40°42′46″N 74°00′21″W / 40.71278°N 74.00583°W / 40.71278; -74.00583
107-824: The New York World Building (also the Pulitzer Building ) was a building in the Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City , along Park Row between Frankfort Street and the Brooklyn Bridge . Part of Lower Manhattan 's former " Newspaper Row ", it was designed by George B. Post in the Renaissance Revival style, serving as the headquarters of the New York World after its completion in 1890. The New York World Building
214-490: A penny press and mass consumption of sensational news. The Civic Center was always a desirable location for newspapers because it was so close to City Hall and the courts, but the numbers increased exponentially after the invention of the steam press. Park Row became known as "Newspaper Row", and between the Civil War and World War I , 60 newspapers were published there. The New York Sun began publication in 1833, as
321-474: A 75-seat "Assembly Hall" and 350-seat "Assembly Room" available for rent. The 11th floor originally contained the editorial department of the Evening World , and a two-bedroom apartment used during "special occasions". The 12th story was used as a composing room and contained galleries for proofreaders and visitors. There was also a night editors' department on the 12th floor. Above it was a roof from which
428-564: A building built specifically for its use. Frank Queen bought a small office on Nassau Street and began publishing the New York Clipper in 1853, making it the first American paper devoted entirely to entertainment; the paper eventually shortened its name to The Clipper . The paper was one of the earliest publications in the United States to regularly cover sports, and it played an important role in popularizing baseball in
535-576: A ceiling vault measuring 19.5 feet (5.9 m) wide by 17 feet (5.2 m) high. After the annex was completed in 1908, the ground-floor lobby extended 200 feet (61 m) between Park Row and North William Street. The World 's cashier's and bookkeeper's offices occupied the mezzanine over the 1st floor. The original two-story annex on Frankfort Street contained a newspaper-delivery department on its lower story, and bookkeepers' departments on its upper story. The mezzanine through 10th stories were used as offices. Advertisements indicated that there were
642-662: A circulation from 250,000; and dedication speeches, recorded in wax phonograph cylinders. The World Building, as an early New York City icon, appeared in several works of media. It was mentioned in the novel Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos . The building was also featured on the cover of the World Almanac from 1890 to 1934. Civic Center, Manhattan The Civic Center is an area and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan , Manhattan , New York City, that encompasses New York City Hall , One Police Plaza ,
749-566: A convex wall running perpendicularly from both Park Row and Frankfort Street. On Frankfort Street, the facade was clad with red sandstone below the 3rd story, and buff brick and terracotta above. The North William Street facade was similar to that of the original building but had granite facing on the 1st story and brick with terracotta above. There were eighteen lifts in the building, including passenger and freight elevators. The elevators were made of iron and encased in glazed brick walls. Four hydraulic elevators served passengers; three were for
856-865: A degree in civil engineering , Post became a student of Richard Morris Hunt from 1858 to 1860. In 1860, he formed a partnership with a fellow student in Hunt's office, Charles D. Gambrill , with a brief hiatus for service in the Civil War. Post served in the American Civil War under General Burnside at the battle of Fredericksburg and later rose to the rank of colonel in the New York National Guard. In 1867, Post founded his own architectural firm which expanded in 1904 when two of his sons, J. Otis and William Stone joined him to form become George B. Post and Sons. Post served as
963-647: A fireworks display and several speeches. A large stained glass window by Otto Heinigke, combining the Statue of Liberty and the New York World banner, was installed over the North William Street entrance to the annex. The stained glass window alluded to how the World had helped raise funds for the statue's pedestal from the public in 1883, before the statue's construction. Despite the expansion of
1070-577: A loan of $ 600, the Pace brothers rented a classroom on one of the floors of the New York Tribune Building . The school would later become Pace University . The city continued to innovate, and in 1908, City Hall Park was renovated, and the old gaslights were replaced with electric ones. The Gothic style Woolworth Building , at Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street, was designed by Cass Gilbert for Frank Winfield Woolworth ,
1177-478: A lot of 7,500 square feet (700 m), giving the building a total lot area of 18,496 square feet (1,718.3 m). Prior to the World Building's development, the building was the site of French's Hotel. The hotel had been developed after the lots were acquired by one John Simpson in 1848. The World 's owner and the building's developer, Joseph Pulitzer , had been thrown out of the same hotel during
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#17327662671761284-559: A morning newspaper edited by Benjamin Day with the slogan: "It Shines for All". The newspaper's offices, a converted A.T. Stewart department store at 280 Broadway , between Chambers and Duane Streets, is famous for the clocks that bear the newspaper's masthead and motto. Horace Greeley created the New York Tribune in 1841 with the hopes of providing a straightforward, trustworthy media source in an era when newspapers such as
1391-460: A new World headquarters in the late 1880s, and he hired Post following an architectural design competition . Construction took place from October 1889 to December 1890. Following the World 's subsequent success, Horace Trumbauer designed a thirteen-story annex for the World Building, which was erected between 1907 and 1908. When the World closed in 1931, the building was used as headquarters of The Journal of Commerce . The World Building
1498-543: A roughly parallelogram-shaped land lot with frontage of 115 feet (35 m) on Park Row to the northwest and 136 feet (41 m) on Frankfort Street to the south. It abutted the Brooklyn Bridge to the north and other buildings to the east; the lot originally had a cut-out on the northeastern corner so that the Brooklyn Bridge side was shorter than the Frankfort Street side. Immediately to the south of
1605-415: A rounded corner that spanned from the first to tenth stories. The corner entrance contained a double-height arch flanked by female figures depicting justice and truth. As in the center bays on Park Row, there were three sets of double-height arches between the fifth and tenth stories. A balustrade ran above the tenth story of the rounded corner, and the 11th and 12th stories were recessed from that corner, with
1712-429: A six-story dome at the top of the building. The pinnacle above the dome reached 350 feet (110 m). When the building was in use, the World primarily used the dome, ground floor, and basements, while the other stories were rented to tenants. The World Building's design generally received mixed reviews, with criticism focusing mostly on its immense scale. The World 's owner Joseph Pulitzer started planning for
1819-535: A skyscraper. In April 1888, Pulitzer bought the site of French's Hotel at Frankfort Street, three blocks north of Ann Street; the hotel site was considered the only one in the neighborhood that was both large enough and affordable for Pulitzer. Pulitzer's estate retained control of the lots at 11 Park Row and Ann Street, but did not develop them. Demolition of the hotel commenced in July 1888. Numerous professional advisors, including Richard Morris Hunt , were hired to judge
1926-505: A structure two blocks south at 37 Park Row, later the Potter Building's site. The original World building burned down in 1882, killing six people and causing more than $ 400,000 in damage (equivalent to $ 13 million in 2023). The World was subsequently housed at 32 Park Row. Joseph Pulitzer purchased the World in 1883, and the paper's circulation grew tenfold in the following six years, so that 32 Park Row became too small for
2033-437: A tendency to break apart. Hard brick was used for the foundation walls up to the basement story, above which large granite blocks were placed in the wall. The foundation used 21,000 cubic yards (16,000 m) of sand, plaster, lime, and cement. The World Building contained a hybrid cage-frame structure whose exterior walls were partially load-bearing . The exterior walls' thicknesses had been prescribed by city building codes of
2140-481: A visual identity for the newspaper", and that the lantern on the dome was used at night as a beacon for ships. The building's Heinigke stained glass window was bought by a group headed by a Columbia University journalism professor. In 1954, when the building's demolition was announced, it was brought to Room 305 of the Columbia University School of Journalism . Columbia was also set to receive
2247-832: A wedding gift for his son—and an excellent residential example of Gothic Revival architecture in America. Kenilwood remained in the Post family until it was purchased by Mike Tyson in 1988. Post also designed more staid public and semi-public structures including the New York Stock Exchange Building , the New York Times Building , the Bronx Borough Hall and the Wisconsin State Capitol . In 1893, Post
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#17327662671762354-636: The American Civil War ; at the time, he was a recent Hungarian immigrant who had volunteered to serve in the Union Army 's cavalry . The original portion of the New York World Building was completed in 1890 and designed by George B. Post in the Renaissance Revival style with some Venetian Renaissance detail. The World Building was also known as the Pulitzer Building, after Joseph Pulitzer. Multiple contractors provided
2461-688: The City of Greater New York . The new New York City numbered more than 4.5 million residents. Post-consolidation work on the New York City Subway 's first line began in 1900, and the City Hall and Brooklyn Bridge stations opened in 1904. The Emigrant Savings Bank , a bank for Irish immigrants established at 51 Chambers Street in 1850, built the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building on
2568-695: The East River and Hudson River . There was a series of marshes in the area and a big pond in what is now Foley Square that the early settlers called "The Collect" or " Collect Pond ". The area was so low lying that during the spring floods, the Indians could paddle from the East River to the Hudson River through the Collect Pond. Then in 1609, Henry Hudson , an English explorer working for
2675-498: The Herald , Tribune , Sun , and Times individually, and greater than the latter three papers combined. In its early years, the World Building's dome was used for various purposes: its lantern was used to display results for the 1894 United States elections , and a projector on the dome was used to display messages in the night sky. During a heat wave in 1900, the World hired a "noted rainmaker" to detonate two dozen "rain bombs" from
2782-631: The New York Journal and the New York World increased circulation and influenced the content and style of newspapers in most of the America's major cities. Many aspects of yellow journalism, such as banner headlines, sensational stories, an emphasis on illustrations, and colored supplements, became a permanent feature of popular newspapers in the United States and Europe during the 20th century. George B. Post George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 – November 28, 1913), professionally known as George B. Post ,
2889-562: The New York Sun and New York Herald thrived on sensationalism . The Tribune ' s original building was located on 30 Ann Street , but was moved to the New York Tribune Building in 1875. The New York Times ' first building was located at 113 Nassau Street in lower Manhattan. In 1854, it moved to 138 Nassau Street, and in 1858 it moved to 41 Park Row , making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in
2996-565: The New York World . Each publication would compete by fabricating and embellishing stories more than the other. They increased their title font sizes, and focused more on the title than the actual story. The Revolution , also established in 1868, was a women's rights newspaper founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony . The New York Press was a New York City newspaper that began publication in December 1887 and published notable writers such as Stephen Crane . It also coined
3103-476: The New York World Building , the tallest office building in the world at the time (it was razed in 1955). The New York Journal was established in 1868, as a paper published every other day. The paper was barely financially stable and in 1895, William Randolph Hearst purchased it. He made major changes to the paper, and adopting the approach used by Joseph Pulitzer, he began competing with
3210-616: The Potter Building , the Park Row Building , the New York Times Building , and the New York Tribune Building. The New York World and other newspapers would be among the first to construct early skyscrapers for their headquarters. Meanwhile, printing was centered around Beekman Street, two blocks south of the World Building. The New York World was established in 1860, and initially occupied
3317-500: The architectural design competition through which the architect was to be selected. According to the Real Estate Record and Guide , "about half a dozen well-known architects" had submitted plans by August 1888, when French's Hotel was nearly completely demolished. By October 1888, George B. Post had been selected as the building's architect. Supposedly, Post had called Pulitzer after submitting his plans, and he had designed
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3424-457: The 12th story, with a pediment above the center bays, as well as a terracotta panel containing the carved monogram j. p. and the date "1889". The outer bays of the Park Row elevation had double-height arched windows above the mezzanine and 3rd story, and square windows above. All of the bays had arched windows on the 12th story. Between the Park Row and Frankfort Street elevations was
3531-628: The Baldwin Cottage (1879–80), a polychromatic exercise in the "Quaint Style" with bargeboards and half-timbering; John La Farge provided stained glass panels. Post also designed many of the gilded-age mansions found in Bernardsville, NJ and was credited more than anyone with selling wealthy New Yorkers on the idea of establishing a country home in the Somerset Hills . He designed Kenilwood—a grand home built in 1896–1897 as
3638-466: The Dutch, came and claimed the land for the Dutch. The colony there grew and farms began to expand, so the demand for workers increased. The Dutch West Indies Company decided to import slaves in 1625 to the new colony. The Civic Center was known as the commons and the first recorded building was a windmill built by Jan de Wit and Denys Hartogveldt in 1663. The next year, the colony was renamed New York and
3745-436: The World Building started in mid-March 1955, and the last commercial tenants were required to leave by April 1. The mayor's office planned to stay in the building until May 1, so mayoral aides arranged for demolition contractors to conduct only minor facade removals until then. In preparation for the construction of the new ramps, the demolition contractors would also strengthen the World Building's foundations. The mayor's office,
3852-503: The World Building the day after the Board of Estimate's approval. The Board of Estimate moved to acquire the World Building's land in June 1953, and borough president Hulan Jack signed demolition contracts for the building the next year. In December 1954, during a renovation of City Hall, the office of now-mayor Wagner temporarily moved from City Hall to the World Building. Demolition work on
3959-547: The World Building to use as its headquarters. Another long-term tenant, Negro league baseball executive Nat Strong , occupied the building from 1900 until his death in 1935. Strong apparently owned the building for some time after the World had gone defunct. By 1936, there were proposals to demolish the World Building as part of a plan to widen the Manhattan approach to the Brooklyn Bridge. The Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company, acting as trustee of Pulitzer's estate, sold
4066-415: The World Building's offices were made of Georgia pine upon a concrete base. Ash was used for woodwork finish, except in the publication office, where mahogany was used. The building contained a total of 250 units, of which 149 were rented to tenants and 79 were used by the World 's staff. The foundation of the World Building was excavated to a depth of 35 feet (11 m), just above the water level;
4173-528: The World Building's site. The Planning Commission officially approved Wagner's plan in January 1953, but the New York City Board of Estimate temporarily delayed the building's demolition when it laid over the street-redesign plan. The next month, the Board of Estimate also approved Wagner's plan. The Journal of Commerce , by then the last remaining newspaper to publish from Park Row, moved out of
4280-443: The arts. Pedestals flanked the center bays on the 4th story. The 5th through 10th stories of the center bays were divided horizontally into three sets of double-height arches, each supported by four pairs of columns. At the 11th story, four pairs of square piers divided each bay. Four 16-foot-tall (4.9 m) black copper caryatids by Bitter, representing human races, flanked the 12th-story windows. A cornice and balustrade ran above
4387-551: The average number of residents for an area that size is around 35,000. The Jacob K. Javits Federal Building is located in the area, which includes the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation . Non-government buildings include the 387 feet (118 m) 15 Park Row , an office and residential building which was the city's highest from 1899 to 1908. The 21-story granite 150 Nassau Street building
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4494-535: The banks of Ravine Lake was relocated in 1917 to its present site and includes a golf course designed by A.W. Tillinghast . Many of Post's design's were landmarks of the era. Post's Equitable Life Building (1868–70), was the first office building designed to use passenger elevators; Post himself leased the upper floors when contemporaries predicted they could not be rented. His Western Union Telegraph Building (1872–75) at Dey Street in Lower Manhattan,
4601-461: The builders in April 1890 many offices were ready for tenants by that October. The building was formally completed on December 10, 1890, with a luncheon, speeches from several politicians, and a fireworks display from the dome. The World prospered through the 1890s and the early 20th century. At the time of its opening, the World was outselling its competitors, with a daily circulation greater than
4708-439: The building became the headquarters of Local Draft Board 1, which at the time was described as the "largest in the United States" of its kind. Socony-Mobil leased 6,000 square feet (560 m) in the World Building in 1946, using the space as a staff-training center with a 180-seat auditorium, a projecting room, and a publicly accessible exhibit room. Robert F. Wagner Jr. , the Manhattan borough president , proposed redesigning
4815-493: The building had begun construction in 1861, work on the building stopped between 1872 and 1877 after the downfall of its patron Boss Tweed and the death of its primary architect. By the 1880s, the city of New York was rapidly growing; the population had increased to more than a million residents, and the government was outgrowing its offices. The mayor, Franklin Edson , recognized the need for more space for government offices and
4922-410: The building opened in 1890, the World Building's dome had a height of 310 feet (94 m) and a spire of 350 feet (110 m), though this calculation was measured from the eastern end of the Frankfort Street frontage, rather than from the main frontage on Park Row. The flat roof was 191 feet (58 m) above sidewalk level. The World Building was New York City's tallest building when opened, becoming
5029-480: The building to "annex" over the Brooklyn Bridge approach. He also apparently bet $ 20,000 against Pulitzer's $ 10,000 that the project would stay within the $ 1 million budget that Pulitzer had outlined, even though the building apparently ended up costing $ 2 million. Pulitzer dictated several aspects of the design, including the triple-height main entrance arch, the dome, and the rounded corner at Park Row and Frankfort Street. Post expressed particular concern about
5136-399: The building to Samuel B. Shankman in 1941 for $ 50,000 plus taxes. Shankman planned to renovate the structure and hold it as an investment. At the time of the sale, the building was valued at $ 2.375 million, but the tax assessment was reduced to $ 2.105 million shortly afterward. In 1942, the facade was thoroughly cleaned for the first time since the building's completion. The next year,
5243-437: The building was too tall for its lot, especially considering that it could not be viewed in full from the narrow Frankfort Street, and that "there have been no pains at all taken to keep the building down", with a particularly sharp dissonance between the tower and dome. Another reviewer wrote that "The World building is a monstrosity in varicolored brick and stone". The Skyscraper Museum stated that "The distinctive dome provided
5350-512: The building with a bomb, prompting an armed guard of police and Department of Justice employees to be stationed outside of the building. The next year, the facade of the World Building was used to display scores from the 1922 World Series . There were also some minor fires, including one in 1919, and another in 1924 that slightly damaged the World 's presses. Overall, the World was not prospering financially, and it shuttered in 1931. In 1933, The Journal of Commerce leased four floors in
5457-426: The building's dome. By 1906, Horace Trumbauer was hired to design a thirteen-story annex for the building extending eastward to North William Street. Trumbauer filed plans for the expansion in January 1907, while D. C. Weeks & Son were hired as contractors. Work on the extension began the next months. The expanded structure and the World 's 25th anniversary were celebrated with a ceremony on May 9, 1908, with
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#17327662671765564-636: The building, the World declined in stature during the 1910s and 1920s. Several notable events took place at the building during this time. In 1911, American Civil War spy Pryce Lewis killed himself by jumping off the building's dome, having been denied a government pension. After the World 's exposé of the Ku Klux Klan was published in September 1921, the Ku Klux Klan threatened to destroy
5671-636: The buildings he designed have been demolished, since their central locations in New York and other cities made them vulnerable to rebuilding in the twentieth century. Some of his lost buildings were regarded as landmarks of their era. His sons, who had been taken into the firm in 1904, continued after his death as George B. Post and Sons until 1930. Post was born on December 15, 1837, in Manhattan , New York, to Joel Browne Post and Abby Mauran Church. After graduating from New York University in 1858 with
5778-420: The ceiling, embossed leather walls, and three large windows. The second dome story also contained the vice president's apartment, editorial writers' offices, and Council Chamber offices. The second level had a ceiling of 20.5 feet (6.2 m) while subsequent dome stories had slightly shorter ceilings. The third level contained offices for clerical assistants, the chief artist and cartoonist, and other staff, while
5885-416: The cellar, and fed water to a smaller 7,000-U.S.-gallon (26,000 L; 5,800 imp gal) tank at the rear of the roof. There were 142,864 square feet (13,272.5 m) of available floor space upon the building's opening, which was "practically doubled" with the completion in 1908 of the building's William Street annex. The hallways were tiled, while the entrances were finished in marble. The floors of
5992-860: The corner of East 57th Street and Fifth Avenue and was one of the most opulent single-family homes of its time. It featured a lavishly scrolled cast-iron gate forged in Paris (now in Central Park ), sculptural reliefs by Karl Bitter (now in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel ), an ornate reddish-brown marble fireplace sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art ), and elaborate interior decoration by Frederick Kaldenberg, John LaFarge , Philip Martiny , Frederick W. MacMonnies , Rene de Quelin, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his brother Julius. The mansion
6099-460: The cornerstone, and demolition contractors spent more than a year looking for it. The cornerstone was finally discovered in February 1956, using a Geiger counter to detect radiation from the cornerstone. Columbia received the cornerstone that month. The box included publications from 1889; Pulitzer family photographs; gold and silver coins; a medallion celebrating the World 's having reached
6206-490: The country. In addition to more popular sporting events, the New York Clipper also wrote about billiards , bowling , and even chess . It began covering American football in 1880. The New York World was founded in 1860 but was a relatively unsuccessful New York newspaper from 1860 to 1883. Joseph Pulitzer purchased it in 1883, and a new, aggressive era of circulation building began. In 1890, Pulitzer built
6313-671: The courthouses in Foley Square , the Metropolitan Correctional Center , and the surrounding area. The district is bound on the west by Tribeca at Broadway , on the north by Chinatown at Worth Street or Bayard Street, on the east by the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge at South Street , and on the south by the Financial District at Ann Street . Although government-related activities are predominant, other pursuits also occur within
6420-638: The design of the City College of New York 's main campus buildings, on loan from the New-York Historical Society . Post received the AIA Gold Medal in 1911. His extensive archive is in the collection at the New-York Historical Society . The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House , which Post designed in partnership with Richard Morris Hunt , was an English Jacobethan Gothic red-brick and limestone chateau that stood at
6527-486: The district, including entertainment, industrial activity, residential dwellings, and warehousing. For example, there are Chinese restaurants near Civic Center's border with Chinatown, in addition to some museums and some residential buildings in the Civic Center area. The area is roughly 10 blocks long and 5 blocks wide, but with only approximately 20,000 residents, it is far less dense than most of Manhattan, where
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#17327662671766634-437: The dome rose. The roof was slightly graded and contained a layer of concrete and five layers of felt-and-asphalt above steel beams. A penthouse on the roof, located at the same height at the first story of the dome, contained the offices of the managing and Sunday editor, the art and photo-engraving departments, and an employee restaurant. The six-story dome was used exclusively by editorial offices, Pulitzer's private office, and
6741-431: The dome. However, scholars described the building as having only 16 or 18 stories, excluding mezzanines, below-ground levels, and levels that could not be fully occupied. Contemporary media characterized the structure as an 18-story building, while Emporis and SkyscraperPage , two websites that collect data on buildings, listed the building as having 20 stories. A thirteen-story annex to William Street, completed in 1908,
6848-413: The dome. The fourth and fifth dome stories were divided by the ribs into twelve sections with small lunette windows on each story. At the top of the dome was a lantern surrounded by an observatory. Visitors could pay five cents to travel to the observatory. The building had two subsurface levels. The basement below the street had a ceiling 10 feet (3.0 m) high, and protruded 6 feet (1.8 m) under
6955-412: The entrance arch, which entailed removing "valuable renting space" around the arch and initially thought the entrance "wellnigh an impossibility". The foundations for French's Hotel were not completely removed until early June 1889, and so foundation work for the World Building began on June 20, 1889. Although the excavations extended under the surrounding sidewalks and even under part of Park Row, traffic
7062-408: The first to rise higher than Trinity Church 's 284-foot (87 m) spire. By some accounts, it was also the world's tallest building , when the spire was counted. The actual number of stories in the World Building was disputed. The World described the building as having 26 stories, counting the tower as fourteen stories and including two subsurface levels, three mezzanines, and an observatory over
7169-442: The fourth level contained the file room and obituary departments. The fifth level was used as an observatory and storeroom. By 1908, the art department and the World 's library were located in the 11th story. Starting in the early 19th century and continuing through the 1920s, the surrounding area grew into the city's "Newspaper Row". Several newspaper headquarters were built on Park Row just west of Nassau Street , including
7276-439: The last tenant of the World Building, moved back to City Hall on May 13, 1955. The site was mostly cleared by the beginning of 1956, and work on the new Brooklyn Bridge approaches began later that year. The World Building received mixed reviews upon its completion. The World wrote of its headquarters: "There is a sermon in these stones: a significant moral in this architectural glory." The Real Estate Record and Guide wrote that
7383-419: The main roof to the lantern. The dome consisted of a wrought-iron framing with double-diagonal bracing between every other pair of columns. The ribs supporting the dome were placed on top of iron columns that descended directly to the building's foundation without intersecting with the rest of the superstructure. The exterior of the dome was made of copper and contained cornices above the first and third stories of
7490-412: The material for the structure. The World Building consisted of a "tower" with twelve full stories, topped by a six-story dome. This count excluded a mezzanine above the first story but included a viewing gallery in the dome. Including the mezzanine and a penthouse above the twelfth story of the tower, the latter of which was at the same height as the dome's first level, the tower had fourteen stories. When
7597-567: The north is the Rogers Peet Building , constructed in 1899 after a fire the previous year had razed its predecessor of the same name. In 1900, Cass Gilbert completed his first New York City design, the 18-story Broadway–Chambers Building at Broadway and Chambers Street. On December 3, 1897, people rejoiced by City Hall in celebration of the consolidation of the Bronx , Brooklyn , Manhattan , Queens , and Staten Island into
7704-546: The owner of the " five and dime " Woolworth 's retail chain. Completed in 1913, the Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world until 1930; its ornamentation gave it the nickname the "Cathedral of Commerce". As early as 1915, Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News contained many advertisements for stamp dealers in Nassau Street. In the 1930s, stamp collecting became very popular, and Nassau Street
7811-402: The paper's library. The first level originally housed the city editors' department and had offices for over one hundred people. The main ceiling of the first dome story was 19.5 feet (5.9 m) tall, but an overhanging gallery ran around the circumference of the dome, 9.5 feet (2.9 m) above the fifteenth floor. Pulitzer's office was on the second level of the dome and featured frescoes on
7918-526: The paper's operations. In June 1887, Pulitzer purchased land at 11 Park Row and 5–11 Ann Street at a cost of $ 140,000. The lot was directly across from the headquarters of the New York Herald at the intersection of Park Row, Broadway , and Ann Street . Pulitzer planned to erect a tall headquarters on the site, but Herald owner James Gordon Bennett Jr. bought the corner of Park Row and Ann Street, precluding Pulitzer from acquiring enough land for
8025-595: The park in the late 1930s. The plan called for the Federal Post Office to be torn down, but this plan was stopped due to opposition from city officials and community groups. The Delacorte family donated the Shew Fountain . Twenty-one years later, Mayor Rudy Giuliani rededicated the park for 7.5 million dollars and removed the Shew Fountain. In 1964, the government of New York City
8132-424: The roadway on Park Row, but had an entrance at Frankfort Street due to the slope of the street. The basement contained the machinery for the building's elevator and plumbing lines, a stereotype room, employee rooms, and a passageway to two elevators. The subbasement, or cellar, had ceilings 16 feet (4.9 m) high for the most part, with the boiler room containing a ceiling 18 feet (5.5 m) high. It extended under
8239-486: The sculptor Karl Bitter and painter Elihu Vedder . Post was a founding member of the National Arts Club , serving as the club's inaugural president from 1898 to 1905. In 1905, his two sons were taken into the partnership, and they continued to lead the firm after Post's death, notably as the designers of many Statler Hotels in cities across the United States. From that time forward, the firm carried on under
8346-497: The sidewalk on Frankfort Street and protruded the same distance under Park Row as the first basement. The cellar contained the elevator and house pumps, engine room, the printing presses, and a visitors' gallery. The ground floor contained the main entrance, as well as the publication office, private offices, counting room, and three stores. The main entrance from Park Row led to a large circular rotunda running eastward, containing floors and walls decorated in white and pink marbles, and
8453-591: The site of their old headquarters between 1909 and 1912. Immediately to the east, the Surrogate's Courthouse , originally called the Hall of Records, was built between 1899 and 1907. The 40-story Municipal Building , at the intersection of Centre and Chambers Streets, was completed in 1914 and has a gilded Civic Fame statue on top of the tower. In 1906, the Pace brothers founded the firm of Pace & Pace to operate their schools of accountancy and business. Taking
8560-529: The site was the New York Tribune Building . Frankfort Street sloped downward away from Park Row so that while the basement was one level below Park Row, it was only a few steps below grade at the eastern end of the Frankfort Street frontage. After an annex eastward to North William Street was completed in 1908, the building took up the entire city block and had a frontage of 85 feet (26 m) along North William Street. The expanded building had 237 feet (72 m) of frontage on Frankfort Street. The annex covered
8667-671: The sixth president of the American Institute of Architects from 1896 to 1899. He also trained architect Arthur Bates Jennings . Post designed many of the prominent private homes in various places, with many concentrated in New York City and Bernardsville, NJ . He also designed many prominent commercial and public buildings. A true member of the American Renaissance , Post engaged notable artists and artisans to add decorative sculpture and murals to his architectural designs. Among those who worked with Post were
8774-477: The state seal was created the following year. Farms continued to grow and slavery expanded rapidly. The slaves built a burial ground in the north area of the Civic Center. The slaves would bury people at night even though it was illegal, to ensure their brethren had a proper burial service. Because of the slaves' sneaking out and racism, the Trinity Church banned African burial ceremonies in 1697. This rule
8881-463: The stewardship of Post's grandson, Edward Everett Post (1904–2006) until the late twentieth century. Sarah Landau 's publication George B. Post, Architect: Picturesque Designer and Determined Realist (1998) inspired a retrospective exhibition in 1998–99 to revisit Post's work at the Society. In 2014, curator, architect George Ranalli presented an exhibition of Post's drawings and photographs of
8988-543: The streets around the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge in 1950, and the New York City Planning Commission approved an associated change to the zoning map that August. Details of the plan were released in November 1952. A ramp between the Brooklyn Bridge and southbound Park Row, as well as two ramps carrying northbound Park Row both onto and around the bridge, were to be constructed on
9095-646: The term " yellow journalism " in early 1897, to refer to the work of Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal . The Daily People was a weekly newspaper established in New York City in 1891, and is best remembered as a vehicle for the ideas of Daniel DeLeon (1852–1914), the dominant ideological leader of the Socialist Labor Party of America . The New York Press said, in 1898, about papers practicing "yellow journalism": it "We called them Yellow because they are Yellow." The " yellow journalism " tactics used by
9202-401: The three center bays formed a slightly projecting pavilion with a triple-height entrance arch at the base. There were two small circular windows in the spandrels of the arch, and a frieze with the words pulitzer building and a cornice above the arch. On the 3rd story, the three central windows were flanked by four ornamental bronze female torch-bearers carved by Karl Bitter , which represented
9309-448: The time. They were generally 88 inches (2,200 mm) thick at the base, with the thickest wall being 144 inches (3,700 mm) thick at the base, but tapered to 24 inches (610 mm) just below the dome. The exterior wall sections on Park Row and Frankfort Street were so large because they were not part of a single connected wall but instead consisted of several piers , which had to be thicker than continuous walls per city codes. Inside
9416-402: The underlying layer of bedrock was around 100 feet (30 m) deep. The foundation consisted of a "mat" of concrete, overlaid by a series of large stones that formed inverted arches between them. The brick and concrete foundation piers rested upon these arches, which in turn descended to the underlying gravel bed. Such construction was common among the city's large 19th-century buildings but had
9523-429: The use of the office tenants below the 12th floor, while the fourth was a circular elevator that ran to the dome and was used exclusively by the World 's staff. Two additional elevators were used by other employees. Nine other lifts were used to transport materials: one each for stereotype plates, rolls of paper, coal, copy, and restaurant use, and four to carry the stereotype plates and printed papers. The building
9630-504: The western border of the commons. During the Civil War , the old British soldiers' barracks were used as temporary barracks. Between 1869 and 1880, the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse was erected at the southern end of City Hall Park; the building was not well received and was destroyed in 1939. The Tweed Courthouse was also built at the north end of City Hall Park at the same time, being completed in 1881. Though
9737-490: Was a superstructure of wrought iron columns supporting steel girders , which collectively weighed over 2,000,000 pounds (910,000 kg). The columns tapered upward, from 28 feet (8.5 m) at the base to 8 inches (200 mm) at the top. Flat arches, made of hollow concrete blocks, were placed between the girders. The dome's frame was designed as if it were a separate structure. The dome measured 52 feet (16 m) across at its base and measured 109 feet (33 m) from
9844-464: Was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition . Active from 1869 almost until his death, he was recognized as a master of several prominent contemporary American architectural genres, and instrumental in the birth of the skyscraper . Many of his most characteristic projects were for commercial buildings where new requirements pushed the traditional boundaries of design. Many of
9951-544: Was authorized to buy several plots north of City Hall Park. 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. Tweed Courthouse was renovated and redesigned between 1999 and 2001, becoming the Department of Education's headquarters in 2002. The former Emigrant Bank Building
10058-411: Was barely disrupted, mostly because of the inclusion of temporary bridges for pedestrians and for materials storage. The cornerstone of the New York World Building was laid at a groundbreaking ceremony held on October 10, 1889. Work progressed quickly; three months after the groundbreaking, the steel structure had reached nine stories and the masonry had reached six stories. Despite a labor strike among
10165-524: Was converted into a condominium development called 49 Chambers in 2017. In 1991, while constructing the Ted Weiss Federal Building , the excavators found thousands of graves. Scientists estimated that the land was the largest cemetery in the world for people of African descent, projecting that approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people were buried there, although only 420 bodies were excavated. The African Burial Ground National Monument
10272-435: Was demolished between 1955 and 1956 to make room for an expanded entrance ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge. A large stained glass window and the building's cornerstone were preserved by the Columbia University School of Journalism . The New York World Building was at 53–63 Park Row , at the northeast corner with Frankfort Street, in the Civic Center of Manhattan , across from New York City Hall . The building initially occupied
10379-460: Was designed by Horace Trumbauer in the same style as Post's design. This annex replaced a two-story addition to the original World Building on Frankfort Street. The main elevation on Park Row was clad with red sandstone below the tenth story, and buff brick and terracotta above. At the base, the columns were made of red granite, while the spandrel panels between each story were gray granite. The Park Row elevation contained five bays , of which
10486-454: Was established, and a memorial site was constructed, opening in 2007. The visitor center was opened in 2010 and has a video on the discovery of the graves, sculptures of the burial process, and information on the lives of the slaves. A wave of newspaper companies arose in 1835 after the invention of the steam press , which turned out printed sheets mechanically, replacing the old hand-cranked method. The convenience of mass production generated
10593-399: Was heated by a steam system throughout and contained 3,500 electric lights at its opening. The three boilers in the subbasement could generate a combined 750 horsepower (560 kW). In addition, there was a pneumatic tube system to transport items from the dome to the basement. A water storage tank with a capacity of 25,000 U.S. gallons (95,000 L; 21,000 imp gal) was situated in
10700-621: Was named to the architectural staff of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois , by Burnham and Root , where he designed the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. In 1894, Post, along with J. Herbert Ballantine, Robert L. Stevens , and Edward T. H. Talmadge each pledged $ 8,000 to purchase land in Bernardsville, New Jersey , to establish the Somerset Hills Country Club, which, after being built on
10807-514: Was once a publisher's building, as were many in the area, but is now a residential building, as is the Potter Building at 38 Park Row. The 76-story 8 Spruce Street is among the world's tallest residential buildings. Southbridge Towers , once Mitchell-Lama affordable housing, is now market-rate housing. Originally, the Lenape American Indians occupied the Civic Center area due to its rich pastoral fields and its proximity to
10914-629: Was razed in 1927 for the construction of the Bergdorf Goodman Building at 754 Fifth Avenue. The mansion was photographed by Albert Levy while being built. Post also designed the palazzo across the street that faced the Vanderbilt Mansion for Collis P. Huntington (1889–94). In Newport, Rhode Island , he built a home for the president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad , C.C. Baldwin, "Chateau-Nooga" or
11021-566: Was reluctant to add onto the original City Hall building. Instead, between the years of 1888 and 1907, the city organized a series of competitions to choose designs for several new structures. On the western edge of the Civic Center, several buildings were completed in the 1890s. The first buildings to be completed were the Home Life and Postal Telegraph Buildings at Broadway and Murray Street, constructed simultaneously between 1892 and 1894, and later combined into one structure. Immediately to
11128-425: Was the tallest building in New York City upon completion, becoming the first to overtop Trinity Church , and was by some accounts the world's tallest building . The World Building contained a facade made of sandstone, brick, terracotta, and masonry. Its interior structure included brick interior walls, concrete floors, and an internal superstructure made of iron. There were twelve full stories, two basements, and
11235-657: Was the center of New York City's "Stamp District", called its "Street of Stamps", with dozens of stamp and coin dealers along its short length. The Stamp Center Building was located at 116 Nassau Street, and the Subway Stamp Shop was located at 87 Nassau Street. During the Great Depression , masses gathered in City Hall Park as a place to protest the government. Under Mayor Fiorello La Guardia , Robert Moses unveiled an ambitious plan to renovate
11342-520: Was the first office building to rise as high as ten stories, a forerunner of skyscrapers to come. Post's twenty-story New York World Building (1889–90) was the tallest building in New York City when it was erected in "Newspaper Row" facing City Hall Park . Post married Alice Matilda Stone (1840–1909) on October 14, 1863. Together, they had five children: George Browne, Jr., William Stone, Allison Wright, James Otis and Alice Winifred. Post died on November 28, 1913, in Bernardsville, New Jersey . He
11449-498: Was then overturned in 1773. The city continued expanding and the government system became increasingly powerful. The local government decided to finance their first public works building through public funding. In 1735, the Almshouse was built as a center to house the ill and impoverished, a jail, a workhouse and infirmary. A score later another jail was built called New Gaol, which was a debtor prison. Soldier barracks were built on
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