Long Vacant UWS Building Will Become Jewish School: Report

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A Jewish school for students with learning disabilities started its renovation on Tuesday for its new Upper West Side building that has stood vacant in the neighborhood for decades.

The Shefa School will move into the 12-story building at 17 West 60th Street, located between Columbus and Central Park West.

The building has been vacant for at least 40 years.

Staff and family from the school celebrated the beginning of the renovation process Tuesday at its future campus, which is 50,000 square feet larger than its current building at 40 East 29th Street, reported Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“It has been an amazing journey from a school of 24 students in a few classrooms to our own building, in a prime location, where we will be able not only to accommodate more students but also provide a robust facility, and serve as a hub for serving the larger Jewish community in better serving children with learning disabilities,” founder and head of school Ilana Ruskay-Kidd told The New York Jewish Week.

The Shefa School bought a 99-year ground lease for the building at 17 West 60th Street in the summer of 2021, spending $49.5 million on the deal, reported the NY Post.

The renovation project is set to be completed in 2024.

You can find out more about the new school coming to the neighborhood on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's website.