When Anderson Cooper bought a historic former fire patrol house in New York’s Greenwich Village for $4.3 million in 2010, the purchase raised concerns among local preservationists, according to contemporary reporting by DNAinfo and the Village Preservation Society.
uncertain
purchase → buy → DNAinfo
The four-storey building at 84 West 3rd Street had spent decades as a working Fire Patrol station, and its history was tied not only to New York’s firefighting past but also to one of the city’s most painful chapters: the September 11 attacks.
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history → spend → chapters
Today, the 8,240-sq-ft property has been transformed into Cooper’s private home.
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property → transform → home
Yet its historic identity has not disappeared.
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identity → disappear → ?
Cooper restored the building’s distinctive exterior, while elements of the former fire patrol house, including its original fire poles, were retained inside.
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elements → restore → poles
The building was later protected as part of the South Village Historic District.
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building → protect → District
A firehouse that wasn’t part of the FDNY
Built in 1906 and designed by architect Franklin Baylies, Fire Patrol House No. 2 was not an ordinary New York firehouse.
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that → build → Baylies
It belonged to the New York Fire Patrol, a privately funded service established by insurance companies to respond to fires and, importantly, protect buildings and their contents from damage caused by fire and water.
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It → belong → fire
The institution had roots stretching back to the early 19th century and predated New York’s municipal fire department.
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institution → have → department
By the early 2000s, the New York Fire Patrol was the last operating insurance-supported firefighting organisation of its kind in the city.
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Patrol → operate → city
But in 2006, the service was disbanded and its properties were put up for sale.
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properties → disband → sale
That triggered a preservation campaign.
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That → trigger → campaign
Village Preservation, then known as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, had been pushing for the 84 West 3rd Street building to receive landmark protection, concerned that a private buyer could eventually alter or demolish it.
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buyer → know → it
Cooper’s purchase raised fears, then changed the story
Cooper’s purchase initially worried preservationists and former fire patrol officers.
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purchase → raise → preservationists
The concern was straightforward: what would happen to a historic firehouse once it became a private home?
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it → happen → firehouse
Instead, the building underwent a major interior renovation while its distinctive historic character was retained.
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character → undergo → renovation
Village Preservation later described Cooper as having kept the building’s character intact while adapting it for residential use.
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Preservation → describe → use
The preservation battle also ultimately had a successful ending.
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battle → have → ending
The property was determined eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2010.
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property → determine → 2010
In 2013, it became part of the South Village Historic District, giving the building formal landmark protection.
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it → become → protection
Its most poignant connection is to 9/11
Perhaps the most remarkable chapter in the building’s history involves Keith Roma, a member of Fire Patrol No. 2.
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chapter → involve → .
Roma, 27, had worked at the station for six years, following his father Arnold, who had also served with the Fire Patrol.
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who → work → Patrol
On September 11, 2001, members of the patrol rushed to the World Trade Center alongside other first responders.
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members → rush → responders
Roma entered the North Tower repeatedly, helping people escape.
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people → enter → Tower
He ultimately died at the World Trade Center and was the only New York Fire Patrol member killed there that day.
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He → die → Center
His remains were recovered on Christmas Eve, 2001.
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remains → recover → Eve
Because the New York Fire Patrol was not part of the FDNY, Roma is not included in the official figure of 343 FDNY firefighters killed on 9/11.
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Roma → include → 9/11
The State of New York, however, lists him among its fallen firefighters as a Fire Patrol member who died at the World Trade Center.
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who → list → Center
More than a century after it was built, 84 West 3rd Street has undergone a remarkable transformation.
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Street → build → transformation
What was once a working station for an almost forgotten private firefighting service is now a home, but one whose exterior and architectural identity remain protected.
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was → work → service
The fire pole, preserved amid the transformation, offers perhaps the simplest reminder of what the building once was: a place where firefighters lived, worked and answered calls long before it became one of New York’s most unusual celebrity homes.
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it → preserve → homes
The Aporia
