Overcrowding at P.S. 112 in Brooklyn
One hundred years ago today … Parents, administrators, and faculty were decrying classroom conditions at elementary school P.S. 112, at 15th Avenue and 71st Street, Brooklyn, near the neighborhood of Bensonhurst,
Daily News, 7 December 1920, p. 11. Chronicling America.
The school’s Parents Association charged that 2,100 students were occupying space meant for 1,200.
Evening World, 4 December 1920, p. 4. Chronicling America.
The P.A. president–“Mrs. F.A. Vurgason jr.”–reported that building conditions, among other infelicities, were a health problem, as they included “disease-breeding curtains.”
Daily News, 4 December 1920, p. 11. Chronicling America.
This is the school building, from a 1910 postcard.
Courtesy Ebay user Peterpaperman.
Improbably, the structure still stands, and the school maintains its designation, with the additional name of “Lefferts Park.”.
Note: We have posted about school building conditions previously, partly in relation to the designs of C.B.J. Snyder. P.S. 112 resembles his designs, but does not seem to be one.
The same day that the News printed a picture of the P.S. 112 classroom, the Times reported that Mayor Hylan’s budget was intended to address the Board of Education’s deficit.
New York Times, 7 December 1920, p. 1. Chronicling America.
– Jonathan Goldman, December 7, 2020
TAGS: Board of Education, overcrowding, education, children’s health, public school, budget, John Hylan