Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building
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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building, also known as 33 Liberty Street, is a building in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, which serves as the headquarters of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New ...
. The building occupies the full block between
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
,
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, and
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
Streets and Maiden Lane; it narrows at its east end, following the footprint of the block. The Federal Reserve Building has fourteen above-ground stories and five basement levels, designed by
York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...
with decorative ironwork by
Samuel Yellin Samuel Yellin (1884–1940), was an American master blacksmith, and metal designer. Career Samuel Yellin was born to a Jewish family in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine in the Russian Empire in 1884. At the age of eleven, he was apprenticed to a ...
of Philadelphia. Its facade is separated horizontally into three sections: a base, midsection, and top section. The stone exterior is reminiscent of early
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
s such as
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
's
Palazzo Strozzi Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy. History The construction of the palace was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano, for Filippo Strozzi the Elder, a rival of the Medici who had returned to the city in November 1466 and desired the ...
and
Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...
. The horizontal and vertical joints of the facade's stones are deeply rusticated. The Federal Reserve Building's gold vault rests on Manhattan's
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
, below street level and below sea level. The vault contains the largest known monetary-gold reserve in the world, with about in storage . The building was erected from 1919 to 1924, with an eastward extension built in 1935. The Federal Reserve Building's design and scale was largely praised upon its completion. The building was designated a city 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 was added to 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 v ...
(NRHP) in 1980. It is a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district created in 2007.


Site

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building is in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It occupies the entire block bounded by Nassau Street to the west, Liberty Street to the south, William Street to the east, and Maiden Lane to the north. The Federal Reserve Building is surrounded by numerous other structures, including the
John Street Methodist Church The John Street United Methodist Church – also known as Old John Street Methodist Episcopal Church – located at 44 John Street between Nassau and William Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City was built in 184 ...
,
Home Insurance Plaza Home Insurance Plaza is a tall skyscraper at 59 Maiden Lane in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It was completed in 1966 and has 44 floors. Alfred Easton Poor designed the structure, while the plaza was redeveloped in 1987 b ...
, and
63 Nassau Street 63 Nassau Street is a landmark building located on Nassau Street between Fulton and John Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in the Italianate style c.1844, and had its cast-iron facade, attributed to Ja ...
to the north; 28 Liberty Street to the south;
140 Broadway 140 Broadway (formerly known as the Marine Midland Building or the HSBC Bank Building) is a 51-story International Style (architecture), International Style office building on the east side of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway between Cedar and Li ...
to the southwest; and the Liberty Tower and the Chamber of Commerce Building to the west. The building's
land lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
has a total area of . The site slopes downward from southwest to northeast. The Liberty Street facade contains a gradual slope, with the western end being about higher than the eastern end. There is also a steeper slope downward along Nassau Street from Liberty Street northward to Maiden Lane. Much of the Maiden Lane side faces the building's raised basement. The Federal Reserve Building's lot has a
frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...
of on Liberty Street and extends deep. The building narrows at its east end, following the footprint of the block. As built, the Federal Reserve Building occupied all except the east end of the block, with frontage of on Liberty Street, on Maiden Lane, and on Nassau Street. The annex at the east end of the block has of frontage on Liberty Street, of frontage on William Street, and on Maiden Lane.


Architecture

The Federal Reserve Building is where the
monetary policy of the United States Monetary policy of The United States concerns those policies related to the minting & printing of money, policies governing the legal exchange of currency, demand deposits, the money supply, etc. In the United States, the central bank, The Fed ...
is executed by trading
United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
s and
United States Treasury securities United States Treasury securities, also called Treasuries or Treasurys, are government debt instruments issued by the United States Department of the Treasury to finance government spending as an alternative to taxation. Since 2012, U.S. gov ...
. The original 1924 building and its 1935 annex were both designed for the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of New ...
by
York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...
in the
neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
style. Marc Eidlitz & Son was the main contractor for both structures. Numerous other engineers and contractors were involved in the building's construction.; The building has fourteen above-ground stories and five basement levels. Because the design was intended to accommodate up to 4,000 employees, the placement of elevators and entrances was a main consideration. Since Nassau Street was such a busy street, and because the slope was so steep, the architects decided to place the main entrance at Liberty Street instead, with the service entrance along the raised basement at Maiden Lane. The facade and interior contain ironwork manufactured by
Samuel Yellin Samuel Yellin (1884–1940), was an American master blacksmith, and metal designer. Career Samuel Yellin was born to a Jewish family in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine in the Russian Empire in 1884. At the age of eleven, he was apprenticed to a ...
of Philadelphia. The iron decorations, which weigh a collective , depict animal heads and unusual motifs such as smileys. The design is reminiscent of early
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
s such as
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
's
Palazzo Strozzi Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy. History The construction of the palace was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano, for Filippo Strozzi the Elder, a rival of the Medici who had returned to the city in November 1466 and desired the ...
and
Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...
, which was deliberately intended to inspire trust and confidence in the institution within. The building's Italian Renaissance-style motifs were also designed to fit the building to its irregular land lot. Further enhancing the building's sense of scale was the fact that, prior to the construction of 28 Liberty Street to the south, the Federal Reserve Building could only be viewed at an irregular angle due to the presence of other nearby buildings. Upon its completion in 1924, the Federal Reserve Building was one of the largest bank buildings in the world.


