Bronx County Jail
Description
Later known as the Bronx House of Detention for Men, the Bronx County Jail was constructed during the 1930s, a project aided by federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. NY 9050X). Located at East 151st St. and River[a] Ave., the building was designed Joseph H. Freedlander and constructed at an estimated cost of $1,418,529.
The building was (“substantially”) finished on November 20, 1937. According to a PWA architect’s survey, the eight-to-nine-story, 248-foot-long enamel-white brick structure was “of such ornate design that it is readily mistaken for an office structure.”
The building contained 243 cells, “of which 21 are for women.” The building frame consisted of structural steel with floors of reinforced concrete. Furthermore, the building contained the “most modern laundry and kitchen facilities providable.”
The jail resided in the shadow of the old Yankee Stadium and operated until 2000. The building served as a homeless shelter in 2002 (NY1), and was later torn down in the 2000s to make way for the Bronx Terminal Market shopping center.
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“The windows form vertical bars on the exterior view of the Bronx County Jail New York City. This building was constructed by PWA.”
Exterior view of the Bronx County Jail
"The windows form vertical bars on the exterior view of the Bronx County Jail New York City. This building was constructed by PWA."
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Exterior view of the Bronx County Jail verso
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Bronx County Jail
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Bronx County Jail
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Bronx County Jail
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Bronx House of Detention, main facade
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Bronx House of Detention, rear facade with additions
Source notes
http://www.ny1.com/content/news/23601/jail-in-the-bronx-reopened-as-homeless-shelter National Archives Record Group 135-SAR: Prints: Photographs rejected for use in the Photographic Report to the President: “Survey of the Architecture of Completed Projects of the PWA, 1939”; Box 14: New York State; Folder 8: Penal Institutions.
Project originally submitted by Evan Kalish on July 31, 2014.
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