First Police Precinct Station, South Street & Old Slip

History and architecture

The First Precinct Police Station, designed in the neo-Italian Renaissance style by the notable architectural firm of Hunt & Hunt, was erected in 1909-11. This impressive public building still commands its waterfront site, although it is now surrounded by modern office buildings.

The station house stands on Old Slip, in an area which has been important to the city since the late 17th century. Old Slip, at the foot of William Street, was the first slip in the city. These slips were openings between two wharves, where boats were unloaded during high tide. Originally a shady, natural meeting place, Old Slip became the site of one of the first official market places in New Amsterdam. The Old Slip Market at Pearl Street reached the peak of popularity in the 1720s. This market lingered on until 1778 and, beginning in the late 18th century, the Slip began to be filled in. Eventually it formed a wide street of the same name.

In 1821 another market, known as the Franklin Market, was erected on Old Slip. Despite all precautions, the Great Fire of 1835 entirely destroyed this market building and much of lower Manhattan. During the next year, the second Franklin Market was constructed on Old Slip between Front and South Street, the newly declared legal eastern boundary of Manhattan. The upper floors of the Franklin Market housed the First Police Precinct after the municipal police department had been organized in 1844. The station house was moved to 29 Broad Street for a short period during the 18605.

On January 1, 1883, one of the many civic improvements suggested by the newly elected mayor, Franklin Edson, to the board of Aldermen, was the erection of new station to replace the earlier dilapidated ones. As a result, several station houses were immediately built, including the First Precinct Police Station of 1884 at Old Slip. Reputedly the first modern police building, this four-story structure stood until the present station house was erected on the same site in 1909-11.

This police station was occupied First Precinct until. January, 1973. Renderings of this new station house were displayed at the 23rd Annual Exhibit of the Architectural League of New York in 1908. The architects, Richard Howland Hunt (1862-1931) and Joseph Howland Hunt (1870-1971), ware the sons of the prominent New York City architect, Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895). The elder son practiced with his father until 1895 and, in 1901, the brothers established their own firm.

Well-known for their elegant Long Island and Newport residential works, as well as for their New York City town houses, they designed the George Washington Vanderbilt House (1902-05), a designated New York City Landmark. Richard Howland Hunt also carried out his father's design for the central portion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after his death.

The four-story high First Precinct Police Station is a striking example of municipal architecture. This handsome neo-Italian Renaissance building of limestone is both massive in scale and simple in detail. It is divided horizontally into three sections -- a low base, a rusticated center section, and a smooth-faced-attic story. Its visual power is created by the rhythmic series of tall arches, heavy walls and restrained ornamentation. The police station has the distinctive profile of an early Italian Renaissance palazzo. Many of the features, such as the arched openings of the main story, the rustication of the center section and the dominating cornice, are reminiscent of the fifteenth century Palazzo Riccardi in Florence, designed by Michelangelo.