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59-688: 49 Chambers , formerly known as the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building and 51 Chambers Street , is a residential building at 49–51 Chambers Street in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City . It was built between 1909 and 1912 and was designed by Raymond F. Almirall in the Beaux-Arts style . The building occupies a slightly irregular lot bounded by Chambers Street to

118-614: A five-story building that the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company had occupied "for many years"; the company had sold their structure to the real-estate companies in 1906 and was planning to move elsewhere. Emigrant Bank was announced as the buyer in October 1907. Almirall was hired to design the new bank building, and started devising plans in 1908. The bank intended to hold the building as an investment. The start of

177-482: A pair of towers. The facade is made largely of Indiana Limestone , as well as some brick and granite. Inside, the first and second floors constitute a former banking hall, used as an event space called Hall des Lumieres . The upper floors were used as offices before being converted to 99 residential condominiums . The current building is the third built by the Emigrant Savings Bank on the same site;

236-490: A small cornice, and the windows are flanked by brackets supporting a much larger cornice. The fifteenth floor is designed as an attic with dormers . Heavy pediments atop the ends of both towers contain bee motifs evocative of the Barberini mercantile family , as well as large stone carvings of eagles and urns. The western and eastern walls are relatively plain brick walls with few windows. These walls contain painted signs with

295-566: A temporary location on Broadway. The redevelopment plans were ultimately scrapped due to the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis , but the city retained ownership of the Emigrant Savings Bank Building. After the city government took over the Emigrant Savings Bank Building, the upper floors were used by several city agencies. An off-track betting booth opened at the building in 1971, after off-track betting in New York

354-598: A two-way street in the New York City borough of Manhattan . It runs from River Terrace, Battery Park City in the west, past PS 234 (the Independence School), The Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Stuyvesant High School , to the Manhattan Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street in the east. Between Broadway and Centre Street, Chambers Street forms the northern boundary of the grounds surrounding New York City Hall and

413-505: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Indiana Limestone Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone , a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana , USA, between the cities of Bloomington and Bedford . It has been called the best quarried limestone in the United States. Indiana limestone, like all limestone, is a rock primarily formed of calcium carbonate . It

472-403: Is carried upon caissons , extending to the layer of gravel 60 to 65 feet (18 to 20 m) below the curb. The cellars extend 36 feet (11 m) deep. The floors carry a load of 150 pounds per square foot (7.2 kPa) at the ground floor and basement, and 75 pounds per square foot (3.6 kPa) on the upper floors. The floors are made of segmental terracotta , while the ceilings are hung below

531-479: Is interrupted at some places by pilasters within the walls. The ceiling is supported by six pairs of large piers , as well as several minor piers on each side; all the piers are attached to the walls, except for the four freestanding piers in the center. At the tops of the piers, arched ribs divide the ceiling into three main parts. The ceiling contains large oval skylights made of stained glass , which depict allegorical figures in various industries. On either side of

590-545: Is no bus service west of North End Avenue. From there, the M22 bus runs the entire length of the street, with eastbound buses heading south on Broadway. The M20 uses the street west of West Broadway westbound, or West Street eastbound. Notes 40°42′55″N 74°00′31″W  /  40.71528°N 74.00861°W  / 40.71528; -74.00861 This article relating to roads and streets in New York City

649-810: The Broadway–Chambers Building and 287 Broadway to the west; the Ted Weiss Federal Building and African Burial Ground National Monument to the north; the Surrogate's Courthouse to the east; and the Tweed Courthouse and New York City Hall , within City Hall Park, to the south. The site measures 123 feet (37 m) on Chambers Street and 125 feet (38 m) on Reade Street, with a depth of 151 feet (46 m). The ground slopes downward from north to south;

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708-638: The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law , many university buildings, and the Indiana Government Center, and most of the state's 92 courthouses are all examples of Indiana architecture made with Indiana limestone. The majority of Indiana University, Bloomington , was constructed out of limestone. 1959's architecturally significant St. Augustine's Episcopal Church , in Gary, Indiana , uses Indiana limestone in

767-664: The Tennessee State Capitol exterior was renovated using Indiana limestone to replace the poorer-quality Tennessee limestone that had started to deteriorate. Some 15,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone was used in the rebuilding of the Pentagon after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. The new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx , which opened in 2009, extensively uses Indiana limestone paneling on its exterior facade. Indiana limestone has been particularly popular for

826-671: The Tweed Courthouse . Opposite the Tweed Courthouse sits the Surrogate's Courthouse for Manhattan. 280 Broadway the Marble Palace, lies west of there, on the north side of Chambers. Chambers Street is named for attorney John Chambers (1710–1764), an important parishioner at Trinity Church in Manhattan, where he was vestryman (1726–1757) and warden (1757–1765) of the church for 38 years, son of William Chambers, and husband of Anna Van Cortlandt. Chambers's nephew

885-762: The gargoyles on the buildings of Princeton University were carved from Indiana limestone, including "Flute Player", located on the exterior of Firestone Library . Both structures of the Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail in Kenosha, Wisconsin , were built out of the limestone. This stone was used as far north as the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton . The Nebraska State Capitol is clad in Indiana Limestone, after native limestone

944-586: The north side of Michigan State University use Indiana limestone. The Cathedral of Learning , a 42-story neo-gothic skyscraper that is the largest educational building in the Western Hemisphere, along with other nearby buildings of the University of Pittsburgh , are clad in Indiana limestone. The St. Anthony Society Chapter House at Yale University also is built of Indiana limestone. Many of

1003-639: The New York County Courthouse), would have chambers measuring 15 by 25 feet (4.6 by 7.6 m) in the Emigrant Savings Bank Building, as well as a judicial library. Another early tenant was the Associated Press , which moved from the Western Union Telegraph Building in 1914. Meanwhile, Emigrant Savings Bank had seen an increase in deposits in the years after its new building was completed. In 1931,

1062-516: The O'Rourke Engineering and Construction Company; and the brick was supplied by the Harbison Walker Refractories Company. The building is 188.29 feet (57.39 m) tall with 17 above-ground stories. At the time of completion, it was the largest bank building in the United States. The Emigrant Building's exterior is made mostly of Indiana Limestone , with granite at the lowest stories. The first three stories fill

1121-680: The United States — such as the National Cathedral , Biltmore Estate , Empire State Building , the Pentagon , The Crescent in Dallas , and the Hotel Pennsylvania — feature Indiana limestone in their exteriors. Some 35 of the 50 state capitol buildings in the United States are made of Indiana limestone. It was used extensively in rebuilding Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The sculptural group atop

1180-477: The bank had previously erected structures in 1858 and 1885–1887. 49 Chambers' banking hall was occupied by the bank until 1969, while office tenants occupied the upper floors. The building was subsequently owned by the government of New York City until 2013, and it was converted to condominiums in 2017. 49 Chambers was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and both the exterior and

1239-482: The bank started a safe-deposit service, adding new vaults in the building's basement. In 1964, the government of New York City received authorization to buy the Emigrant Savings Bank Building and several surrounding plots, which would be demolished to make way for a new Civic Center municipal building. Three years later, the city government notified Emigrant Savings Bank that the building was to be demolished. The bank closed its Chambers Street location in 1969, moving to

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1298-476: The bank's name, which date from the 1960s. 49 Chambers initially had a banking hall on the first and second floors, and was split up into office space above the second floor. Since its 2017 residential conversion, the building has had 99 condominium apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms. Each unit contains at least 1,000 square feet (93 m). Entrances to the building's residential condominiums are on Chambers and Reade Streets. 49 Chambers' foundation

1357-648: The banking hall were restored. 49 Chambers is also located within two historic districts. It is part of the African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District, which was designated a city landmark district in 1993. The building is also part of the African Burial Ground Historic District , a National Historic Landmark District . Chambers Street (Manhattan) Chambers Street is

1416-492: The banking hall, there are smaller plain-vaulted ceiling sections with rosettes and overhanging chandeliers. The large girders spanning the first floor are enclosed with concrete averaging 3 inches (76 mm) thick. The Emigrant Bank was organized in 1850 by Roman Catholic Archbishop John Hughes and the Irish Emigrant Society, with the purpose of protecting the savings of Irish immigrants newly arrived in

1475-411: The banking room contains a marble staircase descending to the central doorway on Reade Street. The main section of the banking hall is rectangular in plan. On the western and eastern walls, the banking hall had marble-and-iron cages for bank tellers . Two mezzanines, enclosed within frosted glass and ornamental bronze, run atop the tellers' cages. The tops of the walls contain an elaborate cornice, which

1534-561: The building lacked sufficient space, but the Emigrant Savings Bank Building was not renovated at the time because the Civic Center development was considered to be on hold, rather than formally canceled. By 1978, the New York City Department of Buildings planned to renovate the main banking hall, removing much decorative detail in the process. Paul Goldberger , architecture writer for The New York Times , criticized

1593-471: The building's residential conversion. There is also a residents' rooftop deck, covering 7,000 square feet (650 m). As built, the Emigrant Savings Bank Building contained ornamental bronze staircases. The first floor, formerly the banking hall, contains ceilings 40 feet (12 m) high, marble floors and walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows. It is aligned on a largely north–south axis; anterooms, originally used as officers' quarters, extend west and east from

1652-525: The central bay being wider than the others. The piers support a plain frieze above the second floor, with the bank's name in the center. A small pediment protrudes above the central bay. The upper floors contain the H-shaped plan and are designed to resemble a pair of three-bay-wide towers on both the Chambers and Reade Street sides. The windows facing the streets are rectangular, while the windows facing

1711-568: The city. The bank initially occupied a leased property at 51 Chambers Street. In 1858, the Emigrant Bank demolished the structure to create its first new building on the site. The bank survived the Panic of 1873 and grew rapidly in the subsequent decade, purchasing an adjacent building at 49 Chambers Street in 1882. Three years after the purchase, the bank commissioned William H. Hume and Little & O'Conner to build an eight-story building at

1770-465: The construction of university buildings. The Neo-Gothic campus of the University of Chicago is almost entirely constructed out of Indiana limestone; in keeping with the trend of post-Fire buildings using the material. The campus of Washington University in St. Louis – both for new construction and original buildings – makes use of Indiana limestone in its collegiate gothic architecture. Many buildings on

1829-693: The demand for limestone. Indiana limestone was officially designated as the state stone of Indiana by the Indiana General Assembly in 1971. With the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, the price of alternative building materials skyrocketed so Indiana limestone reemerged as an energy-efficient building material. Many of Indiana's official buildings, such as the State capitol building, the monuments in Downtown Indianapolis ,

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1888-409: The first floor interior were designated New York City landmarks in 1985. 49 Chambers is in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan , just north of City Hall Park . It has frontage along Chambers Street to the south and Reade Street to the north; in addition, 49 Chambers faces a parking lot and Elk Street to the east, and 280 Broadway to the west. Other nearby buildings and locations include

1947-478: The floor slabs. All columns below the first floor, except for the side wall columns, are filled with concrete. Each interior column is fireproofed with 2 to 3 inches (51 to 76 mm) of concrete held in place by 2 to 4 inches (51 to 102 mm) of brickwork. The basement contains several resident amenities, such as a residents' lounge, swimming pool, gym, steam room, sauna, and virtual golf simulator. As built, 49 Chambers had three vaults, but two were removed during

2006-421: The foyer and the banking hall, and is faced with polished limestone on the banking hall side. Anterooms extend west and east, while the main banking hall extends north, nearly the whole length of the buildings. The walls of the anterooms contain panels with Greek fret designs, as well as bronze plaques with the bank's name and the dates of the bank's founding and the building's year of completion. The northern end of

2065-541: The interior. The Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, Indiana , consecrated in 1991 and awarded a Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Masonry Design, uses Indiana limestone on its exterior facade. Nationally, Indiana limestone has long been part of a high-end market. It has mostly been used on the exteriors of homes and commercial and government buildings. Many prominent public buildings in

2124-596: The light courts are progressively rounded and angled toward the interior of the light courts. There are nine bays facing the light court on Chambers Street and seven facing the Reade Street light court. The third floor is treated as a "transitional" story and contains windows connected by geometric designs. The following ten floors, between the fourth and the thirteenth stories, consist of square-headed, copper-framed windows set back slightly between limestone piers. The fourteenth floor, another "transitional" story, sits atop

2183-407: The main façade of New York City's Grand Central Terminal — known as Glory of Commerce — is made of Indiana Limestone. (A work by Jules-Félix Coutan , it includes representations of Minerva , Hercules , and Mercury and, at its unveiling in 1914, was considered the largest sculptural group in the world. ) The original 1930s buildings of Rockefeller Center use limestone from Bedford. In 1955

2242-485: The old structure, which was subsequently shored up. The building was completed by 1912. Emigrant Savings Bank initially took up the banking hall, while the other floors were rented out. The New York Supreme Court announced in March 1912 that it would take up the 13th floor and half of the 12th floor at the Emigrant Savings Bank Building. The Supreme Court, which had a shortage of space in the Tweed Courthouse (then known as

2301-480: The original ground elevation was below Reade Street and close to sea level. The surrounding area contains evidence of the interment of individuals, mostly of African descent, and some of these corpses may remain under the Emigrant Savings Bank Building site. Within the area, a frame church at 47 Chambers Street was built in 1801 by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America . The frame church

2360-545: The plans, calling the banking hall "irreplaceable" and "the one real asset that this near-bankrupt city has". Following opposition to the proposal, the city subsequently dropped the renovation plans. By 1994, the building was described as dilapidated. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, an aid center was opened in the Emigrant Savings Bank Building in 2002, moving from Pier 94 on the Hudson River . The bank building

2419-525: The project was delayed due to uncertainty over the site of the Manhattan Municipal Building . The site bounded by Broadway and Reade, Centre, and Chambers Streets had periodically been proposed for the Municipal Building's site. By 1908, the city decided to erect the Municipal Building one block east of the Emigrant Bank site. Construction on the new Emigrant Savings Bank Building started by August 1909. During construction, large cracks developed in

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2478-586: The project. In an offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General the same year, the developers indicated that they planned to offer 81 apartments. Woods Bagot was hired to renovate the space, as well as to restore decorative elements and other historic motifs in the building. The interiors were converted by Gabellini Sheppard Associates. Chetrit also commissioned architectural historian Thomas Mellins, who wrote an essay about 49 Chambers' architecture and history. Chetrit launched sales of

2537-580: The same location. The second bank building, opened in April 1887, was described as being fireproof, with brick floors, iron structural beams, fire-clay partitions, and marble ceilings and walls. The granite facade, rusticated at the base, was topped by a mansard roof . In September 1907, the Century Realty Company and Alliance Realty Company sold the lots between 43 and 47 Chambers Street for about $ 1 million in cash. These lots contained

2596-412: The south, Elk Street to the east, and Reade Street to the north. 49 Chambers was the largest bank building in the United States upon its completion. It was the first skyscraper to use the "H" layout, which provided light and air to more parts of the building. The basement through second floor fill the entire lot, while the third through fifteenth floors contain the "H" layout and are designed to resemble

2655-465: The southern end of the banking room. The interior of the banking hall is made of Arena Pola limestone blocks brought from Istria . Since conversion, the banking hall has contained a three-bedroom "model apartment" as well as a separate event space. The banking hall is accessed from the central doorway on Chambers Street, which leads to a foyer with marble geometric-patterned floors. A curved marble screen, containing three sets of revolving doors, separates

2714-415: The street was closed to make way for the construction of the pedestrian plaza at 1 Police Plaza . Duane Street was also closed and the intersection with Park Row was eliminated, with Park Row rerouted underneath the pedestrian plaza. Beginning in 2010, Chambers Street was fully reconstructed. The rebuilding was finished in 2015. The New York City Subway has three stations on Chambers Street: There

2773-455: The three center bays. A stepped pediment runs above the second floor, and a large coat of arms sits atop the pediment in the central bay. There are also three entrances on Reade Street. The center entrance contains a granite surround topped by the word bank , while the smaller entrances on either end are topped by their street addresses. The first and second floors of the Reade Street side are divided by brick pilasters into seven bays, with

2832-536: The units in April 2017. However, because of a lack of demand for the condominiums, Chetrit offered to give buyers' agents half of their commission upon the signing of a contract. The owner retired its $ 194 million loan in January 2019, and SL Green gave Chetrit a $ 204 million loan. In July 2020, French museum operator Culturespaces announced that a digital art museum named Hall des Lumières would open within 49 Chambers' banking hall. Hall des Lumières's opening

2891-485: The upper floors to be smaller than the lower floors to compensate for large rooftop cornices . The facade is set atop a raised basement containing a stone course . On the Chambers Street elevation , at the first and second floors, rusticated granite piers and engaged columns subdivide the facade into nine bays. There is a double-height window in each bay; on the six outermost bays, there are swags beneath

2950-504: The whole lot, while the remaining stories utilize an "H" layout, creating " light courts " to increase natural light exposure. At the time the Emigrant Savings Bank Building was constructed, skyscraper developers in New York City were generally looking for layouts that could maximize naturally-lit floor space. Before the Emigrant Savings Bank Building's completion, developers frequently bought surrounding low-rise buildings to preserve their structures' views; alternatively, architects would design

3009-408: The windows and a stylized keystone above them. The primary entrance is in the central bay and contains a granite surround underneath an ornate arched pediment with the word entrance . The secondary entrances on both ends contain a simpler granite surround, with the street address above the door. There is an entablature above the second floor, which is interrupted by a plaque of the bank's name in

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3068-487: Was John Jay . John Murray, Chambers' law partner, has nearby Murray Street named after him. Before 1971, Chambers Street continued east of Centre Street as a street called New Chambers Street , which ran through the Municipal Building's archway. In its final configuration, New Chambers Street carried traffic westbound from the intersection of Park Row , the Brooklyn Bridge off-ramp, and Duane Street. In 1971,

3127-498: Was deposited over millions of years as marine fossils decomposed at the bottom of a shallow inland sea which covered most of the present-day Midwestern United States during the Mississippian Period. Native Americans were the first people to discover limestone in Indiana. Not long after they arrived, American settlers used this rock around their windows and doors and for memorials around the towns. The first quarry

3186-592: Was legalized. The banking hall became the quarters of the New York City Parking Violations Bureau starting in 1973. The building also housed the Satellite Academy High School for two decades until 1999, when the city government forced the school to move elsewhere. The Municipal Service Administration requested $ 3.25 million in 1974 to renovate the Emigrant Savings Bank Building. The city agencies in

3245-608: Was part of a $ 250 million deal that also involved the sale of 346 Broadway to the Peebles Corporation. The New York City government sold the buildings in an attempt to reduce the amount of office space that it owned. Chetrit converted the Emigrant Savings Bank Building into condominiums and renamed the building to 49 Chambers. In 2016, the developer received a $ 194 million loan for the conversion from SL Green Realty and Acore Capital, who also took over an existing $ 85 million loan that MSD Capital had given to

3304-435: Was postponed, and the museum ultimately opened on September 14, 2022, with a Gustav Klimt art installation. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 25, 1982. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 49 Chambers' exterior and first-floor interior as city landmarks on July 9, 1985. The interior-landmark designation was slightly modified in 1996 after chandeliers in

3363-426: Was replaced with a brick church in 1818. The current building is the third erected by the bank on the site of the churches and burial ground. 49 Chambers was built from 1909 to 1912 and was designed by Raymond F. Almirall in the Beaux-Arts style . It was built by contractor Charles T. Wills Inc. The 5,300 short tons (4,700 long tons; 4,800 t) of steel was supplied by Post and McCord; the foundations were made by

3422-413: Was started in 1827, and by 1929 Hoosier quarries yielded 12,000,000 ft (340,000 cubic meters) of usable stone. The expansion of the railroads brought great need for limestone to build bridges and tunnels and Indiana was the place to get it. American architecture of the late 19th and early 20th century included a lot of limestone detail work on buildings, but as architectural styles changed, so did

3481-484: Was used for the filming of movies such as Spike Lee 's 2008 film Miracle at St. Anna , and also hosted New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg 's 2006 inaugural gala. During a 2010 renovation of City Hall, the New York City Council convened some meetings in the Emigrant Savings Bank Building. The Chetrit Group bought the Emigrant Savings Bank Building from the city for $ 89 million in 2013; this

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