New York City Police Museum

Last updated

New York City Police Museum
New York City Police Museum Logo.jpg
New York City Police Museum
Established1999
Website www.nycpm.org
First Police Precinct Station House
New York City Police Museum
Location100 Old Slip, New York, NY 10005
Coordinates 40°42′12″N74°00′31″W / 40.70333°N 74.00861°W / 40.70333; -74.00861
Arealess than one acre
Built1909
ArchitectHunt & Hunt
Architectural styleLate 19th And 20th Century Revivals
NRHP reference No. 82001193 [1]
NYCL No.0968
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 29, 1982
Designated NYCLSeptember 20, 1977

The New York City Police Museum (NYCPM) is a museum about the history and contributions of the New York City Police Department. Founded in 1999, the museum is located in Lower Manhattan in New York City. While one of the museum's primary focuses is a memorial to the September 11 attacks, [2] the museum contains a wide range of information on the history of the NYPD. It also allows visitors to simulate a police firefight, and judges whether or not the shooting was correct, [3] allowing civilians to have some understanding of situations that police face.

Contents

Planning

On February 16, 1998, plans for a police museum were unveiled when then-Police Commissioner Howard Safir and the Alliance for Downtown New York (the local Business improvement district) made $5 million available for the museum in return for a new police substation in Lower Manhattan. [4] Funding for the museum was criticized and classified by some as the buying of police protection for a given area at the expense of another that could not afford to broker a similar deal. As a result, Mayor Rudy Giuliani cancelled the funding for the museum two days later. [5] In March of the same year, the New York City Police Museum non-profit corporation was created, and in April 1999, the museum opened, although the official unveiling was not held until January 19, 2000. [4]

Collection and programming

Patrol Wagon on display outside NYCPM van jeh.jpg
Patrol Wagon on display outside
Police uniforms on display in the museum New York City Police Museum Exhibition (WTM by official-ly cool 016).jpg
Police uniforms on display in the museum

Among the items in the items in the museum's collection are the original New York Yankees logo, which was designed by Louis Tiffany and predates the team's existence. [6] Throughout its history, the museum's locations have included a 1972 Plymouth Fury, [7] a model of a jail cell, a timeline of transportation, [8] lock-picking tools belonging to Willie Sutton, an extensive exhibit on September 11 that occupies the museum's third floor, and a Hall of Heroes that includes the name and badge of every NYPD officer killed in the line of duty, starting with David Martin on August 6, 1861. [9] The exhibit that the museum assembled for the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks allowed visitors to gain an immediate impression of the physical damage caused by the attacks and the debris that fell around Ground Zero. [10] The museum was also known for its long-running car show. [11]

Locations

Temporary museum on Governors Island NYPD museum Gov Is jeh.jpg
Temporary museum on Governors Island

The museum, which was originally a gallery housed at the New York City Police Academy on East 20th Street has operated in a number of temporary and semi-permanent locations in Manhattan during its history. As of 2023, the museum is without a permanent home following flood damage at 100 Old Slip due to Hurricane Sandy. In 2019, the loss of the museum was cited as a part of the increased lack of understanding about policing in New York City and beyond. [12]

Broadway location

From its January 2000 opening at 26 Broadway near Bowling Green, [13] the museum was privately run with support from the city, including more than ten years of free rent [5] and staffing by police officers. [13] Private donors provided more than $2 million for the construction of the museum, while the city contributed $1 million. [5] The museum has been criticized by some who believe it glosses over some of the low moments of the department in its quest to show the good work of the Department. [5]

The new museum replaced a small gallery that had been housed in the police academy on East 20th Street. Among the exhibits at the new location were: a display of the evolution of police uniforms since their inception in 1853, a gun used by Al Capone's gang in the 1928 murder of Frankie Yale, the first machine gun used in a gangland killing in New York, [14] and a gift from Italy to the City of New York following the assassination of Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino in Sicily in 1909, the only member of NYPD to be killed in the line of duty on foreign soil. [5] Other exhibits include a green and white radio car, antique firearms and a wooden desk from the 46th Precinct in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. [14]

Old Slip location

Old Slip location New-york-city-police-museum.JPG
Old Slip location

In January 2002, the museum re-opened in a new location on Old Slip, closer to South Street Seaport. [15] The new premises, appropriately, were the old First Precinct Building, designed by the partnership of Richard Howland Hunt and Joseph Howland Hunt [lower-alpha 1] and built in 1909-11. The landmarked building [16] was a model precinct house in its time. [17] From 1884 to 1973 this Florentine Renaissance palazzo with its bold rusticated facades was the home of the First Precinct, which one historian called "the most important police precinct in the world." [9] That precinct closed due to a corruption scandal in 1977, [18] and museum officials saw a move to this location as an opportunity to connect with the department's history. Construction and renovation of the new space cost more than $4 million and exhibition space grew by nearly 45%. [15]

Subsequent locations

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused substantial damage at 100 Old Slip, and the museum reopened on October 24, 2013 in a temporary space at 45 Wall Street. That location closed in 2014, [19] In summer 2017, the museum was housed in a pop up on Governors Island. [20]

Controversy

Although recognized for its importance in documenting NYPD's archives, [12] the museum has been mired in controversy since its start. Then-police chief Howard Safir faced criticism for a deal, later rejected, with a business group that offered to pay for renovations at the museum in exchange for a police substation in the financial district. [21] In 2001, museum director Sgt. Thomas Gambino and a lieutenant were revealed to be driving expensive automobiles leased by the museum, a private institution. They were also using prime office space near the museum without paying rent, another violation of police regulations that prohibit officers from accepting gifts. [21] They were, along with several officers, reassigned to other police duties.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Department</span> Municipal police force of New York City

The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, municipal police departments in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Heights, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood in New York City

Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New York Avenue to the south. It is about one mile (1.6 km) wide and two miles (3.2 km) long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights to the west, Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens to the south, Brownsville to the east, and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abner Louima</span> Haitian-American man (born 1966)

Abner Louima is a Haitian American man who, in 1997, was physically attacked, brutalized, and raped by officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) after he was arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub. His injuries were so severe that he required three major surgeries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kips Bay, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to the south, and Third Avenue to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyscraper Museum</span> Architecture museum in Manhattan, New York

The Skyscraper Museum is an architecture museum located in Battery Park City, Manhattan, New York City and founded in 1996. As the name suggests, the museum focuses on high-rise buildings as "products of technology, objects of design, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence." The Skyscraper Museum also celebrates the architectural heritage of New York and the forces and people who created New York's skyline. Before moving to the current and permanent location in Battery Park City in 2004, the museum was a nomadic institution, holding pop-up exhibitions in four temporary donated spaces around Lower Manhattan since 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police</span> Auxiliary policin New York City

The New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police is a volunteer reserve police force which is a subdivision of the Patrol Services Bureau of the New York City Police Department. Auxiliary Police Officers assist the NYPD with uniformed patrols, providing traffic control, crowd control, and other services during major events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1 Police Plaza</span> New York City police headquarters

One Police Plaza is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The building is located on Park Row in Civic Center, Manhattan near New York City's City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza. 1PP replaced the NYPD's previous headquarters at 240 Centre Street, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of 1 Police Plaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Safir</span> American politician (1942–2023)

Howard Safir was an American law enforcement professional who served as the 29th New York City Fire Commissioner from 1994 to 1996 and the 39th New York City Police Commissioner from 1996 to 2000, under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Safir later served as Chairman of Safir Intelligence and Security.

John Francis Timoney was an American policeman and law enforcement executive. He served as Chief of the Miami Police Department from 2003 to 2010. He was previously Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (1998–2002) and held a variety of positions with the New York Police Department (1967–96), including its Chief of Department and First Deputy Commissioner. He worked for the Ministry of the Interior of Bahrain as a police consultant. Timoney drew both international praise and criticism for his handling of mass protests.

The New York City Police Department's Medal for Valor is the department's third highest medal. It is conferred upon police officers for acts of outstanding personal bravery intelligently performed in the line of duty at imminent personal hazard to life under circumstances evincing a disregard for personal consequences.

Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York Police union for NYPD police officers

The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) is the largest police union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. It represents about 24,000 of the department's 36,000 officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Police Department</span> Arizona Law enforcement agency

The Phoenix Police Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for the city of Phoenix, Arizona. As of October 2021, the Phoenix Police Department comprises just under 2,800 officers, some 350 below authorized strength of 3,125 and more than 1,000 support personnel. The department serves a population of more than 1.6 million and patrol almost 516 square miles (1,340 km2) of the fifth largest city in the United States. Phoenix has one of the highest rates of police killings in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organization of the New York City Police Department</span> Law enforcement command structure

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is structured into numerous bureaus and units. As a whole, the NYPD is headed by the Police Commissioner, a civilian administrator appointed by the Mayor, with the senior sworn uniformed officer of the service titled "Chief of Department". The Police Commissioner appoints the First Deputy Commissioner as the department's second-in-command and the Chief of Department as the department's highest ranking uniformed officer. The commissioner also appoints a number of deputy and assistant commissioners who do not have operational command and are solely for support and administrative function. The department is divided into twenty bureaus, six of which are enforcement bureaus. Each enforcement bureau is further subdivided into sections, divisions, and units, and into patrol boroughs, precincts, and detective squads. Each bureau is commanded by a bureau chief. There are also a number of specialized units that are not part of any of the bureaus and report to the Chief of the Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the New York City Police Department</span>

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) originates in the Government of New York City attempts to control rising crime in early- to mid-19th-century New York City. The City's reforms created a full-time professional police force modeled upon London's Metropolitan Police, itself only formed in 1829. Established in 1845, the Municipal Police replaced the inadequate night watch system which had been in place since the 17th century, when the city was founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam.

The New York City Police Department presents medals to its members for meritorious service. The medals the NYPD awards are as follows :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct</span> Overview of misconduct and corruption in the NYPD

Throughout the history of the New York City Police Department, numerous instances of corruption, misconduct, and other allegations of such, have occurred. Over 12,000 cases have resulted in lawsuit settlements totaling over $400 million during a five-year period ending in 2014. In 2019, taxpayers funded $68,688,423 as the cost of misconduct lawsuits, a 76 percent increase over the previous year, including about $10 million paid out to two exonerated individuals who had been falsely convicted and imprisoned.

Adrian Schoolcraft is a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who secretly recorded police conversations from 2008 to 2009. He brought these tapes to NYPD investigators in October 2009 as evidence of corruption and wrongdoing within the department. The tapes were used as evidence of arrest quotas leading to police abuses such as wrongful arrests, and that emphasis on fighting crime sometimes resulted in under-reporting of crimes to artificially deflate CompStat numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Academy</span>

The New York City Police Academy is the police academy of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Estavillo</span> Retired Puerto Rican NYPD police officer

NYPD Chief of Patrol Nicholas Estavillo (Ret.), is a former member of the New York Police Department who in 2002 became the first Puerto Rican and the first Hispanic in the history of the NYPD to reach the three-star rank of Chief of Patrol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keechant Sewell</span> American police officer

Keechant L. Sewell is an American former police officer and administrator who served as the 45th New York City Police Commissioner, the first woman and third black person to serve in the position. On June 12, 2023, Sewell announced that she was stepping down as commissioner. No reason was given for her departure. On November 2, 2023, the New York Mets announced that Sewell would become their senior Vice President of security and guest experience.

References

Explanatory notes

  1. The brothers, who established their partnership in 1901, and were better known for their elegant Long Island and Newport residences, were the sons of Richard Morris Hunt.

Citations

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Dobnik, Verenea (December 28, 2001). "New York Police Museum will Memorialize Sept. 11". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  3. Dobnik, Verena (December 27, 2001). "Police Museum Opens Blocks from World Trade Center site". Associated Press. Retrieved June 11, 2008.[ dead link ]
  4. 1 2 "Brief History of the New York City Police Museum". New York Daily News. April 22, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Flynn, Kevin (January 23, 2000). "New York's 'Finest': A Burnished History; Police Museum's Unabashed Mission Is to Back Up a Nickname". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  6. Hoch, Bryan (February 11, 2021). "NYPD & Tiffany: The story behind Yanks' logo". MLB.com. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  7. Chang, Richard S. (September 10, 2010). "Answering the Siren's Call in a '71 Plymouth". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  8. Kugel, Seth (February 4, 2007). "Loitering in the Halls of Justice". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  9. 1 2 Worth, Robert F. (December 26, 2001). "On Display, Once Again, Artifacts of Police Past". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  10. Richardson, Clem (September 9, 2002). "9/11 Display Stands Out". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  11. Meistersinger, Toby von (June 21, 2008). "Car 54 Where Are You? Try the NYC Police Museum Car Show". Gothamist. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  12. 1 2 Guariglia, Matthew (May 22, 2019). "Perspective | What the loss of the New York police museum means for criminal-justice reform". Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Blair, Jayson (January 20, 2000). "City Police Museum Opens Downtown". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Marzulli, John (January 20, 2000). "Finest Show in Town". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Dunlap, David W. (July 31, 2001). "Old Station House Returns to Police Duty; Headquarters of First Precinct Until 1973 Will House the Police Museum". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  16. Landmarks Preservation Commission: First Precinct Police station, 20 September 1977 Accessed December 2, 2008.
  17. "First Precinct Building". New York Architectural Images.
  18. "Police Museum Opens Blocks from World Trade Center". Fox News. Associated Press. December 26, 2001. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  19. Gregory, Kia (October 23, 2014). "Its Home Still Awaiting Repairs, New York City Police Museum Is Packing Up Once Again". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  20. "New York City Police Museum Opens on Governor's Island" (PDF) (Press release). July 10, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  21. 1 2 Rashbaum, William K. (April 21, 2001). "Police Museum Has Its Staff Overhauled". The New York Times.