It Was an All-Black School in 1860. Today It’s a Manhattan Landmark.

For years, New York City Department of Sanitation workers ate their lunch in a three-story yellow brick building on West 17th Street in Chelsea without knowing its history: It was once a “colored” school that served Black Americans during racial segregation in New York City public schools.

On Tuesday, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the building, which had been known as Colored School No. 4, a protected landmark, and city officials said they would provide $6 million to rehabilitate it.

“We stand on the shoulders of the young men and women that attended this school, and while they may be gone, I am honored to ensure they will never be forgotten,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

The schoolhouse, at 128 West 17th Street, was built around 1849, and in 1860 it became one of eight public primary schools for Black students in Manhattan; the schools served a total of 2,377 students. The building also housed an evening school for Black adults.