Upper East Side Private School Plots Major Expansion After A Century

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — After operating for more than 100 years out of a handful of small buildings on East 62nd Street, the Browning School is plotting a major expansion to its Lenox Hill campus.

The private K-12 school for boys has far outgrown its longtime home between Park and Madison avenues, leaders told Community Board 8 on Wednesday. Now, Browning plans to move its entire high school a few blocks to the northeast, taking over a 105-year-old parking garage building at 337 East 64th St.

"We’ve outgrown our building, quite simply," head of school John Botti told CB8 on Wednesday, describing cramped classrooms and under-sized gymnasiums that force the school to rent out space at a nearby Equinox gym for sporting events.

The red-brick garage building between First and Second avenues has been home in recent years to a Hertz rental car location. Browning is now renting the ornate facility on a 99-year lease, city records show — and plans to renovate it in time for the 2024-2025 school year.

First, however, Browning must get permission from the city for a couple of zoning changes, allowing the garage building to be expanded from 64 to 83 feet tall — above the block's 75-foot height limit — and maintaining a smaller-than-allowed rear yard.

Once renovated, the garage building will become home to 13 classrooms and offices across four floors, plus a library and cafeteria in the cellar, a regulation-sized gym on the upper floors, and a green roof.

Browning will also be able to increase its enrollment — currently around 400 boys — by about 100 students over the next seven years, Botti said.

The school's search for a new high school has lasted about a decade and been "a tough road," according to Eric Knowles, an attorney for the school, who said multiple deals fell through. The new building, he said, would "give more space to the high schoolers who need it."

Board members reacted positively to the new building's design — but some criticized the height and loss of parking that would result from closing the garage.

"We are very disappointed that we are losing garage space, because that is very in need for the neighborhood," said Judy Schneider, who has lived across from the garage building for 55 years.

Fellow member Alida Camp criticized Browning for surpassing the block's height limit by eight feet, saying the existing 75-foot cap had been "hard-fought."

"For me, there’s a principle here, which is a 75-foot hight limit," Camp said. "I would just urge the school maybe to rethink your plans."

Ultimately, however, the board got over its misgivings and voted 35-1 to recommend that the city approve Browning's expansions.

Unlike some land-use projects, which require developers to move through the monthslong review process known as ULURP, Browning's plan will go instead to the city's Board of Standards and Appeals, which tends to take less time to approve zoning changes.

Charging more than $58,000 per year in tuition, Browning's alumni include multiple members of the Rockefeller family, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.