Bowery Savings Bank
Encyclopedia
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...
was chartered in May 1834 and is now part of Capital One Bank.
History
Opened in 1834 on the Bowery in NYC. By 1980 it had over 35 branches located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. When bank deregulation was enacted the bank began to suffer losses as a result of rising saving account interest rates. By 1982 the Bowery was running out of cash; in 1985 the FDIC arranged for the bank to be sold to Richard RavitchRichard Ravitch
Richard Ravitch is an American politician and businessman who served as the 75th Lieutenant Governor of New York from 2009 to 2010. He was appointed to the position in July 2009 by New York Governor David Paterson...
and others. It was sold for $100 million and allowed to maintain a capital deficit of $220 million rather than pay out on the $5 billion in deposits. In 1992 it was sold to H. F. Ahmanson & Co for $200 million. The name was changed by 1993 to Home Savings of America. In 1995 H.F.Ahmanson sold their New York operations to Greenpoint Savings Bank. By 2004 Greenpoint had been sold to North Fork Bank
North Fork Bank
North Fork Bank was an American bank from 1950 until 2008 when it became Capital One Bank .In November 2007, it had 365 branches in the New York metropolitan area.-History:...
. In 2007 North Fork was sold to Capital One Bank.
From 1972 to 1992, baseball hall-of-famer Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
was spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank.
Timeline
- 1834 05/01/1834 NYS Chartered Bowery Savings Bank (5/1834-10/1985)
- 1920 10/22/1920 Acquire by merger Universal Savings Bank
- 1949 02/14/1949 Acquire by merger North River Savings Bank
- 1980 02/11/1980 Acquire by merger Equitable Savings & Loan Association
- 1985 10/01/1985 Merge to The State Bowery Savings Bank
- 1992 04/20/1992 Name change to Home Savings of America, Bowery Division, SSB
- 1992 09/01/1992 Convert Federal Home Savings of America, Bowery Division, FSB
Buildings
130 BoweryThe bank's first headquarters at 130 Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
between Broome and Grand
Grand Street (Manhattan)
Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
Streets was designed by Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
, from the firm of McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead & White was a prominent American architectural firm at the turn of the twentieth century and in the history of American architecture. The firm's founding partners were Charles Follen McKim , William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White...
, and built in 1893-95. The "L"-shaped buildings continues through to Elizabeth Street, and has a designed facade on Grand Street.
White's choice of a Roman classical style for the building, a first, set a trend for bank buildings, first in New York, and then across the United States. The exterior features Corinthian columns and sculpted pediments by Frederic MacMonnies, while the interior gives the impression of a Roman temple, and is said to be one of the great space in New York. It features the extensive use of marble, in the teller's counters – which are made of yellow Siena marble – the walls, and the mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
floors. In addition, White employed faux marble scagliola
Scagliola
Scagliola , is a technique for producing stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones...
columns, coffered ceilings and stairs and skylights made of cast-iron.
The exterior of the building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, and the interior in 1994. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980. It is currently "Capitale", restaurant, night club and event space
Function hall
A function hall or banquet hall is a room or building for the purpose of hosting a party, banquet, reception, or other social event.Function halls are often found within pubs, clubs, hotels, or restaurants. Some are run by fraternal organizations and rented out as a fundraiser for the organization...
which is popular as a wedding site.
110 East 42nd Street
The bank decided to moved its headquarters in 1920, and a new building was constructed from 1921-23 at 110 East 42nd Street
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...
between Park and Lexington Avenues across from Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, 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...
. It was designed by York and Sawyer
York and Sawyer
The architectural firm of York and Sawyer produced many outstanding structures, exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York and Philip Sawyer had both trained in the office of McKim, Mead, and White...
in Italian Romanesque Revival style
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
, with William Louis Ayres as the partner in charge. The huge interior, which measures 65 feet high, 80 feet wide and 197 1/2 feet long, utilizes marble, limestone, sandstone and bronze screens to create a space reminiscent of a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
. It has been called "one of the great spaces of New York." A six-story addition to the east, which came to be called "The Chapel", was built in 1931-33.
The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1996. The ground floor is now a Cipriani's
Cipriani S.A.
Cipriani S.A. is a privately owned international corporation based in Luxembourg that owns and operates luxury restaurants and clubs around the world including Harry's Bar in Venice and formerly the Rainbow Room in New York City....
restaurant and upscale event space.
External links
- Bowery Savings Bank Building at Emporis Buildings