{"nrhp_refnum":"82003387","name":"Public School 157","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"327 St. Nicholas Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.81188622700006,"lon":-73.95219576599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-12-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Public School 157 is a four-story Renaissance Revival school building at 327 St. Nicholas Avenue, between 126th and 127th Streets, in Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by C. B. J. Snyder and dates to 1898.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is architecturally significant as a prime example of the work of C. B. J. Snyder, Superintendent of School Buildings in New York City from 1891. His school designs combined Chateauesque motifs with Classical Revival elements, using Flemish gables, classical columns and elaborate sculptural ornament. The building also responds to the ornate rowhouses around it and is now the chief reminder of the neighborhood's past elegance, with high exterior and interior integrity.","narrative":"Public School 157, at 327 St. Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan, is a large four-story school completed in 1898 and designed by C. B. J. Snyder, who served as Superintendent of School Buildings for New York City. It rises from a high sandstone basement through brick upper floors, with light stone quoins, a full entablature, a hipped roof, Flemish gables and segmental dormers. Each elevation centers on a projecting pavilion with fluted Doric columns, carved garlands and high-relief sculpture. Snyder designed more than one hundred schools, including Erasmus Hall, Morris and Flushing High Schools, and this building shows his blend of Chateauesque and Classical Revival ideas. When built, it stood among brick and sandstone rowhouses and small apartment buildings, and its ornament answered their detailing. Many of those neighbors have since been demolished, leaving the school as the main reminder of the area's former character. The building is vacant but retains a high level of exterior and interior integrity.","period_of_significance":"1898","architect_builder":"C. B. J. Snyder","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival (transitional, combining Chateauesque and Classical Revival motifs)","criteria":[],"status_note":"The form lists the building as unoccupied and vacant, in good condition and unaltered, on its original site. Some tall round-arched basement windows are covered with metal sheeting.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.416717-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/82003387.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003387/52e4442f2e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003387/52e4442f2e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Americasroof","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ps157-st-nicholas.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ps157-st-nicholas.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319837","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.S._157","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7257551"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/public-school-157-82003387/"}