14th Regiment Armory

1402 8th Avenue | also 361 15th Street | Park Slope | built 1895

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The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1893

    Cost overruns more than double the armory's budget and lawsuits halt work for nearly a year

    Kings County appropriated $300,000 for the armory, but the lowest bids ran $40,000 over. In early 1892 the Armory Commission asked for another $100,000, drawing criticism from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the New York Times, and in 1893 asked for $200,000 more. Public outrage led to lawsuits over whether counties could issue bonds for armories, suspending work for nearly a year. The total came to $650,000.

    “…the total expenditure by the county for the site and construction of the Fourteenth Regiment Armory, including the architect's fee, was $650,000, more than twice the amount originally budgeted…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1894

    December 6

    Cornerstone carrying a Gettysburg battlefield stone is laid

    The armory's cornerstone was laid in a ceremony on December 6, 1894. Its inscription is a line in which a veteran says he saw all of it and was part of some of it, and the stone was presented by the Fourteenth Regiment War Veterans. The stone itself came from the battlefield of Gettysburg, where the regiment had fought in the Civil War.

    “The cornerstone was finally laid during a ceremony on December 6, 1894. This stone, from the battlefield of Gettysburg, presented by the Fourteenth Regiment War Veterans.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1895

    August 27

    The Fourteenth Regiment marches from its old North Portland Avenue armory into the new building

    Construction finished on August 15, 1895, and the regiment formally took possession twelve days later. The soldiers marched through the streets of Brooklyn from their previous home, the Gothic-style State Arsenal at North Portland Avenue and Auburn Place, which they had occupied since 1877-78.

    “The building was completed on August 15, 1895, and the regiment took formal possession of the armory on August 27, marching through the streets of Brooklyn…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1895

    William A. Mundell designs a castle-style armory with a 100-foot bartizan tower

    Brooklyn architect William A. Mundell designed the armory in the castellated style, with a red-brick administration building on Eighth Avenue and a barrel-vaulted drill shed behind it. The facade is anchored by asymmetrical towers, the taller four stories and 100 feet high with a corner bartizan, on a base of rough Warsaw bluestone. The Landmarks Preservation Commission calls it one of the city's finest armories.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1922

    Gold Star families' bronze Doughboy memorial is installed in front of the armory

    A bronze World War I Doughboy statue stands before the Eighth Avenue entrance, dedicated to 360 soldiers of the 14th Regiment who died in the war. Gold Star families donated it in 1921, and it was installed in 1922. A granite pedestal bears the dedication, and the monument was restored in 1996.

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 1955

    Brooklyn Dodgers use the armory for training when their usual grounds are too wet

    Besides housing the 14th Regiment, the armory was used for Brooklyn Dodgers training in 1955 and 1956. The team came when its regular practice grounds were too wet for training.

    “…the Armory had previously been used for training the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955-1956 when their regular practice grounds were too wet for training.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 1986

    March

    Part of the armory opens as a 70-bed women's shelter amid neighborhood worry

    A 70-bed shelter for homeless women opened in part of the armory in March 1986, one of twenty planned under Mayor Ed Koch to house 7,000 people. Many Park Slope residents feared that it would bring more crime. By year's end, the Times found no significant rise in crime around it and no incidents between the women and the schoolchildren of nearby PS 107.

    Source: Wikipedia

  8. 1998

    April 14

    Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the armory a city landmark

    The Commission designated the armory on April 14, 1998, after a hearing in September 1997 at which ten witnesses spoke in favor and none against. Its report described the building as one of the most architecturally distinguished National Guard armories in the city. It called the armory an outstanding example of a late nineteenth-century National Guard armory in New York City.

    “The building remains largely intact and survives as one of the finest, most architecturally distinguished National Guard armories in New York City.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  9. 2010

    Prospect Park YMCA opens a sports complex inside the armory

    After a major renovation in 2007, a sports complex run by the Prospect Park YMCA opened inside the armory in 2010. The building also hosts a veterans' museum, and a large part still serves as a women's shelter operated by CAMBA. The drill room's gymnasium floor covers 70,000 square feet.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 22 buildings with stories in Park Slope