Facade

The facade is made of limestone and sandstone, which serve as cladding for the steel interior
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
. It is separated horizontally into three sections: a two-story base, seven-story midsection, and five-story top section. The stones of the facade are rusticated, with deep horizontal and vertical grooves separating each block. The far eastern end of the building is topped by a round tower. The lowest two stories of the facade comprise the building's base and are deeply rusticated. The main entrance is through a double-height arch on the Liberty Street
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
, flanked by wrought-iron lanterns.; This entrance, about east of Nassau Street, was intended for bank officers and visitors. A smaller entrance on Maiden Lane provided an entrance for most employees, and a truck driveway on Maiden Lane allowed the delivery of large shipments of money. The other windows at the first story contain round arches covered by
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
window grilles. The second story contains rectangular window openings. The third story is surrounded by a balcony with a stone
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 con ...
. At the third through ninth stories, each vertical bay generally contains two windows per story, with round-arched window openings at the third story and rectangular windows on the other stories. Near the extreme ends of each side are vertical bays that contain one rectangular window per story. The tenth story contains smaller arched windows set between the
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s of a
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
that runs atop that story. The upper floors are above the cornice. The eleventh floor contains a single rectangular window corresponding to each of the vertical bays on the lower stories. The twelfth and thirteenth floors are contained within an arched
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 ...
that runs around the exterior. These stories are slightly set back behind a balcony running around the building. The roof is clad in quarry tile.


Interior

The main entrance arch on Liberty Street leads to a large entrance hall with a
vaulted ceiling In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
as well as walls clad with stone. On the west side of the main hall, perpendicular to the entrance hall, is a corridor with doorways to the bank directors' offices and conference rooms. These doorways are made of ironwork and are closed to the public. A reception room, measuring wide by long, runs west of the entrance hall. A tellers' room, with a vaulted ceiling and ornamental tellers' cages, is east of the entrance hall. The vaulted ceilings were made in
Guastavino tile The Guastavino tile arch system is a version of Catalan vault introduced to the United States in 1885 by Spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908). It was patented in the United States by Guastavino in 1892. Description ...
. The other portions of the ground floor contained numerous public departments such as the cash and collections department. By the 21st century, the interior contained a security checkpoint, and the ground floor also had an exhibition space that displayed numismatic artifacts. Most of the remaining interior was described as being of "standard office building construction", according to ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. The structure was designed with just over of office space. Numerous corridors were built on the second floor, connecting to the offices there, and a conference room originally occupied one side of the second floor. The third through twelfth floors contained loft working spaces that could accommodate several thousand employees. Each of these stories originally contained . The tenth floor contained the officers' quarters. Recreational facilities for employees were placed on the top floors. The thirteenth and fourteenth floors contained cafeterias, which were originally separate facilities for women, men, and bank officers. There was also an employee's hospital and a gymnasium. In the basement are six vaults that store money and securities. The gold vault and two other vaults are guarded by doors and frames, while the remaining vaults are guarded by smaller doors and frames. Also in the basement were the building's mechanical equipment, which included electric generators and ventilation systems. The vaults are also protected by armed security forces, who have their own
firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military ...
in the building.


Gold vault

The Federal Reserve Building's three-story gold vault is toward the western end of the site, adjoining Nassau Street. The vault rests on Manhattan's
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
, below street level and below sea level, and contains the largest known monetary-gold storage reserve in the world. , the vault housed approximately 497,000 bars of gold, weighing about . The Fed serves as a guardian for the gold and does not own it outright. Nearly 98 percent of the building's gold is owned by the central banks of 36 foreign nations. The remaining two percent is owned by the United States and international organizations such as the IMF. , the building's vault holds of gold bullion and $3 million (book value) in gold coins for the United States, just over 5 percent of the United States' total gold reserve. The vault is below and away from the nearest
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
tunnels. The foundations of the Federal Reserve Building were constructed to withstand the weight of the gold vault and its contents, which would have exceeded the weight limits of almost any other foundation. Ninety-nine concrete
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
, extending to the underlying bedrock, were poured to support the weight of the building. The vault walls consist of steel layers reinforced with concrete. The eastern wall of the vault is about thick while the other three walls are about thick. The only entrance is circular door inside a frame; when closed, the vault door forms a complete
hermetic seal A hermetic seal is any type of sealing that makes a given object airtight (preventing the passage of air, oxygen, or other gases). The term originally applied to airtight glass containers, but as technology advanced it applied to a larger categor ...
. The vault is additionally secured by listening devices, motion sensors, and cameras. , there had never been a successful break-in attempt, though a fictional robbery of the vault was depicted in the 1995 film ''
Die Hard with a Vengeance ''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by John McTiernan (who directed the first installment). It was written by Jonathan Hensleigh, based on the screenplay ''Simon Says'' by Hensleigh and on the charact ...
''. Inside the vault are 122 gold compartments, each containing the deposits of one account holder, as well as various shelves for smaller account holders. The account holders are identified by numbers for anonymity. Gold bars are weighed and tested for purity whenever they are deposited. The Fed charges $1.75 to move each bar of gold. Gold bars are moved between the compartments whenever one account holder pays another. Staff wear steel-toe footwear to protect their feet in case they drop one of the gold bars weighing . Every time the compartments are opened or gold is moved, three Fed staff members are required to oversee the transaction. Each compartment is further locked behind a
padlock Padlocks are portable locks with a shackle that may be passed through an opening (such as a chain link, or hasp staple) to prevent use, theft, vandalism or harm. Naming and etymology The term ''padlock'' is from the late fifteenth century. T ...
, two
combination lock A combination lock is a type of locking device in which a sequence of symbols, usually numbers, is used to open the lock. The sequence may be entered using a single rotating dial which interacts with several discs or ''cams'', by using a set o ...
s, and the seal of the Fed's auditor. The Fed does not publicly record whenever gold bars are moved in and out of the vault, and no one except account holders or auditors is allowed to look at the bars. While the Fed does conduct public tours of the vault, visitors are only allowed to see a display sample of gold.


