The Federal Building and Post Office is a historic main post office,

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

, and Federal

office building An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. The original building was the Brooklyn General Post Office, and is now the Downtown Brooklyn Station, and the north addition is the courthouse for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, and is across the street from and in the jurisdiction of the main courthouse of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...

, the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Courthouse. It also houses offices for the United States Attorney, In 2009, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

enacted legislation renaming the building the Conrad B. Duberstein United States Bankruptcy Courthouse, in honor of chief bankruptcy judge Conrad B. Duberstein.

History

Planning and design for the new post office began in 1885. During his three-year tenure (1884–86),

Mifflin E. Bell Mifflin Emlen Bell (October 20, 1847 – May 31, 1904), often known as M.E. Bell, was an American architect who served from 1883 to 1886 as Supervising Architect of the US Treasury Department. Bell delegated design responsibilities to staff mem ...

supervising architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteent ...

of the U.S. Treasury Department, designed the building in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. The building originally functioned as both a post office and courthouse with four courtrooms. Much of the original appropriation for the building was allotted for the purchase of the lot, which is bounded by Cadman Plaza East (then Washington Street), p.583 Johnson, Adams, and Tillary streets. After Bell's resignation, his design was revised by his successor, William A. Freret, whose final design was a much bolder Romanesque building than Bell had envisioned. Still, some of the more elaborate architectural details of Bell's original design, such as larger corner towers, were never executed in the final design. Construction was completed in 1891; interior spaces were finished in 1892 and the building was occupied. Shortly thereafter, three passenger elevators and a mail lift were installed. As the population continued to grow, officials determined more space was needed. Because the original building only occupied the southern half of the lot, the addition extended to the north. In 1930, the Office of the Supervising Architect under

James A. Wetmore James Alfonso Wetmore (November 1863 – March 14, 1940) was an American lawyer and administrator, best known as the Acting Supervising Architect of the U.S. Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department from 1915 through 1933 ...

, designed a compatible addition in a similar style, which was completed in 1933. p.237 Two new courtrooms were added as part of the expansion. The U.S. General Post Office was designated a landmark by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1966 and listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974. In 1999 the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) purchased the building and began extensive renovations that included the addition of new courtrooms and the restoration of historic courtrooms, original windows, numerous site features, and interior and exterior materials. It now houses postal services as well as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the U.S. Trustee, and the Offices of the U.S. Attorney.

Renovation

Between 2010 and 2013 the

U.S. General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gove ...

(GSA) oversaw the substantial exterior restoration of the Courthouse, to protect the award-winning interior renovation. The lead architect was Goody Clancy of Boston and the prime contractor Nicholson & Galloway. Lend Lease led the construction management team as a full participant from the initial investigation through construction documentation and construction phase services with respect to historic preservation, value engineering, and commissioning services. The work included restoring or replacing of the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

and terracotta facades, including nearly 16,000 terracotta units, as well as of slate roof and 1,200 wood windows. SUPERSTRUCTURES Engineers + Architects provided commissioning services, which involved individually tracking each element of the building envelope during construction. The project was awarded a GSA Design Award – Citation in Preservation (2016) and the prestigious Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy (2014) and the Silver Reconstruction Award from Building Design + Construction Magazine.

Architecture

The building is an excellent example of Romanesque Revival architecture and is a prominent component of the Municipal Center complex. The original portion of the building is four stories in height and the 1933 addition is seven stories tall. The exterior has remained largely unchanged over time. The lively design of the building contains many character-defining features of the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style. The central structure contains strong, simple forms with powerful arches dominating the first story. Elaborate dormers, iron roof cresting, steeply pitched roofs, and a tower give the building a picturesque quality.

Facade

The exterior of the building is rich in material, texture, form, and ornament. Semi-circular projections called tourelles protrude from the building. Each level is articulated in a slightly different way and distinguished by belt courses that encircle the building. Round arches of polished granite, which feature rosettes and cable moldings, dominate the first story. The arches spring from carved posts with foliated motifs. Rectangular windows surrounded by contrasting trim are on the second floor, while round-arch openings are on the third floor. The fourth story contains steeply pitched dormers with round-arch windows. A slate-covered

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. Th ...

is topped with ornamental ironwork cresting. The square corner tower rises above the roofline of the original building. Arched openings with semi-circular balconies are topped by an ornate cornice surmounted by a steeply pitched pyramidal roof.

Interior

One of the most significant interior spaces is the atrium. It is located in the center of the 1892 portion of the building and extends from the second to fourth floors. The atrium is enclosed by a three-level

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

. Each level of the loggia is supported by cast-iron columns that are adorned with acanthus and anthemion leaf motifs. The main staircase is in the northeast corner of the original building. A decorative cast-iron

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

with lantern-style newel posts encases soapstone treads. The stairwell walls are clad in mahogany Tennessee marble wainscot, and the floors are covered with black and white marble tiles laid on the diagonal.

The walls of the 1892 courtrooms are also covered with mahogany Tennessee marble

wainscot Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

with black soap-stone bands with a marble bead. Large round-arch windows have carved wood mullions and are operated by cast-metal pulls with griffin-head motifs. One of the courtrooms contains a marble and soapstone fireplace, which has a carved leaf pattern and marble mantel. Fireplaces are also in some of the original office spaces. Some interior spaces have been altered over time. During World War II, a

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

and laylight that originally illuminated the postal work floor were covered to comply with black-out laws implemented to protect the country from enemy bombings. In 1980, the monumental lobby of the original building was altered and most features removed. To accommodate the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. Attorneys, GSA began an extensive renovation project in 1999. A U-shaped green-glass and aluminum curtain wall was added to the 1933 portion of the building in 2003, forming an interior atrium that, along with new skylights, admits natural light. GSA also refurbished interior stone, metal, plaster, and wood finishes; restored historic windows and doors; and added three new courtrooms. On the exterior, the cast-iron roof cresting was repaired and historically appropriate street-lights were installed on the site. The design, which was completed by R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects, received a 1998 Design Award citation from GSA.

References

Notes Sources * This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

External links

Historic Federal Courthouses page
from the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Federal buildings in the United States Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Courthouses in New York (state) Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in New York City Government buildings completed in 1891 New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn Federal courthouses in the United States Government buildings in Brooklyn Post office buildings National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn