History and architecture
The 23rd Police Precinct Station House, located on the south side of West 30th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, was erected in 1907-08 to the design of R. Thomas Short, who is best known as a designer of apartment buildings as a partner in the firm of Harde & Short. This station house served the legendary Tenderloin section of midtown Manhattan that was previously part of the 19th Precinct, one of the city's busiest. The police had occupied a smaller station house across the street since 1869.
One of the first station houses constructed in Manhattan for the Police Department following the Consolidation of Greater New York, it was one of the earliest in New York to solely employ automobile patrols. The unusual Medieval Revival style of the building, more commonly associated with armories, resulted from a police commissioner's desire for a building that "look[s] like a police station" and forcefully asserted the authority of the police.
Four stories high plus a mezzanine story, the building has a prominent base of light gray rusticated granite arranged as simulated towers; a central automobile entrance, with an arched
Guastavino tile vault, that leads to the recessed doorway and central courtyard area beyond; and upper stories, faced in buff ironspot Roman brick, that terminate in a bold bracketed cornice and crenellated roof parapet. The building has remained in continuous use by the Police Department, and now serves the Traffic Control Division.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.