Isaac van Deventer

The mind's eye could imagine spirits of Revolutionary War patriots peering through the centuries-old British military prison bars encased in a wall near Police Plaza and the Municipal Building across from City Hall. It's a relic of the Sugar House Prison where hundreds of American POWs died of starvation and disease. Now hundreds of New Yorkers pass it daily, hurrying to and from business, never once stopping to read the plaque beneath the bars. Usually the memorial draws attention only from tourists with guidebooks and from New Yorkers with a passion for their city's history.