By Helen Klein
Is Brooklyn’s little old schoolhouse falling into ruin? That’s the concern that has been voiced about the landmarked 18th century schoolhouse within the courtyard of Erasmus Hall High School, at Flatbush and Church Avenues. According to Community Board 14 member Marshall Tames, the venerable federal-style schoolhouse, which dates to 1787, “Hasn’t been touched in the last 20 years, and it’s going to fall down one of these days. The building is like a museum, but nothing is being done about it.” It was ‘last repaired or painted in 1987,” Tames added. Asked about the reported state of affairs at the Erasmus schoolhouse, Ron Schweiger, Brooklyn’s borough historian, looked into the matter. He reported that he had been told by the school custodian that the old structure is, “Crumbling. It probably needs a minimum of a million dollars worth of repair.” Schweiger also said he had been told that, “The fire alarm system has been disconnected.” The Department of Education (DOE) confirmed that the agency had not been spending capital funds on the structure. Margie Feinberg, a spokesperson for DOE, said that the agency wasn’t willing to spend money on the building unless it could be used for classroom space. “We need additional seats for instruction for students,” Feinberg explained. “The building in Erasmus is a wood-frame building. It’s a nice building, but we can’t use capital money for that. There are so many places in the city that are overcrowded because we don’t have enough classroom space, so no one can justify renovating a building that the school uses for a museum and that is not used for instruction, because it doesn’t meet the fire codes.” But, while the old schoolhouse might not help fulfill DOE’s current need for classroom space, it represents something very special in New York City, noted Schweiger. “It’s the second oldest secondary school in the United States,” he explained, noting, “Some of the founders of this country were responsible for building it.” Simeon Bankoff, the executive director of the Historic Districts Council, concurred. “It’s a very important building on a historical level more than on an architectural level,” he noted. It also, said Bankoff, is part of a cluster of historic buildings in the area, including the Flatbush Dutch Reform Church, Flatbush Town Hall, and the neo-federal rowhouses of Albemarle and Kenmore Terraces. “It really makes a kind of historic town center,” Bankoff added. Both Schweiger and Bankoff stressed the need for the building to be preserved. Schweiger bemoaned the idea that the old structure, “Could crumble because nobody’s taking care of it.” And, Bankoff noted, “If the city owns the landmark, it should be protected. The administration feels education is such an important thing, so it follows logically that historic schools should be protected and not left to rot.” Among the notables associated with the old schoolhouse’s founding are Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and Aaron Burr, according to Bankoff. Hamilton and Jay, along with James Madison, penned The Federalist Papers. Jay was also the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Burr was vice president under Thomas Jefferson, though he is probably better known for having killed Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Many old Brooklynites – whose names are still found on street signs – also were involved with the school’s founding. These include Jacob and Peter Lefferts, Joris and Garret Martense, Johannes Lott, Mathew Clarkson, Cornelius Vanderveer and John Vanderbilt. When the Erasmus Hall Academy opened its doors on Flatbush’s Main Road, on September 27, 1787, it was the first secondary school in New York State to receive the state’s charter. Erasmus Hall Academy was transferred to the city of Brooklyn in 1896. Construction of Erasmus Hall High School, now also a landmark, began in 1905.
