Public School 86 (Irvington School)

220 Irving Avenue | also 212 Irving Avenue | Bushwick | built 1893

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1890

    Brooklyn's Board of Education buys two lots at Irving Avenue for a new school

    In October 1890 the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn authorized buying two lots on the southeast corner at Irving Avenue, at a cost of no more than $10,000, as the site for Public School 86. The land was acquired the next month. Building then stalled for almost two years: sketches were approved before January 1892, and the school was under construction by the end of that year.

    “In October, 1890, the Board of Education passed a resolution authorizing the purchase of two lots ... The property was acquired the following month.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1893

    James W. Naughton's Romanesque Revival school becomes a model for later Brooklyn schools

    Built in 1892-93 to designs by Brooklyn's school-buildings superintendent James W. Naughton, Public School 86 reworks the central section of his Boys' High School, a tall bay topped by a gable holding a round arch, in simpler terms suited to a neighborhood school. The Landmarks Preservation Commission calls it the earliest of his surviving public schools to draw on that design. It also became a successful model that later, far larger school buildings followed.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1893

    December

    Public School 86 opens as part of one of America's most extensive school systems

    The school opened in December 1893, when Brooklyn's public school system was among the most extensive of any American city. The Board of Education, which had been created in 1843, was coping with chronic shortages, overcrowding and bureaucratic delays while promoting innovation in school design.

    “When Public School 86 opened in December of 1893, Brooklyn enjoyed one of the most comprehensive and extensive public education systems…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1991

    April 23

    Landmarks Preservation Commission designates Public School 86 a city landmark

    The commission designated the school a landmark on April 23, 1991, after a public hearing the previous September 11. Three witnesses spoke in favor and none opposed. The school's principal wrote in support, and the pupils sent many letters and other expressions of support.

    “Three witnesses spoke in favor of designation ... as well as many letters and other expressions of support from the pupils at the school.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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