Walk down West 61st Street in Manhattan today and you’ll see the sleek, towering luxury of the Apartment Tower at 155 West 60th Street. It’s quiet. It’s expensive. It’s unmistakably "New York 2026." But if you could rip back the pavement and look at the ghost of the city, you’d find the loudest, grittiest, and most legendary basketball cathedral to ever grace the five boroughs. Power Memorial High School wasn't just a school; it was a myth built out of brick, sweat, and the best talent the world had ever seen.
The Irish Christian Brothers ran the place with an iron fist. It was a boys-only Catholic school that looked like a fortress. By the time it closed its doors in 1984, it had cemented a legacy that most universities would kill for.
Most people know it as the place that gave us Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Back then, he was Lew Alcindor, a skinny kid with a soft touch and a frame that seemed to defy physics. But reducing Power Memorial to just one player—even the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer—is a mistake. The school was a pressure cooker. It turned out gritty New York guards, legendary coaches, and a brand of basketball that was basically a religion.
The Alcindor Years and the 71-Game Streak
You can't talk about Power Memorial High School without talking about the "Tower from 10th Avenue." When Lew Alcindor showed up, the world shifted. Jack Donohue, the legendary coach, didn't just teach him how to play; he taught him how to dominate.
Between 1962 and 1964, the Power Memorial Academy basketball team was invincible. Literally. They won 71 consecutive games.
Think about that for a second. In a city where every neighborhood has a "legend" and every asphalt court is a proving ground, these kids didn't lose for three years. The streak finally snapped in a 1965 loss to DeMatha Catholic, led by the great Morgan Wootten. That single game is still cited by sports historians as one of the most important high school basketball games ever played. It wasn't just a game; it was a national event that proved high school sports could capture the American imagination.
Alcindor’s stats were absurd, but the culture of the school was what kept him grounded. The brothers didn't care if you could dunk. You had to be in class. You had to follow the rules. It was that combination of strict discipline and raw, athletic genius that created the "Power" mystique.
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Beyond Kareem: A Roster of Legends
If you think the talent stopped with Alcindor, you’re dead wrong. The school was a literal conveyor belt for the NBA and high-level collegiate ball.
Take Len Elmore. Before he was a Harvard-educated lawyer and a mainstay on ESPN, he was a dominant force in the paint for Power. He eventually went on to be an All-American at Maryland and played over a decade in the pros. Then there’s Chris Mullin. While most people associate Mullin with Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, he actually spent his first two years at Power Memorial.
The list goes on.
- Ed Pinckney: The man who led Villanova to that shocking 1985 NCAA title over Georgetown.
- Joe "Pogo" Hammond: A streetball legend who some say was the best to ever do it, though his path was much more complicated than the NBA stars.
- Mario Elie: A three-time NBA champion who defined the term "role player" but was a superstar in the making during his time at the school.
It wasn't just about the players. The coaching tree is equally insane. Jack Donohue eventually went on to coach the Canadian National Team for two decades. Brendan Malone, who coached at Power, became a staple on NBA sidelines and was the architect of the "Jordan Rules" with the Detroit Pistons.
Why Did It Close? The Sad Reality of 1984
It feels weird that a school with this much history just... stopped. But 1984 was a rough year for Catholic education in New York City. The Archdiocese was facing shrinking enrollments and massive deficits. Power Memorial High School was sitting on a gold mine of real estate.
The building was aging. Maintenance costs were skyrocketing. Honestly, the neighborhood was changing fast, and the land was worth more than the tuition checks. When the announcement came that the school would close, it felt like a death in the family for the Upper West Side.
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They demolished the building soon after. There is no plaque on the current luxury high-rise that adequately explains the magic that happened on that hardwood. The school didn't die because it failed; it died because the city evolved around it, and the physical space became too valuable to remain a humble school.
The "Power" Style: What Made Them Different?
If you talk to old-timers who watched games in that cramped gym, they talk about the noise. It was deafening. The fans were right on top of the court.
The Power style of play was "New York Tough." It was heavy on fundamentals because the Irish Christian Brothers wouldn't have it any other way. But it was also fast. It was the birth of the modern big man who could run the floor. Alcindor wasn't just a statue in the post; he was agile. That versatility became the school's trademark.
They played a national schedule long before that was a common thing for high schools. They’d travel to Maryland, Jersey, or wherever the best competition was. They weren't hiding. They were hunting.
Life After Power: The Alumni Legacy
Even though the school has been gone for over 40 years, the alumni association is surprisingly active. You’ll still see guys wearing the old green and white gear at basketball tournaments around the city.
The closure created a diaspora of talent. When Power shut down, its remaining players scattered to other New York City powerhouses like St. Nicholas of Tolentine or All Hallows. It actually spread the "Power" DNA across the city’s basketball ecosystem.
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It's also worth noting that Power wasn't just a basketball school. It produced leaders in law, business, and public service. But let's be real—the basketball is why we remember it. It represents a lost era of New York City where the local high school was the center of the universe.
Common Misconceptions About Power Memorial
People often think Power was a massive school. It wasn't. It was relatively small, which made the concentration of talent even more baffling.
Another mistake is thinking they only won because they had "the big guy." While Alcindor was a cheat code, the 1970 team—which won the City Championship—didn't have a starter over 6’5”. They won on grit, passing, and a defensive press that haunted opponents' dreams.
Lastly, some people confuse it with other "Power" schools or think it reopened elsewhere. It didn't. When Power Memorial closed, that was the end of the line. There are no "successor" schools. There is only the history.
How to Trace the History of Power Memorial Today
If you’re a basketball junkie or a New York history buff, you can’t visit the school, but you can still find its soul if you know where to look.
- Visit the Site: Go to 161 West 61st Street. Stand there and imagine 2,000 people screaming in a gym that shouldn't have fit half that many.
- The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Memoirs: Read Giant Steps or Coach Wooden and Me. Kareem writes extensively about his time at Power and his relationship with Jack Donohue. It is the best primary source for what life was like inside those walls.
- Archives at the New York Public Library: The NYPL holds various records and newspaper clippings from the CHSAA (Catholic High School Athletic Association) that document the school's dominance in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
- Documentary Footage: Search for old "City Game" highlights. You can occasionally find grainy 16mm footage of Power Memorial games that capture the frantic energy of NYC prep ball.
The story of Power Memorial High School is a reminder that greatness is often temporary. It was a perfect storm of coaching, location, and timing. It wasn't just a building; it was a factory of ambition. For a few decades, the best basketball on the planet wasn't played at Madison Square Garden—it was played in a small gym on 61st Street.
If you want to understand why New York is the mecca of basketball, you have to start with Power. Everything else is just a footnote.