Former Police Headquarters Building

History and architecture

Designed by the architectural firm of Hoppin and Koen, the former New York City Police Headquarters building at 240 Centre Street was built between 1905 and 1909 and stands today as one of New York City's most important examples of the Edwardian Baroque style and of the Beaux-Arts principles of design.

On May 6, 1905, Mayor George B. McClellan, amid the ceremony of a. police band and mounted, troops, wielded a silver trove! to lay the cornerstone of the building which was hailed by the press as the -most up-to-date of its kind in the world. - Since the establishment of the first police office at. City Hall in 1796 when "to facilitate the apprehension of criminals" an effort was made to supplement the traditional night watch, the New York Police Department had witnessed the uneasy growth of the nation's largest city.

Between the date of the installation at City Kali and that of the inauguration of the new headquarters the population of the city had increased a remarkable fifty-six fold and this growth was to continue. The large numbers of people who loved into the city during the 19th century reflected every walk of life, and municipal services struggled to keep abreast with their needs. However, the high density of population in itself created problems.

Damaging riots during the 1830s prompted the passage of the Municipal Police Act of 1884 which abolished the antiquated watch system and established the police force as we know it today. Under this act the 17 wards of the city were divided into precincts complete with a station house, captain and a. sergeant. Although formal training of the police was not established for another ten years, they were, at this time, furnished with a manual explaining their duties and legal powers. The modern notion of the "public servant," however, was not wholly acceptable to the newly established Municipal Police who refuted to wear the proposed blue uniform which reminded them of a servant's livery. A star-shaped "copper" badge, which gave rise to the colloquial term for a policeman, worn over the left breast, served to identify the early force.

Over the next 57 years the numerous changes in the structure or the department reflect the rapid increase of crime in the growing city, and the authorities' attempts to keep pace with this development. Following an effort to enlarge the territorial responsibilities of the force and to initiate state control of the system, a bill was finally adopted in 1901 which gave a single commissioner of police full responsibility for administering the city's police organization.

Housing the growing Police Department was another problem. The first centralized headquarters for the department as has been noted was situated in City Hall, where the force was housed until 1862 when the Police Department built its own headquarters building at 300 Mulberry Street, A rather plain Italianate style building, "300 Mulberry" figured prominently in the city's history. Here the Detective Bureau originated the harsh line of questioning known as the "third degree," and here also politicians such as Ulysses S. Grant and Chester A. Arthur flocked to hear the results of the city's elections. However, by 1900 the Police Department had quadrupled in size, and larger, more modern quarters were clearly needed.