PS 173 facing uphill battle against crowding By 2002 projections say many District 26 schools will operate above 100 percent capacity

By Kathianne Boniello

On the outside, PS 173 in Fresh Meadows looks like a typical District 26 school: large with neatly trimmed lawns tucked away in a relatively quiet corner of the city that could easily be mistaken for suburbia.

But on the inside, PS 173 is a school fighting a losing battle against rapidly increasing enrollments