Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — It’s time to get ready for a battle of the boroughs, in which New York City public school students will go head to head in the video game Minecraft to help create the most inclusive future-ready city spaces. Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos announced Tuesday the launch of the official submission period of the sixth annual New York City Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs ahead of the fourth Mayor’s Cup, in which the borough champions will compete. Top submissions will compete at an in-person E-sports qualifying round in each borough. Submissions for student teams are open and will close on Jan. 16, 2026. Information on how to join the challenge, as well as entry-level training courses for educators to bring digital gaming into their classrooms, is available on the New York City Public Schools website. Battle of the Boroughs — which was developed in partnership with Minecraft Education, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done — is a scholastic digital gaming competition in which elementary, middle, and high school students compete to design future-ready city spaces. Through the competition, students explore the five boroughs, learn more about New York City’s sustainability plans, and develop valuable computer science and critical thinking skills. “The annual Battle of the Boroughs competition showcases the incredible potential of our students when they’re given the tools and the platform to thrive,” said Aviles-Ramos. “The new funding set aside by New York City Public Schools to support this initiative will help us to celebrate and lift the creativity and innovation of our young people even further. I’m proud of every student who participates, and I’m grateful to the educators and partners who continue to support them every step of the way.” To participate in this challenge, students from grades K-12 can create a team of classmates (no more than five members) and submit their masterpiece online (the submission must be made by school staff). Multiple teams per school can submit. Students will be asked the following prompt: Reimagine Pier 6 at the MADE Bush Terminal Campus in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. In the first round of the competition, students are encouraged to create alternative designs for the project. Top submissions will compete at an in-person qualifying round in each borough. The borough champions will then compete for the Mayor’s Cup to become NYC Battle of the Boroughs champion. The Mayor’s Cup will be held in the spring. Any additional questions or concerns can be emailed to minecraft@schools.nyc.gov.
