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New York City Police Museum
USINFO | 2013-05-31 15:53
The New York City Police Museum (NYCPM) celebrates the history and contributions of the New York City Police Department, established in 1845. The museum is located in Lower Manhattan in New York City, near Wall Street and the South Street Seaport. While one of the museum's primary focuses is a memorial to September 11th, the museum contains a wide range of information on the history of the NYPD. The museum, which grew from a gallery housed at the New York City Police Academy, opened at 26 Broadway at Bowling Green in January 2000 and re-opened in a new location at 100 Old Slip, former home of the First Precinct, in January 2002.
It also allows visitors to simulate a police firefight, and judges whether or not the shooting was correct, allowing civilians to have some understanding of situations that police face and provide them with a better understanding of the work of police officers than that provided by the media. Its exhibits are not without controversy, and city historians have accused the museum of omitting coverage of more controversial aspects of NYPD history.
On February 16, 1998, plans for a police museum were unveiled when then-Police Commissioner Howard Safir and the Alliance for Downtown New York (the local Business improvement district) made $5 million available for the museum in return for a new police substation in Lower Manhattan. Funding for the museum was criticized and classified by some as the buying of police protection for a given area at the expense of another that could not afford to broker a similar deal. As a result, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani cancelled the funding for the museum two days later. In March of the same year, the New York City Police Museum non-profit corporation was created, and in April 1999, the museum opened, although the official unveiling was not held until January 19, 2000.
It also allows visitors to simulate a police firefight, and judges whether or not the shooting was correct, allowing civilians to have some understanding of situations that police face and provide them with a better understanding of the work of police officers than that provided by the media. Its exhibits are not without controversy, and city historians have accused the museum of omitting coverage of more controversial aspects of NYPD history.
On February 16, 1998, plans for a police museum were unveiled when then-Police Commissioner Howard Safir and the Alliance for Downtown New York (the local Business improvement district) made $5 million available for the museum in return for a new police substation in Lower Manhattan. Funding for the museum was criticized and classified by some as the buying of police protection for a given area at the expense of another that could not afford to broker a similar deal. As a result, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani cancelled the funding for the museum two days later. In March of the same year, the New York City Police Museum non-profit corporation was created, and in April 1999, the museum opened, although the official unveiling was not held until January 19, 2000.
