Part 1
Lemons to Lemonade (Harlem P.S. 186)
I grew up in Harlem 1976-1995. The uptown section of Manhattan 145th st. My neighborhood didn't have a variety of playgrounds, parks with trees and activities for young kids to enjoy during the day. As I look back at the situation me and my friends at the time made it a daily practice to make lemonade out of lemons.
There was and still is an abandoned school building that sits in the center of the block on 145th st, P.S. 186. The building was abandoned in 1975 because the school could not pass the fire drill test. All students and faculty had to be able to exit the building within 15 minutes if the fire alarm activated. Many people wondered if it had more to do with a teacher who was robbed and raped by a street wandered who found there way into the school. The school had an odd design and connected two city blocks, one could walk through the lobby of the building entering on the 145st side and exit on the 146st side. I wonder why the school didn't just hire security guards to watch the doors.
The design of the building was a major safety concern because it was an invitation for neighborhood crime. This was a public school in the uptown section of Harlem so budget concerns we probably an issue. In the 70's and early 80's many of these schools were 50%-60% populated by African American students.
Below are some pictures of what the building use to look like.
The site was purchased in 1986 by the nonprofit Boys and Girls Club of Harlem for $215,000 under the condition that new development would be completed within three years. After several decades of inactivity, the group introduced a redevelopment plan that called for the demolition of P.S. 186 and the construction of a 200,000 sq. ft. mixed-use facility with affordable housing, commercial and community space, and a new public school…
https://abandonednyc.com/tag/145th-street/
The school yard of ps 186 was the only way me and my friends could get out of the house for outside activity. The school yard was in view of our apartment windows. The neighborhood was dangerous and our parents were very careful to keep us in close proximity. The rule was, we can go outside and play, but we had to stay on the block. Our parents were all from different countries. My family is from Antigua, my upstairs neighbors Mike, and Nicholas are from Grenada, my neighbor from across the hall Kenneth is from the Dominican Republic, and my friends from down the block Aurtley, and Neil are from Jamaica. The rest of my friends Mike, Mike, and Chris families are from down south (USA). It was a nice mix of different cultures.
We all collaborated on using the ps 186 school yard to play "stick ball" 11 years after it closed. The building was dirty rundown and to be honest scary. If you don't believe me watch this video.
But we didn't care we found confidence in each other for the purpose and the goal of getting out of the house to create an activity for ourselves. Me and my friends Climbed over the concrete wall and used brooms to sweep up the glass, broken bottles, crack viles, condemns, and other debris scattered around the school yard to make it safe to play stick ball. Now all we needed was a mop handle and a 99cent ball from the corner store to play ball.
I will post part two of this story in the coming days.
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