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128-652: The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House ) is a government building, museum, and former custom house at 1 Bowling Green , near the southern end of Manhattan in New York City , New York, United States. Designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style , it was erected from 1902 to 1907 by the government of the United States as a headquarters for

256-565: A Works Progress Administration project. The United States Customs Service moved out of the building in 1974, and it remained vacant for over a decade until renovations in the late 1980s. The Custom House was renamed in 1990 to commemorate Alexander Hamilton , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and its first Secretary of the Treasury . The Heye Center opened in 1994. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House occupies

384-401: A ticker tape parade down Broadway, the cornerstone, filled with contemporary souvenirs and artifacts, was placed at the northeast corner of the site. The new Custom House's construction lagged due to government bureaucracy, while work on comparable private buildings nearby proceeded more quickly. The slow construction was attributed to various reasons, such as concurrent jobs being undertaken by

512-449: A trapezoidal plot bounded by Bowling Green to the north, Whitehall Street to the east, Bridge Street to the south, and State Street to the west. The Whitehall Street and State Street elevations are 300 feet (90 m) wide; the main elevation on Bowling Green is 200 feet (60 m) wide; and the rear elevation on Bridge Street is 290 feet (88 m) wide. As of 2023, a concrete retaining wall measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) deep

640-624: A 0.75-inch (19 mm) stream. The firefighting system, which could also feed water to fire engines if necessary, was praised by the New York City Fire Commissioner . The entrance foyer and main corridor contain a marble floor, while a stained-glass mural dating from the building's construction is mounted on the walls of the corridor. When built, the Bowling Green Offices Building included 16 elevators. Of these, eight were clustered in

768-473: A combined 30 people in the cabs, though no one was hurt because of safety systems that slowed down the elevators at the bottom. The next year, a man was hurt when four elevator cabs dropped. Ludlow and Peabody made numerous major modifications in the early 20th century. The firm redesigned the staircases on the Broadway side in 1912–1913 by moving the front steps inward and removing or reconfiguring part of

896-503: A cornice in the Ionic order . The northeastern corner housed the cashier's office, which featured a white-marble countertop with a bronze screen. The southern half of the cashier's room has white-marble walls and was originally where members of the public conducted their transactions. The northern half, where the cashiers themselves worked, has plaster walls. The ornate plasterwork ceiling is decorated to resemble Renaissance "boxed beams", while

1024-534: A former director of Yaddo, the community held the controlling interest in the Bowling Green Offices Building until 1976, as opposed to outright ownership. By the 1930s, fewer tenants were occupying the Bowling Green Offices Building because of the construction of new office buildings in Midtown Manhattan . In 1995, the Bowling Green Offices Building and several other buildings on Bowling Green were formally designated as New York City landmarks. In 2007,

1152-448: A frontage of 161.33 feet (49 m) on Broadway and 151.83 feet (46 m) on Greenwich Street; the southern boundary of its lot is 170.5 feet (52 m) long and the northern boundary 200.33 feet (61 m) long. The original structure was 16 stories and was expanded to 21 stories in 1917. These consisted of a full seventeenth story that covered nearly the entire lot, as well as an additional four stories that comprised

1280-531: A grand staircase flanked by Four Continents , a set of four statues by Daniel Chester French . The second-story entrance vestibule leads to a transverse lobby, a rotunda , and offices. The rotunda includes a skylight and ceiling murals by Reginald Marsh . The George Gustav Heye Center, a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian , operates on the ground and second stories, while

1408-407: A maple dance floor. The Custom House's trapezoidal site was excavated to an average depth of 25 feet (7.6 m). Two stories were placed beneath the ground level. The first basement was just above sea level and had a 13-foot-high (4.0 m) ceiling, while the second basement had a waterproof asphalt-and-tar floor. When the post office was in operation, mail arrived through the delivery docks and

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1536-534: A new custom house on the Wall Street site, even though it was less than half the size of the proposed Bowling Green site. In 1897, Senator Thomas C. Platt and Representative Lemuel E. Quigg , both Republicans, proposed bills in the United States Senate and House of Representatives for building a new custom house at Wall Street, with Platt's bill calling for a five-person commission to oversee

1664-483: A plaque referencing Fort Amsterdam and the Government House. The coffered plaster ceiling has molded decorations, including a motif of the collector's monogram. Fourteen lighting fixtures, covered in gold leaf, hang from the ceiling. The room is normally closed to the public but can be rented for events. The manager's office is next to the collector's office and is decorated with plain plaster walls, topped by

1792-453: A proposal by architect I. M. Pei , who suggested converting the upper floors into office space, keeping the second-floor rotunda open, and converting the first floor to commercial use. The next year, the federal government declared the building "surplus" property, making it available to the city government. Pei's proposal was not carried out, as the GSA found the proposal to be impractical. Instead,

1920-409: A smaller tower above the center north section of the lot. This tower has a facade of buff -colored brick and terracotta , with a mansard roof made of copper. There was a penthouse apartment for its resident superintendent . The building is U-shaped, with the two wings on Broadway and Greenwich Streets surrounding a southward-facing light court . The court abuts a north-facing court within

2048-512: A steel skeleton, with steel columns placed inside alternating vertical piers . The structure used over 5,000 short tons (4,500 long tons; 4,500 t) of steel. The building's firefighting system used standpipes and compressed-air drums, rather than the water towers used on many contemporary buildings. The standpipes could maintain a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch (1,400 kPa), which would allow 160 U.S. gallons (610 L) of water per minute to be projected 66 feet (20 m) in

2176-548: A top story that was added during 1920–1921. The base is made of a white-granite colonnade above a gray-granite water table . The pilasters of the colonnade are carved with decorations such as anthemia and support a detailed entablature with the carved words bowling green offices ; behind the colonnade can be seen small segments of rusticated wall. The center bay contains a stoop made of gray granite. The outermost three architectural bays comprise slightly projecting pavilions, and there are detailed entrance surrounds around

2304-463: Is 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and weighs 20 short tons (18 metric tons). These sculptures are arranged in chronological sequence from east to west, or from left to right as seen from directly in front of the building. The easternmost sculptures are of ancient Greece and Rome, while the westernmost sculptures are of the more recent French and British empires. Eight sculptors were commissioned for this work. One of these sculptures, Germania by Albert Jaegers,

2432-459: Is a double-width entrance portico on the northern part of the facade, as well as a freight entrance nearby; both contain carved overhead plaques above. Unlike on the Broadway side, the vertical piers are faced with brick. The 15th and 16th stories contain an oriel window , and the 17th story is a mansard roof made of copper. The south facade is broken up into western and eastern wings. Both sections are mostly blocked by 1 Broadway, and only

2560-604: Is adjacent to the eastern side of the building, while an entrance to the Bowling Green station is to the north. The building occupies the site of Fort Amsterdam , constructed by the Dutch West India Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley . The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam , the precursor to modern-day New York City, was developed around the fort. Bowling Green, immediately to

2688-413: Is confined to the lower three stories. Audsley wrote that he believed "sculpture should be within easy range of the eye [...] and used sparely in the high portions". The east-facing Broadway facade is 13 bays wide and 17 stories high and is the building's principal elevation . From the bottom to the top, this elevation consists of a two-story base, a twelve-story shaft, a two-story capital, and

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2816-504: Is directly above it, while the seventh story consists of a red-slate mansard roof with dormer windows and copper cresting. The mansard roof is extremely steep, allowing the seventh-story attic to be designed as a full floor of usable space. Twelve sculptors were hired to create the figural groups on the exterior. The major work flanking the front steps, the Four Continents , was contracted to Daniel Chester French, who designed

2944-662: Is separated by slightly recessed horizontal spandrels , creating a grid of windows. The southern facade of the Bowling Green Offices Building is visible above the International Mercantile Marine Company to the south. Unlike other buildings of that era, which used arcades as a method of articulation for the base, the Bowling Green Offices Building uses anthemia and other Hellenic-style ornamentation, similar to Milwaukee 's Layton Art Gallery building and St. Louis 's Wainwright Building . The Bowling Green Offices Building greatly resembles

3072-525: Is similar to those of previous custom houses in New York City, namely Ithiel Town 's Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street and Isaiah Rogers 's Merchants' Exchange building at 55 Wall Street . The building's design incorporates Beaux-Arts and City Beautiful planning principles, combining architecture, engineering, and fine arts. Gilbert had written in 1900 about his plans for a wide-ranging, site-specific decorative program, which would "illustrate

3200-539: The American Institute of Architects ' New York chapter criticized the controversy as "unseemly". Demolition of existing buildings on the site began in February 1900, and demolition contractor Seagrist & Co. had cleared the site by that July. The next month, workers drilled test bores for the new Custom House's foundations. Contracts for the building's foundations and structural steel were delayed because

3328-633: The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court overruled the decision. In 1903, the New-York Tribune reported that, when Trask's automobile driver was arrested, Trask had offered the $ 1 million Bowling Green Offices Building to cover his driver's $ 500 bail amount. During the 1910s, there were two incidents involving elevators at 11 Broadway. In 1915, seven elevators dropped down their shafts with

3456-652: The Bowling Green Building , Bowling Green Offices , or 11 Broadway ) is an office building located at 11  Broadway , across from Bowling Green park in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City . The 21-story building, erected between 1895 and 1898, is 272.5 feet (83.1 m) tall. The Bowling Green Offices Building was built to a Hellenic Renaissance -style design by W. & G. Audsley . The building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to

3584-527: The Corinthian style; some of these columns are paired while the others are single. There are 44 columns in total: twelve each on the north, east, and west elevations and eight on the south elevation. The second story is the piano nobile ; the windows on this story are flanked by brackets and capped by enclosed pediments , with carved heads above them (see § Sculptures ). The third- and fourth-story windows, conversely, are less ornately decorated; this

3712-740: The Erie Railroad also had offices in the building in the early 20th century. Other tenants included the United States Department of the Navy 's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, as well as the Merchant Marine Committee of the Whole. By 1926, tenants included Tidewater Oil , industrial company Ingersoll-Rand , bankers Henry Clews & Company, lawyer Max Steuer , and steamship line Moore-McCormack . Later in

3840-463: The Guastavino tile arch system created by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino . It consists of numerous layers of fireproof tiles, each of which measures 6 by 12 inches (15 cm × 30 cm) across and 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. The tiles and layers are bonded using Portland cement. The center of the ceiling is occupied by a 140-short-ton (130-metric-ton) oval skylight . The underside of

3968-708: The National Archives and Records Administration , the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York , and offices for the United States Department of Transportation . Unlike most custom houses, which face the waterfront, the Alexander Hamilton Custom House faces inland toward Bowling Green. Its main entrance is on the northern facade, the only side that does not overlook

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4096-677: The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark . It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District , listed on the NRHP. The Custom House is a seven-story steel-framed structure with a stone facade and elaborate interiors. The exterior is decorated with nautical motifs and sculptures by twelve artists. The second through fourth stories contain colonnades with Corinthian columns . The main entrance consists of

4224-586: The New York Harbor , and later hosted law firms and other companies. The Broadway Realty Company, for whom the building was built, owned 11 Broadway for several decades following its completion. Five additional stories were built in 1920–1921. In 1995, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated 11 Broadway as an official city landmark. It is also a contributing property to

4352-547: The Ninth Avenue elevated and the then-under-construction subway ; and elevators to the restaurant and apartments on the upper floors. Electricity, heating, and janitor service were given to potential tenants for free. A 1900 issue of the Real Estate Record and Guide quoted the elevators as carrying 18,000 people per day, while the building had an average of 6,000 people during peak work hours. Profits from

4480-681: The Port of New York 's duty collection operations. The building contains the George Gustav Heye Center museum, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York , and the New York regional offices of the National Archives . The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks , and the building is listed on both the New York State Register of Historic Places and

4608-755: The Tweed Courthouse . Following the Customs Service's relocation to the Custom House, other government agencies with offices in New York City, such as the Weather Bureau , also moved to the Bowling Green Custom House. By 1908, the Custom House was fully occupied by these other agencies, as the Treasury's chief architect had assigned space to other departments without consulting with the collector. The next year,

4736-561: The United States Congress passed an act that would allow site selection for a new custom house and appraiser's warehouse. Soon after, Fryer presented his report to the New York State Chamber of Commerce . The Chamber said in 1889: "We have not seriously considered the removal of the present Custom House proper, since it is well located, and, if found inadequate, can easily be easily be enlarged to meet all

4864-519: The United States Department of the Treasury 's Supervising Architect in February 1888 about the "old, damp, ill-lighted, badly ventilated" quarters at 55 Wall Street. Architecture and Building magazine called the letter "worthy of thoughtful investigation". The 55 Wall Street building's proximity to the Subtreasury was no longer advantageous, as it was easier to use a check or certificate to make payments on revenue. On September 14, 1888,

4992-504: The Wall Street Historic District , a National Register of Historic Places district created in 2007. The Bowling Green Offices Building was designed by W. & G. Audsley . It is bounded by 1 Broadway to the south, Broadway to the east, Greenwich Street to the west, and the Cunard Building (25 Broadway) to the north. Its alternate addresses are 5-11 Broadway and 5-11 Greenwich Street. The building has

5120-584: The Walter Kidde Company planned to build a 50-story skyscraper. In exchange, the Walter Kidde Company would have been required to help preserve the Custom House. When the Customs Service moved out during 1973, the building had 1,375 employees, and the land under the building was estimated to be worth between $ 15 million and $ 20 million (about $ 79–105 million in 2023). The General Services Administration (GSA) acquired

5248-511: The 11 Greenwich Street side of the building. The Bowling Green Offices Building received relatively little media coverage upon its completion. Although architectural writers Sarah Landau and Carl Condit wrote in 1996 that the Bowling Green Offices was "a major work of the [1890s] in both design and size", it was ignored "perhaps because it was completed in a boom building period or because its 'Hellenic Renaissance' style

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5376-444: The 13th and 14th stories also contain cornices. The 15th and 16th stories contain vertical piers that correspond to the design of the base, as well as aluminum-framed sash windows. The top of the 16th story contains a large cornice with a carved frieze . The 17th story has a facade of buff brick, window openings with double-hung windows, and a cornice of brick and white terracotta. The west-facing Greenwich Street facade, similar to

5504-401: The 13th through 17th stories are visible. The 13th through 16th stories consist of a white wall while the 17th story is a buff brick wall. The north facade is mostly blocked by the Cunard Building ; the visible section consists of a brick wall with windows. It is topped by a four-story tower, which is visible from the building's other three sides. The Bowling Green Offices Building contains

5632-471: The 20th century, space in the Bowling Green Offices Building was taken up by Ivan Boesky , a stock trader implicated in insider trading, as well as the technology company IBM . In the 21st century, tenants include or have included Hill West Architects , SogoTrade, the Flatiron School , Allmenus , and Universal Studios . The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has an office on

5760-415: The Bowling Green Custom House after the Customs Service relocated. Several lawyers and businessmen had formed the nonprofit Custom House Institute in late 1973. With assistance from several organizations and the city government's Office of Lower Manhattan Development, the institute raised $ 40,000 to conduct a feasibility study of the various plans for the Custom House. In March 1974, the institute recommended

5888-458: The Bowling Green Offices Building was built "by British interests" with funding from Queen Victoria . Original plans called for a tower to be built atop the rest of the building, but the tower plans were not carried out. At the time of its opening, the Bowling Green Offices Building was the largest building on Bowling Green. A promotional brochure for the Bowling Green Offices Building advertised its fireproof material; electricity; proximity to

6016-545: The Bowling Green Offices Building went toward funding Yaddo , the artists' community in Saratoga Springs, New York , that had been founded by Trask. The Broadway Realty Company filed a lawsuit after the New York City Department of Taxes raised the building's valuation from $ 1.5 million in 1898 to $ 2 million in 1899. The Department of Taxes ruled that the assessment was justified, but

6144-495: The Bowling Green site implied that it had been left that way "in order that New York might have a public building worthy of the city and the nation". That September, Treasury secretary William Windom selected Bowling Green as the new site of the custom house and appraiser's warehouse. Almost immediately, Windom was accused of exceeding his authority in selecting the new site. In addition, many local businessmen opposed moving

6272-435: The Broadway facade, is divided into an elaborate base, a simple shaft, and a more detailed capital topped by the brick-faced 17th story. It contains less elaborate features than the Broadway facade: for instance, there are no projecting pavilions flanking this side. The Greenwich Street facade is 18 stories high, with a full basement faced with brick and granite, since it is at a lower terrain elevation than Broadway. There

6400-452: The Bronx . From east to west, the statues depict larger-than-life-size personifications of Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. The primary figure of each group is a woman and is flanked by smaller human figures. In addition, Asia's figure is paired with a tiger, and Africa's figure is paired with a lion. The capitals of each of the 44 columns are decorated with carved heads depicting Hermes ,

6528-514: The Custom House building the next year. The U.S. government proposed relocating the Customs Service's administrative offices in 1927 to the Appraiser's Stores Building, but shipping companies spoke out against the move. A plaque honoring Richard Nicolls , the first colonial governor of the Province of New York , was dedicated at the Custom House in 1931. Large amounts of dirt had accumulated on

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6656-417: The Custom House building's first floor. Pending further appropriations, the rest of the building would also be built by Peirce. At the time, there was only $ 3 million budgeted toward the Custom House's completion (equal to $ 88 million in 2023). The federal government was required to obtain a congressional appropriation before the project could be completed, so federal officials told Peirce to build only

6784-551: The Custom House in 1910. A regional tax office, where companies and residents in Manhattan south of 23rd Street paid taxes, opened at the Bowling Green Custom House in 1914. Various other agencies such as the Life-Saving Service and Secret Service also had offices in the Custom House. Following the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, "individuals and patriotic societies" objected to the presence of Germany from

6912-685: The Custom House's sculptures, since Germany was one of the Central Powers against which the United States was fighting. Federal officials determined that it was not feasible to remove the Germania statue, which weighed 5 short tons (4.5 long tons; 4.5 t). Instead, in September 1918, Gilbert was directed to remove the German insignia on the entablature's Germania statue and replace them with Belgian insignia. The U.S. Passport Agency moved to

7040-400: The Custom House. Congress approved the appropriation but later reduced it by $ 90,000. Durning asked Congress in 1940 to restore the appropriation, saying that "men [were] falling out of ancient chairs, and [...] our valuable records and current papers stacked on desks and improperly filed in decrepit cabinets and bookshelves". At the time, the building had 1,865 employees, of which 847 worked for

7168-676: The Customs Service; according to Durning, the New York Custom House handled half of the United States' customs business. The building also housed the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the U.S. Post Office, the Commerce Department, and eight other agencies of the U.S. government. The Custom House's regional tax office began serving additional taxpayers in Staten Island and Midtown Manhattan in 1951. The offices of

7296-454: The GSA cleaned the facade during the mid-1970s. Custom house Due to advances in electronic information systems, the increased volume of international trade, and the introduction of air travel, the term "custom house" became a historical anachronism. There are many examples of buildings around the world that were formerly used as custom houses but have since been converted for other uses, such as museums or civic buildings. As examples,

7424-637: The Gilbert & Taylor architecture firm in St. Paul, Minnesota . The selection of Gilbert was controversial, drawing opposition from Platt and several groups. Some of the opposition centered around the fact that Gilbert was a "westerner" who had just moved from Minnesota to New York City, and several opponents raised doubts about the jury's competence. Gage certified Gilbert's selection in November 1899. Opposition to his selection decreased significantly afterward after

7552-524: The Government House on the site of Fort Amsterdam in 1799. The customs service relocated numerous times in the 19th century before opening an office at 55 Wall Street in 1862. The Wall Street location had been optimal during the mid-19th century because it was close to the Subtreasury at 26 Wall Street, thereby making it easy to transport gold. The Custom House on Wall Street had become overcrowded by 1887. William J. Fryer Jr., superintendent of repairs of New York City's federal-government buildings, wrote to

7680-622: The Greek god of commerce. The windows on the main facade are topped by eight keystones, which contain carved heads with depictions of eight human races. One source described the keystones as representing "Caucasian, Hindu, Latin, Celt and Mongol, Italian, African, Eskimo, and even the Coureur de Bois ". Above the main cornice are a group of standing sculptures that personify seafaring nations. There are twelve such statues, which depict commercial hubs through both ancient and modern history. Each sculpture

7808-549: The House of Representatives approved the installation of a pneumatic-tube system so the post office and custom house could send packages to the appraiser's warehouse. A bronze tablet, marking the historical site of a Native American gathering place, was dedicated at the Custom House's main entrance in 1909. Another tablet was dedicated at the Custom House in 1912, marking the site of the first mass in New York City, which had taken place in 1683. The Consular Bureau opened an office at

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7936-537: The International Mercantile Marine Company Building, which is also U-shaped. The light court measures 110 feet (34 m) from north to south and 60 feet (18 m) from west to east, and is present above the first floor. The western and eastern facades of the Bowling Green Offices Building are arranged in three sections, consisting of a three-story "base", a "shaft", and a three-story " capital " on top, similar to

8064-466: The Lower Manhattan waterfront. The exterior is decorated throughout with nautical motifs such as dolphins and waves, interspersed with classical icons such as acanthus leaves and urns. The first-floor facade is composed of rusticated blocks and is 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. There are six entrances to the building. The main entrance is on the northern elevation, where a wide stairway leads to

8192-618: The Naval Commander of the Port's office at the northwest corner of the third floor was decorated in dark oak. The Treasury Secretary's office at the northeast corner of the seventh floor was finished in quartered oak and contained Circassian-walnut furniture. The United States Customs Service had been formed in 1789 with the passage of the Tariff Act , which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. The Port of New York

8320-465: The Port of New York. Several shipping companies bought lunch for Marsh while he was painting the murals; as such, the murals depict these companies' ships. The rotunda can be rented for special events. When the Heye Center opened within the building in 1994, it built several permanent galleries around the rotunda. The ground story is 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. It originally had six entrances: two on

8448-516: The Taxpayer Assistance Program, which helped residents file their taxes, relocated from the Custom House to Lafayette Street in 1955; the tax office itself relocated to Houston Street the next year. Although the Port of New York remained the United States' busiest port after World War II, it had begun to decline in importance by the 1950s because of several factors. These included increasing cargo-handling and trucking costs;

8576-476: The Treasury retained the disbursements that would have gone to the landowners. The federal government chose an alternate site for the appraiser's warehouse in the West Village of Manhattan, near where much of the city's international shipping activity took place. Architectural writer Donald Reynolds stated that the new custom house was to be as modern as possible, with "an architectural style that embodied

8704-546: The Wainwright Building, except for the colors of the facades. The building is estimated to have over a hundred anthemia on its facade. The Real Estate Record and Guide said in 1897 that the Bowling Green Offices Building had "more anthemia than any other work with which we are acquainted". Despite this, the Bowling Green Offices Building's facade has a very little other ornamentation, and the Hellenic ornament

8832-537: The appraisers estimated that the site would cost $ 1.96 million (about $ 59 million in 2023). Still, in January 1893, there was not enough money to purchase the lots at Bowling Green. The lessees and landowners were supposed to receive $ 2.1 million (equivalent to $ 64 million in 2023), but there was only $ 1.5 million on hand (equivalent to $ 46 million in 2023). The 1891 bill had allowed up to $ 2 million for land acquisition and had required that

8960-492: The building over to the federal government on October 1, 1907, after they had completed all major construction. At the time, many of the interior furnishings had not been added, and Congress was reluctant to provide additional funds. The U.S. Customs Service moved its offices to Bowling Green on November 4, 1907. With a proposed final cost of $ 4.5 million (approximately $ 114 million in 2023), it would be more expensive than any other public building in New York City except for

9088-463: The building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District , a National Register of Historic Places district. As of 2020 , 11 Broadway is owned by Braun Management. The Bowling Green Offices Building's previous tenants have included bankers, lawyers, utility companies, engineers, naval architects, and ship companies. As originally built, it included 512 offices. These were used by several companies involved in

9216-426: The building's contractors, money shortages, and lack of supplies. Nonetheless, the building's imminent completion sparked the development of other nearby sites. The Custom House was reportedly 70 percent complete by February 1905, according to Peirce. That September, J. C. Robinson was contracted to furnish the interior of the building, while New-York Steam Fitting was hired to install the mechanical equipment. The facade

9344-544: The ceiling bears eight trapezoidal panels, as well as eight long, narrow panels between them. The panels contain fresco-secco murals, which were painted in 1937 by Reginald Marsh and eight assistants as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project . The larger murals portray shipping activity in the Port of New York and New Jersey , while the smaller murals depict notable explorers of the New World and

9472-407: The ceilings are 17 feet (5.2 m) high. In the early 1990s, a 350-seat auditorium was built on the ground story. About 6,000 square feet (560 m) of storage space on the ground floor, under the rotunda, was converted into the George Gustav Heye Center 's Diker Pavilion for Native Arts and Cultures in 2006. This pavilion consists of a slightly sloped circular space seating 400 people, surrounding

9600-471: The center stoop. The building was sold to Chester W. Hansen's real-estate syndicate in 1926 as part of a $ 9 million transaction. This was the first ownership change since the building's opening. However, the LPC stated that Broadway Realty continued to own the building until 1978, or at least the land beneath it, citing the company's Restatement of Certificate of Incorporation filed that year. According to

9728-488: The commerce of ancient and modern times, both by land and sea". Sculptures, paintings, and decorations by well-known artists of the time, such as Daniel Chester French , Karl Bitter , Louis Saint-Gaudens , and Albert Jaegers , embellish various portions of the interior and exterior. As of 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection owns the Custom House. The building houses the Smithsonian Institution ,

9856-478: The competition under the terms of the Tarsney Act; according to The New York Times , the federal government took "great care" in selecting the architects who were to be invited. Federal supervising architect James Knox Taylor stipulated that any plan include a ground-level basement and up to six stories, as well as a southward-facing light court above the third story. A committee of three men, including Taylor,

9984-466: The components of a column . This was a common setup for facades of buildings that were being erected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Bowling Green Offices Building's facade is made of white granite —an influence from Neoclassical architecture —as well as white brick and terracotta. The facade consists of thirteen vertical bays on Broadway and fourteen on Greenwich Street. The bays are separated by slightly projecting piers, and each floor

10112-462: The components of a column —namely a base, shaft, and capital —and has a facade of granite at its base and white brick on the upper stories. The building contains an interior skeleton of structural steel, several ornamental features on the facade, as well as a floor plan that maximizes natural light exposure. The Bowling Green Offices Building, erected as a 16-story structure, initially hosted various steamship offices due to Bowling Green's proximity to

10240-533: The custom house, and a judge ruled in 1891 that the federal government could not take the Bowling Green site by eminent domain as it had proposed to do. Both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a bill to acquire land for a new custom house in New York City, and to sell the old building, in March 1891. The federal government appointed three commissioners to appraise the cost of acquiring land at Bowling Green; in July 1892,

10368-617: The decline of local railroads; the rapid growth of the southern and southwestern United States and the development of ports in these regions; and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada, which allowed ships to deliver cargo directly to the Upper Midwest . As early as 1964, the U.S. Customs Service was considering moving to the World Trade Center , which was under construction . The building's other tenants at

10496-560: The early 1970s, the facade was extremely dirty, and the front steps had been shuttered for several years because of security concerns. The Customs Service leased space at Six World Trade Center from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1970. That year, the New York City Planning Commission considered transferring the site's unused air rights across the street to 1 Broadway, where

10624-718: The facade over the years, and workers steam-cleaned the facade and refurbished the interior in 1934. During the Great Depression , in April 1937, collector Harry M. Durning commissioned Reginald Marsh to paint murals in the main rotunda as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project , with funds and assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Marsh accepted the commission for $ 1,560 (equivalent to $ 33,063 in 2023), less than five percent of what he would have normally charged. The ceiling of

10752-518: The facade. A few years later, the Broadway Realty Company planned to add five more stories at the top of the building to designs by Ludlow and Peabody, but due to steel shortages caused by World War I , the work was not completed until 1919–1920. Building plans in 1938 indicate there was a restaurant, likely facing Greenwich Street, and a photo from the same year indicated that storefronts had been added on Broadway to either side of

10880-480: The federal government had received several bids, whose estimated completion dates differed significantly. Isaac A. Hopper was contracted to excavate the site that December. The collector of the Port of New York, George R. Bidwell , claimed the contract should have been awarded to the next highest bidder, Charles T. Wills, who like Bidwell was a Republican. The site was excavated to a depth of 25 feet (7.6 m), and some 2.2 million cubic feet (62,000 m) of dirt

11008-472: The federal government to sell the old building for the required price of $ 4 million (about $ 121 million in 2023). The new New York Custom House was only the fourth building to be built under the Tarsney Act. Republican Party officials wished to have complete control over spending for the new custom house building. Originally, the Chamber of Commerce and many business interests advocated for erecting

11136-454: The first story. Peirce was authorized to complete the remaining stories in November 1902, after another $ 1.5 million (equal to $ 44 million in 2023) was allocated. Under the terms of the contract, Pierce was to procure Fox Island granite and would be paid $ 2.2 million (equal to $ 64 million in 2023). The cornerstone of the building was laid on October 7, 1902, in a ceremony attended by Treasury secretary Leslie M. Shaw . After

11264-573: The first-floor openings of the pavilions. The base also contains bronze door and window openings on the first story and aluminum -framed sash windows on the second stories. There are cornices above the second and third stories. The third story serves as a "transition" story; the center seven bays feature half-columns and the outer six bays feature rectangular piers. The following eleven stories contain unadorned vertical piers and horizontal molded spandrels above each story. The window openings are framed by short sections of rusticated wall. The tops of

11392-671: The former Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York , (now the George Gustav Heye Center ) presently houses a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian , the former U.S. Custom House in New Orleans, Louisiana , is now home to the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium , the former U.S. Custom House in San Francisco, California , now houses offices of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Social Security Administration and

11520-580: The former U.S. Custom House in Baltimore, Maryland , was in 1973 serving as a Selective Service office. As of 2019 , the Custom House of Valletta in Malta was still being used for its original purpose. Custom Houses became a prominent feature of English ports after 1275, following the creation of a national system for collecting duties on overseas trade. In the United Kingdom , since 1386,

11648-487: The foyer are separated by marble piers . Three bronze lanterns are suspended from the vaulted ceiling, hanging above a red-marble disc on the floor. Elmer E. Garnsey designed murals for the ceiling. Semicircular staircases, with bronze railings and marble stair treads, flank the lobby. The stairs do not have any metal support structures and are composed entirely of flat, hard-burned clay tiles. Under each stair are timbrel vaults , which connect each landing. The stairs rise to

11776-481: The front and two each on State and Whitehall Streets. The Bowling Green post office, operated by the United States Postal Service , was formerly near the building's south end. The post office was located around a west–east corridor accessed by both State and Whitehall Streets. There are also two ramps for delivery vehicles. The floor surface, wainscoting, and pilasters are made of marble, and

11904-486: The lobby in the northern portion of the building. Another elevator on the Greenwich Street side could be used by freight or passengers and could support loads of up to 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg). The site of the Bowling Green Offices Building was occupied by Dutch houses after the colony of New Amsterdam was founded in the 17th century. The Atlantic Garden House (Burns' Coffee House) had previously occupied

12032-422: The marble floor has a geometric border. The former cashier's office has been incorporated into the Heye Center's museum store. The elliptical rotunda, within the building's interior courtyard, measures 85 by 135 feet (26 by 41 m) and rises to the third story. The walls and floors are composed of geometric marble tiles in several hues. The ceiling is self-supporting, without any interior metal structure; it uses

12160-475: The most direct and simple axial lines". The second-floor space, including the former offices, is almost entirely occupied by the Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian. The transverse lobby spans the northern end of the second floor from west to east. Generally, the more important offices were positioned north of the lobby, while divisions dealing in more routine work were relegated to

12288-418: The north, is the oldest park in New York City. The Government House occupied the site in the late 18th century before its demolition in 1815. The houses of several wealthy New Yorkers were subsequently developed at that location. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is seven stories high with a stone facade and an interior steel frame. It was designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style . The design

12416-473: The northwestern corner of the second floor. The office contains elaborate hardwood floors and oak wainscoting designed by Tiffany Studios ; the wainscoting measures 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Garnsey painted ten oil paintings, which are installed above the wainscoting. Each painting has a gold frame and depicts a Dutch or English port in the New World . The office also included a stone fireplace mantel with

12544-713: The phrase "custom house" has been in use over the term "customs house". This was after the City of London's Custom House was erected at Wool Wharf in Tower Ward , to house just the officials overseeing the Great Custom on Wool and Woolfells. The singular form was used even though in later years the City of London's Custom House served as the workplace for other customs officials as well. Bowling Green Offices Building The Bowling Green Offices Building (also known as

12672-494: The previous building be sold for at least $ 4 million. Members of Congress voted against a bill in March 1893 to appropriate an additional $ 800,000 for the site. Because of a lack of funding, the planned custom house at Bowling Green was abandoned at the end of that month. The project did not proceed further until January 1897, when bills for the acquisition of the Bowling Green site were introduced in both houses of Congress. Federal legislators proposed further appropriations, but

12800-418: The process. The bills died at the end of the 54th United States Congress in March 1897. During the 55th Congress in February 1898, legislation for the acquisition of the Bowling Green site was again proposed in the U.S. House and Senate, providing $ 5 million (about $ 156 million in 2023) for land acquisition and construction. The U.S. House and Senate passed the Bowling Green bills in early 1899. At

12928-482: The rotunda had been undecorated white plaster when the building was erected. The installation of the murals was delayed for several months because of what Marsh described as red tape ; the murals were completed by February 1938. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce also relocated from the building in late 1937. U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt requested in May 1939 that Congress appropriate $ 190,000 to renovate

13056-467: The rotundas, hallways, lobby, and collector 's office. The walls of these spaces are clad with marble in multiple hues, and there are nautical motifs in numerous locations. The second-floor ceiling is generally 23 feet (7.0 m) tall. This floor consists of the former office spaces in the front and rear, the transverse lobby, and the rotunda. Gilbert planned the Custom House's interior so "all entrances, corridors, stairways and passages [were] arranged on

13184-409: The salary of the collector was tied to the custom house's revenue, the New York Custom House's collector earned more than the U.S. president, and the position was extremely powerful. The New York Custom House had occupied several sites in Lower Manhattan before the Alexander Hamilton Custom House was built. The first such house was established in 1790 at South William Street . The custom house moved to

13312-541: The sculptures with associate Adolph A. Weinman . French received the commission for all four sculptures after Augustus Saint-Gaudens declined an invitation to design two of the statues. The work was made of marble and sculpted by the Piccirilli Brothers ; each sculptural group cost $ 13,500 (equivalent to $ 322,392 in 2023). The sculptures were produced at the Piccirilli Brothers' studio in

13440-600: The second floor. Under the main entrance arch is a carving of the municipal arms of the city of New York. The keystone at the top of the arch depicts the head of Columbia , the female personification of the United States, and was designed by Vicenzo Albani. Andrew O'Connor created a cartouche for the space above the main entrance. The lintel above the main entrance, quarried in Maine, weighed 50 short tons (45 metric tons) and measured 30 by 8 feet (9.1 by 2.4 m). The second through fourth stories contain engaged columns in

13568-401: The seventh floor, which contains a skylight that is meant to evoke the design of a ship's cabin. Only the western stair between the first and second floors is open to the public. The elevator doors in the lobby are topped by bronze transom grilles that depict a caravel or sailing ship. There are two additional stairs at the rear, or southern, end of the building. The collector's office is at

13696-522: The site of 11 Broadway by the 19th century, and had occupied the site since at least the 18th century. Later, one of the New York and Harlem Railroad 's freight depots was located at the site. The Bowling Green Offices Building's site was owned by lawyer Joseph F. Stier, who sold the land in June 1895 to Stacy C. Richmond. The next month, the then-new Broadway Realty Company submitted plans for

13824-550: The site to the New York City Department of Buildings . The company was led by five men and had a board of directors that included Stier and Richmond, as well as philanthropist Spencer Trask , who, being the largest stakeholder in the building, would maintain a suite on the top floor for several years. The precise details of how Audsley became involved in the project is not clear, though he may have been hired through association with George Foster Peabody , who

13952-462: The south. Following the conversion of the second floor into the Heye Center, the former back offices have been occupied by various exhibition galleries; the cashier's office houses the museum store; and a café occupies the Northwest office adjacent to the main entrance. Membrane arches divide the lobby into five bays . The floors are decorated in marble mosaic patterns. An entablature runs around

14080-415: The southwestern and southeastern banks contain two elevators each, while the northwestern and northeastern banks have three elevators apiece. The northwestern and northeastern elevators were originally open cages but were replaced with enclosed cabs in 1935. Because the original appropriation was limited in scope, decorative elements in the initial construction were limited to several important rooms, including

14208-715: The steamship and shipping industries, such as steamship lines, shipbuilders, ship suppliers, and freight forwarders. The steamship companies included the White Star Line , which owned the RMS ; Titanic ; the American Line ; and the American Scantic Line . Additionally, the Shipping and Industrial Sound Money Association of the Port of New York opened offices in the building in 1900, and

14336-418: The third story. On and above the third story, the building is arranged as a hollow quadrilateral, surrounding the rotunda. This creates a light court above the rotunda, which measures 80 feet (24 m) wide on its north end, 120 feet (37 m) wide on its south end, and 200 feet (61 m) deep. Stairways, made of marble with iron handrails, connect the interior spaces. There are elevators in each corner;

14464-515: The time included the United States Coast Guard , whose Third District Search and Rescue Command was headquartered on the sixth floor. As a money-saving measure, in 1965, the Custom House began using a computerized system to record ships' arrivals. The Public Buildings Service , an agency of the federal government, conducted a study of the Custom House in 1967, finding that the building needed at least $ 8 million in renovations. By

14592-464: The time, most of the structures on the site were three-story houses used by steamship offices; by April, agreements had been made with most of the sixteen landowners. The federal government disbursed $ 2.2 million (about $ 68 million in 2023) to landowners at the Bowling Green site that July. The next month, the old Custom House was sold for $ 3.21 million (about $ 99 million in 2023). Twenty firms were invited in May 1899 to submit designs to

14720-444: The top of the lobby, with galleries on the third story. There are two doorways on the walls, each topped by carved architraves with nautical symbols. The doors from the lobby to the former offices are made of varnished oak and stippled glass. At the center of the lobby is a three-bay-wide foyer with a pair of round arches to the north and south, which are supplemented by green Doric-style marble columns with white capitals. The bays of

14848-478: The tradition of the customs service, the federal government, and the United States with the latest building technology". The Tarsney Act , passed in 1893, permitted the Supervising Architect to host a competition to hire private architects to design federal-government buildings. The act did not take effect until Treasury secretary Lyman J. Gage took office in 1897. Furthermore, it was difficult for

14976-408: The upper stories contain U.S. government offices. The building was proposed in 1889 as a replacement for the previous New York Custom House at 55 Wall Street . Because of various disagreements, the Bowling Green Custom House was not approved until 1899; Gilbert was selected as architect following a competition. The building opened in 1907, and the murals in the rotunda were added in 1938 during

15104-484: The wants of the Government for an indefinite time to come." Fryer recommended Bowling Green as his first preference for a new custom house, followed by a site immediately south, along State Street north of Battery Park . The U.S. House and Senate both passed a bill in March 1889, appropriating $ 750,000 (equivalent to $ 23,040,829 in 2023) for a new custom house in the vicinity of Bowling Green. One supporter of

15232-504: Was Trask's principal partner. Records from McKim, Mead & White allude to the possibility that an architectural competition may have been organized. Construction of the original structure, which was 16 stories and cost $ 1.8 million, started in October 1895. The building was completed in two sections: the Broadway side was ready for use in mid-1896, while the rest of the building was completed in November 1898. According to one source,

15360-460: Was appointed to look over the submissions. By September 1899, there were two finalists: architecture firm Carrere & Hastings and architect Cass Gilbert. Carrere & Hastings's design had called for a Beaux-Arts structure with decorative trim, while Gilbert's design included more French Renaissance Revival elements with copious statuary. After a plan for the two finalists to collaborate failed, Taylor picked Gilbert, who had been his partner at

15488-676: Was being built around the building. Nearby buildings include the International Mercantile Marine Company Building and the Bowling Green Offices Building to the northwest, 26 Broadway to the northeast, 2 Broadway to the east, and One Battery Park Plaza to the south. There are entrances to two New York City Subway stations immediately outside the Custom House. An entrance to the Whitehall Street station

15616-480: Was considered so peculiar". A writer for the Real Estate Record and Guide lambasted the design, saying that it "is quite too conspicuous to be ignored". The reviewer continued: "If the architects had been less solicitous for novelty and had abstained from trying to produce 'an order practically unique', their building would have been much better". Another critic said that the design had been intended to "boldly admit and even [...] accentuate height". A 1998 letter to

15744-479: Was finished by the following January. The building's first tenant was a United States Post Office Department station, which opened on the Bridge Street side of the building's ground floor in July 1906. The same year, an additional $ 465,000 was allocated for the building's completion (equivalent to $ 12 million in 2023). By September 1907, the Custom House was ready to open. The general contractors turned

15872-540: Was modified in 1918 to display Belgian insignia rather than German insignia. Bitter created a cartouche of the United States' coat of arms for the roof. A barrel-vaulted entrance vestibule, supported by marble columns and decorated with multicolored mosaics, is just inside the entrance. Behind bronze gates is a passageway to the Great Hall. At the center of the building is a double-height rotunda , rising to

16000-439: Was normal for Beaux-Arts buildings, which generally had greater detailing on the more visible lower levels. The lintels above the third-story windows are decorated with wave motifs, while those above the fourth floor depict shells. The center portion of the Bridge Street facade reaches only to the third story. The fifth-story facade consists of a full-story entablature with a frieze and short rectangular windows. The sixth story

16128-464: Was removed. The New-York Tribune called the site "the biggest hole that was ever made in this city over which to erect a building". The federal government also requested bids for the building's facade. The government was not allowed to request material from a specific quarry, so multiple contractors submitted bids for numerous types of marble, limestone, and granite. In December 1901, the federal government accepted contractor John Peirce's bid to erect

16256-419: Was sorted in the basement. The upper stories contain office space. The outer portion of the fifth story was initially used for document storage; the windows are small apertures within the entablature, making that story unsuitable for office use. The ceilings of the upper stories are between 12 and 16 feet (3.7 and 4.9 m) tall. Some of the offices on the upper stories were ornately decorated. In particular,

16384-447: Was the primary port of entry for goods reaching the United States in the 19th century and, as such, the New York Custom House was the country's most profitable custom house. Import taxes were a major revenue stream for the federal government before a national income tax was implemented in 1913 with the passage of the 16th Amendment . The New York Custom House had supplied two-thirds of the federal government's revenue at one point. Because

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