Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters
365 Jay Street | Downtown Brooklyn | built 1892
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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.
- 1891
Brooklyn buys a lot from 'Boss' McLaughlin and, after a dispute, picks Frank Freeman to design a new fire headquarters
In November 1890 Mayor Alfred C. Chapin agreed to buy the Jay Street plot from Democratic leader Hugh 'Boss' McLaughlin for $15,000. Fire commissioner John Ennis favored a McLaughlin protege as architect while works commissioner John P. Adams preferred another firm. The choice settled on Frank Freeman, who had just finished the Kings County Democrats' Thomas Jefferson Association Building, and the city approved his plans on March 23, 1891.
“Chapin agreed to buy a plot of land at 365 Jay Street ... from local Democratic Party leader Hugh "Boss" McLaughlin for $15,000.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1892
Freeman's red-granite headquarters rises with a seven-story watchtower topped by a gilded eagle
The five-story main building and the adjacent watchtower share a 50-foot frontage on Jay Street, and the tower rises 126 feet. The street-level facade is largely red Jonesboro granite trimmed with Lake Superior sandstone, with a recessed 16-foot arch for the fire engines. The tower was originally topped by a flagpole and a huge gilded eagle with outstretched wings.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1894
The fire department finally moves into headquarters that sat unoccupied for a year amid a corruption probe
The building was finished in late 1892 at a cost of $150,000 but stood unoccupied for another year. Brooklyn officials were already probing the building's costly telegraph system as part of a broader investigation of corruption in the fire department. The department began moving in on March 15, 1894.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1898
Consolidation moves the fire headquarters to Manhattan, and the building becomes a neighborhood firehouse
The building served as Brooklyn's fire headquarters only until 1898, when Brooklyn was consolidated with Manhattan and the headquarters moved to Manhattan. The landmark report notes it kept operating as a firehouse, its original purpose.
- 1929
Rescue 2, the unit that rescues other firefighters, makes the firehouse its home
The newly created Rescue 2 company made the Jay Street firehouse its home in 1929 and stayed until 1946. Rescue units were called in to save firefighters themselves and took on the most dangerous jobs. During the 1930s the house was also shared with Searchlight 2, a special emergency unit whose Packard carried powerful searchlights, something fire engines did not carry themselves until much later.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 1966
The new Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Jay Street firehouse a landmark
After a February 8, 1966 hearing, where one speaker favored designation and none opposed, the commission named the fire headquarters a landmark. Fire Commissioner Robert O. Lowery wrote to recommend it. The commission called it architecturally one of the finest buildings in Brooklyn.
“In a letter to the Commission, Fire Commissioner Robert O. Lowery recommended designation.”
- 1975
A state legislator makes the high bid of $55,000 at the firehouse auction, but the city won't take his money
After the fire department left, the city auctioned the building in January 1975, open only to nonprofit educational institutions. Poly Tech had bid $15,000, but state legislator Vito P. Battista bid $55,000 to move his Institute of Design and Construction there. The city, wanting Poly Tech to have it, refused any payment beyond his $11,000 deposit and later leased the building to Poly Tech for 50 years.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1987
Developing MetroTech, the city turns the firehouse into housing for people displaced nearby
The Board of Estimate approved the MetroTech complex in July 1987 on condition that its developers add 46 apartments for low-income and elderly residents, and the city planned 18 more in the firehouse. Supporters said the conversion would pay for restoring the dilapidated facade, while opponents said it would wreck the building's integrity. The board overruled the objections, and the conversion began in 1989.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
The Pratt Area Community Council buys the firehouse for $1 and restores its facade
In 2013 the nonprofit Pratt Area Community Council purchased the building for $1, and renovation started that August. Twelve residents had lived in it for twenty years, and it suffered from rats, a deteriorated roof, and a broken elevator and heating. The restoration with developer MDG returned the facade to its original design by November 2014, and the whole project finished in 2015.
“PACC bought the building in 2013 for a nominal fee of $1, and work began that August. At the time, twelve of the building's residents had lived there for two decades.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Old Brooklyn Fire HeadquartersWikipedia
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