New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced planned expansions to the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School on Governors Island, which will double the size of the school building.
The expansion is part of a partnership between the Department of Education (DOE), Trust for Governors Island and the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA).
The planned expansion will expand upon the two current buildings that make up the school to four buildings, adding additional classroom space and new facilities, including a pool, gymnasium, and lab space to support the school’s unique maritime and environmental curriculum.
“For many New Yorkers, Governors Island is a place to get away over the weekend. And for so many others, it is a place to learn about our world or prepare our city for the threats of climate change,” said Mayor Adams during the Aug 16 announcement. “This project will give our young people the best of all worlds: a holistic, high-quality education, brand new facilities to help students learn, and access to one of our city’s gems where nature truly is the classroom.”
The SCA will also renovate the school’s Building 555 which is a designated landmark building originally constructed in 1938 by the United States army to serve as family housing buildings.
The building will be transformed into additional classrooms, giving students 32,000 square feet of additional learning space.
“The Urban Assembly Harbor School is an incredible example of how a school’s campus and facilities can help mold our students’ passions, interests, and, ultimately, their path to economic security. Most importantly, we listened to and heard from the students, educators, and families of the Harbor School, who advocated for these facility investments,” said DOE Chancellor David C. Banks. “I look forward to the impact that these new and sustainable facilities, including a new pool, gymnasium, and laboratory, will have on this unique school community, and thank the School Construction Authority and the Trust for Governors Island for their continued partnership.”
The expansion plans also include construction of a state-of-the-art facility located on a site within the Island’s Western Development Zone. The new facility will house a competition-sized pool to support the school’s unique water-dependent maritime programs, a new gymnasium, and expanded laboratory space dedicated to career-technical training and research.
The building will also be a key component of the Trust’s planned Center for Climate Solutions and will be a key part of Mayor Adams’ Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery, and will support the research, development, and demonstration of equitable climate solutions for NYC — that can be scaled and applied globally.
“This investment will ensure greater opportunities to prepare our students to pursue careers in the blue and green economies of the future and continue to appreciate and protect our city’s greatest natural resources, New York Harbor and Governors Island,” said Jeffrey Chetirko, principal, The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School. “These resources will create equitable facilities, allowing New York City students to learn to swim, space for physical education, and state-of-the-art facilities that will support the environmental work we do with the Billion Oyster Project.”
