83rd Precinct Police Station and Stable

179 Wilson Avenue | Bushwick | built 1892

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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. 1894

    Fall

    Brooklyn announces a new 20th Precinct station house and stable for Bushwick

    In the fall of 1894 the Brooklyn Eagle reported that the city was preparing to build a new station and stable for the 20th Precinct at DeKalb and Hamburg Avenue, the name Wilson Avenue then carried. The precinct patrolled part of fast-growing Bushwick, which the papers of the day described as rife with crime, including frequent raids on liquor distributors, saloons and policy rooms. The city wanted a large, imposing building.

    Source: brownstoner.com

  2. 1895

    September

    Commissioner Welles hands Captain Dunn the key to the new station and teases him about staying clean

    Mayor Charles A. Schieren and Police Commissioner Leonard R. Welles attended the opening of the 20th Precinct station in September 1895, along with inspectors and captains in bright uniforms. Handing the key to Captain Dunn, Welles told him to keep it as clean as his record and said he hoped Dunn would keep himself as clean as the station house. Dunn blushed like a schoolboy, the Brooklyn Citizen reported.

    “Police Commissioner Welles, in presenting the key of the new station house to Captain Dunn, teasingly addressed him…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1895

    William B. Tubby builds the station as a Romanesque Revival fortress of red, yellow and ochre brick

    A corner tower dominates the three-story brick building; a clock in the tower once faced today's Wilson Avenue and could be seen from a considerable distance. The limestone entrance portico has four columns, and the center of its frieze holds Brooklyn's city seal and a Dutch motto, Eendraght Maakt Magt, which translates as Unity Makes Might. A one-story cell block links the station to a small stable, whose rear courtyard was used for airing the police horses.

    “The most prominent feature of the 83rd Precinct Police Station is its corner tower which effectively dominates the three-story brick building.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1898

    Consolidation makes the station the 64th Precinct headquarters, and it becomes the 83rd in 1929

    When Brooklyn joined Greater New York in 1898, its police system was merged with Manhattan's and the other boroughs' into a single department, and the precincts were renumbered. The station became the headquarters of the 64th Precinct. It kept that number until 1929, when the precincts were renumbered again and it became the 83rd Precinct station house.

    “…the police precincts were renumbered and the 20th Precinct Station became the headquarters of the 64th Precinct. It remained the 64th until 1929…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1977

    March 8

    The city designates the 83rd Precinct station and stable a landmark

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission held its public hearing on January 11, 1977, where two witnesses spoke in favor of designation and none against. It designated the station house and its connecting stable on March 8, 1977. The report notes that Wilson Avenue, originally Hamburg Avenue, had been renamed in 1919 for President Woodrow Wilson.

    “Two witnesses spoke In favor of designation. There were no speakers In opposition to designation.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1983

    The 83rd Precinct moves out of the station to a new headquarters on Knickerbocker Avenue

    The 83rd Precinct used the building until 1983, then relocated to a newly built headquarters at 480 Knickerbocker Avenue. A 2013 Brownstoner account says the old station was by then home to the Brooklyn North Task Force. The building is an individual landmark designated in 1977 and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982.

    Source: brownstoner.com

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