The New York City Fire Museum

Another fire horn.

The firehouse for Ladder 8 and the Ghostbusters was built on North Moore and Varick Streets in 1912.

19th-century axes, and a very tall, narrow helmet.

Antique company badges.

A nineteenth-century fire wagon.

An antique shield.

Another antique shield.

Since I visited the New York City Police Museum a few weeks back, I thought It would make sense to visit the New York City Fire Museum next.  First opened in 1934 as the Fire College Museum in Long Island City, it moved to a firehouse on 100 Duane Street in 1959.  That same year, SoHo's Engine Company 30 at 287 Spring Street between Hudson And Varick Streets closed down.  By 1981, the Home Insurance Company donated a huge collection of fire memorabilia it had acquired over the years to the museum, making a move to larger quarters necessary.  The 1904 Engine 30 building, which had sat empty for years, underwent an extensive renovation and became the new home of the New York City Fire Museum in 1987.

An ornate wagon from the Astoria company.

Next to this old quilt was a breakdown of the FDNY logo.

North Moore Street in 1919, with the Ghostbusters firehouse to the left. (NYPL)

The Fire Museum, formerly Engine 30, was built on Spring Street between Varick and Hudson Streets in 1904.

So I took the 1 Train down to Franklin Street and got out at the Varick and North Moore Street exit, right across the street from the firehouse built in 1912 for Hook & Ladder 8, also home to the Ghostbusters.  The company dates back to 1865, and its original home around the corner at 153 Franklin Street was recently converted to a luxury condo for Domonique Strauss-Kahn.  There was talk that he was going to be staying near me at about 65th and 3rd, but a story on the news about it reported that the neighbors didn't want him.  It all comes together.

An 1880s banner from the Brooklyn Fire Department.

An 1880s-era fire wagon.

The museum had a great antique toy display.

Another toy on display.

The museum's oldest piece, dating back to 1820.

Anyway, just a few blocks up was Engine 30 on Spring Street.  I was greeted at the front desk by a couple of youngish looking people who were surrounded by the gift shop, displaying your standard stuff for the most part, but I was a little surprised to see a prominent display of t-shirts honoring Father Mychal Judge, with the silhouette of a Franciscan friar blowing a fire horn and a children's book about Father Judge entitled He Said Yes: The Story of Father Mychal Judge.  The Franciscan friar was an FDNY chaplain and is considered the first casualty of the September 11th attacks, dying in the collapse while giving last rights.  I'm sure this book is a favorite in Catholic schools.

A ceremonial fire horn.

An 1860s pitcher honoring Col. Ellsworth, the NYC firefighter who brought zouave regiments to the U.S.

From there I walked up an ornate staircase to the display on the second floor, which was dominated by a number of mid-nineteenth century fire wagons, the oldest dating back to 1820, all intricately decorated and beautifully preserved.  A sign described how in the nineteenth century, the independent fire companies in the city took great pride in their wagons and went to great lengths to give them an eye-catching appearance.  Surrounded by wagons were displays of badges of fire departments from all over the world, and a number of antique helmets, axes, and picks.  There was also a number of decorative ceremonial fire horns.  These long horns, once used by officers to shout orders during fires, remain a familiar symbol of the FDNY despite not being used for almost a century.  There was also an impressive collection of nineteenth-century heraldry.  Back then it was common practice for fire companies to present commemorative shields to each other as signs of friendship, which would be prominently hung up in the recipient's station house.

This truck was in the Ghostbusters firehouse in 1931.

Also on the second floor was a pitcher from the 1860s memorializing the death of Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth and the zouaves regiments that fought for the Union in the Civil War.  It is considered one of the first pieces of American pottery that commemorated a specific event.  The twenty-four-year-old Colonel Elsworth, who in 1861 personally captured the confederate flag of a hotel owner in Alexandria, Virginia, and was shot and killed by him in the process, is said to be the the first casualty of the Civil War.  Before the war, he was a prominent fire marshall in New York City, and is credited with bringing zouave regiments to the American military.  He was so impressed by the intricate and demanding training drills of the zouaves and by their heroic service to France during the Crimean War, that he created the first American zouave regiment from among the city's fire companies.  Eleven hundred firefighters were said to have volunteered within the first twenty-four hours.

On the first floor was a more modern collection, with a sign encouraging "children of all ages" to try on a couple of coats and helmets open to the public.  There are a number of trucks from the '30s and '40s, and the fire chief's buggy from the early twentieth century is attached to a model of a horse.  To my surprise, the museum wasn't mostly devoted to September 11th, but there was a room in the back with a large display showing each of the three hundred forty-three firefighters who died.  There was also a large display devoted to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of March 1911.

All in all, a good visit.  I left my card with them and asked them to check out RightHereNYC.com.  Next time you're down on Spring Street, check out the New York City Fire Museum for a little history of the city's bravest.

The New York City Police Museum

The evolution of the NYPD motorcycle.

Badges from the Brooklyn Police Department before 1898.

Old-timey mugshots.

Antique radio equipment.

A typical jail cell.

More pics from 9/11.

Policing a Changed City.

A display of objects from the WTC site on 9/11.

A display on NYPD medals.

NYPD uniforms.

The NYPD Medal of Honor.

Badges of the different branches of the NYPD.

A female guards uniform from 1896.

A display of antique handcuffs.

A display of antique guns.

A picture taken from 9/11.

A 1920s slot machine.

19th-century badges and nightstick.

Antique NYPD motorcycles on display.

A description of the NYPD flag.

The former 1st Precinct at 100 Old Slip, now the NYPD museum.

A door from a truck that was near the WTC on 9/11.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at a 1920s NYPD - FDNY game.

An 1860s recruiting poster.

Another display of artifacts from 9/11.

Prominent 1920s gangsters, including Al Capone.

More police uniforms.

The front door of the former 1st Precinct at 100 Old Slip.

This past Sunday marked the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and I debated whether or not to take a trip down to the World Trade Center site, but ultimately opted to do it.  It was about five o'clock in the evening so all the ceremonies were over.  There wasn't too much to see -- everything was pretty much fenced off.  Even further downtown is the New York City Police Museum in the former 1st Precinct station on Old Slip.  "Old Slip" is so named because it was an inlet for ships coming into the harbor as early as the 1750s, before being filled in and converted to streets over a century later.  As I walked along the hilly, uneven, mismatched streets of the Financial District, I was reminded that this city started down here, and bustling Midtown remained the country for decades.  The Twin Towers stood across the street from the city's oldest building, St. Paul's Chapel, where George Washington attended services, and St. Peter's, the first Catholic Church in the state, is one block north.  Fraunces Tavern, the Bridge Cafe, and the Fulton Ferry Hotel are some of the city's original centers of business. 

My trip to the New York City Police Museum last week took me much further downtown than I normally venture, to Old Slip, the home of the 1st Precinct from 1884 to 1973.  The current landmarked building was built from 1909-1911 on the foundation of the former one by architects Richard and Joseph Howland Hunt, brothers and partners who designed  the Lotus Club on 66th and 5th and the 69th Regiment Armory on 25th and Lexington, among others.  When built, the city's 1st Precinct was considered by many to be the most important police station in the world, and was visited by police chiefs from all around, who considered it a model in modern architecture and looked to copy some of the buildings features for their own new buildings.  It was built in the Italian Renaissance style in tribute to the palazzos of Florence.

The idea for the museum formed in February of 1998, when police commissioner Howard Safir and the Alliance for Downtown New York donated $5 million in return for a new station in the area, but the plan was quickly abandoned by Mayor Giuliani when New Yorkers claimed that a richer area of the city was buying police protection.  A month later, however, a non-profit organization was created to raise money for the project, and the museum was able to open in April 1999 around Bowling Green.  In January 2002, the museum moved into the landmarked building at 100 Old Slip, which had been abandoned since a police corruption scandal in 1977, seeing it as an opportunity to connect with the Department's past.  Renovation of the building was over $4 million, but exhibit space increased by close to 45%.

I came across the narrow building which had carved "POLICE STATION FIRST PRECINCT" in it over the front door and walked inside to find a little old man sitting at the front desk.  He recommended I start on the third floor and work my way down.  Not surprisingly, much of the museum is devoted to 9/11, but it also has an impressive collection of antiques.  A back room on the third floor displayed the badge of every officer killed in the line of duty, since the first in 1853.  A display case had a history of the departments most prestigious medals, including the NYPD Medal of Honor.  On the other side of the floor was a number of discarded pieces from police equipment that was in the area on 9/11 -- a door from a police truck, sirens from a car, guns, hats, belts, etc., and a 60 Minutes special on how Commissioner Ray Kelly is working to turn the NYPD into a military and intelligence force comparable to the CIA and FBI was being shown.  A number of photographs of the damage of that day and people being helped were shown along with a display entitled "Policing a Changed City". 

The second-floor included a replica jail cell and with a female warden's uniform from 1896, when four women were hired due to public demand after a sharp increase in female prisoners.  There was also a display of Brooklyn Police Department badges prior to 1898 when the borough was still an independent city, and a 1920s slot-machine in front of mug shots of prominent gangsters of the time.  The same room also had a large display of nineteenth and early-twentieth century handcuffs and guns.  The first floor showcases examples of the uniform throughout the decades, and has a great collection of old motorcycles.  Naturally, I asked if they were hiring, and naturally they said they weren't.  But at least I got an enriching afternoon of New York City history for only eight bucks!  If you're in town, I highly recommend it!

The Old Neighborhood

My building on 65th and 1st, built in 1898.

St. John Nepumocene Church in 1927, two years after it was built.

St. Catherine's Park in 1902, before it was finished.

The schoolyard of P.S. 183 on East 67th Street between 1st and York.

Side doors of the school are labeled "BOYS" and "GIRLS".

The front door of P.S. 183 on 66th between 1st and York.

St. Catherine of Sienna Church on 68th between 1st and York.

The Dominican Friars were celebrating St. Domonic's Day.

The cornerstone shows St. Catherine's was  built in 1930.

Another shot of the schoolyard of P.S. 183.

The new high-rise that went up next to St. John's just a couple of years ago.

St. John Nepumucene Church on 66th and 1st today.

The sign for Peppermint Park still remains at the door of what is now a Dunkin' Donuts.

St. Catherine's Park on 67th and 1st.

You know how when you're in high school and you go back to your elementary school and it looks like the hallway has shrunk? Everything is much smaller than you remember. The walls are closer together and the water fountains are at your knees. Well, when I moved back into the apartment that I had moved out of when I was a kid a few years back, that's the way I felt about the whole neighborhood. Places that were actually only a block away, I remembered as being about five blocks away.

The church where I was baptized and had my first communion, St. John Nepumucene, or St. John Nepumuk, is on the corner of 1st Avenue and East 66th Street. Founded by Slovakian immigrants, it is served by two Hungarian priests, one old and one young, has a Hungarian flag at the altar and has mass in Slovak every Sunday. When the first big influx of immigrants from Slovakia arrived in the city, there was a big call to form a parish of their own where they could speak their own language. They started meeting at St. Brigid's on 8th Street and Avenue B, and organized their first parish on East 4th Street. The current church was finished in 1925, and it really is a beauty. It's often open during the day and I like to go in an admire the intricately designed stained glass, statues and grotto in the front. Further down the street is P.S. 183, my old school, and around the block is the schoolyard where I spent many an hour. The layout, and the farmers market they have on Saturdays, has remained pretty much unchanged since the eighties.

On 68th between 1st and York is another Catholic church, St. Catherine of Siena, built in 1930. This parish was formed in 1897 mainly for the Irish community, and the current church, run by the Dominican friars, is actually quite massive, with a number of shrines lining the walls. Up the street on 1st Avenue is the park also named for the saint where I spent a great deal of my early childhood. Back then we all called it the "local park", and for years I thought this was it's official name, but as it turns out, it too was named for St. Catherine. When the land was purchased in 1902, the park's design was based on Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, built in 1280, where St. Catherine is buried. The flagpole in the center of the park represents the altar, the play areas on either side are the pews, and the paving pattern of the park resembles that of the floor of the church in Rome.

I found this out from reading a history of St. Catherine's Park I found online, but I think they only describe the original plan. The park has been remodeled at least twice since I moved upstate to Nyack. The plan of my childhood was so full of jagged corners, steep falls and high walls that my father used to joke that whoever designed this park obviously didn't have any kids.

When the park was redone shortly before we moved in 1989, it was widened in the center so that police cars could drive through, in an effort to crack down on the drug dealers that were starting to take the place over. But who wants to take their children to a park that is being patrolled by cops non-stop? Now, with crime drastically decreased in the city, the design is at its most practical, with a playground and swings in the center inhabited by little kids and there parents, flanked by an area with benches inhabited by old ladies and me, and the ball court that hasn't changed much at all.

New York City bloggers are always bemoaning the rapid disappearance of small business in place of large chains, and the old neighborhood has seen it's share of that. A bank in my building used to be a suede store, a dry cleaners was a souvenir shop, and the neighborhood ice cream shop on 66th Street, Peppermint Park, is now a Dunkin' Donuts, but at least the old sign still remains. Not to mention, a giant high rise went up right next to St. John's about two years ago. Despite all this, Goldberger's Pharmacy, also on the ground floor of my building, has remained in place since 1898. Even with a Duane Reade on practically every block, it refuses to budge.

Goldberger's and Wise Pharmacy on 79th and York must have very low rent which allows them to defy the odds and stay in business. They probably have been around since my building and a similar one on 79th and York went up in the 1890s. Built with the vision of providing comfortable living for the working class, the apartments included such luxuries as their own bathrooms, a far cry from the tenements of downtown. Now these buildings are City Landmarks.

All in all, I'm glad to be back in the old neighborhood, and if I can ever catch a break in the midst of this recession, I hope to be here for many years to come.