A collection of schools across New York City.

C.B.J. Snyder was an architect and mechanical engineer who served as Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education between 1891 and 1923. During his tenure he was responsible for the design and construction of more than 350 elementary, middle, and high schools in the five boroughs. Snyder is know for innovating the design and construction process. The resulting schools have been praised for their high quality, longevity, and architectural beauty. Snyder worked in a number of styles, favoring Beaux Arts, English Collegiate Gothic, and Renaissance Revival. Another feature of his buildings were their mid-block location, preferring to keep these places of education away from the busy, noisy, and (perceived) pollution of the avenues. He believed that schools were civic monuments that were necessary for a better society and he focused on health and safety issues, improving the fire protection, ventilation, lighting, and classroom size.

Commercial High School, ca. 1928. The former Commercial High School is a classic H-shaped facility designed by the proponent of this layout and New York's most influential school builder, C.B.J. Snyder. Constructed sometime between 1898 and 1906, the Beaux-Arts school followed Synder's modus operandi: multi-level facility with courtyards that allowed for light and air in all rooms, large windows for the same purpose, all built around a strong steel skeleton. The school went through a number of names, reputations, and closings over the last 100 years. It was Commercial, then Alexander Hamilton Vocational HS, then Paul Robeson High School. It was closed again around 2006 and was re-opened in 2011 as Pathways in Technology Early College High School, technology-based public school with funding from IBM.

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