Tag Archives: 1915

Lafayette Hall

Lafayette Hall (originally Hallenbeck-Hungerford Building) is an attractive neo-Gothic industrial building built to accommodate heavy equipment such as printing presses. It was converted in 1999 to a residence hall for NYU students. The L-shaped building wraps around the seven-story landmark Ahrens Building.

There are interesting grotesques in the upper stories – including headless characters on the 13th floor. Unlucky for them.

Lafayette Hall Vital Statistics
  • Location: 80 Lafayette Street between Franklin and White Streets
  • Year completed: 1915
  • Architect: William E. Austin
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Neo-Gothic
Lafayette Hall Suggested Reading

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Brooklyn Trust Company Building

Brooklyn Trust Company Building, deemed “the most beautiful building on Brooklyn’s ‘Bank Row’,” is well preserved inside and out. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission took the unusual step of designating both the interior and the exterior as landmarks.

Chase Bank sold the building in 2007; those owners sold it in 2011, and the new owner is creating condominium apartments (Barry Rice Architects) in the rear (Pierrepont Street) annex.

Brooklyn Trust Company Building Vital Statistics
Brooklyn Trust Company Building Recommended Reading

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Stewart Building

Stewart Building, in the shadow of Langham Place, narrowly missed being under an office tower; landmark designation saved it, and the Wedgewood-like terra cotta still owns the corner of Fifth Avenue and W 37th Street.

(See The 1914 Stewart Building; A Delicate Work of Ceramic in the Path of a Tower for the full story.)

Architecturally, the Stewart Building’s claim to fame is the unusual mix of Chicago School style and neo-Classical design. The neo-Classical side brings the building’s blue-gray terra cotta cladding. The Chicago Style attributes include the three-part “Chicago Windows,” steel frame, and base-shaft-crown vertical design.

The Stewart Building was originally owned by Robert Walton Goelet – part of one of New York’s wealthiest families, with real estate holdings second only to the Astor family. Architects Warren & Wetmore also designed New York landmarks New York Central Building (aka Helmsley Building), the Heckscher Building, and Steinway Hall, among others. The builder was the George A. Fuller Company, which built thousands of buildings in New York and elsewhere – including the Plaza Hotel, United Nations headquarters, Lever House and Seagram Building.

Stewart Building Vital Statistics
Stewart Building Recommended Reading

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