The Public Buildings of New York are not numerous. Some of them are
handsome, and others are models of ugliness. We shall mention here only
those which are not described elsewhere in this volume.
The most prominent is the City Hall, which is located in the City Hall
Park. It faces the south, and the ground line is perpendicular to
Broadway. It is a handsome edifice, and is surmounted by the best clock
tower in the Union, above which is a marble image of Justice. The front
and ends of the City Hall are constructed of white marble, but the rear
face is of brown stone. The building was erected between the years 1803
and 1810, and the city fathers, sagely premising that New York would
never extend above the Park, decided to save the difference between
marble and brown stone at this side, "as this portion would face the
country." The building contains the offices of the Mayor and city
officials. Some of its rooms are very handsome, and are elegantly
decorated.
The clock tower and the upper portions of the building were set on fire
by the pyrotechnical display in honor of the Atlantic Telegraph of 1859.
They were rebuilt soon afterwards, in much better style.
"Previous to the completion of the new cupola, our city fathers
contracted with Messrs. Sperry & Co., the celebrated tower-clock makers
of Broadway, to build a clock for it, at a cost not exceeding four
thousand dollars, that our citizens might place the utmost reliance upon,
as a time-keeper of unvarying correctness. During the month of April the
clock was completed, and the busy thousands who were daily wont to look
up to the silent monitor, above which the figure of Justice was
enthroned, hailed its appearance with the utmost satisfaction. It is
undoubtedly the finest specimen of a tower-clock on this side of the
Atlantic, and, as an accurate time-keeper, competent judges pronounce it
to be unsurpassed in the world. The main wheels are thirty inches in
diameter, the escapement is jewelled, and the pendulum, which is in
itself a curiosity, is over fourteen feet in length. It is a curious
fact that the pendulum bob weighs over three hundred pounds; but so
finely finished is every wheel, pinion, and pivot in the clock, and so
little power is required to drive them, that a weight of only one hundred
pounds is all that is necessary to keep this ponderous mass of metal
vibrating, and turn four pairs of hands on the dials of the cupola. The
clock does not stand, as many suppose, directly behind the dials, but in
the story below, and a perpendicular iron rod, twenty-five feet in
length, connects it with the dial-works above."
[Picture: THE CITY HALL.]
To the east of the City Hall, and within the limits of the Park, is the
Hall of Records, a stone building, covered with stucco. It was erected
in 1757, as a city prison. It is now occupied by the Registrar of the
city and his clerks.
In the rear of the City Hall, and fronting on Chambers street, is the New
County Court House, which, when completed, will be one of the finest
edifices in the New World. It was begun more than eight years ago, and
is constructed of "East Chester and Massachusetts white marble, with iron
beams and supports, iron staircases, outside iron doors, solid
black-walnut doors (on the inside), and marble tiling on every hall-floor
of the building, laid upon iron beams, concreted over, and bricked up.
With a basis of concrete, Georgia-pine, over yellow-pine, is used for the
flooring of the apartments. The iron supports and beams are of immense
strength--some of the girders crossing the rooms weighing over fifty
thousand pounds. The pervading order of architecture is Corinthian, but,
although excellent, the building cannot be said to be purely Corinthian.
An additional depth of, say, thirty feet, would have prevented a cramping
of the windows on the sides, which now necessarily exists, and have added
power and comprehension to the structure as an entirety; but the general
effect is grand and striking in the extreme. The building is two hundred
and fifty feet long, and one hundred and fifty feet wide. From the
base-course to the top of the pediment the height is ninety-seven feet,
and to the top of the dome, not yet erected, two hundred and twenty-five
feet. From the sidewalk to the top of the pediment measures eighty-two
feet; to the top of the dome two hundred and ten feet. When completed,
the building will be surmounted by a large dome, giving a general
resemblance to the main portion of the Capitol at Washington. The dome,
viewed from the rear, appears something heavy and cumbrous for the
general character of the structure which it crowns; but a front view,
from Chambers street, when the eye, in its upward sweep, takes in the
broad flight of steps, the grand columns, and the general robustness of
the main entrance, dissipates this idea, and attaches grace and integrity
to the whole. One of the most novel features of the dome will be the
arrangement of the tower, crowning its apex, into a light-house, which,
from its extreme power and height, it is supposed, will furnish guidance
to vessels as far out at sea as that afforded by any beacon on the
neighboring coast. This is the suggestion of the architect, Mr. Kellum,
but, whether or not it will be carried out in the execution of the
design, Mr. Tucker, the superintendent of the work, is unable to say.
The interior of the edifice is equally elaborate and complete, and
several of the apartments are now occupied by the County Clerk, the
Supreme Court, and as other offices. The portico and stoop, now being
completed, on Chambers street, will, it is said, be the finest piece of
work of the kind in America."
It was this building which furnished the Ring with their favorite pretext
for stealing the public money. The manner in which this was done has
been described in another chapter.
The Bible House is a massive structure of red brick, with brown stone
trimmings, and covers the block bounded by Third and Fourth avenues and
Eighth and Ninth streets. It covers three-quarters of an acre, its four
fronts measuring a total of 710 feet. It was completed in 1853, at a
cost, including the ground, of $303,000, and is to-day worth nearly
double that sum. It contains fifty stores and offices, which yield an
aggregate annual rent of nearly $40,000. These rooms are occupied
chiefly by benevolent and charitable societies, so that the Bible House
has become the great centre from which radiate the principal labors of
charity and benevolence in the City and State.
The Bible House is owned by, and forms the headquarters of the American
Bible Society. The Bibles of this Society are printed here, every
portion of their publication being carried on under this vast roof. The
receipts of the Society since its organization in 1816 have amounted to
nearly $6,000,000. Thousands of copies are annually printed and
distributed from here. The entire Union has been canvassed three times
by the agents of the Society, and hundreds of thousands of destitute
families have been furnished each with a copy of the Blessed Book. The
Bible has been printed here in twenty-nine different languages, and parts
of it have been issued in other languages.
About 625 persons find employment in this gigantic establishment. Of
these about three hundred are girls, and twenty or thirty boys. The
girls feed the presses, sew the books, apply gold-leaf to the covers
ready for tooling, etc. About a dozen little girls are employed in the
press-room in laying the sheets, of the best description of Bibles,
between glazed boards, and so preparing them for being placed in the
hydraulic presses. Every day there are six thousand Bibles printed in
this establishment, and three hundred and fifty turned out of hand
completely bound and finished.
[Picture: TAMMANY HALL.]
Tammany Hall, in East Fourteenth street, between Irving Place and Third
avenue, is a handsome edifice of red brick, with white marble trimmings.
It contains several fine halls, and a number of committee rooms. The
main hall is one of the handsomest in the city, and was formerly used as
a theatre. It was in this hall that the National Democratic Convention
of 1868 was held. The building is the property of the "Tammany Society."
This Society was organized in 1789 as a benevolent association, but
subsequently became a political organization and the ruling power in the
Democratic politics of the City and State.
[Picture: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN.]
The Academy of Design is located at the northwest corner of Fourth avenue
and Twenty-third street. It is one of the most beautiful edifices in the
city. It is built in the pure Gothic style of the thirteenth century,
and the external walls are composed of variegated marble. It has an air
of lightness and elegance, that at once elicit the admiration of the
gazer. The interior is finished with white pine, ash, mahogany, oak, and
black walnut in their natural colors; no paint being used in the
building. Schools of art, a library, reading room, lecture room, and the
necessary rooms for the business of the institution, occupy the first and
second stories. The third floor is devoted to the gallery of paintings
and the sculpture room. At certain seasons of the year exhibitions of
paintings and statuary are held here. None but works of living artists
are exhibited.
[Picture: STEINWAY AND SONS' PIANO FACTORY.]
One of the most imposing buildings in the city is the new Grand Central
Depot, on Forty-second street and Fourth avenue. It is constructed of
red brick, with iron trimmings painted white, in imitation of marble.
The south front is adorned with three and the west front with two massive
pavilions. The central pavilion of each front contains an illuminated
clock. The entire building is 696 feet long and 240 feet wide. The
space for the accommodation of the trains is 610 feet long and 200 feet
wide. The remainder of the edifice is devoted to the offices of the
various railways using it. Waiting-rooms, baggage-rooms, etc. The
car-shed is covered with an immense circular roof of iron and glass. The
remainder of the building is of brick and iron. The principal front is
on Forty-second street. This portion is to be occupied by the offices
and waiting-rooms of the New York and New Haven and the Shore Line
railways. The southern portion of the west front is occupied by the
offices and waiting-rooms of the New York, Harlem, and Albany Railway,
and the remainder of this front by the offices and waiting-rooms of the
Hudson River and New York Central railways. These roads are the only
lines which enter the city, and they are here provided with a common
terminus in the very heart of the metropolis. The waiting-rooms and
offices are finished in hard wood, are handsomely frescoed, and are
supplied with every convenience. The height of the roof of the main body
of the depot is 100 feet from the ground; the apex of the central
pavilion on Forty-second street is 160 feet from the ground.
The car-house constitutes the main body of the depot. It is lighted from
the roof by day, and at night large reflectors, lighted by an electrical
apparatus, illuminate the vast interior. The platforms between the
tracks are composed of stone blocks. Each road has a particular portion
assigned to it, and there is no confusion in any of the arrangements.
The roof is supported by thirty-one handsome iron trusses, each weighing
forty tons, and extending in an unbroken arch over the entire enclosure.
The glass plates in the roof measure 80,000 feet. The interior of the
car-house is painted in light colors, which harmonize well with the light
which falls through the crystal roof.
About eighty trains enter and depart from this depot every day. The
running of these is regulated by the depot-master, who occupies an
elevated position at the north end of the car-house, from which he can
see the track for several miles. A system of automatic signals governs
the running of the trains through the city.
The building was projected by Commodore Vanderbilt. Ground was broken
for it on the 15th of November, 1869, and it was ready for occupancy on
the 9th of October, 1871.