The Arsenal AKA The Office (& The Beatnuts)

This is just a random amount of information I found about the building I work in. I love walking into the park and entering up the stairs everyday and I wanted to know more. Thank god for brochures!! Now I can always remember how kickass my job really is!

The Arsenal and the Menagerie, c. 1870

Located at 64^th Street and Fifth Avenue in Central park, the Arsenal is home to the City of New York/Parks & Recreation, the Central Park Administrator, the City Parks Foundation, the Historic House Trust, the New York Wildlife Conservation Society, the Parks Library, and the Arsenal Gallery.

The Arsenal is one of two buildings within the park’s borders which predate the park itself (the other is a blockhouse at the north end dating from the War of 1812). It was built between 1847 and 1851 by the State of New York as a storage repository for munitions; the previous state arsenal had been located in Madison Square Park. The project’s funding was overseen by state comptroller Millard Fillmore, who later became President of the United States.

Designed by architect Martin E. Thompson, the crenellated structure, originally stuccoed, and marked by a crenulated cornice, resembles a medieval fortress. Its doorway is guarded by cast-iron eagle made by Daniel Meeker Foundry of Newark, New Jersey.

The building’s military use proved shortlived. Between 1853 and 1856, the State seized the land under it for a public park. In 1957 the City purchased the Arsenal for $275,00.00, removed all arms, and established park administrative functions on the premises. Certain park advocates and urban observers felt this structure was a blight on the landscape, most notably diarist Geroge Templeton Strong who in 1859 referred to the “hideous State Arsenal Building,” and hoped “this eyesore…[would] soon be destroyed by accidental fire.”

The Arsenal, 1864. Photo by: W.H. Guild Jr.

This was not to be, and over the ensuing decades the building served diverse roles. In 1857 the 11^th police precinct was stationed there. The newly created American Museum of Natural History took up residence at the Arsenal from 1869 to 1877, before its current home was built on Central Park West. Exhibits were installed on the second and third floors. Also at this time, B. Waterhouse Hawkins, an eminent British paleontologist, spent time reconstructing the skeletal remains of dinosaurs in a special studio established at the Arsenal.

Beginning in 1859, a burgeoning menagerie was located in and around the Arsenal. Gifts or loans of animals by the likes of impresario P. T. Barnum, financier August Belmont and Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman could be seen in outdoor cages and in the basement of the building. The "great insecurity and danger" of this arrangement, as well as the stench, resulted in the removal of the interior cages by 1871.

A Gallery of Art, later relocated to the former Convent of Mount St. Vincent at the park's north end, graced the first floor space. Prior to moving to the park's Belvedere Castle, the Municipal Weather Bureau's instruments were atop the Arsenal roof from 1869 to 1918.

Various designs for remodeling the Arsenal emerged over time. Jacob Wrey Mould, the Architect responsible for much of the ornamental detail at Bethesda Terrace and elsewhere in the park, remodeled the Arsenal interior in 1870. An Arsenal restaurant existed early in the 20th century; plans for its renovation appear in an official parks report of 1916. Also in that year the Parks Department considered demolishing the building altogether and relocating the weather bureau and police station to the Belvedere and Sheepfold (later Tavern on the Green) respectively.

The Arsenal, Paleontological Studio at Central Park Museum, c.1868.

From 1914 to 1924 the Manhattan Parks Department operated out of the newly built Municipal Building in Lower Manhattan. During this period the Arsenal deteriorated to such an extent that in 1922 a headline in the New York Times read: "Parks Arsenal a Near Ruin." The paper went on to report that this neglected landmark had a leaking roof, broken windows, and missing brickwork among other structural defects.

At that time the City appropriated $75,000 for an overhaul of the Arsenal, including new central turrets and a clock, basement storage for "trees, plant and shrubs," and a conference room for park researchers (later a library).

Most of the space was set aside for Parks Department offices. During reconstruction an underground spring and a secret passage were discovered (the latter possibly from the building's days as an arsenal, for the undercover transfer of arms). The restoration was completed in 1924.

Allen Saalburg painting murals in the Arsenal Lobby, Central Park,
(southeast corner, east wall), 1936.

Having served off and on as the borough park offices, the Arsenal underwent another complete renovation in 1934 as the first and only headquarters of a citywide unified Parks Department. From his command posts at the Arsenal and at Randall's Island, Commissioner Robert Moses set about directing an unprecedented expansion of the parks system and the modernization of New York City's public facilities. By the time he had left office in 1960, total parks acreage had tripled, and the number of city playgrounds increased from 119 to 777.

In 1935-36 the Arsenal lobby murals were painted under the direction of Allen Saalburg. Saalburg researched images of old New York with particular relevance to city parks, and amplified on his studies in a series of scenes depicting recreational activities, notable park structures, and flagship parks.

The project was funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration. Also at this time, a new entryway was designed for the front of the Arsenal, including military drums over the doorway, and cast-iron musket replicas as supports for the banisters.

Bird's-eye view of the Arsenal, 1962

Over time the Arsenal has become a parks fixture, appearing on occasion in fictional feature films. In 1967 the Arsenal was designated an official New York City Landmark. The bronze eagles which presently flank the third floor entrance and conference room arrived in 1981; they were secured after repeated acts of vandalism necessitated their removal in 1962 from the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn.

Since the early 1980s, the central chamber on the third floor of the building has been used as a gallery and space for public forums. Eight to ten exhibitions of fine arts and photography are mounted annually, and preference is given to shows concerned with the natural environment, urban issues and parks history. The gallery may be reserved for private and public functions.

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The Beatnuts are a hip hop crew from Queens, New York. I remember listening to them years and years ago because I had tape of this random group that had been handed out back in the early 1990’s. I believe I was in 8^th grade at this point. I remember the name the Beatnuts and believe that tape is still in my father’s house back in Virginia.

Anyway, I have fallen back in love with this Latino Hip Hop Group. I have been listening to their album Street Level and suggest it to whoever might be reading this!

These guys actually produced an album for Common and Chi-Ali and were praised highly for their work. I am not one for Hip hop but I have always loved Common and The Beatnuts. They just make sense. The Beatnuts yall!!