No. 34½ East 12th Street (btw. Univ. Pl. + Broadway) was built in 1855 as the city’s first school for girls, and later became its first high school for girls. The woman behind the school, Lydia Fowler Wadleigh, was considered one of the great educational reformers and advocates for women and girls of 19th-century New York. This rich history and the impressive Anglo Italianate design of the building earned it individual landmark status in 1998. 

It has been owned by the City, specifically the NYPD, and occupied by the Police Athletic League, for many years. It’s also been in an unfortunate state of disrepair, with a scaffolding up around it and virtually no activity going on inside, for something like 20 years. Efforts to see the building repaired, or get details on restoration plans, have been largely unsuccessful.

So now Village Preservation is initiating a campaign, working with local City Councilmember Harvey Epstein and Community Board 2 (watch video here), to get the building finally repaired and to have a conversation about its future. There is no excuse for allowing a building like this to lie fallow and deteriorate. Community Board 2 will be voting on a resolution at its meeting on Thursday supporting our call to get the building repaired and to consider its future. 

TO HELP: