DREAM Charter School

NYCR-CDE provided $23 million of New Markets Tax Credit financing to help fund the transformation of a vacant 188,000 square foot building in the South Bronx into a dynamic, new public charter school.

The capital was utilized by DREAM, one of the city’s leading charter school networks.  The building had sat vacant for 20 years and was once an ice warehouse built at the turn of the century by American brewer Jacob Ruppert, Jr. -- best known as the one-time owner of the New York Yankees and the man who built the original Yankee Stadium.  The redeveloped six-story building is home to approximately 1,300 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.  The building combines DREAM Mott Haven Elementary and Middle Schools and DREAM Charter High School under one roof and includes a state-of-the-art gym with a regulation-size basketball court; a cathedral-style, light-filled library space; STEAM quad featuring specialty classrooms and laboratories; double-height arts wing; and a rooftop that functions as an outdoor classroom, play space, and garden.  In addition, the building has two dining halls and a fully equipped kitchen that supports a scratch-cooking meal program.  Bronx graffiti legends Tats Cru created a large-scale mural on the third floor depicting DREAM’s organizational history. Multiple classrooms and other shared spaces feature sweeping views of the Harlem River and the Manhattan skyline.

DREAM charter school network traces its beginnings to 1991, when a group of volunteers transformed an abandoned lot in East Harlem into two baseball diamonds for the neighborhood youth.  That effort grew into Harlem RBI, an award-winning sports-based youth development organization that offered afterschool and summer programming, becoming a model and symbol of the power of play for young people everywhere.  DREAM today serves more than 2,000 children across East Harlem and the South Bronx through its network of six charter schools.  At DREAM, 99% of students are Black and/or Hispanic; 88% qualify for free or reduced lunch; and 29% have identified special needs.  Nearly half of DREAM alumni are first-generation college students and DREAM Charter High School has a 99% acceptance rate into college. 

“When you live in the South Bronx, you hear one story being told about your community everywhere that you go. This building will change that story.”

– New York State Assembly Member Amanda Septimo