For Landmark East Harlem's Back to School Series feature, we are exploring the beautiful historic schools that have educated generations of East Harlem children. The schools highlighted in this tour were all built before 1950. Most of them were built in the first few decades of the 20th century, with the majority still in use today - some as schools, while others have been converted to community resource centers and housing. Sadly, some of these architectural gems have not survived the test of time and changes in development patterns.

St. Cecilia's Church, 1942. Construction on the brick Romanesque Revival structure began in 1883, and was completed in 1887. The completion of the upper church (the larger more ornate space) in 1887 was not only managed by the pastor at the time, but he, Reverend Michael J. Phelan, acted as general contractor and enlisted the skills of church members to finish the construction. Designed by Napoleon Le Brun & Sons, the firm was not involved in the construction at all. The red brick church, with terra cotta relief of St. Cecilia on the front facade, was designated a landmark in 1976 and continues to serve the East Harlem community today.

Public School 72, ca. 1920. Constructed as Public School 72, this neo-Grec structure is one of the oldest intact school buildings in Manhattan. Built to accommodate the growing immigrant population of East Harlem, it was the first full block school building in the city. Its architect, David I. Stagg, was Superintendent of Public School Buildings from 1872 to 1886. The original portion of the building was completed in 1882 and the annex (by C.B.J. Snyder) was added in 1913. The Board of Education closed the school in 1975, and for the next two decades it provided classroom and office space for various institutions. In 1994-95, the building was converted to a cultural center. The conversion was spearheaded by El Taller Boricua, an arts organization founded in 1969 to bring attention and relevancy to artists who were being ignored and systematically marginalized by the cultural gatekeepers of the times. Named in honor of the Puerto Rican teacher, journalist and, poet who died in East Harlem, the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center is home to El Taller Boricua (the Puerto Rican Workshop), the Heritage School and Los Pleneros de la 21.

St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church complex, built from 1883-87, is located at 120 East 106th Street in between Lexington and Park Avenues. St. Cecilia’s was one of the first religious institutions built in the area. The church has been in continuous use as a Roman Catholic parish church since the chapel was completed in 1884. The adjacent buildings that housed the Convent were finished in 1887.

East Harlem encompasses a large section of northeastern Manhattan bounded by 96th Street, 142nd Street, Fifth Avenue and the Harlem River. Also known as El Barrio, the area is famous as one of the largest predominantly Latino neighborhoods in the city. Echoing the city’s development patterns, the neighborhood was largely built in response to the availability of transportation. In the 1830s, tracks were laid along Park Avenue for horse-drawn streetcars and later, the tracks became the New York and Harlem Railroad line, with train stops in East Harlem. Several resorts were built to take advantage of the higher elevations with views toward the growing city to the south and residential estates were built near the waterfront. Development increased with the construction of the Second and Third Avenue elevated rail lines to 125th Street in 1879- 80, and with the arrival of the subway in 1919. Rowhouses, tenements and flats buildings housed the area’s largely working class population, while Third Avenue became its first commercial thoroughfare. Early residents included German, Irish, Russian, Scandinavian, Jewish and Italian immigrants, the latter making up a particularly significant group. At its peak in 1930, East Harlem was home to roughly 100,000 Italian-Americans, many more than the Lower East Side’s Little Italy. It was also the founding location of the Genovese crime family, one of five organized crime families formed in 1931 making up the Italian American Mafia in New York City. One of East Harlem’s most famous Italian-American residents was Vito Marcantonio, famed lawyer, member of the American Labor party and an early leader in the movements for civil rights and Puerto Rican independence. He was extremely popular with both the Italian and Puerto Rican communities, representing the neighborhood in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms from 1939-51. Most of the tangible references to Italian East Harlem are gone, as the community began to leave after World War II, but a few are identified in the brochure and some storied Italian businesses continue to thrive, including Patsy’s Pizzeria and Rao’s restaurant. Soon after World War I, a large community of Puerto Ricans and South and Central Americans had settled in East Harlem, with a second influx after World War II, leading to the lasting monikers “Spanish Harlem” and later “El Barrio.” The first Puerto Rican elected to public office in the U.S., Oscar García Rivera, was a resident of East Harlem, and represented East and Central Harlem in the New York State Assembly from 1937-40. García Rivera was a strong advocate for child labor laws, workers’ rights and anti-discrimination legislation. The Hellgate Post Office on East 110th Street was renamed in his honor in 2002. In the mid-20th century, urban renewal resulted in the construction of subsidized housing projects by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). With funds from the 1949 Federal Housing Act, Robert Moses led an initiative to clear sections of the neighborhood, resulting in the construction of 24 public housing developments, in which 30% of East Harlem’s population resides. The bankruptcy of New York City in the early 1970s and broader municipal disinvestment hit East Harlem particularly hard. Lots were cleared for investment that never came, leading to a fragmented landscape that exacerbated issues seen across the city: urban flight, race riots, drug abuse and poverty. However, East Harlem residents fought back with strong expressions of their identity and political will, with inspiring murals that continue to be a neighborhood hallmark today. In 2015, the city announced that East Harlem would be one of several neighborhoods in the five boroughs to be rezoned for increased density as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan. Many expect the plan to mark a new era in the evolution of East Harlem, as new development has already destroyed historic buildings and shifted the neighborhood’s socioeconomic makeup and prevailing culture.

St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church Designed by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, 1883-87 116 East 106th Street Neville & Bagge, 1907 This beautiful Romanesque Revival style church was built for the parish of St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church, which, beginning in the 1870s, worshipped in the former Old Red House, a hotel on East 105th Street. In 1881, the church purchased this property and hired Napoleon LeBrun & Sons to design proper church facilities. The result is a richly ornate brick and terra cotta church featuring a large relief of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, embedded into an arched panel on the building’s central gable. The adjacent “Regina Angelorum” was originally two separate buildings, a four-story tenement built in 1883-84 and a school built in 1885-87. The two buildings were combined in 1906-07 with a façade by Neville & Bagge, but still had two separate functions: a home for working women and a convent. In the late 1930s, the convent took over the entire building until 2004, when the building was converted to the Cristo Rey New York High School.

Originally constructed as Public School 72, this neo-Grec structure is one of the oldest intact school buildings in Manhattan, built to accommodate the growing immigrant population of East Harlem. Its architect, David I. Stagg, was Superintendent of Public School Buildings from 1872 to 1886. For about 20 years after the Board of Education closed the school in 1975, it provided classroom and office space for various institutions. In 1994-95, the building was converted to a cultural center. The Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center is a designated New York City Individual Landmark.