PS 116 (Manhattan)
| Public School 116 | |
|---|---|
 Main school building viewed from 33rd St. | |
| Address | |
 | |
210 East 33rd Street | |
| Coordinates | 40°44′40″N 73°58′40″W / 40.74444°N 73.97778°W |
| Information | |
| Other name | Mary Lindley Murray School |
| Former name | Primary School No. 16 |
| School district | 2 |
| Principal | Maggie Moon |
| Grades | PK-5 |
| Website | www |
Public School 116, the Mary Lindley Murray School, is a public school administered by the New York City Department of Education on the of Manhattan, near the border between the Murray Hill and Kips Bay neighborhoods. An elementary school, it serves pupils in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
The school building is located on East 33rd Street between Second and Third Avenues, although the school yard extends through the block to East 32nd Street.
History
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The first school building on the site was erected on East 32nd Street, where the present school yard is located, in 1868.[1] It was constructed at a location midway between two existing grammar schools that were exceeding their capacities.[2] The 1857–62 Perris, W., Maps of the city of New York show the approximate location of the present school yard as a cleared site while the rest of the block is filled with typical townhouses.[3] The 1879 Bromley, G.W. Atlas of the entire city of New York shows the site of the school yard with a building labeled 'Primary School No. 16.' In 1897, the former "Primary" schools in the city were renumbered and given "Public School" numbers that were 100 greater than their former Primary School numbers, which meant that Primary School No. 16 became Public School No. 116.[4]
The current main school building was built in 1924, when the building on 33rd Street was demolished and replaced by the school yard. The five-story building was designed by architect William H. Gompert in the Renaissance Revival style. A three-story wing was added to the east of the building in 1960.[5] The addition to the school was designed by architect Samuel Juster.[6]
The school has long cultivated a diverse community. The New York Times reported in 1964 that of the school's 635 students, "Half are Spanish‐speaking, 5 per cent are Negro, 5 per cent are Chinese," and that the school community hoped to maintain its diversity among urban renewal.[7] In 1992 it was reported that students hailed "from 50 countries" and that "30 arrived from Romania" in the last year.[8]
PS 116 had one of the first gifted and talented programs in New York, beginning with a pilot program in 1973.[9] The gifted and talented program at PS 116 was phased out in 2012.[10]
In 2008, a team of chess players from PS 116 won the third-grade category of the National Scholastic K-12 Championship sponsored by the United States Chess Federation.[11][12]
The school suffered from overcrowding, operating at 120% of capacity in 2011, prior to the opening of the River School, which reduced the size of its attendance zone.[13] The River School (PS 281) opened in 2013 at the corner of First Avenue and East 35th Street.[14]
Notable alumni
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "PS 116". PS 116 History Site.
- ^ Boese, Thomas (1869). Public Education in the City of New York: Its History, Condition. And Statistics. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 161. Retrieved June 7, 2025 – via Google Books.
- ^ "1857–62 Perris, W., Maps of the city of New York". NYPL Map Viewer.
- ^ "Journal of the Board of Education of the City of New York". 1897. pp. 672–674 – via Google Books.
- ^ Howe, Kathy (June 14, 2000). "Resource Evaluation". New York State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Buder, Leonard (March 31, 1960). "Noted Architect To Design P.S. 199". New York Times. New York. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Terte, Robert (May 12, 1964). "Community Tries to Prevent Homogenizing of Ethnically Mixed Student Body". New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Radomsky, Rosalie R. (January 19, 1992). "If You're Thinking of Living in: Kips Bay". New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Cummings, Judith (May 11, 1975). "Pilot Project Aids Gifted Children in City Schools". New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Zimmer, Amy (April 10, 2013). "How to Get Your 4-Year-Old Into a Gifted and Talented Program". DNAInfo. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ McClain, Dylan Loeb (December 19, 2008). "For School, National Chess Champions in 3 Grades". New York Times. New York. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ "2008 National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Championship". United States Chess Federation. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Johnson, Mary (November 16, 2011). "DOE Rejects Plan that Could Ease P.S. 116 Overcrowding". DNAInfo. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Holland, Heather (September 9, 2013). "New Murray Hill Elementary School Welcomes First Students". DNAinfo. New York. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
- ^ Crow, Kelly (February 24, 2002). "Alicia Keys Is the Talk Of Her Old Neighborhood". New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
External links
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Media related to P.S. 116 (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons
