National City Bank Building
Encyclopedia
55 Wall Street in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, 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...

 is a former bank building that today houses luxury apartments.

It was originally the Merchants Exchange, a Greek Revival building built between 1836 and 1841. Between 1862 and around 1907, the U.S. Customs Service used the building before moving into the U.S. Customhouse
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is a building in New York City, built 1902–1907 by the federal government to house the duty collection operations for the port of New York. It is located near the southern tip of Manhattan, next to Battery Park, at 1 Bowling Green...

 on Bowling Green. In 1907, the National City Bank hired Charles F. McKim to increase the building to 7 floors and redesign the interior. The National City Bank (now Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...

) was closely tied to the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

.

Architecture

The building was designed by Boston architect Isaiah Rogers
Isaiah Rogers
Isaiah Rogers was a US architect who practiced in Mobile, Alabama, Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, and Cincinnati, Ohio.-Background:...

 in classical style and built in 1836-1842. The facade of the original four-story, Greek revival style featured sixteen massive Ionic columns, each a single block of Quincy Granite.

In 1899, National City Bank, which subsequently became Citibank, commissioned architects McKim, Mead & White to remodel the building for use as their headquarters. The architects added four stories to the building and superimposed a second colonnade of Corinthian columns above the original facade. They also redesigned the interior into an immense banking hall featuring a sixty-foot-high central dome and offices at each corner. Monumental Corinthian columns support an elegant entablature that circles the space. The room features elegant gray marble floors and walls, a coffered ceiling, and delicate mezzanine railings.

The exterior of this building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1965. The building was named a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1978.

In 1998 it was completely rebuilt as The Regent Wall Street Hotel. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, 55 Wall Street served as a relief center for workers and area residents. The hotel closed in 2003 due to lack of business after the 9/11 attacks. It has recently been renovated again and was converted to condos by the Cipriani S.A.
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....

 empire of restaurants and ballrooms. The main banking hall "now serves as one of the most elegant ballrooms in the world". It was the location for the finale of Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...

's remake of The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate , by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party....

and has been called a "facility unequaled in America"

The Designated Landmark of New York City plaque was installed by the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation in 2002.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK