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New York County National Bank Building

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Coordinates:40°44′23″N74°00′10″W/ 40.739718°N 74.002916°W/40.739718; -74.002916
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New York County National Bank Building
(2011)
Map
Alternative namesManufacturers Hanover Trust Bank Building
General information
Architectural styleNeoclassical
Coordinates40°44′23″N74°00′10″W/ 40.739718°N 74.002916°W/40.739718; -74.002916
Construction started1906
Completed1907
Design and construction
Architect(s)De Lemos & Cordes
Rudolphe L. Daus

TheNew York County National Bank Buildingat 77–79Eighth AvenueatWest 14th Streetin theGreenwich Villageneighborhood ofManhattan,New York City– also known as the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company Building – was built in 1906–07 and was designed byDe Lemos & CordesandRudolphe L. Dausin theNeoclassical style.A seven-story addition to the south of the building at 75 Eighth Avenue was constructed in 1926.[1][2]Renovations and a further addition in 1999 were by Lee Harris of the Hudson River Studios and John Reimnitz and mimic the original architecture.[1]

On June 7, 1988, the building was designated a New York City landmark by theNew York City Landmark Preservation Commission.It was originally designated under the name "Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company Building".[3][2]

Since it ceased being used as a bank, the building at 77-79 Eighth Avenue had interior alterations, and has been the location of anOff-Broadwaytheater, a men's gym, and a museum.[4][5]As of 2018, the building houses the Museum of Illusions.

History[edit]

The New York County National Bank was founded in 1855, and by 1877 occupied the lot at the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 14th Street.[6]In February 1905, it bought the adjacent lot at 77 Eighth Avenue fromJohn Jacob Astor,which contained a three-story printing house.[7]

Use as bank[edit]

Construction of a new bank building could not begin until the printing house's lease expired in 1906.[6]The bank commissioned De Lemos and Cordes to design their new building. Preliminary plans released in February 1906 show that the building would have been eight stories high, with the bank occupying the two lowest stories.[6][8]By the time papers were filed with the city, the building was to be one story with an attic, and De Lemos and Cordes had brought in Rudolphe L. Daus on the project.[6]Daus filed plans for a bank building on the site that April; it was planned to cost $250,000 and was to be made of Dover marble.[9]

R. H. Robertson's NeoclassicalNew York Savings Bankhad already been erected in 1886 across 14th Street from the site, and may have been an influence in the scale and design of the new building, although classical forms were, at the time, widely used for banks throughout the United States, as "temples of commerce". TheCity Beautiful movementalso played a part in the choice of neoclassical design which, together with Robertson's bank, created a compatible ensemble for the intersection.[6]

In 1921, the New York County National Bank merged withChatham and Phenix National Bank,and the building on Eighth Avenue because Chatham and Phenix's twelfth branch.[10][11]That bank merged with Metropolitan Trust Company in 1924, forming theChatham-Phenix National Bank and Trust Company.This institution was bought in 1932 byManufacturers Trust Company,which later becameManufacturers Hanover Trust Company(MHT), which continued to use the building as a branch bank.[12]It is under this name that the building was designated a New York City landmark.[2]In 1991, MHT merged with theChemical Banking Corporation,[13]which eventually became part ofChase Bank.[14]

Later use[edit]

Laura Bohn and her husband Richard Fiore acquired the building in the late 1990s and proposed adding residences to the building.[15]The 14th Street Development Corporation spent $6 million to convert the building into a mixed-use structure called the Bank Building.[16]The project was designed by architecture firms John Reimnitz Architect and Hudson River Studios.[1][16]The lower floors of the building were converted into a 499-seat Off-Broadway theater, occupying 5,000 square feet (460 m2) on the ground level and 4,000 square feet (370 m2) in the basement. Eleven apartments (most of them duplexes), ranging from 1,500 to 3,800 square feet (140 to 350 m2), were built on the upper stories. To accommodate the apartments, a two-story penthouse was added to the original building, and four stories were added to the annex on Eighth Avenue.[16]The roof above the original building was lowered by several feet, and the penthouse was set back from the street to comply with landmarks regulations.[15]

The building's conversion into a theater and condominiums took place amid the neighborhood's ongoinggentrification.[17]During the renovation, the 14th Street Development Corporation erected a temporary construction wall in front of the building; owners of nearby stores complained that the wall negatively impacted their businesses.[18][19]

A men's spa, Nickel, was operating on the lower stories by 2004.[20]Although many wealthy people had expressed interest in the building's condominiums, few were willing to live there because the surrounding neighborhood was still rundown. As a result, most of the apartments were used aspieds-à-terreuntil the early 2010s, when the opening of theHigh Lineand nearby boutiques increased the neighborhood's fashionability.[21]The Museum of Illusions opened in the New York County National Bank Building in September 2018.[22][23]

Architects[edit]

De Lemos & Cordes, the partnership of German natives Theodore W. De Lemos and August W. Cordes, was formed in 1884, and was responsible for designing a number of significant retail and commercial buildings in New York, including theSiegel-Cooper Dry Goods Store(1895); the Adams Dry Good Store (1900), executed in theBeaux-Arts style;theMacy's Department Storeof 1901, an "over-scaled Renaissance style palazzo"; and the 1893 Fulton Building, in which both they and Rudolphe L. Daus had offices. In 1903, they designed a bank building at 24 Pine Street forSpeyer & Company,which received positive critical reception, and may have led to the commission to design the New York County National Bank Building.[24]

Rudolphe L. Daus, Mexican-born and educated in New York, Berlin, and Paris, was an 1879 graduate of theÉcole des Beaux Artsand was the recipient of a number of awards and prizes for excellence in architecture. He worked as an assistant toRichard M. Huntbefore opening his own office in Brooklyn in 1884, which moved to theFlatiron Buildingin 1896, although his practice remained primarily in Brooklyn. He designed both residences – in theRomanesque RevivalandQueen Annestyles – and public buildings such as theLincoln Clubin 1889, theThirteenth Regiment Armoryin 1891, and a number ofBrooklyn Public Librarybranches.[25]

There is no record of any other collaboration between De Lemos & Cordes and Daus, although both had offices at 130 Fulton Street at the time. The plans and designs for the New York County National Bank Building are ambiguously signed, so it is not possible to who was responsible for the building's design and to what extent.[6]

Architecture[edit]

The building has a concrete base and brick foundations. The roof is flat. The supporting structure consists of steel columns and reinforced interior columns. The building's facade is rubbed South Dover marble, which has in the past been painted to match the stone's original color. The Eighth Avenue entrance has a pedimented entrance portico which has two corner piers and two fluted Ionic columns. The steps were originally flanked by two bronze lamps which have since been removed. The pediment itself features a monumental eagle with its wings spread and its neck swooping downward, a change from the original design, in which the bird's head was to be raised.[26]The side facade featurescaduceuses,asymbol of commerce.[4]

Gallery[edit]

  • The building, including the addition at 75 Eighth Avenue
    The building, including the addition at 75 Eighth Avenue
  • The front facade with banners for the Museum of Illusions (2020)
    The front facade with banners for the Museum of Illusions (2020)
  • The building's northern facade on 14th Street
    The building's northern facade on 14th Street
  • The building's pediment
    The building's pediment
  • With R. H. Robertson's 1886 New York Savings Bank across 14th Street
    WithR. H. Robertson's 1886New York Savings Bankacross 14th Street

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes

  1. ^abcWhite, Norval;Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010).AIA Guide to New York City(5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 210.ISBN978-0-19538-386-7.
  2. ^abcLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 1.
  3. ^New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission;Dolkart, Andrew S.;Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.).Guide to New York City Landmarks(4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 58–59.ISBN978-0-470-28963-1.
  4. ^ab"14th Street"New York Songlines
  5. ^White, Norval& Willensky, Elliot (2000).AIA Guide to New York City(4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 184.ISBN978-0-8129-3107-5.
  6. ^abcdefLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 4.
  7. ^"Bank Building for Eighth Avenue".The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide.Vol. 75, no. 1926. February 11, 1905. p. 302 – viacolumbia.edu.
  8. ^"New Building for the New York County National Bank".The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide.Vol. 77, no. 1980. February 24, 1906. p. 325 – viacolumbia.edu.
  9. ^"A $250,000 Bank Building Project".New-York Tribune.April 12, 1906. p. 10.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  10. ^"Chatham & Phenix Completes Merger; Buys Control in New York County National, to Be Made a Twelfth Branch".The New York Times.November 8, 1921.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  11. ^"Chatham & Phenix National Will Increase Capital: to Be Raised From $7,000,000 to $10,500,000 Stock Has Been Strong Lately Recently Bought Control of New York County National".The Wall Street Journal.December 7, 1921. p. 2.ISSN0099-9660.ProQuest129965538.
  12. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 7.
  13. ^"Business People; Manufacturers Hanover and Chemical Fill Jobs".The New York Times.August 15, 1991.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 22, 2020.RetrievedOctober 20,2020.
  14. ^Hansell, Saul (August 29, 1995)."Banking's New Giant: the Deal; Chase and Chemical Agree to Merge in $10 Billion Deal Creating Largest U.S. Bank".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on November 23, 2020.RetrievedOctober 20,2020.
  15. ^abIovine, Julie V. (July 6, 2000)."A House Held Up by a Bank; Renovation yields condos and an aerie".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  16. ^abc"Posting: For Old Bank, Apartments and Theater; Village Condos And Playhouse".The New York Times.May 3, 1998.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  17. ^Holusha, John (July 18, 1999)."Commercial Property/Way West on 14th Street; Changing From a Place for Meat to a Place to Meet".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  18. ^Kirby, David (August 2, 1998)."Neighborhood Report: Chelsea; Walled In and Left Out on 14th St".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 29,2023.
  19. ^Coleman, Chrisena (September 17, 1998). "Merchants Up Against a Wall".New York Daily News.p. 2.ISSN2692-1251.ProQuest313624976.
  20. ^Hughes, C. J. (February 6, 2005)."From the Outside, They Still Look Like Banks".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  21. ^Finn, Robin (August 1, 2014)."Busy. Noisy. Homey".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  22. ^Trejos, Nancy (September 21, 2018)."Family-friendly Museum of Illusions opens in New York City".USA Today.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  23. ^Lynch, Scott (September 19, 2018)."Photos: The Interactive Museum of Illusions Opens In Chelsea".Gothamist.RetrievedApril 26,2023.
  24. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 5.
  25. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,pp. 5–6.
  26. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,pp. 6–7.

Sources

External links[edit]

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