Manhattan's Public School 19 was a splendid new building, sporting the very latest gaslamp fixtures, when Abraham Lincoln was campaigning in the neighborhood in 1860. Although its gaslights have long since been replaced, P.S. 19 still stands, somewhat the worse for nearly a century of students' wear & tear. Alongside a five-story addition built 61 years ago, the antique landmark is jammed by 1,009 kindergarten - through -sixth -grade pupils. The children crowd through its dingy, narrow halls, must sometimes go down five flights of stairs to reach the toilets, which are all in...
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