York, Brooklyn
East New York, Brooklyn
East New York is a residential neighborhood located in the Eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 5...
), Ronald ("Ronnie") Dean Anderson (b. 1939 Griffin GA – 2001 Griffin), and Thomas Anderson. Sarah Anderson is buried at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery, Griffin, GA. Her nickname, for those close to her, was "Peggy." Her daughter-in-law (Clarence's wife), Earnestine Anderson, also worked with Sarah as a paraprofessional at PS 9. Earnestine resides in Griffin.
In 1993, under Principal Joan Gutkin, PhD (1936–1997), PS 9 received magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
funding for music and art and henceforth adopted the name, "Renaissance School of Music and Art." Upon the departure of Dr. Gutkin, and with the ebb and flow of funding for the arts, PS 9 uses both names, interchangeably.
The original PS 9 location at 466 West End Avenue (1830–1965)
The school that became PS 9 was originally organized by the vestryVestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
of Saint Michael's Church
St. Michael's Church, New York City
St. Michael's Church is a historic Episcopal church at 225 W. 99th Street in New York City. It was founded in January 1807; the present Romanesque building was built in 1890 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996....
(Episcopal) in the early 19th century. The vestry continued to operate the School at Bloomingdale
Manhattan Valley
Manhattan Valley is a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by West 110th Street to the north, Central Park West to the east, West 96th Street to the south, and Broadway to the west...
until a law was enacted November 19, 1824, barring church schools from participating in public school funding. On May 22, 1826, the Public School Society of New York acquired it; and, in July 1827, the Society paid $250 for a 100 x 100 foot tract at 82nd Street between 10th (Amsterdam) and 11th (West End)
Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Eleventh Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the far West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, not far from the Hudson River. It carries downtown traffic only, south of West 44th Street, and two-way traffic north of it....
Avenues. On July 19, 1830, the Society completed the construction of a one-story clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
school for $1,500, accommodating about 50 children. The Society transferred jurisdiction of PS 9 to the Board of Education in July 1853.
In 1889, The New York Times disclosed a letter to Mayor Hugh J. Grant (1857–1910) citing grim conditions of a PS 9 structure in the same location that housed 1,100 children:
-
- There was no visible plaster in the entire building. The wooden staircases and wood-lined stairways were only 29 inches wide. Large stoves and stovepipes beneath the stairs and elsewhere, used for warming the building, were dangerously close to the woodwork. The so-called passages were 30 inches wide. The building was devoid of any means of escape from the rear and devoid of a fire escapeFire escapeA fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
. Means of egress from the front was insufficient.
- There was no visible plaster in the entire building. The wooden staircases and wood-lined stairways were only 29 inches wide. Large stoves and stovepipes beneath the stairs and elsewhere, used for warming the building, were dangerously close to the woodwork. The so-called passages were 30 inches wide. The building was devoid of any means of escape from the rear and devoid of a fire escape
The next year (1890), the Board of Education demolished the building. In 1894, the BOE erected a modern school building on the same site (466 West End Ave at 82nd St) — equipped with electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and ventilation
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
— Charles B.J. Snyder
C.B.J. Snyder
Charles B. J. Snyder was a prolific American architect, architectural engineer, and mechanical engineer in the field of urban school building design and construction...
, architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. The new building inherited the name "PS 9." Designed to blend with the neighborhood, the ecclesiastical English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
structure was a style prevalent of schools built by Trinity Church
Trinity Church, New York
Trinity Church at 79 Broadway, Lower Manhattan, is a historic, active parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York...
.
On January 26, 1916, during a graduation ceremony, PS 9 was named after the late John Jasper (1837–1915). Mr. Jasper was an educator who had served at PS 9 as (i) a teacher in 1857 and (ii) its principal from 1867 to 1897. He went on to become Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
; then, in 1898, he became Borough Associate Superintendent of Schools for Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and the Bronx.
As a marker for how times have changed, in 1961, David H. Moskowitz (1903–1962), the Deputy Superintendent for Research and Evaluation for NYC Schools, reported a high transient rate at several elementary schools, including PS 9, which ranged from 90 to 99% during the 1959–1960 school year. This phenomenon, perhaps, provides insight towards public sentiment on the funding of public schools: When enrollment was highly transient, the public viewed school funding as a minimum legal obligation. Whereas, nowadays, enrollment is highly stable; therefore, funding is likely to be viewed more as an investment in the community.
The former PS 9 building is now the home of The Mickey Mantle School PS 811, serving children with disabilities.
The current plant on West 84th Street (completed and opened 1965)
The School Board and Superintendent John Jacob Theobald, PhD (1904–1985), approved the West 84th Street site for PS 9 on July 18, 1962, at a School Board meeting held at Headquarters, 110 Livingston Street110 Livingston Street
110 Livingston Street is a Beaux Arts-style building located in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States.The building was designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, and was built in 1926 to serve as the headquarters for the Elks organization, including amenities such...
, Brooklyn. The new building was part of plan to spend one billion dollars on New York City school construction over a ten-year period that began in the late 1950s.
Simultaneously building the campuses of PS 9 and Brandeis High School (across the street, between 84th and 85th Streets) served a secondary purpose. It was part of a larger concerted pilot project by Mayor Robert Ferdinand Wagner’s "All-Out War on the Forces of Crime." West 84th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus, had been dubbed "The Worst Block in New York." The City relocated 800 of 1000 families from that block so that 20 condemned buildings could be demolished. Those buildings represented the recent filing of more than 2,300 recent building violations totaling $4,100 in fines to 18 landlords by the Housing Court.
For a cost of $2.4 million, Rand Construction Company, Inc., erected the current three-story building at 100 West 84th Street at Columbus. Under Arthur G. Paletta (1909–1984), Director of Architecture, the BOE Bureau of Design drafted the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
ural blueprints. The facility opened March 12, 1965, to 800 children, pre-K-5. Retaining the name, the BOE dedicated the new building as the "John Jasper School PS 9."
Sometimes referred to as PS 174 during the planning and construction phase, the building had been slated to open September 1964. But while preparing the foundation, the BOE engineers and general contractor, Rand Construction, "discovered" an underground stream. They had overlooked two critical historic maps: (i) the Egbert Ludovicus Viélé map of 1865 and (ii) the Townsend MacCoun (1845–1932, surname rhymes with "raccoon") map of 1909, both showing an underground stream that starts at the school site (see bottom left of block bounded by 83rd & 84th Streets and 9th & 10th Avenues), joining other streams, flowing southeast under Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
and emptying into the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
between 74th and 75th Streets. Failure to check the Viélé and MacCoun maps is considered a cardinal sin for construction engineers. According to Eugene Edward Hult (1915–1968), Superintendent of Design, Construction and Physical Plant for the BOE, the underground stream was "more like a pond," about two feet wide; there was earth but no rock, which required the redesign for a new foundation. Construction was held-up from March 15 to August 6, 1963; and, along with a change-order, the snafu cost the BOE an extra $100,000. The underground stream flows in an opposite direction to the surface watershed, which flows to the Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
In the 1950s, many architects used the older red brick for apartment buildings — although its use in public housing projects gave it an unwelcome tinge for the luxury market. Nonetheless, all-white brick buildings became standard for supposed elegance, but there was also a chromatic undercurrent. The architects of public schools in the mid-1950s began incorporating color into their buildings, like the yellow-glazed brick on PS 41. The use of blue bricks at PS 34, erected in 1956 at 12th Street and Avenue D, outraged City Controller Lawrence Ettore Gerosa (1894–1972), who, in well-publicized hearings in 1958, accused the BOE of wasteful extravagance.
Transforming the block, without any effort to blend in, white bricks on the new PS 9 face east to Columbus Avenue and west to the schoolyard. Facing the north and south to the streets the blue glazed bricks frame the classroom windows — inviting, perhaps subliminal of the Santa Fe blue-framed windows that keep evil spirits from entering, the white bricks suggestive of stucco. The building is strongly modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
— functional
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
, "ornamentation is a crime."
The three-story wall facing Columbus is windowless. Windowless walls facing major avenues is rare in New York City architecture. It's as if the architects wanted "no blending" and "no seeing" of a major avenue. Because trucks are banned on four nearby major traffic arteries — West Side Highway
West Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
, West End Avenue
West End Avenue
West End Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, not far from the Hudson River.West End Avenue originates at West 59th Street; the continuation of the street below 59th Street is called Eleventh Avenue. It runs from 59th Street to its...
, Central Park West
Central Park West
Central Park West is an avenue that runs north-south in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the United States....
, and Central Park's inner drive — Amsterdam, Columbus, and Broadway carry heavy truck traffic. And, West 83rd Street (contiguous to the Kindergarten playground) is a major west-bound transverse for non truck traffic continuing from the 81st street crossing Central Park. West 83rd Street, on the same block, also is home to the Planetarium Station Post Office, the New York City Fire Department
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
, several parking garages, and car rental companies.
The unsightly blue cages on the first floor windows are a post-design add-on legacy of an anti-vandal initiative instituted in 1959 by Michael Luke Radoslovich (1902–1975), director of architecture for the school system. To make it look even worse, someone painted columns of white bricks light blue, between the windows on the north wall, in an apparent ill-fated attempt to match the glazed blue brick. On the west wall facing the schoolyard, and on the east wall facing Columbus Avenue, someone painted the white bricks beige on the lower portions, seemingly as a poor remedy for a splash-guard. And interspersed around the building someone painted the glazed blue bricks beige on the first level.
Two then contemporary events in history influenced one aspect of the building's architecture. In 1957 the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite. 1962 was the year of the Cuban missile crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. Hence the building has an antiquated fallout shelter
Fallout shelter
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
.
Permanent art installation
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
(aka, "the Well") features an 8 x 21 foot glass mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
, "Man In Space," (completed 1965) by Vincent Cavallaro
Vincent Cavallaro
Vincent Cavallaro was a painter, sculptor and abstract artist. He was a United States citizen, raised and educated in Italy ....
(b. Nov. 8, 1912, Cambridge, MA - d. May 22, 1985 New York City), commissioned in 1963 for the building by Public Art for Public Schools. At the time of the commission, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
had completed seven one-man space missions under the Mercury Program
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
. The mosaic commemorates not only what was then the frontier of space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
, but also the importance of science education
Science education
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...
for children. Mr. Cavallaro, a painter, sculptor and abstract artist, created many works related to space exploration; one in particular was a bronze sculpture by the same title, "Man In Space," (1967), located at Junior High School 88, Brooklyn. Mr. Cavallaro completed formal studies in art in 1933 at Accademia di Brera in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Changing neighborhood
On March 30, 1972, in an effort to extend Mayor Wagner's fight against crime in the neighborhood, Mayor John V. Lindsay moved the New York City Police DepartmentNew York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
20th Precinct from West 68th Street to 120 West 82nd Street (one block from the school) into a newly built $2.8 million three-story building.