The photo published in The Forward on December 25, 1968 had this curious (and sexist) caption: Israel’s Prettiest Join New York’s Finest at Times Square (טיימס סקװער in Yiddish), New York as a New York police officer stands in the center and observes stoically.”

Boston Road, at the northeast corner of East 166th Street, showing the Elton Mansion, 1901. This plot is today occupied by the 1904-completed Morris High School.

Morris High School, ca. 1900. Morris High School was the first public high school in the Bronx when it opened in 1897. The school moved into it's C.B.J. Snyder-designed, Collegiate Gothic building in 1904. The school was notable for its large, church-like auditorium (now a designated interior landmark), which featured stained glass windows, steel-ribbed vaulted arches, and a pipe organ.

Each month the Landmarks Conservancy celebrates New York City’s extraordinarily rich architectural heritage by featuring a different building style or function. So, in September, as the new academic year begins, we’ll explore New York’s historic public schools designed by the prolific architect C.B.J. Snyder. With more than 1,500 schools and 1.1 million students, the New York City Board of Education is the nation’s largest public school system and one of the oldest. Snyder served as Superintendent of School Buildings for the Board of Education between 1891 and 1923. As Superintendent, he is credited with the design of more than 400 structural projects — including more than 140 elementary schools. Snyder worked in several styles, including Beaux-Arts, English Collegiate Gothic, Jacobean, and Dutch Colonial. He preferred mid-block locations away from busy and polluted avenues. One of his signature motifs was to design spaces for learning that would offer a respite from noisy streets and poverty.

Morris High School 1110 Boston Road, The Bronx 1904 Founded in 1897 as Peter Cooper High School, the first co-educational high school in New York City, the building that today houses the Morris High School was built in 1902 and is considered to be one of architect C.B.J. Snyder’s masterpieces. Noteworthy is the school’s façade in the popular Collegiate Gothic Revival style which evokes the belief that education, ideals, and beauty should be equally available to all students regardless of their neighborhood. In one of the finest interiors of any New York City school, Morris High has an elaborate 800-seat auditorium featuring Tudor arches, stained glass windows, highly decorative Gothic elements, and a W.W. Kimball Co. pipe organ. The auditorium was restored in 1991 and today is known as Duncan Hall. Among her famous alumni is Armand Hammer (industrialist), Milton Berle (comedian), and General Colin Powell (former U.S. Secretary of State). In 1982, the school building along with the surrounding area was designated as the Morris High School Historic District and in 1983 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Man and microbes have always co-habited, and their relationship has had a profound influence on human history—especially in cities, the crossroads of the movements of people, goods, and germs. Germ City: Microbes and the Metropolis explores the complex story of New York’s long battle against infectious disease—a fight involving government, urban planners, medical professionals, businesses, and activists.