BGuthrie Photos: NY -- NYC -- City Hall/Park

NY -- NYC -- City Hall/Park:

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[1] CITYHL_160914_01.JPG	[2] CITYHL_160914_04.JPG	[3] CITYHL_160914_11.JPG
[4] CITYHL_160914_14.JPG	[5] CITYHL_160914_16.JPG	[6] CITYHL_160914_25.JPG
[7] CITYHL_160914_29.JPG	[8] CITYHL_160914_32.JPG	[9] CITYHL_160914_38.JPG
[10] CITYHL_161004_02.JPG	[11] CITYHL_161004_03.JPG	[12] CITYHL_161004_09.JPG
[13] CITYHL_161004_14.JPG	[14] CITYHL_161004_18.JPG	[15] CITYHL_161004_19.JPG
[16] CITYHL_161004_23.JPG	[17] CITYHL_161004_24.JPG	[18] CITYHL_161004_27.JPG
[19] CITYHL_161004_30.JPG	[20] CITYHL_161004_34.JPG	[21] CITYHL_161004_37.JPG
[22] CITYHL_161004_44.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CITYHL_160914_01.JPG: "Do the right thing and nine times out of ten it turns out to be the right thing politically." -- Deb Myers, Citizen
2. CITYHL_160914_16.JPG: Mail Street 1875-1939 This marks the northern curb of Mail Street, which connected Broadway with Park Row. The street was used primarily by Post Office vehicles until the Federal Post Office was demolished in 1939.
3. CITYHL_160914_29.JPG: New York City Hall Constructed from 1803 to 1812, New York`s City Hall is one of the oldest continuously used City Halls in the nation, and houses the offices of the Mayor and City Council, the executive and legislative branches of government. Considered one of the finest architectural achievements of its period, City Hall was designed by architects Joseph François Mangin (before 1794-1818), a French émigré, and John McComb, Jr (1763-1853), a native New Yorker. The building is in the Federal style, with clear French influences that can be seen in the large arched windows, delicate ornamental swags, and more decorative Corinthian- and Ionic-style columns and pilasters. City Hall is a designated Hew York City landmark, and its soaring rotunda, dramatically encircled by a keystone-cantilevered staircase, is a designated interior landmark. In 2010, the City launched the City Hall Rehabilitation to correct structural issues and preserve the historic building. In addition to structural repairs, the project included the installation of a new fire safety system, an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, a fuel cell, and vastly improved electrical service in order to bring the building up to 21st century standards.
4. CITYHL_160914_32.JPG: Horace Greeley founder of The New York Tribune
5. CITYHL_160914_38.JPG: Horace Greeley 1811 - 1872 As founder of New York Tribune – whose headquarters were located opposite City Hall Park on Park Row – Horace Greeley set new standards for integrity in American journalism. Greeley's editorials addressed the social and political issues of his era, including the abolition of slavery and the settlement of the West. Greeley was nominated for the presidency in 1872 but lost the election and died several weeks later. His body lay in state atop the rotunda staircase in City Hall. This statue, by John Quincy Adams Ward, was commissioned by his co-workers at the New York Tribune.
6. CITYHL_161004_03.JPG: The fragmentary remains of early New Yorkers were found by archaelogists during construction in the vicinity of City Hall Park and reinterred at this site by the City in 2010. Multiple 18th century burial grounds once existed here associated with the Almshouse, a poorhouse built in 1736 where City Hall now stands, the Barracks, four structures in the north of the park built by the British in 1757 to house soldiers, the New Gaol, a prison east of City Hall built in 1759, and the Bridewell, a prison to the west of City Hall built in 1775. The adjacent African Burial Ground was in use by 1712. During the subsequent excavation in the vicinity of City Hall Park and Tweed Courthouse as part of the 2010 City Hall Rehabilitation Project, additional fragmentary remains of early New Yorkers were unearthed and reinterred at the site by the City June 2013.
7. CITYHL_161004_09.JPG: Horace Greeley founder of The New York Tribune
8. CITYHL_161004_14.JPG: Near This Spot Stood The New York World Building Whose Publisher Joseph Pulitzer Upheld The Highest Traditions Of American Journalism An Immigrant He Rose To Fame And Fortune And Never In The Process Lost The Common Touch 1954
9. CITYHL_161004_18.JPG: Horace Greeley 1811 - 1872 As founder of New York Tribune -– whose headquarters were located opposite City Hall Park on Park Row -– Horace Greeley set new standards for integrity in American journalism. Greeley's editorials addressed the social and political issues of his era, including the abolition of slavery and the settlement of the West. Greeley was nominated for the presidency in 1872 but lost the election and died several weeks later. His body lay in state atop the rotunda staircase in City Hall. This statue, by John Quincy Adams Ward, was commissioned by his co-workers at the New York Tribune.
10. CITYHL_161004_24.JPG: During the 1999 restoration of City Hall Park, archaeological excavations uncovered burials in this area believed to have been associated with a shelter and workhouse for the poor known as the First Almshouse (1736-1797), located where City Hall now stands.
11. CITYHL_161004_27.JPG: NY -- NYC -- City Hall/Park
12. CITYHL_161004_30.JPG: New York City Hall Constructed from 1803 to 1812, New York`s City Hall is one of the oldest continuously used City Halls in the nation, and houses the offices of the Mayor and City Council, the executive and legislative branches of government. Considered one of the finest architectural achievements of its period, City Hall was designed by architects Joseph François Mangin (before 1794-1818), a French émigré, and John McComb, Jr (1763-1853), a native New Yorker. The building is in the Federal style, with clear French influences that can be seen in the large arched windows, delicate ornamental swags, and more decorative Corinthian- and Ionic-style columns and pilasters. City Hall is a designated Hew York City landmark, and its soaring rotunda, dramatically encircled by a keystone-cantilevered staircase, is a designated interior landmark. In 2010, the City launched the City Hall Rehabilitation to correct structural issues and preserve the historic building. In addition to structural repairs, the project included the installation of a new fire safety system, an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, a fuel cell, and vastly improved electrical service in order to bring the building up to 21st century standards. For tours and more information, please call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/cityhall
13. CITYHL_161004_34.JPG: British Soldiers Barracks The British Army maintained a military presence in New York from 1640 to 1783. During the American Revolution, the British built barracks in this vicinity and used the land now occupied by City Hall Park for military exercises and executions.
14. CITYHL_161004_37.JPG: Here in the ancient commons of the city where before the time of our national independence five liberty poles were successively set up. This flag pole of 1921 is placed in grateful remembrance of all lovers of our country who have died that the liberty won on these shores might be the heritage of the world.
Wikipedia Description: New York City Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New York City Hall, the seat of New York City government, is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest city hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as the office of the Mayor of New York City and the chambers of the New York City Council. While the Mayor's Office is in the building, the staff of thirteen municipal agencies under mayoral control are located in the nearby Manhattan Municipal Building, one of the largest government buildings in the world.

Constructed from 1810 to 1812, New York City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Both its exterior (1966) and interior (1976) are designated New York City landmarks.

History and description

New York's first City Hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century near 73 Pearl Street. The city's second City Hall, built in 1700, stood on Wall and Nassau Streets. That building was renamed Federal Hall after New York became the first official capital of the United States after the Revolutionary War. Plans for building a new City Hall were discussed by the New York City Council as early as 1776, but the financial strains of the war delayed progress. The Council chose a site at the old Common at the northern limits of the City, now City Hall Park.

In 1802 the City held a competition for a new City Hall. The first prize of $350 was awarded to Joseph-François Mangin and John McComb, Jr.. Mangin, who was the principal designer, studied architecture in his native France before becoming a New York City surveyor in 1795 and publishing an official map of the city in 1803. Mangin was also the architect of the landmark St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street. McComb, whose father had worked on the old City Hall, was a New Yorker and designed Castle Clinton in Battery Park. He would supervise the construction of the building, and designed the architectural detailing as well.

The cornerstone of the new City Hall was laid in 1803. Construction was delayed after the City Council objected that the design was too extravagant. In response, McComb and Mangin reduced the size of the building and used brownstone at the rear of the building to lower costs; the brownstone, along with the original deteriorated Massachusetts marble facade, quarried from Alford, Massachusetts, was replaced with Alabama limestone in 1954 to 1956. Labor disputes and an outbreak of yellow fever further slowed construction. The building was not dedicated until 1811, and opened officially in 1812.

City Hall Rotunda

The building's Governor's Room hosted President-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861, and his coffin was placed on the staircase landing across the rotunda when he lay in state in 1865 after his assassination. Ulysses S. Grant also lay in state beneath the soaring rotunda dome as did Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth, first Union officer killed in the Civil War and commander of the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (First Fire Zouaves). The Governor's Room, which is used for official receptions, also houses one of the most important collections of 19th century American portraiture and notable artifacts such as George Washington's desk.

The Outer Room is adjacent to the traditional Mayor's office, which is a small space on the northwest corner of the first floor. The Ceremonial Room is where the mayor would meet officials and hold small group meetings.

There are 108 paintings from the late 18th century through the 20th. The New York Times declared it "almost unrivaled as an ensemble, with several masterpieces." Among the collection is John Trumbull’s 1805 portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the source of the face on the United States ten-dollar bill. There were significant efforts to restore the paintings in the 1920s and 1940s. In 2006 a new restoration campaign began for 47 paintings identified by the Art Commission as highest in priority.

On July 23, 2003 at 2:08 p.m., City Hall was the scene of a rare political assassination. Othniel Askew, a political rival of City Councilman James E. Davis, opened fire with a pistol from the balcony of the City Council chamber. Askew shot Davis twice, fatally wounding him. A police officer on the floor of the chamber then fatally shot Askew. Askew and Davis had entered the building together without passing through a metal detector, a courtesy extended to elected officials and their guests. As a result of the security breach, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg revised security policy to require that everyone entering the building pass through metal detectors without exception.
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