By the mid-1920s, the school overcrowding situation in Maspeth had become a crisis. Despite the presence of PS71, PS72 and PS86, a post-WWI baby boom meant that there wasn’t enough room for all the students requiring seats. In response, in 1928, the Department of Education approved a new elementary school for Maspeth containing 26 classrooms, at Mary Street (60 Lane) and Pacific Avenue (60 Avenue). It was expected to be converted into a junior high school down the road. We can see construction activity in what would become the below grade schoolyard, with a wheelbarrow off to the side on the right. There’s a house up above on the left and a row of houses along Pacific Avenue. A garage faces the property, and a 1920s era car is parked next to it.

All the houses that were there decades ago survive, with more added since then, although last time we passed by, the garage had a construction fence around it, so it may be a goner. The vehicles have changed a bit and there are lots more of them. PS153 is still an elementary school and was never converted into a junior high school, since PS73 was built soon after to take the burden off the system. The schoolyard, however, has undergone quite a transformation. It now contains a small track and field, trees, and playground equipment. And it has an additional purpose: included in the design were elements to help manage storm water and prevent flooding in the neighborhood.