The Shack is the nickname used by reporters for the police beat in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In most cities, such a bureau is nicknamed a "

cop shop ''Cop Shop'' is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes. The show The show revolved ar ...

." It is named after a cramped office located inside the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

headquarters, where journalists report on crime stories. The first in-headquarters press bureau began in 1863, in the basement of the NYPD headquarters on Mulberry Street. In 1875, police superintendent George W. Walling expelled the press from the building, saying they were too intrusive in police matters. When the NYPD moved to its Beaux-Arts headquarters at

240 Centre Street 240 Centre Street, formerly the New York City Police Headquarters, is a building between Broome and Grand Streets in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. History It was built in 1905–1909, and was designed by the firm ...

in 1910, the press set up shop in a tenement across the street. Its poor conditions may have resulted in the nickname. This location was the office for several well-known reporters, including

Gay Talese Gaetano "Gay" Talese (; born February 7, 1932) is an American writer. As a journalist for ''The New York Times'' and ''Esquire'' magazine during the 1960s, Talese helped to define contemporary literary journalism and is considered, along with ...

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

, Joe Cotter and

McCandlish Phillips John McCandlish Phillips, Jr. (December 4, 1927 – April 9, 2013) was an American journalist and author on religious subjects.Fox, Magalit (April 9, 2013)McCandlish Phillips, Times reporter who exposed Jewish Klansman, dies at 85.''The New York T ...

. In 1973, the NYPD moved to its new Brutalist headquarters at

One Police Plaza One Police Plaza (often abbreviated as 1PP) is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The building is located on Park Row (Manhattan), Park Row in Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center, Manhattan near New York City's ...

in the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

. The Shack was installed in an office on the second floor of the new building. Its present tenants include

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, '' New York Daily News'', ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', '' Newsday'', '' Staten Island Advance'', '' El Diario'',

NY1 NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The channe ...

News and 1010 WINS. In April 2009, NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said he would evict The Shack from Police Plaza by August to expand a command center, but"Reporters Told to Leave New York Police Headquarters" by Michael Wilson. New York Times April 19, 2009
/ref> as of 2016, the shack remains in the same location.

References

New York City Police Department Mass media in New York City {{police-stub