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PS 186 - Harlem

PS 186 served the children of the city for 72 years before succumbing to neglect and closure in 1975 during the heart of NYC's financial crisis. It was purchased from the city by the M.L Wilson Boys and Girls Club in 1986 for $215,000 with the provision that the building be reopened within three years - which never happened. In 2007 a proposal was presented for redevelopment of the site as a co-op with a fairly high percentatage of "affordable" units also never went anywhere.

Finally de Blasio's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) stepped in to join with the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem on a $48.6 million renovation into 79 affordable housing units, which included a new facility for the Boys and Girls Club.

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