NYPD 18th. Precinct (Midtown North) (New York City, New York)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / New York City, New York / West 54th Street, 306
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4-story Art-Deco police station completed in 1938. Designed by Byron P. Wilson, the Midtown North Precinct command serves the area of Midtown Manhattan. The Precinct includes some of the most visited tourist sites, The Diamond District, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Theatre District, Restaurant Row, Radio City Music Hall, and Rockefeller Plaza. The west side of the command is comprised of a residential area.

The building's main facade is clad in limestone with a grey granite water table. The front facade is symmetrical, seven bays wide, with entrance at both ends, each with green metal double-doors below a green metal panel with the building address (306) in metal numerals. The doors are recessed between ridged moldings, up short sets of granite steps that break the water table. Flanking the steps are short granite bases for Art-Deco styled grey metal posts for lanterns, with green glass panels at the light fixtures. Above the entrances are carved limestone panels with the seal of New York flanked by geometric designs. There are five 2-over-1 windows in the middle bays, set in slightly-recessed moldings at the ground floor; a recessed panel above the middle bay holds a projecting flagpole, with metal lettering on the left reading "MIDTOWN NORTH" and on the right "PRECINCT".

The upper floors have 2-over-1 windows in each bay, and the piers between the middle bays are fluted. There are fluted, silver metal spandrel panels between floors in the middle bays, and the end bays have stone spandrels with square with foliate carvings in the center, bordered by a zig-zag pattern at the edges. There is a broad stone band across the top of the facade, with the words "POLICE DEPARTMENT - CITY OF NEW YORK" carved into the center.

The side elevations are clad in beige brick behind the limestone front, with two bays of single-windows near the front, and another farther back; some of the window openings on the west side have been bricked-in. A narrower 3-story wing extends back into the middle of the lot, and there is a 2-story garage building behind that.

www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/precincts/precinct_018.shtml
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Coordinates:   40°45'53"N   73°59'6"W
This article was last modified 7 years ago