Manhattan South Task Force Police Station | interesting place

 police station, interesting place

4-story police station completed in 1906. Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard as a kindergarten building, it continued to be occupied by various school and daycare organizations until 2016, when it was converted to a police station. The front facade is clad in red brick, set behind a wrought-iron fences at both ends; both sections of fence are framed by stone pedestals capped with spheres. Between the fences, a couple of low stone steps lead to the central entrance; the entry bay is projected forward from the rest of the facade, with double-doors set in a round-arch. There are two stone circles edged in brick above the ends of the arch, and the entry bay is capped by a dentiled stone cornice. To the right of the entrance is a square opening with a tripartite window with a stone sill and splayed brick lintel, and two basement windows. To the left, the matching opening has been filled in and replaced with a smaller window and metal door; the splayed brick lintel remains, however, and there is another metal door tucked to the right, against the projecting center bay. A stone cornice also caps the end bays of the ground floor.

The 2nd floor is also divided into three bays, with three round-arched windows in the end bays, and two round-arched windows in the middle. Two short, squat brick posts with stone bases and caps framed a small balcony created by the ground floor's center bay cornice; an ornate wrought-iron railing fronts the balcony. A stone band course caps the 2nd floor.

The top two floors each have five bays with wider windows in the middle bays that the outer ones. Each window has a stone sill and splayed brick lintel. The original roof cornice has been removed, leaving a grey concrete parapet; a tall flagpole rises from the roof.