On March 3, 1988, Green was installed as Chancellor at a ceremony at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.

[5] He inherited a school system plagued by low graduation rates, a high dropout rate, truancy, guns and other violence, and assembled a team of educators to work with him in addressing these issues and making a difference in academics and safety for the schoolchildren of New York City.

In the fall of 1988, Green and UFT President Sandra Feldman made peace with each other by holding a human-sized yellow pencil together on a public school stage, as they welcomed the only group of new schoolteachers which he recruited into the system at a special ceremony.

[6] After arriving in New York City, the air quality due to pollution bothered him, and he had been taken to the hospital having trouble breathing after becoming chancellor.

[8] The City of New York Parks Department subsequently dedicated and opened the Dr. Richard Green Playground on Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn.