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Park Row Building

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Park Row Building was a beginning and an ending: A beginning of really tall buildings, on new iron and steel frames; an ending of horizontal divisions in skyscraper design.

When it was completed in 1899, the 30-story Park Row Building was the tallest building in New York City and the tallest office building in the world. Architects of the day were still undecided on what style to use for skyscrapers. Commercial structures until then had been given a layered look, with cornices and other horizontal bands of decoration. But in the 1890s a consensus was growing that skyscrapers should be designed like a classical column, with a substantial base, a relatively plain shaft and an ornate capital.

Robert H. Robertson, the Park Row Building’s architect, seems to have a foot on both sides of the design chasm.

On one hand, the Park Row facade has three distinct vertical sections, which emphasize the building’s height, and a substantial limestone base and ornate crown. On the other hand, it also has six horizontal divisions, which diminish the building’s height. Robertson himself wrote that he had tried to make the building “look less than its real height,” according to The New York Times.

The real height was impossible to hide: it was two or three times taller than its neighbors. The twin copper-domed cupolas made the building more distinctive. Park Row Building held 950 offices, in which 4,000 employees worked daily. Ten elevators, arranged in a semicircle, each week carried 100,000 people and traveled about 1,000 miles according to one real estate journal. Among the building’s prominent first tenants were the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) and the new Associated Press.

The developers picked a heck of a place to be conspicuous: The site was in “Newspaper Row,” the center of the newspaper industry from the 1840s to the 1920s and rich in professional critics. And the critics found faults. They complained that the Park Row Building had completely plain side and rear facades – no applied styling at all. The light courts facing Ann Street and Theatre Alley were braced with exposed steel beams. The shape of the building itself – dictated by the odd conglomeration of seven adjoining lots – made the tower ungainly.

In May of 1920 the Park Row Building found more notoriety: Andrea Salsedo, being held by the Justice Department in connection with a seven-city anarchist bombing spree, fell from the 14th floor. The anarchist version: He was pushed. The police version: He jumped.

Fast Forward

In 2002 the Park Row Building was converted to mixed use. The bottom 10 floors remain commercial – most being used by electronics retailer J & R; the top floors have been converted to 210 apartments. Conversion plans included turning the three-story cupolas into triplex apartments.

(Robert H. Robertson earlier designed the 20-story American Tract Society Building, two blocks away, and the seven-story Lincoln Building on Union Square West and a dozen other notable structures of all types.)

Park Row Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 15 Park Row, between Ann and Beekman Streets
  • Year completed: 1899
  • Architect: Robert H. Robertson
  • Floors: 30
  • Style: Classical Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1999
  • National Register of Historic Places: 2005
Park Row Building Suggested Reading

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Liberty Tower

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Even if Liberty Tower wasn’t a beautiful and distinctive landmark building – a soaring white Gothic tower with acres of terra cotta – it would be significant. Significant because the building is in its second life (third, if you count the $5 million post-9/11 restoration), and was key in returning the Financial District to its earliest use – as a residential neighborhood.

But to start at the beginning….

The 33-story Liberty Tower was built at the same time as the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tower at the foot of Madison Avenue, and just before the more famous Woolworth Building. The architect, Henry Ives Cobb, was an early adopter of steel construction, but adhered to historic styles throughout his career. In this case, he opted for one of his favorite styles, Gothic.

Originally known as the Bryant Building – for William Cullen Bryant, editor of the New York Evening Post which previously occupied the site – Liberty Tower was among the tallest structures in the neighborhood. The elaborate terra cotta ornament of the upper stories makes it seem that the building expands as it goes up, until capped by the steep copper roof.

The building’s north facade – facing other buildings instead of a street – is clad in cream-colored brick with terra cotta accents. Contrasting white brick patterns suggest medieval half-timbering.

The building was sold in 1916, and again in 1919 – to Sinclair Oil (of Teapot Dome infamy), which held the building until 1945 as the Sinclair Oil Building. From 1945 to 1979 Liberty Tower continued to be used for offices, but not profitably.

Second Life

Architect Joseph Pell Lombardi sized up the building’s problems – and found opportunity. As he described it, Liberty Tower in 1978 was “…an economically failed building. Substantially vacant, it was in a rundown condition with antiquated mechanical facilities and only one stair (two were required). New York was in the midst of a severe recession and soothsayers were again predicting that the Financial District would never recover.”

The building’s small floor size – 60 by 80 feet – made it too small to attract big companies as tenants. The 1916 zoning law meant that a modern replacement building on the same site would be even smaller, so that option was economically unfeasible. However, the limited floor size was an asset for residential use: apartment owners could have views in two, three or even four directions. The building’s history and beauty were icing on the cake.

Lombardi’s solution borrowed from the loft conversion concept: Whole and partial floors were sold to cooperators as “raw space” which the tenants themselves designed and built. Thus, each of the 89 apartments is different.

Since then, scores of office buildings in the Financial District have been converted to residential and other uses.

Post-9/11 Restoration

The collapse of the World Trade Center towers shook Liberty Tower, damaging some of the terra cotta blocks. Subsequent water seepage made the problems worse. Fortunately, the tenants voted to spend $5 million to restore or replace 3,200 terra cotta blocks and 202 exterior sculptures.

(If you are interested in architectural restoration and recycling, I recommend the Lombardi links below.)

Liberty Tower Vital Statistics
  • Location: 55 Liberty Street at Nassau Street
  • Year completed: 1910
  • Architect: Henry Ives Cobb; Joseph Pell Lombardi (restoration/conversion)
  • Floors: 33
  • Style: Gothic
  • New York City Landmark: 1982
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1983
Liberty Tower Suggested Reading

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Broadway Chambers Building

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Babe Ruth has a couple of things in common with Cass Gilbert, architect of the Broadway Chambers Building. Both were superstars in their field, and both came to New York via Boston. (But Cass Gilbert came 20 years ahead of the Babe.) *

According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, St. Paul, Minnesota-based Gilbert became prominent for his 1893 design of the Minnesota State Capitol. That led to an 1896 commission to design a commercial building – the Second Brazer Building – in Boston. Alexander Porter, an investor in that project, was so impressed with Gilbert’s work that he introduced him to Edward Andrews, who happened to be looking for someone to design a new building on Broadway at Chambers Street.

The resulting Broadway Chambers Building, begun in March 1899, was Gilbert’s first project in New York. It was immediately successful – and followed by nine other architectural landmarks by 1936. (Babe Ruth’s career closed in 1935.)

Like other tall buildings of the era, the Broadway Chambers Building was designed like a classical column, with base, shaft, and capital. Gilbert used the then-popular Beaux Arts style of ornamentation, with a twist dictated by Andrews: Color, to make the building stand out among the monochromatic neighbors.

The three-story base is of pink granite; the 11-story shaft is of red and blue brick; and the four-story capital is of beige terra cotta with blue, green, yellow and pink accents, and a green copper cornice. The base and crown are deeply rusticated (the joints between the blocks of granite or terra cotta are deeply incised). The brickwork of the middle floors has bands of raised brick that mimics (in reverse) the rustication.

While the Broadway Chambers Building was Cass Gilbert’s first New York project, his most famous building was erected three blocks south and 13 years later: The Woolworth Building (celebrating its centennial in 1913). Gilbert’s other New York City landmark buildings include: United States Custom House (1907), 90 West Street Building (1907), Rodin Studios (1917), New York Life Insurance Company (1928), 130 W30th Street (1928), Audubon Terrace auditorium and art gallery (1928), New York County Lawyers’ Association (1930), and United States Courthouse (1936 – completed after Gilbert’s death in 1934).

* OK, I know I just gave architects and architectural historians massive heart attacks by coupling a great architect with a mere baseball player. I accept that I am forever banned from the Society of Architectural Historians and the American Institute of Architects. But this is a website aimed at non-professionals.

Broadway Chambers Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 277 Broadway at Chambers Street
  • Year completed: 1900
  • Architect: Cass Gilbert
  • Floors: 18
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 1992
Broadway Chambers Building Suggested Reading

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Cassa NY

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Cassa NY is a slender white hotel/condominium tower that might remind you of those computer punch cards of the 1960s – rectangular windows appear to have been punched right out of the aluminum skin.

Cassa NY Vital Statistics
  • Location: 70 W 45th Street, just off Sixth Avenue
  • Year completed: 2010
  • Architect: TEN Arquitectos
  • Floors: 43
  • Style: Postmodern
Cassa NY Suggested Reading

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Ahrens Building

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Ahrens Building is an early example of Romanesque Revival adapted to a steel-frame building, designed by George H. Griebel. Its design blends polychrome brick, terra cotta and metal over a limestone base (though the limestone is largely obscured by the current storefront).

Small by today’s standards, the Ahrens Building was just over the six-story height common for the day, and included an elevator.

Herman F. Ahrens, the owner, was a liquor merchant who had his own store – and later a saloon – on the ground floor; offices occupied the upper floors.

The Ahrens Building is surrounded by the much larger L-shaped Hungerford Building (now NYU’s Lafayette Hall), built in 1914.

Ahrens Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 70 Lafayette Street at Franklin Street
  • Year completed: 1896
  • Architect: George H. Griebel
  • Floors: 7
  • Style: Romanesque Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1992
Ahrens Building Suggested Reading

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New Era Building

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With its eye-catching Art Nouveau copper mansard roof, the New Era Building stands out in the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District. You can spot the building a block away.

But up close, it’s even more wondrous: The deeply incised white terra cotta detailing of the sixth floor arches has the appearance of carved ivory. What’s more, the facade has been restored to a pristine white.

Confusion…

There seems to be some confusion over the original owner and architect of this building. The “AIA Guide to New York City” accurately describes the structure, but identifies the New Era Building as 491 Broadway, designed by Buchman & Dreiser. The Daytonian in Manhattan blog gives it the right address – 495 Broadway – but also says the building was designed by Buchman & Dreiser, and was originally owned by Jeremiah C. Lyons. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission says 495 Broadway was owned by Augustus D. Julliard and designed by Alfred Zucker; 491 Broadway, the larger building next door, was owned by Lyons and designed by Buchman & Dreiser. I’m going with the Landmarks Preservation Commission version.

New Era Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 495 Broadway between Spring and Broome Streets
  • Year completed: 1893
  • Architect: Alfred Zucker
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Art Nouveau
  • New York City Landmark: 1973 (included in SoHo Cast Iron Historic District)
New Era Building Suggested Reading

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Health, Hospitals, and Sanitation Building

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The Health, Hospitals, and Sanitation Building (formerly NYC Department of Health Building) overlooks Thomas Paine Park and Foley Square, surrounded by the federal, state and city courts of Manhattan’s Civic Center. It’s a restrained Art Deco granite cube, 10 stories high, pierced on the Leonard Street side by a light court above the third floor.

The principal decorations are bronze grillwork and torcheres, and health-themed medallions on the sides of the building by Oscar Bach, whose work also adorns Radio City Music Hall, the Woolworth, Chrysler, and Empire State Buildings – among other landmarks.

The joy is in the details.

Health, Hospitals, and Sanitation Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 125 Worth Street, between Lafayette and Centre Streets
  • Year completed: 1935
  • Architect: Charles B. Meyers
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: Art Deco
Health, Hospitals, and Sanitation Building Suggested Reading
  • Department of Citywide Administrative Services listing
  • Emporis database
  • Ephemeral New York blog
  • Eating in Translation blog

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Astor Building

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The Astor Building, built on the site of former Astor family homes, was beautifully restored during a 1996 condominium conversion after years of neglect. The gleaming white brick and terra cotta facade has the distinction of treating every floor differently.

The building was originally lofts for garment industry manufacturing. From 1993 to 2004 this was the home of The New Museum for Contemporary Art – occupying the ground floor and basement. The building’s owners tried to convert it to a luxury hotel, but failed; new owners stepped in with a condo conversion. Though the museum moved out, the building still calls itself “The New Museum Building.” Read the Daytonian in Manhattan blog for more fascinating (sometimes bizarre) history.

And then just enjoy the building, a floor at a time.

Astor Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 583 Broadway, between Prince and Houston Streets
  • Year completed: 1897
  • Architect: Cleverdon & Putzel
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 1973 (part of the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District)
Astor Building Suggested Reading
  • NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report (SoHo Cast Iron Historic District, p. 48)
  • The New York Times archives (about the restoration)
  • The New York Sun article
  • Daytonian in Manhattan blog
  • City Realty listing

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Roosevelt Building

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You’d think that the Roosevelt Building would be a NYC landmark, since it was actually in the Roosevelt family, had a famous movie studio tenant, and exceptional architecture. But it isn’t. Yet?

Teddy Roosevelt’s grandfather, Cornelius, owned the land under this building until his death in 1871. His heirs built the building as the neighborhood changed from residential to commercial. For a time, the structure was known as the Hackett Carhart Building, for a major tenant.

While most of the early tenants – including Hackett Carhart – were men’s wear manufacturers, Biograph Studios also had space here, and a revolving (to follow the sun) studio on the roof. This is where director D.W. Griffith got his start.

Roosevelt Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 841 Broadway at E 13th Street
  • Year completed: 1894
  • Architect: Stephen D. Hatch
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Romanesque Revival
Roosevelt Building Suggested Reading

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Friends House

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Friends House (originally the B.W. Mayer Building) seems Mayan-inspired in its brickwork, terra cotta snakes and skulls, and turquoise details. The architect, Herman Lee Meader, also designed the Cliff Dwelling apartments on Riverside Drive and the Mayan-inspired 154-160 West 14th Street.

As the B.W. Mayer Building, it was originally offices; then for many years it was a trade school. In 1994 the Quakers purchased the building and restored it, converting the structure to a group residence.

Friends House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 130 E 25th Street at Lexington Avenue
  • Year completed: 1916
  • Architect: Herman Lee Meader
  • Floors: 7
  • Style: Art Deco
Friends House Suggested Reading

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