From Parking Garage to State-of- the-Art High School, Browning School Completes Expansion

The Browning School, an elite all-boys college-prep school, has planted new roots on the UES for an extremely long stay.

After signing a 99-year lease several years ago, the school hired S9 Architecture to transform a onetime parking garage into a new state-of-the-art campus for its high school division on East 64th Street. Its main campus, which remains on East 62nd Street, traces its roots to the 1920s.

The school did not reveal the construction costs, but when it kicked off an eight-year $50-million fundraising campaign that ran from 2019 to 2027, it said that the cornerstone was building the campus for its new high school building.

Despite a torrential downpour, the Browning hosted a ribbon cutting on May 7 at the site, which now has five “general” classrooms that can hold up to 18 students each, as well as two seminar rooms and three expandable “scale-up” classroom and one that is sure to thrill the all-boys school, a high-ceilinged gymnasium on the upper floor. It also includes a library, multiple science labs, and a music room

The rain did not deter somebody dressed up as the school’s panther mascot from theatrically standing by with a pair of large scissors. The rain also didn’t prevent Valda Witt, the president of the Browning School’s board of trustees—as well as a movie producer—from welcoming everybody to “another set of red doors,” a nod to the traditional front door at its main campus.

John Botti, the head of school, called the new building “not just a physical expansion of Browning, but a renewed commitment to our mission, our boys. . . . This school is more than just steel and glass, it’s a promise to our boys that their aspirations matter, that their social environments matter.”

Botti added that the school contained “classrooms designed for inquiry and conversations, labs built for analysis and discovery, social spaces to promote connection and togetherness.” He also joked that it had a gym “the size of Madison Square Garden.” He concluded that it was “testament” to those in the community who supported the school.

“This ribbon cutting was a vision realized and the culmination of years of hard work by so many,” Botti told Our Town. “It’s will be exciting to watch what our Upper School boys and faculty will be able to accomplish in this space, in the fall and for years to come.”

According to a 2022 article published in the local news site Patch, the expansion was originally conceived of by school officials as enrollment at Browning increased, reportedly straining its main East 62nd Street campus. Administrators projected a head-count increase of 100 students, up from the school’s then-400. Today enrollment sits at 436 students. Nonetheless, Browning expects to gain another 30 students by next year when the new school finally opens its doors.

Interestingly, the school’s proposal exceeded local maximum-height regulations of 75 feet at the time, which meant the Browning School had obtained zoning variances to reach its current height. Some Community Board 8 members made rumblings about the proposal, Patch reported, before ultimately providing a 35-1 advisory vote in favor of the expansion. Browning went on to gain city approval, and stretched the building upward into the top floor that now contains the school’s new gym.

The Browning School was founded in 1888 by John A. Browning, in order to educate members of the prominent Rockefeller family, including Percy A. and John D. Other notable alumni include JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon, former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., and former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean.