City Hall | |
 New York City Hall in October 2016 | |
 | |
| Location | City Hall Park betweenBroadway andPark Row[1][2] Manhattan, New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°42′46″N74°00′21″W / 40.7127°N 74.0059°W /40.7127; -74.0059 |
| Built | 1812 |
| Architect | Joseph-François Mangin andJohn McComb Jr. |
| Architectural style | exterior: French Renaissance Revival interior: Georgian Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000539 |
| NYSRHP No. | 06101.000408 |
| NYCL No. | 0080, 0916 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[4] |
| Designated NHL | December 19, 1960[5] |
| Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980[3] |
| Designated NYCL | exterior: February 1, 1966 interior: January 17, 1976 |
New York City Hall is theseat of New York City government, located at the center ofCity Hall Park in theCivic Center area ofLower Manhattan, betweenBroadway,Park Row, andChambers Street. Constructed from 1803 to 1812,[1] the building is the oldestcity hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions.[6] The building houses the office of theMayor of New York City and the chambers of theNew York City Council. While the Mayor's Office is in the building, the staff of thirteen municipal agencies under mayoral control are located in the nearbyManhattan Municipal Building, one of the largest government buildings in the world, with many others housed in various buildings in the immediate vicinity.
New York City Hall is aNational Historic Landmark and is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[5][7][8] TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated both City Hall's exterior and interior as official city landmarks in 1966 and 1976, respectively.[2]
New Amsterdam's first City Hall was built by theDutch Republic in the 17th century near present-day 73Pearl Street.[9] The first structure was demolished in 1690.
The city's second City Hall, built in 1700, stood onWall andNassau Streets. That building was renamedFederal Hall in 1789, after New York became the first official capital of the United States after theConstitution was ratified. It was demolished in 1812 and current Federal Hall was built in 1842.
Plans for building a new City Hall were discussed by the New York City Council as early as 1776, but the financial strains of the war delayed progress. The Council chose a site at the oldCommon at the northern limits of the city, nowCity Hall Park. City Hall was originally an area for the first almshouse in 1653. In 1736, there was a financed almshouse for those who were fit to work, for the unfit, and those that were like criminals but were paupers.[11]
In 1802, New York City held a competition for a new City Hall. The first prize of $350 was awarded toJoseph-François Mangin andJohn McComb Jr. Mangin studied architecture in his native France before becoming a New York City surveyor in 1795 and publishing an official map of the city in 1803 that was largely discredited for its inaccuracies. Mangin later served as the architect of the landmarkedSt. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street. McComb, whose father had worked on the old City Hall, was a New Yorker and designedCastle Clinton in Battery Park, among other buildings and structures. Mangin had no known involvement with City Hall after winning the commission. McComb alone supervised every aspect of construction and was in charge of the architectural modifications and detailing during the extended building process.[1]
The cornerstone of the new City Hall was laid on May 26, 1803.[12] Construction was delayed after the City Council objected that the design was too extravagant. In response, McComb reduced the size of the building and usedbrownstone at the rear of the building to lower costs. The brownstone, along with the original deteriorated Massachusetts marble facade, quarried fromAlford, Massachusetts, was later replaced with Alabama limestone between 1954[13] and 1956. Labor disputes and an outbreak ofyellow fever further slowed construction. The building was not dedicated until 1811, and opened officially in 1812.
TheNew York City Police riot occurred in front of New York City Hall between the recently dissolvedNew York Municipal Police and the newly formed Metropolitan Police on June 16, 1857. Municipal police fought with Metropolitan officers who were attempting to arrest New York City MayorFernando Wood.
In 1953, the city's public works commissioner Frederick H. Zurmuhlen requested $2.2 million to repair City Hall's facade, which was crumbling.[14]
On July 23, 2003, at 2:08 p.m., City Hall was the scene of a rare political assassination.Othniel Askew, a political rival of City CouncilmanJames E. Davis, opened fire with a pistol from the balcony of the City Council chamber. Askew shot Davis twice, fatally wounding him. A police officer on the floor of the chamber then fatally shot Askew. Askew and Davis had entered the building together without passing through a metal detector, a courtesy extended to elected officials and their guests. As a result of the security breach, then-MayorMichael Bloomberg revised security policy to require that everyone entering the building pass through metal detectors without exception.[15] Davis would lie in state at City Hall, a feat which was not repeated until former U.S. RepCharles Rangel did so in 2025.[16][17]
In 2008, work began on a restoration of the building, after a century without a major renovation. The construction included structural enhancements, upgrades to building services, as well as in-depth restoration of much of the interior and exterior. Due to the complexity of the demands of the project, the New York City Department of Design and Construction hiredHill International to provide construction management. Renovations were originally estimated to cost $104 million and take four years, but ended up costing nearly $150 million and taking over five years.[18][19]
Although Mangin and McComb designed the building, which was constructed between 1810 and 1812, it has been altered numerous times over the years by several architects. These includeLeopold Eidlitz in 1860,John H. Duncan in 1898,William Martin Aiken in 1903,Grosvenor Atterbury andJohn Almy Tompkins II from 1907 to 1917,Shreve, Lamb & Harmon in 1956, and Cabrera Barricklo in 1998.[1]: 69 [2]
The architectural style of City Hall combines international architectural influences,French Renaissance and English neoclassicism. American-Georgian is more evident in the interior design. The design of City Hall influenced at least two later civic structures, theTweed Courthouse and theSurrogate's Courthouse immediately to the north. City Hall is aNew York City designated landmark. It is also listed on theNew York State andNational Registers of Historic Places.
The building consists of a central pavilion with two projecting wings. The entrance, reached by a long flight of steps, has figured prominently in civic events for over a century and a half. There is a columned entrance portico capped by abalustrade, and another balustrade at the roof. The domed tower in the center was rebuilt in 1917 after the last of two major fires. The originalMassachusetts marble facade, quarried fromAlford, Massachusetts, and complemented withbrownstone on the rear elevation, had deteriorated over time from pollution and pigeons.[20]: 30 It was completely reclad in Alabama limestone above a Missouri granite base in 1954–56 byShreve, Lamb & Harmon, architects of theEmpire State Building.[20]: 30, 103
The steps of City Hall frequently provide a backdrop for political demonstrations and press conferences concerning city politics. Live, unedited coverage of events at City Hall is carried on NYC Media channel 74, a CityGovernment-access television (GATV) officialcable TV channel.
Fencing surrounds the building's perimeter, with a strong security presence by theNew York City Police Department and other security. Public access to the building is restricted to tours and to those with specific business appointments.
On the inside, the rotunda is a soaring space with a grand marble stairway rising up to the second floor, where ten fluted Corinthian columns support the coffered dome, which was added in a 1912 restoration byGrosvenor Atterbury andJohn Almy Tompkins II.[2] The rotunda has been the site of municipal as well as national events.Abraham Lincoln's coffin was placed on the staircase landing across the rotunda when he lay in state in 1865 afterhis assassination.Ulysses S. Grant also lay in state beneath the soaring rotunda dome – as did ColonelElmer Ephraim Ellsworth, first Union officer killed in the Civil War and commander of the11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (First Fire Zouaves).
There are 108 paintings from the late 18th century through the 20th century, whichThe New York Times declared were "almost unrivaled as an ensemble, with several masterpieces".[21] Among the collection isJohn Trumbull's 1805 portrait ofAlexander Hamilton, the source of the face on theUnited States ten-dollar bill. There were significant efforts to restore the paintings in the 1920s and 1940s. In 2006, a new restoration campaign began for 47 paintings identified by the Art Commission as highest in priority.
Official receptions are held in the Governor's Room, which has hosted many dignitaries including theMarquis de Lafayette andAlbert Einstein. The building's Governor's Room hostedPresident-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861. The Governor's Room, which is used for official receptions, also houses one of the most important collections of 19th-century American portraiture and notable artifacts such asGeorge Washington's desk.
Other notable rooms include:
The area around City Hall is commonly referred to as theCivic Center. Most of the neighborhood consists of government offices (city, state, and federal), as well as an increasing number of upscale residential dwellings being converted from older commercial structures. Architectural landmarks surround City Hall, includingSt. Paul's Chapel,St. Peter's Church, theHome Life Building, theRogers Peet Building, and theWoolworth Building to the west; theBroadway–Chambers Building to the northwest;280 Broadway,49 Chambers,Tweed Courthouse, andSurrogate's Courthouse to the north; theManhattan Municipal Building to the northeast; theBrooklyn Bridge to the east; and theNew York Times Building, thePotter Building, and thePark Row Building to the southwest. City Hall Park is approximately three blocks away from theWorld Trade Center to the west.[22]Pace University's New York City campus is located acrossPark Row from City Hall.[23]
Located directly under City Hall Park is the formerCity Hall subway station, the originalsouthern terminal of the first service of theNew York City Subway built by theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). Opened on October 27, 1904,[24] this station beneath the public area in front of City Hall was designed to be the showpiece of the new subway. The platform and mezzanine featureGuastavino tile, skylights, colored glass tile work and brass chandeliers.[25] Passenger service was discontinued on December 31, 1945,[26] although the station is still used as a turning loop for6 and <6> trains.[27]
Another station namedCity Hall (N, R, and W trains) also exists on theBMT Broadway Line, albeit on the western side of City Hall and not directly under it.[28] This station was built in 1918 for theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).[29]
Other nearby, open subway stations areBrooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street (4, 5, 6, <6>, J, and Z trains) andChambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place/Cortlandt Street (2, 3, A, C, E, N, R, and W trains).[30]
Google Maps uses New York City Hall as thezero-mile point from which distances from New York City are measured.[31]
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See also:National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan (Islands,Below 14th St.,14th–59th Sts.,59th–110th Sts.,Above 110th St.) andList of National Historic Landmarks in New York City Note: National Historic Landmarks are not listed separately. | |||||||||||||||
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