Dale Jones Birch Neighborhood Center
By Henry Street Settlement
Dale Jones Birch Neighborhood Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (Oct. 23, 2019)
Henry Street purchased this building from New York City for just $1 in 2017 and opened it to the public in 2019. The three-story firehouse, built in 1883, was a former home of Engine Company No. 15. The new building is named the Dale Jones Burch Neighborhood Center in honor of our long-time board member who generously supported the center’s renovation. The building serves as the home of the Parent Center and is a clearinghouse where community members can access free legal and financial counseling, benefits screening, enrollment in SNAP (food stamps) and affordable health insurance, and other services.
Adjacent to the Settlement’s historic headquarters, the structure had been vacant since Engine Company No. 15 relocated to 25 Pitt Street after 9/11. Henry Street collaborated with Community Board 3 and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office to ensure that the firehouse would be preserved for community use. Then, it then worked for more than a decade to acquire the decommissioned firehouse from New York City. The building sits on the site of an even earlier firehouse, built in 1854 for the Americus Engine Company No. 6, whose first foreman (albeit in an earlier location) was William “Boss” Tweed.
The Dale Jones Burch Neighborhood Center was designed by the architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, New York State Regional Economic Council’s Empire State Development Grants Program, the Barker Welfare Foundation, Robert Mancuso, Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust, New York City Council, and Manhattan Borough President’s Office also provided critical funding that enabled the purchase and renovation of the neighborhood center.
