It looks out of place. The building -- an understatement really to call it that -- is one of a kind with its Gothic, grandiose details and arched entry ways and the grassy courtyard inside that stretches the length of a respectable Midwestern backyard. It’s hard to imagine such a thing could be found in the middle of Brooklyn.
Amid the brick apartment buildings and the Italian and Caribbean eateries with their colorful awnings hanging over metal security gates, Erasmus Hall’s campus is a landmark in New York City’s Flatbush neighborhood. The nation’s second oldest high school has been in the same spot since its doors opened in 1786.