New York – Around Town : Civic Center and South Street Seaport (part 1)

by

Some of New York’s finest architecture is found at
its Civic Center, the headquarters for city government. Buildings here
span the centuries, from the 18th-century St. Paul’s Chapel to the
pioneering 20th-century Woolworth Building. Nearby is the famous
Brooklyn Bridge, and the old maritime center of the city, South Street
Seaport, its piers and buildings now restored as a lively hub of cafés,
restaurants, and museums.

The “Boss Tweed” Courthouse

The first New York County Courthouse at 

52 Chambers Street

(completed in 1881) was built by Boss Tweed,
a corrupt politician who spent fortunes on this grand marble monument
to himself. The elaborate interior and octagonal rotunda are being
restored, though its future use is uncertain.






Sights

  1. South Street Seaport

    The
    cobbled streets, buildings, and piers that were the center of New
    York’s 19th-century seafaring activity (known as “the street of sails”)
    have been restored as a tourist center. There are shops, food stalls,
    restaurants, a museum with many seafaring exhibits, a fleet of tall
    ships for boarding, and plenty of outdoor entertainment.




    South Street Seaport

  2. Brooklyn Bridge

    When
    it was completed in 1883 linking Manhattan and Brooklyn, this was the
    largest suspension bridge in the world and the first to be built of
    steel. It took 600 workmen and 16 years to build, and claimed 20 lives,
    including that of the designing engineer, John A. Roebling. Now a symbol
    of New York, those who walk the 1-mile (1.8-km) span are rewarded with
    fabulous views of city towers seen through the artistic cablework.

    • (Manhattan side) Park Row near Municipal Building

    • Free




    Brooklyn Bridge

  3. Woolworth Building

    Built
    in 1913, this has one of New York’s great interiors; marble walls,
    bronze filigree, a mosaic ceiling, and stained glass combine to magical
    effect. Architect Cass Gilbert also had a sense of humor – sculptures
    include Five and Dime mogul Woolworth counting nickels and Gilbert
    himself cradling a model of the building. It set the standard for the
    skyscrapers that followed in the 1920s and 1930s.

    • Broadway, between Park Pl & Barclay St




    Woolworth Building

  4. Former AT&T Building

    Built
    in 1922, this is a monument to excess but fun to see nevertheless. In
    its day, the façade was said to have more columns than any other
    building in the world; the vast lobby is a forest of marble pillars.
    Close by at 120 Broadway, the former Equitable Building, built in 1915,
    is of note for another excess: its immense bulk was responsible for the
    nation’s first skyscraper zoning regulations.

    • 195 Broadway

    • Open office hours

    • Free

  5. St. Paul’s Chapel

    Manhattan’s
    oldest church was built in 1766 as an “uptown” chapel for Trinity
    Church and took on added importance while Trinity was being rebuilt
    after the great fire of 1776. The chapel was modeled after London’s St.
    Martin-in-the-Fields. One block from Ground Zero, the church has an
    interactive 9/11 exhibit.

    • 209 Broadway, between Fulton & Vesey Sts

    • Episcopal service 8am, 10am Sun, 12:30pm Wed

    • Concerts 1pm Mon

    • $2 donation


    • www.saintpaulschapel.org




    Interior, St. Paul’s Chapel

  6. City Hall

    The
    seat of city government since 1812, City Hall is considered one of the
    most beautiful early 19th-century public buildings in the U.S. The
    design, by architects Mangin and McComb, Jr., won a competition held in
    1802. A statue of Justice crowns the structure. The rear of the
    building, facing north, was not clad in marble until 1954, since the
    architects never expected the city to develop further north.

    • Broadway and Park Row

    • Open for pre-arranged tours only

    • call 212 788 2656

    • Free




    City Hall

  7. Municipal Building

    This
    building dominating the Civic Center area, straddling Chambers Street,
    was the first “skyscraper” by McKim, Mead, and White, a 25-story
    structure completed in 1914. The top is a veritable wedding-cake fantasy
    of towers and spires topped by Adulph Wienman’s famous statue, Civic
    Fame. The intricate terracotta vaulting above the street is modeled on
    the entrance of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, and the subway entrance at
    the south end, an arcaded plaza, is a dramatic vault of Guastavino
    tiles.

    • 1 Center St at Chambers St




    Municipal Building

  8. New York County Courthouse

    Ascend
    the wide staircase of the 1926 New York County Courthouse (adjacent to
    the 31-story, pyramid-topped U.S. Courthouse dating from 1933) and enter
    to admire the marble columned rotunda with Tiffany lighting fixtures.
    Note, too, the ceiling murals depicting Law and Justice. The hexagonal
    building has a courtroom in each of its six wings.

    • 60 Center St

    • Open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri

    • Free




    New York County Courthouse

  9. Surrogate’s Court/Hall of Records

    With
    an interior inspired by the Paris Opéra, this 1907 Beaux Arts beauty
    boasts a magnificent central hall with marble stairways and ceiling
    mosaics. The façade features statues representing justice, the seasons,
    commerce, and notable New Yorkers, as well as figures depicting the
    various stages of life.

    • 31 Chambers St

    • Lobby open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri

    • Free




    Surrogate’s Court

  10. Police Plaza

    Constructed
    in 1973, the city’s police headquarters can be found on a spacious
    pedestrian plaza, a welcome area in a district with very few public
    spaces. The Tony Rosenthal abstract sculpture, Five in One, made of five
    sloping interlocked discs, symbolizes the city’s five boroughs.

    • Park Row at Pearl St




    Police Plaza