Midtown Schools Have Ventilation Problems, Report Shows

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — As ventilation inspectors begin visiting 1,700 New York City public schools to determine whether their facilities are safe enough to allow students to return to class next month, a new report shows that more than 1,000 of the city's schools have documented ventilation problems.

The report, published Wednesday by the education news site Chalkbeat, compiled inspection records of school buildings across the city between fall 2018 through summer 2019. The report found that at least 1,030 of them had problems with either the air supply system — which brings fresh air inside the building — or the exhaust system, which brings stale air outside.

In Midtown, at least five schools had at least one deficiency in their ventilation systems, according to the inspection reports. Another round of inspections was conducted this summer but has not been released publicly. (Read the full list below).

Good ventilation lowers the risk of transmitting the coronavirus through the air, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that inspectors had already been deployed, checking every classroom in every school to ensure that windows can open and the supply and exhaust fans are working properly before students return Sept. 10.

But the new report shows the immense scale of the problem, and backs up claims by some teachers and principals that their school buildings were poorly ventilated and ill-equipped to welcome back students during the pandemic.

Midtown K-12 schools with ventilation problems:

Art and Design High School, 245 East 56th St.

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

High School for Environmental Studies, 444 West 56th St.

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: school does not have a supply fan system
• Report

Independence High School, 850 10th Ave.

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: school does not have a supply fan system
• Report

PS 059 Beekman Hill International, 231-249 East 56 St.

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report

PS 35, 931 First Ave.

• Exhaust fan deficiencies: 1
• Supply fan deficiencies: 0
• Report