History

In 1913 the United States Congress passed the
Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The Panic ...
, thereby creating the
Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
. The act established twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which was originally led by
Benjamin Strong Jr. Benjamin Strong Jr. (December 22, 1872 – October 16, 1928) was an American banker. He served as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 14 years until his death. He exerted great influence over the policy and actions of the entire ...
Originally, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was housed at a small office on 62 Cedar Street. By the late 1910s, the Fed's employees were working in several locations, including 50 Wall Street and part of the Equitable Building. Much of the space leased by the Fed was poorly lit or ventilated and did not include enough space for employees. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve Board was constructing buildings for the other Federal Reserve banks and branches at the time, and the Fed wanted each bank's design to be architecturally appropriate to each branch's needs.


Planning

The New York Fed's directors passed a resolution on October 24, 1917, providing for the construction of a new headquarters building. The Fed decided to buy the entire city block bounded by Nassau, Liberty, and William Streets and Maiden Lane. In May 1918, the Fed bought about on the block. The New York Fed's staff had grown from 175 to 1,200 in the past year, but the bank wished to wait until the end of World War I to build its headquarters. By early 1919, the Fed had bought more land on Liberty Street and Maiden Lane, increasing its land holdings to . The only structure on the block that the Fed did not acquire was the Montauk Building on William Street, as the Fed and the Montauk Building's owners could not agree on a sale price. The site had been fully acquired by June 1919 at a total cost of close to $5 million. Several lots were also acquired on nearby Gold Street for a storage facility. Six architectural firms were invited to take part in an
architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel o ...
in August 1919. Alexander Trowbridge, the Federal Reserve Board's consulting architect, was the adviser for the design competition. York and Sawyer submitted the winning design, which was approved by the Fed's directors in November 1919. The plans for a 14-story structure ran contrary to the expectations of observers who thought the site would be developed with a low-rise building. Marc Eidlitz & Son was hired as the building's general contractor, while
Samuel Yellin Samuel Yellin (1884–1940), was an American master blacksmith, and metal designer. Career Samuel Yellin was born to a Jewish family in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine in the Russian Empire in 1884. At the age of eleven, he was apprenticed to a ...
successfully submitted a bid to install ornamental ironwork. Former Currency controller
John Skelton Williams John Skelton Williams (July 6, 1865 – November 4, 1926) was a United States Comptroller of the Currency from 1914 to 1921 and the first president of the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Biography John Skelton Williams was a leading southern financier ...
objected to the building's projected $25 million cost, including land expenses, and claimed the architects and engineers' fees alone were to cost $1.1 million. In response, Federal Reserve chairman
William P. G. Harding William Proctor Gould Harding (May 5, 1864 – April 7, 1930) was an American banker who served as the second chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1916 to 1922. Prior to his term as chairman, Harding appointed a member of the Federal Reserve Boar ...
said that the original estimated cost was only about $18 million, and that the new building's cost was justified by the size of the New York Fed's staff. The Fed was able to reduce the construction cost by $5 million by early 1924. This was largely because of reduced construction costs after adjusting for inflation. Ultimately, the building cost $13.865 million excluding land acquisition, or $18.715 million in total.


Construction and early years

The structures on the building site were torn down starting in May 1921 and the site was cleared by that September. The architects filed construction plans with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings in July 1921. The foundation was dug to the underlying layer of bedrock, up to deep. Afterward, the vault's door and frame were lowered into the foundation. According to the ''Wall Street Journal'', it was the largest ever foundation to be built in New York City at the time. About of material was removed. This process was made more difficult due to the presence of numerous buildings nearby, which had to be shored up during the excavation. The
cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...
was laid with a brief ceremony on May 31, 1922, after the foundations had been completed. