Boys High School is a historic and architecturally notable public school building in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. It is regarded as "one of Brooklyn's finest buildings".

Architecture

The Romanesque Revival building is richly decorated in terracotta somewhat in the style of Louis Sullivan. The building is admired for its round corner tower, dormers, and soaring

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. The building was erected in 1891 on the west side of Marcy Avenue between Putnam Avenue and Madison Street. It was designed by

James W. Naughton James W. Naughton (1840–1898) was an American architect, serving as the Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn. He was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1848, at age eight. He wor ...

, Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn.An architectural guidebook to Brooklyn,

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, Photographs by James Iska, Gibbs Smith, 2001, p. 37. The building is regarded as Naughton's "finest work.""Walkabout with Montrose: Master of Schools, JW Naughton,"
September 8, 2009, Brownstoner. When Boys High was landmarked by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1975, the commission called it "one of the finest Romanesque Revival style buildings in the city". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 25, 1982. The building was the exterior filming location for the Knickerbocker Hospital in the television show ''

The Knick ''The Knick'' is an American medical period drama television series on Cinemax created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The series follows Dr. John W. Thackery (Clive Owen) and the staff at a fictionalized vers ...

''.

School

In 1975, the same year the building was landmarked, Boys High merged with Girls' High School to become Boys and Girls High School. Boys and Girls High School immediately moved to a new building at Fulton Street and Utica Avenue. The school was a college preparatory program with high academic standards. Congressman Emanuel Celler described Boys High in his autobiography, "I went to Boys' High School — naturally. I say "naturally" because Boys' High School then, as now, was the high school of scholarships. Boys of Brooklyn today will tell you, "It's a hard school." It was highly competitive..." Another Boys High graduate remembered that "I went to Boys High School in Brooklyn, a great school. It was out of the classic tradition. I guess eighty percent of the student body had to take Latin — we didn't have to; we elected Latin, because we felt it was expected of us."

Notable alumni

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(1920–1992), author * John Barsha (born Abraham Barshofsky; 1898–1976), American professional football player * Jules Bender (1914–1982), collegiate and professional basketball player *

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(1910–2010), producer of radio programs * Anatole Broyard (1920–1990), essayist, literary critic * Emanuel Celler (1888–1981), U.S. Representative for almost 50 years * Aaron Copland (1900–1990), classical composer, composition teacher, writer, and conductor * Howard Cosell (born Howard William Cohen, 1918–1995), television sports journalist *

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Martin Dobelle Martin Dobelle (December 25, 1906 - August 11, 1986) was an American surgeon. Early life and education Born in New York City December 25, 1906, the son of Harry and Ida Kaplan Dobelle, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. An alumnus of Boys High ...

(1906–1986), orthopedic surgeon * Hal Draper (born Harold Dubinsky, 1914–1990), socialist activist and author *

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(1912–2006), historian and political writer * Lee Farr (1927–2017), actor *

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(1919–1989), social psychologist * Mickey Fisher (1904/05–1963), basketball coach *

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(born 1942), psychiatrist * Daniel Gutman (1901-1993), lawyer, state senator, state assemblyman, president justice of the municipal court, and law school dean. * Connie Hawkins (1942–2017), basketball Hall of Famer * Will Herberg (1901–1977), political activist, philosopher, and author * Gene Kelly (1918–1979), major league sportscaster *

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(1898–1957), portrait painter and illustrator * Morris Kline (1908–1992), professor of mathematics *

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(1924–2021), doctor * Benjamin Lax (1915–2015), physicist elected to National Academy of Sciences * William Levitt (1907–1994), developer of Levittown *

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(1880–1948), lawyer, Brooklyn district attorney, New York Supreme Court Justice *

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

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(1901–1948), US Army colonel who became Israel's first general * Ernest Martin (born 1932), theatre director and manager, actor *

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(1924–2015), track and field champion * Jack Newfield (1938-2004), journalist * Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky, 1890–1976), artist * Max Roach (1924–2007), jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer * Meyer Schapiro (1904-1996), art historian * Aubrey Schenck (1908–1999), motion picture producer * Allie Sherman (1923–2015), National Football League player and head coach * Meier Steinbrink (1880–1967), lawyer and

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Distinguished faculty

* Mickey Fisher (1935-1962), Basketball coach made the Final Four every year from 1956 to 1962, coach of the Israeli Men's Olympic basketball team, Rome 1960. *James Sullivan (1873-1931), Principal (1907-1916), later Director of the YMCA for the American Expeditionary Forces, New York State Historian, and Director of Archives and History.

References

External links