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We live in a world that has walls—and scaffolding. Now, after nearly four years, the scaffolding at P.S. 166, The Richard Rodgers School of the Arts and Technology, located at 132 West 89th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, is finally coming down.
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“Exciting things happening at P.S. 166! These two photos show the difference between the scaffolding at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. today,” proclaimed the P.S. 166 PTA page on Instagram back in February. “We can’t wait to see our beautiful Collegiate Gothic–style building in all its glory!”
There was still some work to be done in February, but ILTUWS recently received a tip from a reader that “almost all” of the scaffolding is now gone—along with photos showing the historic school building back in the light.
Serving students from kindergarten through fifth grade and enrolling just over 600, the school was built between 1897 and 1898, featuring cream-colored terra cotta with carved limestone ornamentation. With Gothic columns and cathedral windows, the main façade includes a Tudor-arched entrance framed by prominent gables and pitched roofs.
The sight is a breath of fresh air for locals, students, and faculty alike. One neighbor told ILTUWS that “it was a slow and messy process,” with garbage and rats cluttering the street and Playground Eighty Nine (LXXXIX), which adjoins P.S. 166. Originally named P.S. 166 Playground, the space was designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Associates and featured everything from an amphitheater to a wading pool, treehouses, and pyramids with slides. There were tire swings too, but unfortunately, “A few years after the playground’s opening, the innovative design was deemed too dangerous for unsupervised use, and the site was fenced in and limited to use by P.S. 166 at the behest of Parks,” according to the NYC Parks website. In 1986, it was renamed Playground Eighty Nine, and when neighbors complained they couldn’t use the park, it was demolished in 1995 to be rebuilt in compliance with contemporary safety standards.
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Originally designed by famed architect and Superintendent of School Buildings (1891–1923), C.B.J. Snyder, P.S. 166 is “one of the few remaining nineteenth-century institutional buildings, and one of the oldest extant public schools on the Upper West Side,” according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s history of the school. When describing Snyder, the commission notes that the Cooper Union graduate is known for “exerting a tremendous influence on the design and construction of the city’s schools.” His work is described as inventive, functional, and handsome, and he is credited with introducing the Collegiate Gothic style—typically associated with universities—to New York City’s public school architecture.
After its own complete renovation in 1995, P.S. 166 was designated a New York City landmark in 2000. While many still refer to it as P.S. 166, the school was formally named the Richard Rodgers School of Arts and Technology in 2003, in honor of former student Richard Charles Rodgers, who worked on more than 40 Broadway musicals and composed roughly 900 songs. Rodgers was the first person to win all four of the top American entertainment awards in theater, film, recording, and television—an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony—collectively known as an EGOT.
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