Prudence Building
Encyclopedia
The Prudence Building or Prudence Bonds Building was a fourteen story edifice at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...

 and 43rd Street. It was the headquarters of the Prudence Bonds Corporation, opening in October 1923. Stores on the street level were leased to
affluent shops. The banking floor was a close likeness of the Bankers Trust Company building at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...


and 42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...

. The Bank of Manhattan was accorded a 21-year lease and moved its headquarters from 40 Wall Street (Manhattan).

Design

The structure was built on a plot 66.8 by 100 feet (30.5 m). The building was entered from Madison Avenue via antique bronze doors. The entrance floor opened into a sixteen feet wide marble corridor
with elevators leading to the upper floors. An imposing stairway of Italian Travertine marble, ten feet wide with ample landings, led directly to the banking floor. This area was eleven feet above street level. It was composed of marble with a twenty foot ceiling of Roman architecture
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...

 classic design. An artistic screen of marble and statuary bronze surrounded the banking space.

The former Charles building was incorporated into the Prudence Building, which encompassed the area once occupied by several structures. The Charles building space became the loan department of the new edifice, a quiet section constructed of steel.

Politically important

The headquarters of the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 State Committee to work for the nomination of Governor Alfred E. Smith for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 opened in the Prudence Building on May 5, 1924. The
committee's chairman was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After
retiring from politics in 1929, Smith made his permanent home an apartment at the southeast corner of 12th Street and Fifth Avenue. His office was in the Prudence Building. It was the administrative center of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...

 in 1950, having relocated from their former headquarters at East 17th Street (Manhattan)
17th Street (Manhattan)
17th Street is an east-west running street between First Avenue and Eleventh Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west excepting the stretch between Broadway and Park Avenue South, where traffic runs in both directions.17th Street...

 and 4th Avenue (Manhattan) in 1943. Specifically its offices were on the 5th floor of the Prudence Building.

Business locale

C. Klauberg & Bros., Inc., a razor and cutlery firm established in the early 19th century moved its quarters from the Prudence Building to the Biltmore Hotel
Biltmore Hotel
Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The name has...

at Madison Avenue and 43rd Street, January 1936. By making the change in location the company increased its space by three
times. Hoffritz, Inc., a cutlery interest with a store in the
McAlpin Hotel, leased a unit in the Prudence Building in May 1936. Wheelock, Harris & Company negotiated the rental.
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