An old-school gold and black Manhattan Beekman Street street sign is mounted in front of a fire engine belonging to the Engine 6 firehouse in lower Manhattan. Such signs were used between 1964 and the mid-1980s.
The company was reorganized in 1846 as “Americus” and elected William “Boss” Tweed of Tammany Hall as its first foreman. By this time Engine No. 6 was popularly known as “Tiger” due to a tiger’s head painted as part of the decoration on the back of the engine. Thomas Nast later used the tiger in his political cartoons as a symbol for Tammany Hall. The company also adopted the tiger as its symbol.
The firehouse is located at 49 Beekman Street.
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