A Curiosity

I was walking by the fine police station on Ericsson Place in Tribeca, admired its firm strong lines, thinking, "Ah, what a fine thing it must be to be a policeman and work at the First Precinct," when I cast my eyes further up the facade and thought, "Ah, what a fine thing it must be to be a policeman and work at the Fourth Precinct."

What's going on here? It's the First above the door and the Fourth at the second-floor level. I did some research and found this seven-year-old article about a 35-year-old scandal. Seems, back in 1973, so many members of the old First Precinct down at Old Slip in lower Manhattan were corrupt, the department transferred 97 out of 110 cops that worked there. The remainder went to Ericsson Place, once the Fourth Precinct, which was renamed the First Precinct.

The First Precinct is now the Police Museum. And the Fourth, well, doesn't exist anymore. In fact, according to the NYPD site, a lot of precincts don't exist anymore, including the Second, Third and Eighth.