Chamber of Commerce Building (New York City)

The Chamber of Commerce Building is four-story Beaux-Arts structure located on 65 Liberty Street between Nassau Street and Broadway in the Financial District in Manhattan, New York City. Designed by architect James Barnes Baker, it is clad with Vermont marble and includes a terrace and mansard roof. On the first floor is the Great Hall, hung with portraits of important individuals from American history. Included are John Cruger, the first president of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses S. Grant and many others.

This article is about the building in the borough of Manhattan. For the residential skyscraper in the borough of Brooklyn, sometimes also referred to as the Chamber of Commerce Building, see 75 Livingston Street.
Chamber of Commerce Building
In 2013
Location65 Liberty Street
Manhattan, New York City[1]
Coordinates40°42′32″N 74°0′35″W
Built1900-01[2]
ArchitectJames B. Baker[3]
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts[3]
NRHP reference No.73001214[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 6, 1973
Designated NHLDecember 22, 1977[4]
Designated NYCLJanuary 18, 1966

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, and a National Historic Landmark in 1977. It was sold in 1990, and the Chamber of Commerce relocated, merging with the New York City Partnership in 2002 to create the Partnership for New York City.

Original and reprographic architectural drawings for this building are held in the Department of Drawings & Archives at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University

History

New York's Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 as the first organization of its type in North America. Its inaugural meeting consisted of twenty merchants at the Fraunces Tavern, and it was granted a formal charter by King George III of Great Britain. The chamber met in a variety of locations until 1884, when a dedicated building for the organization was constructed on this site.[5]

This building's construction in 1902 was funded by wealthy members of the organization, including John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and J. Pierpont Morgan.

The building has gone through several renovations. The first was in 1903, where sculptors Daniel Chester French and Philip Martiny rendered statues of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and DeWitt Clinton on the pillars at the front of the building. The next was in 1921, when architects Helmle and Corbett remodeled the interior and built a new floor, resulting in changes to the mansard roof. The final occurred in 1990-1991, carried out by Haines Lundber Weahler after the International Commercial Bank of China bought the building. Years of pollution and rain had caused irreversible damages, including to the three sculptures, which were too deteriorated to be fixed.

The Chamber of Commerce relocated, merging with the New York City Partnership in 2002 to create the Partnership for New York City.

See also

References

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  3. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot & Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  4. "New York Chamber of Commerce". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-10. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  5. "NHL nomination for Chamber of Commerce Building". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
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