Upper East Side's Brearley School Launches Construction Updates Website

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Brearley School is set to start its ambitious $107.5 million project to construct the school's second campus on East 83rd Street, which could mean headaches for neighbors living in the area.

But in an effort for full transparency, the school has launched a website to provide construction updates, and let neighbors track the construction project's progress. Neighbors can check the website for a construction schedule for the upcoming two weeks, the school's 24/7 construction hotline and can sign up for email alerts from the school.

In September the school filed plans with the Department of Buildings to construct a 12-story building rising 197 feet tall and containing 79,000 square feet of space for the school's programs.

To make space for the new campus, the school has filed to demolish a trio of five-story tenement buildings — 70, 72 and 74 East End Avenue. The demolition plans were approved by the Department of Buildings in April. The school purchased the three buildings in May 2010, according to a 2015 BuildNYC application.

Demolition of the buildings' roofs and fifth floors will begin the week of Oct. 24, according to Brearley's construction website.

The new campus — located at 590 E. 83rd St. — will contain a gymnasium, kitchen and locker room in the building's cellar, according to the building plans. The first floor will be occupied by a lobby, library, offices and storage. The second floor will contain more office and storage space. Floors three and four will be classroom space, followed by a reading room on the fifth floor and an auditorium that will occupy the sixth and seventh floors. There will be more classrooms on the eighth floor and another gymnasium on the ninth floor. Floors 10 and 11 will be occupied by labs and offices and the top floor will house an outdoor play area.

The Brearley School currently houses its entire kindergarten through 12th grade operation at 610 E. 83rd St., a block away from the proposed expansion. The school enrolls around 700 girls, and the facility is only meant to hold about 440, according to the 2015 BuildNYC application.

Photo: Google Maps street view circa 2013