Central Park Precinct Facelift

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Design and Construction Commissioner David Burney joined Tuesday to cut ribbon on the recently renovated Central Park Precinct station house, the national and New York City landmark that since 1936 has served as base for New York City's 22nd Precinct, which was redesignated "Central Park Precinct" in 1968.

"With the opening today of the beautifully restored Central Park Precinct Station, we have updated a police station that dates back to 1936," said Bloomberg. "The newly restored precinct gives officers in Central Park an expanded and modernized working environment and conserves many beautiful architectural elements that distinguish this 19th century building."

"The city's oldest precinct is now wired for the latest computer and communications technology, with new phones and computers and better heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It also has a new lobby and main desk, with additional space for officers to better serve the public," Kelly said. "It brings a 19th century station house into the 21st century."

The two-story station features an updated and expanded new lobby with a partially bullet-proof glass atrium; improved staging, arrest processing and interview rooms, mechanical ventilation and central air-conditioning. There is 2,300 more square feet of additional space than the previous station house provided.

"The restored precinct's lobby was originally a courtyard ? but is now enclosed with a lightweight metal canopy and self-supporting glass wall, which protects the space from the elements while maintaining its transparency," said Commissioner Burney.

Originally stables and sheds in 1871, the park complex was converted into a garage in 1915 and reconstructed and redesignated as a police station in 1936. Part of the complex underwent additional restoration in the 1950s after a fire damaged the structure. In 2002, uniformed and civilian personnel assigned to the Central Park Precinct relocated to a temporary building elsewhere on the site after deterioration, structural stress and roof leaks required a full renovation. The station house grounds make it the oldest Police Department building in the City.