Hidden treasures, in plain sight

Have you ever turned a corner and been taken aback by something which seems completely out of place?  It could be a building, a monument, or anything at all that makes you stop and say, "woah!  What is that?"

It's one of my favourite feelings.  You feel like you must be the only person who sees that this thing is there.  You have to be-- why isn't anyone else freaking out?!  You immediately start to wonder what its purpose is, or was, who created it, and the stories it would tell you, if only it could.

Of course, you're not the only person who knows it's there.  Everyone else is perfectly aware of its existence and would really prefer that you stop gaping in the middle of the sidewalk and get out of their way.  But try telling me that in this moment.

One of the first times I had this experience in NYC was outside the old police headquarters building.  I had only been here a little while, and was out wandering the streets of Soho, when suddenly I turned onto a new block and bam:

One minute you're on a normal street and the next this is towering ahead of you.  I challenge you not to immediately feel excited and inspired when this happens.  So, as an homage of one of the first moments in my love story with urban history, here's a little bit about the old police headquarters building:

(more photos after the jump!)

This gem can be found at 240 Center street, between Broome and Grand streets.  It's in that kind of Soho/Nolita/Little Italy kind of grey area, although when it was built, Little Italy was the dominating force in the neighbourhood.

There had already been a headquarters building, nearby on Mulberry street, where Teddy Roosevelt had transformed the department as Police Commissioner.  After the consolidation in 1898 of the independent cities which now make up the five boroughs into one "Greater New York," a larger police force with an appropriate building was necessary.  Construction began in 1905.  It was completed in 1909, and the cornerstone was laid by Roosevelt himself.



The building was the headquarters of the NYPD from 1909 until 1973, when they moved to the newly-built One Police Plaza, downtown.  It was listed as a New York City landmark in 1978, and earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.  In 1988, it was converted into luxury apartments, as almost everything cool in this town is.  Can you imagine coming home to this?

Home is beckoning!

Photo credits:  1, 2, 3, 4.