Hunter, City Fight to Grab Beloved School
Most people have likely heard the old realtor adage that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, and location. It is precisely location that has become the crux of a dispute between Hunter College and the Julia Richman Educational Complex (JREC).
The JREC was built in 1923 as an all-girls high school. Initially a successful school, by the 1990′s budget cuts and attempts at reorganization took their toll on the school, then known as Julia Richman High School. In 1990, Julia Richman was identified by the Board of Education as having the worst statistics of student achievement in Manhattan, graduating only 37% of its students. This school, full of smashed windows, graffiti, and destroyed bathrooms, was referred to by the 19th Precinct as “Julia Rikers,” a reference to the infamous Riker’s Island prison, because of the crime problems there. Allegedly, the school had cages to separate particularly troublesome students. In 1995 the school was redesigned, and now houses six different schools. These include four high schools: Urban Academy, Vanguard High School, Talent Unlimited, and Manhattan International High School; an elementary school: Ella Baker School; and a school for students with autism: P226M Junior High Annex. While each school has its own classrooms, offices, bathrooms, and stairways, the six schools share several common areas, which include a mini-theater, an art gallery, a sports facility, a pottery studio, a dance studio, a library, an auditorium, and a cafeteria.
Students protesting the JREC land
swap at Hunter College on Nov. 14.
In the summer of 2006, a proposed land swap between Hunter College and JREC was revealed. Under the plan, Hunter would receive the land on East 67th Street which currently houses JREC. Hunter would then tear down the JREC building and build a state-of-the-art science and health facility. In exchange, JREC would be given Hunter’s Brookdale campus on East 25th Street and First Avenue. Hunter would build JREC a modern facility on this property; seemingly a “win-win” scenario as Jennifer Raab, president of Hunter College, put it. However, as news of this proposal came out, students, parents, teachers, and neighbors of JREC came out in opposition to the plan. JREC says that this plan has been in the works for nearly two years, and they are just now hearing about it.
On November 14th, JREC held a press conference to address these issues. Several people affiliated with the school and community spoke briefly about the concerns surrounding this proposed land swap. Between 20-25 students stood behind the speakers holding signs protesting the move. Following the press conference, a group of several hundred students, parents, teachers, and community residents marched to Hunter College to demand a meeting with President Raab. The crowd was boisterous yet nonviolent, carrying signs and loudly chanting phrases such as “Don’t wreck JREC” and “Move, Raab, get out of the way, Julia Richman’s here to stay.” Ultimately, a few members of the JREC administration were granted a meeting. As of press time, it was unclear what the results were of this meeting.
Since it was redesigned, JREC has become a model school. Gone are the crime problems and now 90% of students graduate. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presents it as a prime example of success in breaking up larger schools. It has been featured in several books and articles. Groups from all over the country and beyond have toured this facility. JREC supporters are worried about the effect such a move would have on the delicate balance the six institutions have struck here. The schools house a total of 1,900 mostly minority and immigrant students, and there is concern about how they will adjust to such a change. Furthermore, the local community has embraced the JREC and there are concerns by neighbors who do not wish to see it moved forty 40 blocks away.
JREC supporters also site the issue of money. Since 1995, $30 million in public funds have been used to retrofit the building. Merely tearing it down represents a waste of all of these funds, and, they argue, is not fiscally sound. They also claim that this sends a bad message to the many individuals and private organizations that have donated money to JREC over the years, and may make them think twice about making such donations to other schools in the future. They also challenge the claims that JREC needs a new building, pointing out that the changes made to the building over the last twelve years have made it into a modern facility. According to the JREC website, “Educators from modern ‘state-of-the-art’ buildings marvel at how well JREC is served by an 83-year-old structure and say, ‘We’d swap our new facilities for what you have here anytime. Julia Richman is a ‘state of the art’ school, not just ‘any old building.’ Its sound structure has been carefully and thoughtfully renovated to meet the needs of its schools.” In a letter read by Giancarlo Osaben as the September 20 Community Board 8 Meeting, John Broderick, who has been JREC’s custodial engineer for over thirty years, detailed many of the changes made and asserting, “I’ve been a school custodian for 35 years and never have I seen a building that is as sturdy and sound as the JREC structure.” Sybille Werner, the music director of the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble said, “The auditorium at JREC was refurbished as part of the $30 million renovation. It has wonderful acoustics; there is no other concert venue of this size and quality available to the community on the East Side
Both students and neighbors cite a reciprocal relationship between JREC and the community, a relationship that would be destroyed if they were forced to move. A number of groups use the JREC facilities after school hours. Two orchestras, a chorus, local theater groups, and various other community organizations utilize the space. St. Katherine’s Park, which sits adjacent to the JREC building and is used by the schools during school hours, is open to the community in the evenings and weekends. According to JREC, 30 neighborhood groups make use of their space. At the November 14th press conference, Lynn Love, a resident of the community, said that residents of the Upper East Side are concerned with the increase of student traffic in the area. She pointed out that over 15,000 students would make use of the new science and health center, and asked how the neighborhood would handle having 10 times the number of students than there currently are in the area. She further pointed out that this is a residential neighborhood, not a science park, and a high-rise science building would not fit the area. According to community members Sherry Jacobs and Tina Pack, Hunter College’s property on 25th Street is located within Mayor Bloomberg’s designated “bioscience science park”, and so fits better in that location.
