Park Row Building
Encyclopedia
The Park Row Building is a building on Park Row
in the Financial District
of the New York City
borough
of Manhattan
also known as 15 Park Row. The building was designed by Robert Henderson Robertson
, a pioneer in steel skyscraper design, and engineered by the firm of Nathaniel Roberts.
In 1999, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
designated the Park Row Building a landmark.
One of the first structures to be called a skyscraper
, the building was completed in 1899 after two years and nine months of construction, one of several new office buildings located on what was known at the time as "Newspaper Row", the center of the newspaper industry in New York City for 80 years beginning in the 1920s. The builder was the Park Row Construction Company, a syndicate whose legal counsel, William Mills Ivins – a prominent lawyer and former judge advocate general for New York State – purchased the necessary property in his own name before transferring it to the syndicate. For this reason the building was sometimes known as the Ivins Syndicate Building.
At 391 feet (119.2 m), it was the tallest office building in the world from 1899 until 1908, when it was surpassed by the Singer Building
. In 1901 a building project announced by Aetna
, to be located at 33rd Street and Broadway, would have overtaken Park Row as the tallest office building at 455 feet (138.7 m) high, but it was never built.
The building is 29 stories tall, with 26 full floors and two, three-story cupolas. It has a frontage of 103 ft (31.4 m) on Park Row, 23 on Ann Street and 48 feet (14.6 m) on Theater Alley. The base of the building covers a land area of approximately 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²). The building contains about 8,000 tons of steel and 12,000 tons of other material, chiefly brick and terra cotta. The foundation of the Park Row Building was made of 3,900 Georgia spruce piles driven into wet sand and topped by granite blocks. The total cost to build this early skyscraper was $2,400,000.
The building offered 950 separate offices, each with a capacity of about 4 people. A rough estimate of 25,000 people were thought to have passed through the building each workday. Upon completion, approximately 4,000 people a day worked there. By mid-1899, the building was owned by the investment banker and subway sponsor August Belmont, Jr.
under the name Park Row Realty Company. The first headquarters of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway were located in the building, as was the first office of the newly minted Associated Press
.
On May 3, 1920 the defenestration
of Andrea Salsedo occurred from the fourteenth floor of 15 Park Row at 4:20 am. He was being held with Roberto Elia by the Justice Department in connection with a series of bombings that had occurred in New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Paterson, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. A leaflet entitled "Plain Words," signed by the "Anarchist Fighters," was found at the sites, and because of an aberrant "S" in the printing, the authorities tracked down the print shop where both Salsedo and Elia worked. They were held at 15 Park Row for 8 weeks with limited external communication. The night of May 3, Salsedo fell from the 14th floor: the anarchists claim he was thrown, the police claim he jumped.
-clad dome
s. There are four caryatid
s and 16 figures on the towers that are attributed to J. Massey Rhind
, a sculptor. The design recalls the double-towered Baroque
churches of Europe, and more explicitly echoes the architecture of the church of the Monastery of São Vicente da Fora
of Lisbon
.
With essentially no comparable structures against which to measure the building's strengths and weaknesses, the criticism from the architectural community was quite harsh. The New York Times
quoted a critic, who in 1898 wrote in The Real Estate Record and Guide, "New York is the only city in which such a monster would be allowed to rear itself," and called the blank side walls "absolutely inexpressive and vacuous." In a 1908 article in The New York Times, a French
architect, Augustin-Adolphe Rey, wrote that "one side of it is an entirely bare wall — what difference does it make how the other sides are treated?" Critic Jean Schopfer
called the building "detestable".
The building did have admirers, including the photographers Alvin Langdon Coburn
and Charles Sheeler
. Sheeler included the building in the 1920 film he made with Paul Strand
, Manhatta.
s, at a cost of over $30 million. All floors below the 11th were to remain commercial. The most unusual apartments would be the pair made out of the two three-story cupola
s. By 2002 initial renovations and residential conversions were completed.
Currently, Floors 2 through 8 are partially occupied by J&R
Music World, Inc. Residential units currently occupy floors 11 to 26, with new units being constructed on floors 9 and 10. Apartments range in size from 500 square feet (46.5 m²) studios to 2,000+ square-foot lofts and 2 bedrooms. Apartments offer an array of desired views including: the Brooklyn Bridge
(east), city hall/city hall park (north/west), St. Paul's Chapel
and the financial center (west/south) and the NY harbor/Brooklyn (south/east). Each floor has its own laundry room
with washer/dryer units. The two 3-story turrets (floors 28, 29, and 30) are not up to current building and fire-codes and are unsuitable for use.
The 27th floor is set to become an expanded health-club facility for residents.
Park Row (Manhattan)
Park Row is a street located in the Financial District of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was previously called Chatham Street and during the late 19th century it was nicknamed Newspaper Row, as most of New York City's newspapers located on the street to be close to the action at New...
in the Financial District
Financial District, Manhattan
The Financial District of New York City is a neighborhood on the southernmost section of the borough of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York...
of the 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...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
also known as 15 Park Row. The building was designed by Robert Henderson Robertson
Robert Henderson Robertson
Robert Henderson Robertson was an American architect who designed numerous houses, institutional buildings and churches.-Life and career:...
, a pioneer in steel skyscraper design, and engineered by the firm of Nathaniel Roberts.
In 1999, 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...
designated the Park Row Building a landmark.
History
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, the building was completed in 1899 after two years and nine months of construction, one of several new office buildings located on what was known at the time as "Newspaper Row", the center of the newspaper industry in New York City for 80 years beginning in the 1920s. The builder was the Park Row Construction Company, a syndicate whose legal counsel, William Mills Ivins – a prominent lawyer and former judge advocate general for New York State – purchased the necessary property in his own name before transferring it to the syndicate. For this reason the building was sometimes known as the Ivins Syndicate Building.
At 391 feet (119.2 m), it was the tallest office building in the world from 1899 until 1908, when it was surpassed by the Singer Building
Singer Building
The Singer Building or Singer Tower at Liberty Street and Broadway in Manhattan, was a 47-story office building completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company. It was demolished in 1968 and is now the site of 1 Liberty Plaza....
. In 1901 a building project announced by Aetna
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
, to be located at 33rd Street and Broadway, would have overtaken Park Row as the tallest office building at 455 feet (138.7 m) high, but it was never built.
The building is 29 stories tall, with 26 full floors and two, three-story cupolas. It has a frontage of 103 ft (31.4 m) on Park Row, 23 on Ann Street and 48 feet (14.6 m) on Theater Alley. The base of the building covers a land area of approximately 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²). The building contains about 8,000 tons of steel and 12,000 tons of other material, chiefly brick and terra cotta. The foundation of the Park Row Building was made of 3,900 Georgia spruce piles driven into wet sand and topped by granite blocks. The total cost to build this early skyscraper was $2,400,000.
The building offered 950 separate offices, each with a capacity of about 4 people. A rough estimate of 25,000 people were thought to have passed through the building each workday. Upon completion, approximately 4,000 people a day worked there. By mid-1899, the building was owned by the investment banker and subway sponsor August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
under the name Park Row Realty Company. The first headquarters of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway were located in the building, as was the first office of the newly minted Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
.
On May 3, 1920 the defenestration
Defenestration
Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.The term "defenestration" was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618. The word comes from the Latin de- and fenestra...
of Andrea Salsedo occurred from the fourteenth floor of 15 Park Row at 4:20 am. He was being held with Roberto Elia by the Justice Department in connection with a series of bombings that had occurred in New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Paterson, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. A leaflet entitled "Plain Words," signed by the "Anarchist Fighters," was found at the sites, and because of an aberrant "S" in the printing, the authorities tracked down the print shop where both Salsedo and Elia worked. They were held at 15 Park Row for 8 weeks with limited external communication. The night of May 3, Salsedo fell from the 14th floor: the anarchists claim he was thrown, the police claim he jumped.
Design
The symmetrical front facade is layered as it rises. The two 3-story towers are capped with copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
-clad dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s. There are four caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
s and 16 figures on the towers that are attributed to J. Massey Rhind
J. Massey Rhind
John Massey Rhind was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C...
, a sculptor. The design recalls the double-towered Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
churches of Europe, and more explicitly echoes the architecture of the church of the Monastery of São Vicente da Fora
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
The Church or Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls" is a 17th century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal...
of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.
Response
The overall public was impressed with the structure, many in awe of its height and mammoth proportions. As one of the earliest of the "modern skyscrapers", it towered at least 15 to 20 stories over most of its neighbors.With essentially no comparable structures against which to measure the building's strengths and weaknesses, the criticism from the architectural community was quite harsh. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
quoted a critic, who in 1898 wrote in The Real Estate Record and Guide, "New York is the only city in which such a monster would be allowed to rear itself," and called the blank side walls "absolutely inexpressive and vacuous." In a 1908 article in The New York Times, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
architect, Augustin-Adolphe Rey, wrote that "one side of it is an entirely bare wall — what difference does it make how the other sides are treated?" Critic Jean Schopfer
Jean Schopfer
Jean Schopfer was a tennis player competing for France, and a writer, known under the pseudonym of Claude Anet...
called the building "detestable".
The building did have admirers, including the photographers Alvin Langdon Coburn
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Alvin Langdon Coburn was an early 20th century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism...
and Charles Sheeler
Charles Sheeler
Charles Rettew Sheeler, Jr. was an American artist. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.-Early life and career:...
. Sheeler included the building in the 1920 film he made with Paul Strand
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
, Manhatta.
Recent developments
In 2000, plans were developed for a gut renovation of the entire structure. It included converting all floors above the 11th into 210 rental apartmentApartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s, at a cost of over $30 million. All floors below the 11th were to remain commercial. The most unusual apartments would be the pair made out of the two three-story cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s. By 2002 initial renovations and residential conversions were completed.
Currently, Floors 2 through 8 are partially occupied by J&R
J&R
J&R is a well-known retail store in New York City, located on Park Row, across from New York City Hall.J&R stands for Joe and Rachelle Friedman, the founders, who established the company in 1971 after emigrating from Israel...
Music World, Inc. Residential units currently occupy floors 11 to 26, with new units being constructed on floors 9 and 10. Apartments range in size from 500 square feet (46.5 m²) studios to 2,000+ square-foot lofts and 2 bedrooms. Apartments offer an array of desired views including: the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
(east), city hall/city hall park (north/west), St. Paul's Chapel
St. Paul's Chapel
St. Paul's Chapel, is an Episcopal chapel located at 209 Broadway, between Fulton and Vesey Streets, in lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan.-History and architecture:...
and the financial center (west/south) and the NY harbor/Brooklyn (south/east). Each floor has its own laundry room
Laundry room
A laundry room is a room where clothes are washed. In a modern home, a laundry room would be equipped with an automatic washing machine and clothes dryer,and often a large basin, called a laundry tub, for hand-washing delicate articles of clothing such as sweaters, and an ironing board...
with washer/dryer units. The two 3-story turrets (floors 28, 29, and 30) are not up to current building and fire-codes and are unsuitable for use.
The 27th floor is set to become an expanded health-club facility for residents.