 The Morgan Library was originally converted into a public institution by J. P. Morgan, Jr. in 1924 in memory of his father, Piermont Morgan. Highlights of the extensive Morgan library include the Gutenberg bible, and original Mozart and Beethoven manuscripts. The museum presents an intricate history of the Morgan family and the Gilded Age. 

Bryan Daily Eagle and Pilot (Bryan, TX)

Morgan Library

19 Stories. 44 Exceptional Residences. Overlooking the Hudson River in West Chelsea with a private gated drive court, 551 West 21st Street provides an urbane setting in one of the most vibrant and sought after neighborhoods in the world.

551 W 21st Street

4 World Trade Center belongs to a collective group of buildings founded on the redevelopment master plan by Studio Daniel Libeskind known as “Memory Foundations.” It is the first completed building on the original 16-acre World Trade center site and is the fourth of five skyscrapers intended to form a spiral composition of stepping buildings encircling the National September 11 Memorial Park. Provided a corner site, the project occupies is a full city block bounded by Greenwich, Church, Cortland and Liberty Streets and is adjacent two parks in a rare privileged setting within Manhattan. The building is prominently staged onto the Memorial Park on the west and faces Zucotti Park on the south-east corner becoming a portal to Wall Street and Lower Manhattan. The 72-storey building reaches a height of 977 feet (298 meters) and contains 2.3 million square feet (213,700 square meters) of office and retail space. The offices comprise 56-floors in two distinctly configured floor plates in three vertical sections. The larger of the two in the low and mid-rise sections is 44,000 square feet in the shape of a parallelogram echoing the configuration of the site. The high-rise section is 32,000 square feet in the shape of a trapezoid that gives the building a triangulated sculptural effect that is chiseled at the top. The form achieves a sense of a rotational pivot at the corner to contribute to its role in the formal composition of the master plan. The tower is designed to create a strong sculptural effect with a quiet presence. Seen from a distance, it can be identified as a minimalistic sculpture with its angular profile that distinguishes itself in the skyline. The building is clad in colorless silver glass that dynamically changes appearance depending upon the time of day, weather and light. It transforms itself from a distinct sculptural object to one that blends and becomes a part of the sky with a glazed and metallic materiality. Each of the 11,000 structurally glazed curtain wall units are detailed with a single lite of insulated glass that is 5` wide by 13`-6” high concealing the spandrel section at the floor / ceiling cavity via a horizontal touch mullion to enable the tower to express a highly abstract quality. To the contrary, the building reveals itself as a piece of architecture through space, tactile materials, their colors and refined details upon closer approach. Upon arriving at the base of the tower, one is unable to discern the large building as a complete entity. Unlike pure sculpture, the building clearly establishes a sense of place that is not only visual but one that is felt through rich spatial experiences.

4 World Trade Center

The Edward Laing Stores, designed by James Bogardus in 1849, was among the first U.S. buildings to use a cast-iron façade with prefabricated, interchangeable parts. Located in Manhattan’s Washington Market, it was a pioneering example of rapid construction techniques that helped shape the evolution of skyscrapers. Its façade became historically significant as one of New York’s earliest cast-iron architectural landmarks.

During urban renewal in 1971, the building was dismantled and stored for future reuse. In 1974, chaos erupted when 2/3 of the cast-iron façade was stolen over several weeks and sold as scrap—prompting the Landmarks Preservation Commission chair to famously shout, “Someone has stolen one of my buildings!” The remaining panels were later moved to a hidden storage site, only to disappear a second time. None of the original elements were ever recovered.

A modern interpretation of the Bogardus building was constructed at the corner of Fulton and Front Streets by Beyer Blinder Belle. Although inspired by the 1849 design, the structure contains no original architectural pieces from the stolen façade. It stands as a contemporary homage to the pioneering cast-iron building that once stood in Washington Market.

15 Fulton Street

 Opened in 1962, the TWA Flight Center (also known as the Trans World Flight Center) is designed by Eero Saarinen for Trans World Airlines at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Conceived with notions of speed as well as references to a bird, the TWA features a prominent wing-shaped thin shell roof over the main terminal of the JFK. The concrete shell, which inspired Saarinen to develop curvilinear ceramic tiles, established the TWA as a modernist piece of architecture that challenged the modernist notion of simplistic linearity. 

  Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP,  Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

 Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP / Port Authority NY/NJ

 &copy;Yale University Manuscripts and Archives

 Upper Level plan &amp;amp;&amp;nbsp;Lower Level plan  Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP / Port Authority NY/NJ

 Upper Level plan &amp;amp; Lower level plan  Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP / Port Authority NY/NJ

TWA Flight Center

Donald Fram, Chief Architect of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, discusses the historic renovation of Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at New York City's JFK Airport.

Richard Southwick of Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP discusses the historic renovation of Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at New York City's JFK Airport.

This New York landmark was once the world's tallest building at 1,250ft and has been a tourist attraction since it first opened. Tales about the building's early years abound--its spire, for instance, was meant as a mooring point (not a landing strip!) for dirigibles flying into the city. The architectural design was completed in two weeks as it borrowed heavily from another earlier project in the office, the construction documents in about 6 months, and construction itself in two years. The Empire State Building was recently voted America's most Favorite building in a 2007 AIA survey. It has New York City landmark Status for both the exterior and the lobby floor. The American Society of Civil Engineers voted it as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In 2010, in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative, the building was retrofitted to improve energy efficiency and financial performance which is projected to save 38% of the building's energy use.

Two workers stand on the roof of the dirigible mooring mast atop the Empire State Building

Empire State Building

This 23 story residential tower has almost 1700 individually sized colorless glass panes which are set at unique angles to create a glimmering facade, providing spectacular views of the city. Each of the 72 apartments is unique with some windows as large as 16 feet tall or 37 feet across. Amenities include private gardens, a gym, spa and pool. 

100 Eleventh Avenue

Kyle Johnson presents the final Hudson River segment of the tour, beginning with the Cloisters and ending with 100 11th Avenue.

 The Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92 (BNYC92) which will serve as a gateway to the community. Through permanent and rotating exhibitions and programming that will explore the Yard`s rich and illustrious history serving both national and local communities, its evolution to become a national model for sustainable industrial parks and its continuing role as a vital economic, manufacturing and cultural hub of Brooklyn. Housed in the renovated 1857 Marine Commandant`s Residence with a modern extension, BNYC92 will educate and inform Brooklynites, New Yorkers and the public about the significant role the Brooklyn Navy Yard has played, and continues to play, in the history of the United States and Brooklyn. With many of the windows in the historic commandant's house blocked off by exhibits, custom light boxes transform the building into a warm presence along the heavily-trafficked street. The entry courtyard welcomes guests with an intimate quality of light and human-scale fixtures. The building and its lighting were designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. 

Brooklyn Navy Yard Center (Building 92)

 Elizabeth Leber, Partner at Beyer Blinder Belle speaks about the design strategy for Building 92 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center and the process involved in achieving a LEED Platinum rating. 

This Italianate-style cast-iron and stone warehouse was used for tins and metals.

In 1917, Emery Roth extended the stairway with a walkway to the roof and installed a new fire escape in the front of the building. Before that, in 1902, the lessee, Berlin Aniline Company, installed a new elevator shaft, framed the old hatchways on all floors, and replaced one of the ducts/chimneys with one constructed inside the building.&nbsp;

The historic 12,000-square-foot warehouse was restored and transformed into a large-scale exhibition, educational programming, and a gathering space from 2019 to 2024, as a part of the South Street Seaport Museum.&nbsp;The building now includes a new climate control system, infrastructure hardened against flooding, an elevator, and full accessibility to welcome all visitors into previously-inaccessible space on Water Street.

Before the Thomson Warehouse, this lot was occupied by two three-story buildings. The land on which they stood was originally part of a 1750 water lot grant, and until 1797, Water Street was the closest street to the water. In 1799, Front and Water Streets were considered to be among the principal streets in New York City.

A. A. Thomson & Co. Warehouse

 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Cooper Hewitt educates, inspires, and empowers people through design by presenting exhibitions and educational programs and maintaining active publications. The Museum is housed in the former home of industrial magnate Andrew Carnegie. Completed in 1901, it was the first private residence in the United States to have a structural steel frame and one of the first in New York to have a residential Otis passenger elevator. The building received landmark status in 1974, and became part of the Smithsonian in 1976. The transformation of the Carnegie Mansion, completed in 2014, respects the spirit and character of the landmark building, restoring key elements to the original grandeur while providing much-needed upgrades to lighting and signage; more flexibility to reduce installation time and better accommodate object handling; and above all, enhanced public access on every level. 

Installed at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in the Arthur Ross Terrace &amp;amp; Garden. Installation produced by Molly Engelman.  

 Saturated-The Allure and Science of Color, the exhibition that the Wall Street Journal calls &amp;ldquo;vibrant from any angle!&amp;rdquo;  

After being renovated by Hardy Holzman &amp; Pfeiffer Associates, the Carnegie Mansion opens on October 7 as Cooper-Hewitt, The Smithsonian Institution&rsquo;s National Museum of Design, with the exhibition&nbsp;MAN transFORMs.Tetrahedrons and octahedrons in Carnegie&rsquo;s library served as an entry to Buckminster Fuller&rsquo;s film exploring the &ldquo;elegantly meshed design of the universe,&rdquo; part of MAN transFORMs (October 7, 1976&ndash;February 7, 1977)

Using the patterns found in the pierced brass of stone jalis (screens) that were employed in Indian temples and houses. These created beautiful patterns of light while simultaneously protecting inhabitants from the strong sun. In the teak room de Forest cleverly chose a yellow varnish and a red tone for his stencils, to evoke the golden tones of the sun, the brass, and the red sandstone.  

 The concept for the Pen originated from&amp;nbsp;Local Projects&amp;nbsp;working with&amp;nbsp;Diller Scofidio + Renfro.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Its interface with the interactive tables employs the sort of conductive materials common to touchscreen styli. Its interface with the object labels employs near-field communication technology. A sensor in the end of the Pen reads the information on small NFC tags embedded in the object labels. This information is stored in the Pen&amp;rsquo;s onboard memory and can be read at the interactive tables.  

She was sixteen, eventually making the regular journeys between New York and Scotland with the family.  

A steam boiler was used in the summer for the hot-water heater and the laundry service when the family was in Scotland and the main boilers were shut down  

   Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP

 The Carnegie Mansion garden is designed by Guy Lowell, a Boston architect and landscape architect, and Richard Schermerhorn Jr., a Brooklyn native trained in civil engineering.  

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Collector of the Textiles Department, discusses the renovation of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. The impetus for the renovation was to create more exhibition space.

 The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, formerly known as the Mid-Manhattan Library, is a branch of the New York Public Library at the southeast corner of 40th Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is diagonally across from the NYPL's Main Branch and Bryant Park, which are to the northwest. The Library has space for 400,000 volumes across a basement and seven above-ground stories. Its design includes 11,000 square feet of event space and 1,500 seats for library users. The Mid-Manhattan Library opened in 1970 to house the circulating collection formerly located in the NYPL's Main Branch. The branch moved to its current building, a former Arnold Constable &amp; Company department store, in 1981. After a failed attempt to close the Mid-Manhattan Library in the 2010s, the NYPL announced a major renovation of the branch in 2014. Between 2017 and 2020, the branch was closed for renovations funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the library was renamed after the foundation. 

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library

The ensemble of buildings and public spaces of Lincoln Center are the product of a group of prominent architects including Gordon Bunshaft, Eero Saarinen, Wallace Harrison and Philip Johnson. Lincoln Center has become an icon inextricably linked with New York. The redesign of public spaces includes the Central Plaza, the North Plaza, the conversion of 65th Street from a service corridor into a new central spine, the transformation of three blocks of Lincoln Center’s frontage at Columbus Avenue and eventually, Damrosch Park. The redesign is intended to turn the campus inside out by extending the spectacle within the performance halls into the mute public spaces between the halls and into the surrounding streets. The range of scales for the project requires an effort that dissolves boundaries between urban planning, architecture, landscape design and information design.65th Street Project in collaboration with FxFowle; Promenade Project in collaboration with Beyer Blinder Belle.

Lincoln Center- Public Spaces

 The Landscape Architect talks about some of the design ideas that were incorporated into the revisioning of Lincoln Center, perhaps the most noteworthy being relocating the vehicular entrance below grade. 

The second set of buildings were built in 1900. The island's original 3.3 acres were built up with landfill to 27.5 acres to accommodate the more than 12 million arrivals who would pass through in the decades to come, bearing witness to the change from the Irish and German arrivals of the mid-century to new hopefuls from Italy and Eastern Europe. Ellis Island shut its doors as an immigration facility in 1954.

The McCarran Internal Security Act bars immigrants with previous links to communist and fascist organizations from entering the country; Ellis Island is renovated for detainees, transformed into a detention center.

&nbsp;Ellis Island Immigration Center closes after 12 million immigrants passed through its doors since its opening in 1892.&nbsp;

After decades of decay, Ellis Island's main building was restored and refurbished by Beyer Blinder Belle, reopening in 1990 as a museum and historic destination.

Ellis Island has had numerous names throughout its history. Its current iteration was established in the 1770s, when Samuel Ellis became the island's private owner. The Federal Government purchased the island in the early 1800s to fortify its harbor defenses, and when it took over immigration control from the State in 1890, immigrant arrivals were shifted to Ellis Island. The original 1892 wooden structures actually burned down five years after being erected.

Opened January 2, 1892. Completely destroyed by fire on 15 June 1897.  

Where emigrants held for deportation may go in fine weather

Author: Delaware Valley Committee for Democratic Rights

Ellis Island Immigration Station

Arthur Platt presents the Lower Harbor segment of the tour, beginning with Ellis Island and ending with One Madison Park.

 Historian Barry Moreno explains Ellis Island's history as an immigration station and eventually a deportation center. He speaks in detail about the immigrants' experience within the building as they were processed through the center, in addition to speaking about how United States immigration laws shaped Ellis Island's role as an immigration station. 

Grand Central Terminal originated as a central hub for the Hudson River, New York and Harlem, and New York and New Haven Railroads. Cornelius Vanderbilt, after merging the Hudson River and New York Central Railroads, commissioned architect John B. Snook to design Grand Central Depot, completed in 1871. Subsequent expansions in 1895 and 1900 couldn’t handle rising traffic, and after a deadly crash in 1902, steam locomotives were banned in Manhattan.&nbsp;

This led to William J. Wilgus’s proposal for a new electrified underground terminal, approved in 1903, and completed in 1913.

The terminal's late-1990s renovation added stands and restaurants to the dining concourse, and installed escalators to link it to the main concourse level. The MTA also spent $2.2 million to install two circular terrazzo designs by David Rockwell and Beyer Blinder Belle, each 45 feet in diameter, over the concourse's original terrazzo floor. &nbsp;The hall was renovated and renamed Vanderbilt Hall after the family that built and owned the station.

In 2007 it seemed like a good idea to connect the Long Island Railroad (America's busiest commuter railroad) with Grand Central Terminal. &nbsp;It took $11 billion and over a decade to make East Side Access into a reality. &nbsp;The five block concourse is 17 stories below grade requiring nearly two minutes to descend via the MTA's longest escalator to the track level.&nbsp;

With the advent of electricity to power trains, a new station was needed to accommodate the additional traffic. William L Wilgus, VP and Chief Engineer of NY Central &amp; Hudson River held a competition between 4 firms including McKim Mead &amp; White and Reed &amp; Stem (relatively unknown but had done a lot of railroad terminals; Wilgus was married to Reed`s sister May). They were made to associate with Warren &amp; Wetmore possibly because Whitney Warren was the cousin of William K Vanderbilt. After Reed died in 1909, there were a few design changes and Whitney Warren became the architect. The final design produced 44 platforms on two levels making it the largest train station in the world.It became the hub of New York for decades. Movies were filmed there. Couples proposed under the great clock. It housed an art school, a library (which still exists) and even an apartment (which is now a bar). The Terminal fell into disrepair in the late 70's prompting multiple planning studies and proposals for its restoration. This finally happened in the late 90's and the terminal was lovingly restored and brought up to date. Retail was added in the former waiting rooms.

The facade includes several large works of art. At the top of the south facade is a 13-foot-wide clock. The clock is surrounded by the Glory of Commerce sculptural group, a 48-foot-wide sculpture by Jules-F&amp;eacute;lix Coutan, which includes representations of Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury. At its unveiling in 1914, the work was considered the largest sculptural group in the world  

The European style marketplace has 13 different local vendors selling everything from seafood and cooking spices to cheese and deli meats to cupcakes and jams 

 A false ceiling of square boards, installed in 1944, bears an elaborate celestial mural painted with more than 2,500 stars and several bands in gold set against a turquoise backdrop. This ceiling covers the original 1913 version, which had degraded because of water damage.  

One of Grand Central&amp;rsquo;s main attractions, and is often the meeting place for visitors and locals alike. You know you&amp;rsquo;re a New Yorker when you&amp;rsquo;ve told a friend to &amp;ldquo;meet me at the clock&amp;rdquo;!  

The dirt buildup was sometimes reported to be tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke, or diesel or coal soot from the trains in the terminal's train shed (trains have utilized electric power in Manhattan since 1908). Spectroscopic examination revealed that it was made up of air pollutants from trucks, cars, and emissions and contaminants from incinerators and factories. As a general renovation of the terminal got underway, historians and preservationists called for the 1944 boards to be removed and the original ceiling mural restored. But Beyer Blinder Belle, the architecture firm that led the renovation, deemed the original mural irreversibly damaged and noted that the asbestos-laden boards would be hazardous to remove. Starting September 1996, the ceiling boards were cleaned and repainted. Lights were installed into the ceiling boards to imitate the stars, restoring a feature previously only seen from 1913 to 1944. A single dark patch (one brick) if you follow the claw of cancer (the crab) on the ceiling to the corner, was left untouched by renovators to remind visitors of the grime that once covered the ceiling.&nbsp;

 It was conceived in 1912 by architect Warren and painter Paul C&amp;eacute;sar Helleu. The latter, who had come to the United States for a three-month stay to create portraits of eight women for a Parisian magazine, sketched a conceptual design for Warren. Helleu worked from a chart given by Columbia astronomy professor Harold Jacoby, who had derived it from the Uranometria, a star atlas published in 1603. The mural was executed in 1913 by James Monroe Hewlett and Charles Basing of Hewlett-Basing Studio. They were assisted in the design by Helle and multiple astronomers, and in the painting by more than 50 painting assistants. Around 63 electric bulbs were installed to amplify the visual impact of the stars. The depicted constellations include those of the winter zodiac viewable from October to March, from Aquarius to Cancer. Also depicted are Pegasus, Triangulum Majus and Minus, Musca Borealis, and Orion, as well as two broad gold bands spanning the ceiling, representing the ecliptic and the equator.  

In a 1957 attempt to improve public morale after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, an American Redstone missile was set up in the Main Concourse. With no other way to erect the missile, a hole was cut into the 1944 false ceiling to allow a cable to be lowered to lift the rocket into place. Historical preservation dictated that this hole remains as a reminder of the many uses of the Terminal over the years.  

For decades, it was called the Suburban Concourse because it handled commuter rail trains. Today, it has central seating and lounge areas, surrounded by restaurants and food vendors. The shared public seating in the concourse was designed resembling Pullman traincars. These areas are frequented by the homeless, and as a result, in the mid-2010s the MTA created two areas with private seating for dining customers. The terminal's late-1990s renovation added stands and restaurants to the concourse, and installed escalators to link it to the main concourse level. The MTA also spent $2.2 million to install two circular terrazzo designs by David Rockwell and Beyer Blinder Belle, each 45 feet in diameter, over the concourse's original terrazzo floor. Since 2015, part of the Dining Concourse has been closed for the construction of stairways and escalators to the new LIRR terminal being built as part of East Side Access. 

 Grand Central covers 48 acres (19&amp;nbsp;ha) and has 44&amp;nbsp;platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world.&amp;nbsp;  

At the time of the terminal's construction, electricity was still a relatively new invention, and the inclusion of electric light bulbs showcased this innovation.&amp;nbsp; 

 The terminal's main departure boards are located at the south end of the space; the boards have been replaced numerous times since their initial installation in 1967.  

Just not &ldquo;Grand Central Station&rdquo;&mdash;that refers to the US Post Office down the street or the subway station below.Woman sitting on luggage in Grand Central Terminal, September 1958

 Passengers in the main concourse, October 1941  

It is used for the annual Christmas Market, as well as for special exhibitions and private events.  

"Landmarks of New York Grand Central Terminal completed in 1913 from plans of Warren &amp;amp; Wetmore and Reed &amp;amp; Stem on site of earlier depot built by Commodore Cornelius Wanderbilt in 1371. Statuary group over main entrance executed by Jules Coutan. Plaque erected 1957 by the New York Community Trust" 

Grand Central Depot Railroads brought people, profits&hellip;and pollution. Residents complained, and in 1854 the city banned soot-belching steam engines below 42nd Street, keeping them far from New York&rsquo;s populated heart. Trains arriving from the north unhitched their engines at 42nd and towed passenger cars the last few miles downtown by horse. Despite these restrictions, the Hudson, New Haven, and Harlem Railroads were eager to expand. To coordinate their services (and save money) they agreed to share a new transit hub. With 42nd Street the southern limit for steam engines, it was the logical station location. Grand Central Depot opened in 1871. Three towers represented the three participating railroads. Thirty years later, a new Annex doubled the Depot&rsquo;s size, but double wasn&rsquo;t enough&ndash;rail traffic had already quadrupled.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

Pen and black ink, graphite on cream tracing paper, 10 × 12 15/16 in. (254 × 328 mm), irregular.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Plaque location

Grand Central Terminal

Architectural historian Carol Krinsky talks about Grand Central Terminal and the development of Midtown.

Head towards Grand Central Station. There you will encounter the Hercules, Mercurius, and Minerva sculptural group atop the station. If you are following along on our art map this should be labeled 64. As you walk into the Main Concourse of Grand Central, the most notable feature is the great astronomical mural (56 on the art map), from a design by the French painter Paul Helleu, painted in gold leaf on cerulean blue oil.

 In Grand Central Terminal are other works of interest, including 'As Above, So Below' by Ellen Driscoll, 'Flight' by Richard Lippold, and 'Sirshasana' by Donald Lipsky. 

AT Stewart opened his first dry goods store with a $10,000 inheritance from his Irish grandfather. Stewart turned out to be a natural salesman. The store became known for good prices and customer service. Stewart became a millionaire after the Panic of 1837 when he was able to buy the inventory of other merchants who had financial reverses.By the mid 1840's the store was so successful that Stewart needed to expand. He assembled Broadway which became the first Department Store and the first building in New York clad in Tuckahoe Marble, from which it got its nickname. Over the next few years there were several 'modular' additions until it became the largest retail store in the world. Innovations included a women&rsquo;s department where women could try on imported clothes, a fur department, large glass windows where people could see the merchandise, and mail order which he started in 1868.The store began on the corner of Broadway and Reade, and gradually expanded down Broadway and across Chambers Streets, with additions in 1850-51 and 1851&ndash;52, both designed by Trench &amp; Snook, and 1872, designed by Frederick Schmidt.

A.T. Stewart store moved uptown, the building was converted into warehouses.

In 1884 Judge Henry Hilton, AT Stewart's Executor, got Edward D. Harris to design an addition, in which two floors were added to the original five, and the building was converted into offices.

It moved to a cast iron building on Broadway at the southern end of Ladies Mile. The Newspaper "The Sun" was moved into the building in 1917 until its end in 1952. The corner "Sun Clock" is a local landmark.

In 1966, New York City acquired the building to be demolished for a plan to redevelop the Civic Center which did not come to fruition.The building was rehabilitated from 1995 to 2002, overseen by Beyer Blinder Belle. The city's Department of Buildings uses the upper floors, and the first and second floors are used for retail stores.

Marble Palace

A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Store

Aaron Burr promised Latrobe he would win the competition to design NY City Hall in 1802. But, Joseph Francois Magnin &amp; John McComb Jr won the $350 prize, becoming the oldest continuously occupied City Hall in America since completed in 1811.French Renaissance plus Federal equals this massive administrative and legislative structure. It houses the City Council and the Mayor's Office, with New York's first and most beautiful (now former) subway station buried right beneath it.

Mullets Monstrosity, City Hall, Park Row and City Hall Park.&amp;nbsp;The structure on the right is the Manhattan station for the cable cars which ran across the Brooklyn Bridge.  

McComb Architectural Drawing Collection, Collection of the New-York Historical Society

New York City Hall

At the statue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park, Kaplan discusses Hale's life and significance, and the history of City Hall.

This delicate collage on the walls of the Station Master's Office depicts flowers, fruit, and garlands. The view could represent the scene a viewer would see out the window of a slow-moving train. The lush garden-scape is calm and serene despite its location in a busy subway station.


A Field of Wild Flowers

In Sirshasana, a sculptural chandelier in the shape of a golden-rooted olive tree suspended above the street-level entrance to the Grand Central Market, Donald Lipski drew upon Hindu and Greek lore. "To the ancient Greeks the olive tree symbolized freedom and purity," he explains. "And the name Sirshasana refers to a yoga headstand posture - the inverted tree ...." With branches that span twenty-five feet and 5,000 brilliant crystal pendants, the tree dominates the area, bringing the feel of an outdoor market. The space was designed so that morning sun bathes the tree and floods the market with light. The form has writhing, enticing, and unexpected elements, with the base of the tree finished in gold and crystals dangling in place of olives In addition to alluding to the decorative chandeliers in Grand Central, the tree is a comment on the allure of the exotic and tempting wares sold in the marketplace. This is a MTA Arts for Transit project.

at 43rd Street in Grand Central Market Chandelier

Sirshasana

The historic ceiling in the main concourse at Grand Central Terminal reveals the night sky with golden stars that form the constellations. Grand Central becomes a metaphor for our connection with the wider world beyond New York City and As Above, So Below takes the viewer around the world to the night sky above five different continents, representing myths, civilization, heavens, and the underworld. These scenes bring to life ancient tales that demonstrate how the stories told about the heavens reflect the way we live on earth. A close look at any of the faces in the work reveal their diversity, as indeed, the people in these mosaics represent many different backgrounds. However, the artist has altered them to take on the attributes of mythical figures. The work summons the everlasting and the ephemeral, reminding us of our spiritual and worldly past while we hurry through the station.

As Above, So Below

Between East 72nd Street East 71st Street 

Sotheby's World Headquarters

John H. Beyer, Richard Blinder, and John Belle met in 1961 while working in the New York office of Victor Gruen. The trio developed a specialty in historic preservation and public buildings.