FDNY - Engine 65

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4-story Beaux-Arts fire station completed in 1898. Designed by Hoppin & Koen, it is clad in Indiana limestone and buff-colored brick with terra-cotta trim. Clad in limestone, white Roman brick, and terra-cotta, the facade of the building is composed of a wide central bay and two narrower side bays. The ground floor is sheathed in limestone that has been painted. It features three openings: a wide, segmental-arched central opening with a roll-down wood-and-glass door; a rectangular window opening; and a rectangular doorway with a paneled wooden door and transom. Each of the side openings is surmounted by a bull's-eye window. Four scrolled brackets and a central cartouche with carved foliage and the building's address support a projecting limestone balcony at the 2nd floor; its freestanding balustrade is divided by paneled pedestals and a central panel bearing the words "ENGINE COMPANY" which is surmounted by the F.D.N.Y. shield.

The brick-faced 2nd floor features trebled windows with leaded-glass transoms separated by cream-colored terra-cotta mullions and transom bars. The ensemble is framed by paneled pilasters which support an entablature embellished with triglyphs and paterae. The side bays are edged with smooth limestone quoins and are surmounted by an entablature with a smooth frieze; a flagpole projects from the eastern frieze.

The 3rd floor also has trebled window openings; they are surmounted by semi-circular transoms with leaded glass and surrounded by an arcade of molded terra-cotta arches with prominent keystones, resting on paneled pilasters and fluted colonnettes. This ensemble is capped by roundels that bear the lettters "F-D-N-Y" and are united by garlands capped by paterae and torches. The arcade surmounts an elongated limestone pedestal which holds a bronze plaque. The side windows have stone sills and brick lintels with raised scroll keystones; they are surmounted by mirror-image bas-reliefs depicting fire-breathing dragons turning away in defeat.

Resting on a Greek key molding, the facade at the 4th floor contains trebled central windows with bundled laurel frames. Each side bay has a laurel-trimmed circle flanked by rectangles, all of which were intended to hold marble panels. A metal cornice with a foliate-embellished frieze spans the top of the facade and is capped by a metal screen with five posts.

"Midtown's Most Wanted"

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