WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 28, 2019 29
A Glendale civic group’s battle for
a school, more than 100 years ago
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
The history of P.S. 71 in Glendale is
intertwined with an earlier school
in the neighborhood — namely
P.S. 67, which stood on the north side of
Central Avenue between what are now
70th and 71st streets.
P.S. 67 was a two-story wooden
building constructed in 1893. Known
as the Glendale School and also as
the District 13 School, it had six classrooms
on each fl oor, which students
and teachers accessed by climbing a
broad wooden staircase.
After Queens was incorporated
into New York City in 1898, the newly
formed New York City Board of Education
designated the Glendale School
as P.S. 67. By 1905, the school had 651
students in 14 classes with 13 teachers.
This led to the construction of onestory
wooden additions built on piles
adjacent to the main building, adding
eight more classrooms.
By the early 1900s, the Board of Education
was aware that eventually, a new
elementary school would be needed in
the central part of Glendale.
In 1911, the Glendale Taxpayers
Association (the original name of the
Glendale Property Owners Association)
was organized. During their
monthly meetings, they discussed
problems in their community.
The Glendale Taxpayers Association
was aware that a site had been acquired
by the Board of Education, and they demanded
that a new brick school be built
in central Glendale. They began seeking
a replacement for P.S. 67 to match the
swelling population in the neighborhood,
and replace the building itself,
which was still heavily reliant upon
outdated architecture and technology
such as gas-powered lamps.
By March 1912, 887 students were
attending P.S. 67 — but 297 of them
were enrolled on a part-time basis
due to the overcrowding. The following
year, the school’s total population
was 918 students, with 24 teachers in
20 classrooms. The student-teacher
ratio was an average of 38.25 to 1.
In 1913, the Board of Education
informed the Glendale Taxpayers Association
that they intended to build a
new school when the funds were approved.
The board would select a site
on the south side of Central Avenue
between Folsom Avenue (68th Place)
and Fosdick Avenue (69th Street).
The Glendale Taxpayers objected.
They pointed out that there had been
discussions of extending the elevated
railroad from Ridgewood along Central
Avenue in Glendale. If that took
place, they feared, the noise from the
trains operating adjacent to the school
would be distracting to the students.
The elevated rail extension never
happened, of course, and the Board of
Education moved ahead with the P.S. 91
project on Central Avenue.
Construction of P.S. 91 began in late
April/early May 1914, and within four
months, the walls of the new school
were already up to the second fl oor.
The partially completed P.S. 91
opened on Sept. 13, 1915. It had 31
classrooms, a cooking room for girls, a
carpentry shop for boys, a gymnasium,
shower rooms and an open air garden
on top of the main building — with a
steel screen to prevent any accidents
— for outdoor activities.
When fi nished, the entire P.S. 91
— fully equipped with electric lights —
was built to accommodate 1,500 pupils.
When it opened in 1915, 1,021 children
were registered.
With P.S. 67 no longer needed, the
one-story additions at this school were
removed, and the main building was
placed on a standby status.
Shortly thereafter, P.S. 67 was
converted into a special school for
disabled children. But by the 1920s,
P.S. 67 was used as an annex to P.S. 91 to
accommodate the ever-growing population
of students. The overcrowding
problem was eventually exacerbated
by the opening of two new schools in
1928 and 1929, respectively: P.S. 113 and
P.S./I.S. 119.
Aft erward, the Board of Education
ended the P.S. 91 annex at P.S. 67, and
instead used the site over the next 13
years as annexes for both Bushwick
and Grover Cleveland High Schools.
By 1942, the Board of Education
decided P.S. 67 had been around
long enough. The schoolhouse was
razed and the city developed Central
Playground.
Ironically, in 2005, the playground
was renamed in honor of Vito Maranzano,
the former longtime president
of the Glendale Property Owners
Association.
Sources: the May 31, 1990, and April
24, 2008, Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the
Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15
Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send
an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.
com. Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you upon
request.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
P.S. 91 on Central Avenue near 69th Place as shown in this 1915 photo.
Ridgewood Times archives
The exterior of P.S. 67 is shown in this 1942 photo while it was in use as
an annex for Grover Cleveland High School.
Ridgewood Times archives/Courtesy of NYC Board of Education
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