There are still a number of 19th-Century firehouses scattered around town, exhibiting architectural styles popular in the years they were built. Engine 47, #500 West 113th Street off Amsterdam Avenue, was constructed in 1889 in Romanesque Revival by the firm of Napoleon LeBrun and Sons. It is a compact building with varying colors of brick and brownstone, differently-shaped windows, an intricate roof treatment, and the red paint job the FDNY gives most firehouses.
While firehouses built in later decades often have plaques indicating date of construction and officials at the time, the plaque at Engine 47 was constructed as part of the facade. I like the flat-topped 8’s–the sculptor probably found it easier to do them that way.
Henry Dillon Purroy (1848-1903) a Tammany Hall lawyer by trade, was elected president of the FDNY in 1885 by the Board of Fire Commissioners.
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10/1/18