60 Hudson Street

Hudson Street (Manhattan)

Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...

is a major telecommunications facility and an historic landmark located in Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, not far from the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

. The art deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 brick structure was designed by Ralph Thomas Walker

Ralph Thomas Walker

Ralph Thomas Walker, FAIA, was an American architect, president of the American Institute of Architects and partner of the firm McKenzie, Voorhees, Gmelin; and its successor firms Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker, Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith; Voorhees, Walker, Smith & Smith; and Voorhees, Walker,...

 of Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker

Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker

Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker were a prestigious New York architectural firm.The firm had an illustrious heritage, the parent company being founded in New York City by Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz in 1885. In 1900 he added partner Andrew C. McKenzie and when Eidlitz left the firm in 1910 he was replaced by...

 and opened in 1930. It served as the headquarters of the Western Union

Western Union

The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...

 company until 1973.

During the heyday of the telegraph, 60 Hudson, then known as the Western Union Building, was a premier nexus of worldwide communications. It was designated a building landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...

 in 1992. According to the landmark plaque in the lobby, the building originally contained, in addition to offices, 70 million feet of wire, 30 miles of conduit, classrooms (so telegraph messengers could continue their education) and a gymnasium.

Since Western Union moved its headquarters to New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, the building has been converted into a carrier hotel where over 100 telecommunications companies have offices and can interchange Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 traffic through a meet-me-room

Meet-me-room

A "meet me room" is a place within a colocation centre where telecommunications companies can physically connect to one another and exchange data without incurring local loop fees...

 and individual fiber optic lines. It is once again a premier nexus of worldwide communications. The room is on the 9th floor in a 15,000 square foot area that is powered by a 10,000 Amp DC power plant.

In 2006, a New York City panel approved the storage of nearly 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of diesel fuel on six floors of the building, part of some 80,000 gallons (300,000 liters) of fuel oil stored in the building. Community opposition had been raised regarding concerns that the presence of the fuel oil posed a fire hazard that could result in a catastrophic failure of the building, similar to what had happened to 7 World Trade Center

7 World Trade Center

7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. It is the second building to bear that name and address in that location. The original structure was completed in 1987 and was destroyed in the September 11 attacks...

, which collapsed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

External links

• Voice Peering Fabric Voice exchange located at 60 Hudson St, processing 300 billion minutes annually.
• Official Site