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Night Court
The mere mention of the term
'Night Court' reminds me right away of that ancient old sitcom about
the wacky antics that took place in an NYC Night Court and the reprobates
that were either stuck working there or stuck there by the man. It
was a pretty damn funny show... maybe in a few years we'll laugh about
this trip?
Everything started innocent enough. Getting in was easier than I'd
expected, and the building itself is structurally in pretty great
shape, despite some minor fire damage. They just don't build them
like they used to. Long hallways, wide open rooms, all seemed perfect...
Then we entered one courtroom. Light was coming in from a hole in
the cinderblocked windows, yet it was casting some dark shadows all
around. There were 3 people on this little trip (one of whom being
Mike of Satan's Laundromat
fame - which is one damn good photoblog site...), and as I set up
my mini tripod to get a good shot I heard a loud yelp and a heavy
thud. Looking over, where there were two people there was now just
one... (that being Mike, with our unnamed friend now MIA)
For the briefest of moments there I thought he had fallen all the
way through 20 feet or so down to the next floor. Thankfully though,
it was just a set of steps in that dark corner that said unnamed person
walked backwards into, falling perhaps 6 or 7 feet onto his back.
What could have been 20 times worse turned out ok. I think we all
dodged a bullet there. getting help wouldn't have been hard but it
sure wouldn't be easy to explain away, either.
We continued on, finding loads of cells and strange other hidden things
worth seeing... a little more leery of the dark corners... |
Simple but elegant 'Courthouse' sign at the front door.
Cells
Gated Doorways
Towards the front door
Craptastic basement
Grand hallways
Big ass doorways and ceilings
Cells. Toilet.
Anyone else notice something wrong with this cell? Like the big ladder
in the hole in the wall in the back, perhaps???!!!
Let's see that Exterior again, shall we?
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This is one hell of a building...
Notice dated 1975 in regard to a fitness program being offered at
the Police Academy for all officers,,,
Pipo from 164th street - Holding Cell Graffiti, usually names and
street numbers, as was the style of those times (many early graffiti
writers came out with their name and the street number afterwards
as their tag).
Gamblers and Adolescents, Second Floor. Sounds like a party!
Ornate front door off it's hinges behind cinderblocked doorway.
Craptastic Basement Entrance
Court Room
Grand stairs at either end of the main hallway
Drunk Tank
Ladder behind cells goes to the basement up the entire height of the
building. This crawlspace is the first of it's kind that I've ever
seen with a ladder in it (saw one at the NJ Jail - but that was for
toilets)
Another court room. No lights from the ceilings...
How am I doing? |
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