120th Police Precinct Station House

78 Richmond Terrace | St. George | built 1922

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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. 1920

    April

    The police department plans a model station house to replace Staten Island's run-down precincts

    Police Commissioner Enright found all four Staten Island station houses in poor shape, so the department chose to merge the Stapleton and West New Brighton precincts into a new building at Richmond Terrace and Wall Street. It would be the island's police headquarters, house 200 officers and hold prisoners who had been shipped to Manhattan, with a Women's Ward of seven cells, rooms for three matrons and space for lost children. James Whitford Sr. got the commission in April 1920.

    “…the department decided to merge the 66th Precinct in Stapleton with the 65th Precinct in West New Brighton and erect a "model station house…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1922

    James Whitford Sr. builds the station as a Renaissance palace in limestone-look terra cotta

    Whitford, born in Port Richmond in 1871 and credited with about 2,000 buildings, was known as the dean of Staten Island architects. His first plans called for four stories faced in Indiana limestone, but the building put up in 1922-23 has three stories clad in terra cotta made to resemble limestone. He modeled it on an Italian Renaissance palace so it would sit in harmony with Carrere & Hastings' Richmond County Courthouse.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1923

    November 8

    The new 66th Precinct station opens with a parade and speeches

    The station house opened on November 8, 1923, with a parade and speeches by Police Commissioner Richard Enright and Borough President John A. Lynch. In 1929, when the city renumbered every precinct so the number would reveal the location, the 66th became the 120th. When the building was designated in 2000, old lettering for the 66th Precinct was still visible, partly covered by a sign frame at the north entrance.

    “The opening of the new police station on November 8, 1923, was marked by a parade and by addresses by Borough President John A. Lynch…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 2000

    June 27

    The station house becomes a city landmark despite a state senator's objection

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building on June 27, 2000. At the February hearing, speakers from the Police Department itself, the Preservation League of Staten Island and the Historic Districts Council backed the designation, while State Senator Elizabeth A. Connelly wrote in opposition. The building was still working as the 120th Precinct station house at the time.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 47 buildings with stories in St. George