Why do most NYC public high schools look like jailhouses?

Because the people who designed them were just being honest: every public school in general is a prison. Oh, they're comparable, right down to the fences they use to keep people locked in, to the proctors they use to maintain order, to the little carts that some proctors wheel around in to patrol the campus grounds, to the shacks that some schools have outside the gates for the guards to sit in, to the police or sheriff's dept. office that some high schools have, etc. ------------- Still, how do Hunter College High School and Stuyvesant High School fit into your aesthetic assessment of NYC high schools? They seem very un-French-Revolution-like to me.

MOST NYC HIGH SCHOOLS ARE VERY OLD AND SPACE WAS LIMITED. AT ONE TIME THE NYC PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS WERE THE BEST IN THE NATION SO WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE THE SCHOOL WAS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE FROM THE OUTSIDE. THEY WERE HUGE BUILDINGS THAT HOUSED ANYWHERE FROM 3000 TO 6800 STUDENTS. OVER TIME, SOME NEW SCHOOLS WERE BUILD THAT LOOK A LITTLE MORE MODERN BUT IT IS A LOT CHEAPER TO FIX UP AN OLD SCHOOL THAN TO BUILD A NEW ONE. MY HS (ERASMUS HALL HS) HAD 6800 STUDENTS AND THERE WERE 2050 STUDENTS AT MY GRADUATION. IT WAS A FULL BLOCK SQUARE WITH A CENTRAL COURTYARD AND WAS FOUNDED BY THE DUTCH 200 YEARS AGO. IT WAS A MONSTER BUILDING BUT NOBODY CARED OR NOTICED. GO THE BEST EDUCATION MONEY CAN BUY (DIDN'T COST MY PARENTS A DIME IN TAXES)

Simple. It's cheaper to build it solidly and have no frills. I hope this information was very helpful.

MOST NYC HIGH SCHOOLS ARE VERY OLD AND SPACE WAS LIMITED. AT ONE TIME THE NYC PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS WERE THE BEST IN THE NATION SO WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE THE SCHOOL WAS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE FROM THE OUTSIDE. THEY WERE HUGE BUILDINGS THAT HOUSED ANYWHERE FROM 3000 TO 6800 STUDENTS. OVER TIME, SOME NEW SCHOOLS WERE BUILD THAT LOOK A LITTLE MORE MODERN BUT IT IS A LOT CHEAPER TO FIX UP AN OLD SCHOOL THAN TO BUILD A NEW ONE. MY HS (ERASMUS HALL HS) HAD 6800 STUDENTS AND THERE WERE 2050 STUDENTS AT MY GRADUATION. IT WAS A FULL BLOCK SQUARE WITH A CENTRAL COURTYARD AND WAS FOUNDED BY THE DUTCH 200 YEARS AGO. IT WAS A MONSTER BUILDING BUT NOBODY CARED OR NOTICED. GO THE BEST EDUCATION MONEY CAN BUY (DIDN'T COST MY PARENTS A DIME IN TAXES)

Simple. It's cheaper to build it solidly and have no frills. I hope this information was very helpful.