Erin Chen
Crowding impacts students throughout the day, and during dismissal where they must have their phones unlocked by a staff member.
In the 2025-2026 school year, there are an astonishing 3,100+ students enrolled at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. With the enrollment increase from last school year’s 2,852 students, there is barely enough space to walk when transitioning to and from the two buildings on the school’s campus.
As students step into the new school year, there have been multiple complaints about the long lines and waiting time to get into school and transition from class to class. Many students have spoken out about tardiness due to the overcrowded hallways, making it hard to get to classes on time. Despite the five minute window they are given to get from class to class, it sometimes takes longer.
Sophomore Nafiza Miah described, “The long lines make me anxious because it always makes me late to the first period. I dislike missing out on learning opportunities because of things I can’t even control. I get marked late as well because of these long lines.”
Other students, like Nicole Tso, agreed with Miah’s views and expressed similar struggles. “When I walk to the annex, I’m not even walking,” Tso said. “I’m literally standing still while waiting for the people in front of me to move. It’s way too crowded and it smells, and because of this, I struggle to get to class on time.”
Miah also reflected that the large amount of students that leads to overcrowding makes her feel uncomfortable. “When I’m walking in the halls, there are just so many students that it can feel suffocating at times,” she added. “Many students walk at a very slow pace to talk to their friends.”
Junior Yuting Chen explained that in such crowded hallways, there’s constant physical contact. “The density of people caused by overcrowding in this school leads to unnecessary touches by random people,” Chen reflected. “It’s very uncomfortable, and I know some people are not comfortable with it, too.”
Some students complain that their peers are also unaware of others in the hallways. Junior Doralie Cham pointed out, “The people in the halls have no awareness of their surroundings, and it makes me feel angry.”
Many students tend to push and shove when moving from class to class, as well. “I always think, ‘Why are they pushing when we are all trying to get to a class?’” Cham questioned.
While many staff members respond that this is just life in a big, New York City high school, students have thought of ways that this problem could be solved. Senior Zoey Huie, pointed out that the addition of the Annex building was originally supposed to solve some of the issues with overcrowding.
“However, it appears to have increased traffic and frustrations during the transition from one building to another,” Huie said. “I think they need to open another route in between buildings, like how they did during scannings and they opened the basement doors for people to exit. Why can’t they have this open all the time?”
While the number of students walking in the hallways during passing cannot change, other solutions can be put in place to solve the overcrowding issues. With many students expressing the negative feelings about the transition time between classes, it showcases that change may be necessary for student wellness overall.