Mickey Mantle School (former P.S. 9)

466 West End Avenue | also 460 West End Avenue | Upper West Side | built 1896

Open on the map7 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. 1830

    Public School Society puts a wooden schoolhouse on the corner of 82nd Street and West End Avenue

    In late 1827 the Public School Society bought a lot about 100 by 102 feet at the northeast corner of West 82nd Street and West End Avenue, serving the hamlets of Harsenville and Bloomingdale, and by 1830 a wooden schoolhouse stood on it. The Society handed the school and land to the city in 1853. Old maps suggest the wooden building was enlarged or replaced in 1867 and again in 1876.

    “…by 1830 a wooden school house occupied the lot. In 1853 the Society deeded the property and school building to the city…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1890

    Old Grammar School No. 9 is torn down after reports of cramped rooms and rats raiding lunches

    By the early 1890s the old school, called Grammar School No. 9 since the 1870s, was cramped and unsanitary. After the Committee on School Hygiene visited, newspapers reported on its condition, quoting a teacher who said large rats came boldly into the classroom and took children's lunches from their desks. The building was demolished in 1890.

    “I have seen immense rats come boldly in the room and take the children’s luncheon from their desks during school hours…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1896

    September 14

    New Grammar School No. 9 opens with 35 classrooms and 2,100 seats

    Grammar School No. 9 was partly occupied by March 1896 and began its first academic year on September 14. Fourteen primary and eleven grammar teachers, all women, worked under two female principals, in 35 classrooms with a top-floor gymnasium and space for manual training, art and home economics. Sliding partitions turned the ground-floor playrooms into an assembly room for evening lectures and classes.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1896

    Snyder builds the new school with fireproof floors, enclosed stairs and mechanical ventilation

    C. B. J. Snyder, the city's Superintendent of School Buildings, designed the five-story school with steel beams and hollow terra-cotta floors, enclosed iron-and-slate double staircases and hollow-brick partitions to resist fire. The building had mechanical ventilation, steam heat and both gas and electric lighting, though its huge windows meant artificial light was seldom needed in school hours. Glazed brick and tile lined the walls for durability and cleanliness.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1916

    January 26

    P.S. 9 is named the John Jasper School for its longtime teacher and principal

    During a graduation ceremony on January 26, 1916, P.S. 9 was named the John Jasper School after the recently deceased educator. Jasper had taught at the school in 1857 and served as its principal from 1867 to 1897, then rose to assistant superintendent of schools and, in 1898, to borough associate superintendent for Manhattan and the Bronx.

    “On January 26, 1916, during a graduation ceremony, P.S. 9 was named after the late John Jasper.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 1930

    Future pop artist Roy Lichtenstein walks the silent halls of P.S. 9

    Roy Lichtenstein, later one of the leading pop artists, attended P.S. 9 in the 1930s. Pupils of that era marched to class in straight, silent lines, with total quiet demanded in the corridors. The school had carried the name Public School 9 since the city's public schools were consolidated.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  7. 2002

    The former P.S. 9 becomes the Mickey Mantle School, serving special-education students

    After renamings that included the Peter Cooper School in 1965 and the Livingston School, the building was named the Mickey Mantle School (P.S. 811M) in 2002, and it now serves as an elementary school for children with special education needs. The National Register of Historic Places added it in 1987, and the city designated it a landmark in 2009.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Further reading

Nearby

All 64 buildings with stories in Upper West Side