neighborhood

Washington Irving High School

After about five years of construction, which were very hard on many members of the community, the final pieces of the Washington Irving High School project are complete. In addition to the construction, a tree that was destroyed in the process was replaced and the bust of Washington Irving* was uncovered and cleaned. The last bit of scaffolding surrounding the building was finally taken down.

Washington Irving High School, formerly called Wadleigh High School, is a significant institution in the history of women’s education in New York City, being the only school for girls in Manhattan when it was built in 1913. It was the brainchild of progressive educator William McAndrew, who believed that girls training for vocational or technical trades and those undertaking an academic curriculum should be educated together since they had much to teach each other. As a result, construction of the school was exceedingly difficult because of the extensive curriculum. Subjects taught included housekeeping, marketing, garment making, drawing, plain and fancy cooking, picture hanging, dancing, typewriting, bookbinding, and gardening, in addition to the usual high school subjects. The bust of Washington Irving was sculpted by Friedrich Beer and added in 1935, and the school continued to expand as attendance increased. Notable attendees include the artist Lee Krasner, singer Sylvia Robinson, and Academy Award-winning actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg.

Washington Irving High School became co-ed in 1986. Today, Irving’s bust features prominently on school IDs.

We were just notified by a member that the bust has been removed. We will endeavor to find out what happened and when it will be returned.

Marvin (seated at center in the photo above) loved Stuyvesant Park, spending time there every day from 12-3:15pm, weather permitting. Marvin had memory issues or what he called CRS, “can’t remember sh*t.” But the park was his delight – hearing the children play, watching the flowers bloom and the trees bud, paying for doughnuts for students from Success Academy, listening to the dogs bark and making friends with other neighbors who celebrated his 92nd birthday with him in the park.

Marvin and his wife, Linda, moved to the neighborhood in 2004 from Emerson, NJ. Born and raised in Brooklyn, they were happy to return to the city once their THREE children were grown. Marvin continued to work on 47th Street as a diamond setter, work he loved and did for 55 years, only retiring at 85. When he wasn’t working, he had been an avid gardener at their home in NJ, spending five to six hours every weekend planning, planting, pruning and mowing. His other interest was the stock market until his memory declined three years ago.

Marvin died in April 2022, and “Marvin’s Bench” near 16th Street and Rutherford Place, facing the fountain, is in his memory, a place he often sat, contentedly watching the world go by.

Thank you, Board Member Janice Armstrong, for contributing this lovely remembrance to our newsletter.