One of only two buildings in Central Park constructed when the park was just a gleam in city officials’ eyes (the other is this stone fort), the Arsenal opened in 1851 as a state-run storage place for munitions.
“It was considered at the time to be an ideally strategic position to deploy troops to the city, or to either shoreline,” notes centralpark.org.
And in the ensuing 168 years (above, in 1862), this structure designed to resemble a Medieval castle on Fifth Avenue and 64th Street has been repurposed to serve a variety of city needs.
First, in 1857, it was purchased from the state by park administrators and used as an office and police precinct.
In the 1860s, after many New Yorkers began dropping off exotic animals in the new Central Park, the Arsenal became the temporary menagerie, which was never part of the park’s original plan but proved to be a hugely popular attraction.
By the 1870s, it housed the Museum of Natural History, whose quarters were under construction across the park. It was also home to the studio were a British artist created models of dinosaur bones.
An art gallery and weather station followed—the city’s weather instruments recorded the official temperature from the top of the Arsenal.
An Arsenal restaurant (right) appeared in the early 20th century. By the 1920s, the building was falling apart, and after an overhaul reopened as offices for the Parks Department.
By the 1980s, the Arsenal assumed the role it still plays today: “as a gallery and space for public forums related to Parks’ mission and may be reserved for private and public functions,” states the Parks Department website.
It stands guard on the east side of Central Park, its Ivy gone, a testament to a changing city.
[Top two images: NYPL Digital Gallery]
Tags: Armory New York City, Arsenal New York City, Arsenal old photos, Central Park Arsenal, Central Park Menagerie, Central Park Zoo, NY State Militia
Ephemeral New York 
January 19, 2015 at 5:26 pm |
Thank you for posting these photos and illustrations. The 19th century armories and other military buildings in New York City are architecturally and historically structures and its good to know that many of them have been repurposed for peaceful purposes.
January 20, 2015 at 5:26 pm |
The Parks Dept. offices are still in the Arsenal. Even the turrets on the roof are offices. There is no cover to get back to the main part of the building so if it is raining you need to use an umbrella to avoid getting documents etc. wet.
January 25, 2015 at 12:37 pm |
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November 14, 2022 at 1:59 am |
[…] dating to 1814 harken back to a sparsely settled Manhattan. At the southeastern end is a former arsenal-turned-office space completed in 1851. On the western side near 79th Street is a circa-1872 miniature castle with the […]