One Police Plaza
Encyclopedia
1 Police Plaza is the headquarters
of the New York City Police Department
(NYPD). 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row
in downtown Manhattan
near City Hall
and the Brooklyn Bridge
. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza. The Headquarters for the New York City Police Department was previously located at 240 Centre Street
approximately one mile North of 1 Police Plaza.
Like the Boston City Hall
, 1 Police Plaza is rectangular in plan and is an inverted pyramid
in elevation. It is a 13-level, horizontally-oriented brutalist
building designed by Gruzen and Partners in 1973. A 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) expansion project is slated to be complete by 2011.
Located on the eighth floor of 1 Police Plaza is the Real Time Crime Center
, an anti-crime computer network which is essentially a large search engine and data warehouse operated by detectives to assist officers in the field with their investigations.
The Major Case Squad and the Technical Assistance Response Unit
are also located at One Police Plaza.
, has been closed to civilian traffic since 2001; the NYPD asserts that it's necessary to protect its headquarters from a truck bomb attack. Chinatown residents are increasingly frustrated at the disruption caused by the closure of the vital thoroughfare, especially nearby residents. People who live nearby argue that the police department has placed a choke hold on an entire neighborhood and that if One Police Plaza is such an obvious terrorist target, perhaps it should be moved from a residential area. Members of the Civic Center Residents Coalition have been fighting the security perimeter around the building for years.
Paul J. Browne, the NYPDs chief spokesman, said police headquarters will not be moving despite the numerous complaints from residents. He said the department had tried to alleviate the impact of the security measures by stopping officers from parking in nearby public spaces and reopening a stairway that skirts the headquarters south side and leads down to street level near the Brooklyn Bridge. The department also plans to redesign its guard booths and security barriers to make them more attractive, and is involved in efforts to convert two lanes of Park Row into a pedestrian green-way. “The Police Department has worked hard to be responsive to the community while maintaining the requisite level of security for this sensitive location,” he said.
One Police Plaza was also a made for TV movie which aired in 1986. It was a crime drama that about a veteran policeman's investigation of a woman's murder which led him to the discovery of corruption in high places.
The Opening of each season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, ends with an image of the main characters walking outside the One Police Plaza building.
Inside One Police Plaza, a room on the second floor affectionately called "The Shack
" serves as the police bureau office for local press outlets. Its tenants include the Associated Press
, the Daily News, New York Post
, The New York Times
, Newsday
, Staten Island Advance
, El Diario La Prensa
, NY1 News, and WINS Radio
. Its police counterpart is on the 13th floor, the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI).
1PP is also known to insiders as "the Puzzle Palace", although this term can also refer to the National Security Agency
.
Inside 1PP is the "Fourteenth Floor", the NYPD's Commissioner's office.
Popular authors that feature the NYPD and NYC are: Joseph Wambaugh
, William J. Caunitz, Dan Mahoney, John Mackie, Edward Dee and Gabriel Cohen, etc.
The NYPD Property Clerk Office is located in Room 208.
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
(NYPD). 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row
Park Row (Manhattan)
Park Row is a street located in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was previously called Chatham Street and during the late 19th century it was nicknamed Newspaper Row, as most of New York City's newspapers located on the street to be close to the action at New...
in downtown Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
near City Hall
New York City Hall
New York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...
and the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza. The Headquarters for the New York City Police Department was previously located at 240 Centre Street
240 Centre Street
240 Centre Street, formerly the New York City Police Headquarters building, between Broome and Grand Streets in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1905-1909, and was designed by the firm of Hoppin & Koen...
approximately one mile North of 1 Police Plaza.
Description
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of Boston, Massachusetts. Architecturally, it is an example of the brutalist style. It was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles...
, 1 Police Plaza is rectangular in plan and is an inverted pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
in elevation. It is a 13-level, horizontally-oriented brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
building designed by Gruzen and Partners in 1973. A 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) expansion project is slated to be complete by 2011.
Located on the eighth floor of 1 Police Plaza is the Real Time Crime Center
Real Time Crime Center
The Real Time Crime Center is the first centralized technology center for the New York and Houston Police Departments. Its primary purpose is to give field officers and detectives instant and comprehensive information to help identify patterns and stop emerging crime...
, an anti-crime computer network which is essentially a large search engine and data warehouse operated by detectives to assist officers in the field with their investigations.
The Major Case Squad and the Technical Assistance Response Unit
Technical Assistance Response Unit
The Technical Assistance Response Unit is a unit of the New York City Police Department. TARU provides investigative technical equipment and tactical support to all bureaus within the department, in addition they also provide assistance to other City, State and Federal agencies. The unit also...
are also located at One Police Plaza.
Criticism
Park Row, historically a four-lane artery linking the financial district to ChinatownChinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
, has been closed to civilian traffic since 2001; the NYPD asserts that it's necessary to protect its headquarters from a truck bomb attack. Chinatown residents are increasingly frustrated at the disruption caused by the closure of the vital thoroughfare, especially nearby residents. People who live nearby argue that the police department has placed a choke hold on an entire neighborhood and that if One Police Plaza is such an obvious terrorist target, perhaps it should be moved from a residential area. Members of the Civic Center Residents Coalition have been fighting the security perimeter around the building for years.
Paul J. Browne, the NYPDs chief spokesman, said police headquarters will not be moving despite the numerous complaints from residents. He said the department had tried to alleviate the impact of the security measures by stopping officers from parking in nearby public spaces and reopening a stairway that skirts the headquarters south side and leads down to street level near the Brooklyn Bridge. The department also plans to redesign its guard booths and security barriers to make them more attractive, and is involved in efforts to convert two lanes of Park Row into a pedestrian green-way. “The Police Department has worked hard to be responsive to the community while maintaining the requisite level of security for this sensitive location,” he said.
Expansion of One Police Plaza
A 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) expansion of One Police Plaza is slated for completion in 2011. The project will not add any new floors to the building or any new employees to police headquarters, so the building’s impact will be minimal. The renovated building will have new computers and equipment. Angry Lower Manhattan residents held a rally on August 27, 2008 near One Police Plaza to protest the addition. Tenants of three neighboring co-ops filed a lawsuit to force the NYPD to undergo environmental and land use reviews.Other
The Opening of each season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, ends with an image of the main characters walking outside the One Police Plaza building.
Inside One Police Plaza, a room on the second floor affectionately called "The Shack
The Shack (journalism)
The Shack is the nickname used by reporters for the police beat in New York City. In most cities, such a bureau is nicknamed a "cop shop." It is named after a cramped office located inside the NYPD headquarters, where journalists report on crime stories....
" serves as the police bureau office for local press outlets. Its tenants include the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, the Daily News, New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, Staten Island Advance
Staten Island Advance
The Staten Island Advance is a daily newspaper published in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The only daily newspaper published in the borough, and the only borough to have its own major daily paper, it covers news of local and community interest, including borough politics. As of...
, El Diario La Prensa
El Diario La Prensa
El Diario la Prensa is the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in New York City, and the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States. Published by ImpreMedia, the paper covers local, national and international news with an emphasis on Latin America, as well as human-interest...
, NY1 News, and WINS Radio
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
. Its police counterpart is on the 13th floor, the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI).
1PP is also known to insiders as "the Puzzle Palace", although this term can also refer to the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
.
Inside 1PP is the "Fourteenth Floor", the NYPD's Commissioner's office.
Popular authors that feature the NYPD and NYC are: Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States...
, William J. Caunitz, Dan Mahoney, John Mackie, Edward Dee and Gabriel Cohen, etc.
The NYPD Property Clerk Office is located in Room 208.