The old fortress was designed by Emil Gruwe and completed in 1886. It was completed with stables out back to house the horses as well. After the 68th precinct was consolidated back in 1970, the house was closed. A fire nearly gutted the whole building about 20 years ago and it has been left to slowly decompose in front of all passers-by on the busy fourth avenue stretch. There have been plans to renovate the brick beast for quite some time, but as you’ll see none of them have come to fruition.
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As it Stands
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Stables
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No way out
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Interrogation
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Beamless
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Shambles
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You can see parts of the roof which had collapsed to the right.
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For a short time after the precinct closed in 1970, it served as a rec facility to the neighborhood youths. This was obviously short lived and it has been borded up since.
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Bedroom Decor
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Unfortunately, the floors were a total mess, having collapsed in on each other. Exploring any floor higher than the first would have been madness. Getting across from one side of the first floor to another was dangerous, with only single beams to crawl across on.
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Ethereal
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Brick’dup
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1971
Dust Exposure I
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Misty Eyed
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Dust Exposure II
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2nd floor
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Eastern exposure
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As I was taking this picture, a huge black cat came flying out of one of the walls. I almost broke my leg falling off the chair I was standing on. It was a definite sign that the place was getting tired of my presence.
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See no evil
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Turret
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On Guard
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Antiquitti
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This crumbling room once held the precinct’s morgue…
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No Escape
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Localized Artistics
LENS 
Madness and the Ethereal are usually pretty close.
Kind of looks like my apartment in college 🙂
One of your best posts! I have always told you that the small stories make the pics that much better. The single beam of light shining through into the rubble is perfect. The “Interrogation” pic is just great.
Looks like a good location for a horror movie…
It’s a shame,
NYC at it’s BEST ???
When I was around 10 years old I joined the PAL at this NYPD Station. It was a beautiful building. I was escorted to join the PAL by my older brother and a few kids from our block. Lo and behold there was our neighbor who lived a few doors away sitting at the desk. He was signing up the kids in front of the line. His last name was McDonaugh. My older sister was a good friend of Sgt. McDonaugh’s daughter. All the kids were surprised……….we never knew he was a policeman .
Fast forward 2013……………. allowing this building to fall into ruin is so shamefull. But that’s the leaders’ of this once great city fault. They rather use our tax dollars for thier own agenda !
NYC is the 51st State…………and that sucks !