Students also claim benefits from being a part of this community; benefits they would lose if their facility was moved across town. Ashley Brown, a student from Brooklyn who attends Urban Academy, told The GC Advocate that although the new campus would be a shorter commute for her, she is not in favor of the move. She said that the proximity to parks, shops, the New York Public Library, and Central Park are part of what makes JREC a great place to go to school. She also said that many students are involved in community service in the area, and that removing them would be detrimental both to the students and to the people and organizations they assist.
Supporters of JREC are also concerned about the example this sets for other schools in the city. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has created many new schools during his tenure using JREC as a model. How will this affect these other schools and the possibility of creating more in the future? Also, what message does this send to other communities in the city which are fighting to retain and improve their public schools? According to Jacobs and Pack, “We need more, not fewer, good public schools
However, President Raab insists that Hunter College is in dire need of new health and science facilities. Hunter is lacking 175,000 square feet of instructional and research space, particularly in the arts and sciences. This lack of space makes it impossible for Hunter to meet the needs of its students. Even though classes are scheduled days, evenings, and weekends, they often fill up before many students get a chance to register.
Raab’s fear is this lack of suitable facilities could cause Hunter to lose its competitive edge with other universities. Hunter College is well respected, especially in the sciences. US News and World Report ranked Hunter No. 62 among master’s universities in the northern US. Hunter was also included in the Princeton Review‘s list of the top 361 colleges and universities, which only includes 15% of the four-year colleges in the United States. Members of Hunter’s science faculty have received many accolades and many of them are widely-published in their disciplines.
Another fear is that in losing this competitive edge, Hunter will lose grant money. Hunter recently announced a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health to study factors related to drug abuse. This comes on the heels of a $13.2 million National Institutes of Health grant to Hunter’s Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function. Maintaining Hunter’s role as a top university in the sciences is crucial to getting these grants.
The Hunter administration maintains that these new science facilities must be near the main Hunter campus. They point out that students need convenient access to lab space to conduct experiments. However, they also need to be close to the science professors who direct these experiments, who need to be near Hunter’s main offices. Thus, building these labs 40 blocks away would create a litany of logistical problems.
President Raab also points out that JREC is getting a brand new building out of this arrangement. While the current building has been retrofitted over the years, it is still an 83-year-old building, and with this plan JREC gets a new building, one that will be built with their needs in mind. Jamie Smarr, an assistant to the deputy chancellor for finance and administration for the city school system, told the New York Times in a June 28 article that JREC would benefit from having this new building and cited a fear of change as the main concern of the JREC supporters.
CUNY also challenges the notion that this will be a high-rise science center that will destroy the residential nature of this area. Community members have expressed concern about replacing JREC’s current six-story, brick building with a science tower. Rumors have circulated that this new science center would be 16 stories or taller. When asked about this by the New York Times, CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein denied this rumor.
How might this issue affect students of the Graduate Center? As the Graduate Center does not have lab space, students in the PhD programs in the sciences utilize the lab space at the other CUNY schools. Hunter’s lab space is used by the biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and earth and environmental sciences departments. Thus, the creation of new lab space would be of direct benefit to these departments. Also, as many students from the various CUNY senior colleges continue their education at the Graduate Center, sustaining strong programs at the CUNY senior colleges is important for the strength of the programs at the Graduate Center.
However, the location of these labs is less important to the students of the Graduate Center than it is to the students of Hunter. Actually, building the science and health center at 25th street would be much closer to the Graduate Center than the proposed location on 67th street.
Many aspects of this plan are still being worked out. Mr. Smarr indicated that much of the plan hinges on Hunter’s ability to finance both the new science center and the new JREC complex, which he estimates would cost at least $100 million.
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