LP-2668
Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau, Bronx Central Office – 1129 East 180th Street
ITEM PROPOSED FOR PUBLIC HEARING
An Italian Renaissance Revival-style civic building designed by Frank J. Helmle for the FDNY Fire Alarm Telegraph Bureau and built from 1913-1915.
As the citywide advocate for New York’s architectural, historical and cultural neighborhoods, HDC enthusiastically supports the designation of The Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau, Bronx Central Office as an Individual Landmark.
HDC is proud to have worked with the Van Nest-based East Bronx History Forum to submit the Request for Evaluation for the Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau to LPC as part of our 2022 Six to Celebrate program. The Forum identified the Bronx Fire Alarm Telegraph Station as a site of significance and preservation priority in Van Nest, alongside a host of other buildings in the neighborhood which we hope LPC will consider for designation in the near future. HDC and the East Bronx History forum have already submitted an RFE for the Stokely Carmichael House, and together we are at work on additional RFEs in the neighborhood.
The Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau was designed by Frank J. Helmle and completed in 1915. Its sister building, The Brooklyn Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau, was also designed by Helmle and is identical in appearance to the Bronx Fire Alarm Telegraph Station, but has enjoyed protection as an Individual New York City Landmark since 1966.
In its Designation Report for the Brooklyn Bureau, LPC praised the building’s architectural integrity and beauty. It is time for the Bronx Fire Alarm Telegraph Station to be given equal recognition, and designated as an individual landmark.
The Bronx and its buildings deserve the same consideration that the LPC has long given to other Boroughs across New York City, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Van Nest neighborhood, where the Bronx Fire Alarm and Telegraph Bureau stands, is home to just one individual landmark, and one of the lowest concentrations of landmarks per square mile in the city. The Bronx Fire Alarm Telegraph Station is a crucial addition to the city’s landmarks in a neighborhood that has been long underserved by the LPC.
This building has been deserving of landmark status since at least 1966, when its sister building was designated.