New York County National Bank Building
New York County National Bank Building | |
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De Lemos & Cordes Rudolphe L. Daus |
The New York County National Bank Building at 77–79
On June 7, 1988, the building was designated a New York City landmark by the
Since it ceased being used as a bank, the building at 77-79 Eighth Avenue had interior alterations, and has been the location of an Off-Broadway theater, a men's gym, and a museum.[4][5] As of 2018, the building houses the Museum of Illusions.
History
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 from John Jacob Astor, which contained a three-story printing house.[7]
Use as bank
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]
In 1921, the New York County National Bank merged with
Later use
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 ongoing gentrification.[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 as pieds-à-terre until the early 2010s, when the opening of the High Line and 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
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 the
Rudolphe L. Daus, Mexican-born and educated in New York, Berlin, and Paris, was an 1879 graduate of the
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
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 features caduceuses, a symbol of commerce.[4]
Gallery
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The building, including the addition at 75 Eighth Avenue
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The front facade with banners for the Museum of Illusions (2020)
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The building's northern facade on 14th Street
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The building's pediment
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WithNew York Savings Bankacross 14th Street
See also
References
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
- ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 1.
- ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
- ^ a b "14th Street" New York Songlines
- ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
- ^ a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 4.
- ^ "Bank Building for Eighth Avenue". The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide. Vol. 75, no. 1926. February 11, 1905. p. 302 – via columbia.edu.
- ^ "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 – via columbia.edu.
- ^ "A $250,000 Bank Building Project". New-York Tribune. April 12, 1906. p. 10. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ProQuest 129965538.
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 7.
- from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
- ProQuest 313624976.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ Trejos, Nancy (September 21, 2018). "Family-friendly Museum of Illusions opens in New York City". USA Today. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ Lynch, Scott (September 19, 2018). "Photos: The Interactive Museum of Illusions Opens In Chelsea". Gothamist. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 5.
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, pp. 5–6.
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, pp. 6–7.
Sources
- Urbanelli, Elissa (June 8, 1988). Goeschel, Nancy (ed.). Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company Building (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
External links
- Media related to New York County National Bank Building at Wikimedia Commons