This report presents data collected from 43 over-capacity elementary schools in the New York City Public School system. The data give information about typical class sizes in the early grades and the cost of an initiative to reduce class size. Of the 1,722 classrooms examined, 56 percent are considered to be overcrowded, and 438 of the city's 723 elementary school buildings (61 percent) are operating at or in excess of capacity. Further, the schools possess far too few specialty rooms, including libraries, gymnasiums, staff rooms, and cafeterias. Parent rooms often are missing or inadequate. Students often are crammed into small rooms, and the schools surveyed need 15 percent more classrooms to implement the city's initiative to reduce class size. Recommendations include increasing the use of underutilized middle schools, and submitting new school bonds to voters and backing them with voter education campaigns. A third recommendation is to have the board of education consider adjusting its 5-year capital plan to take into account the initiative to reduce class size by spending a larger share of the funds on space that is faster and easier to create, such as additions and relocatable classrooms. (GR)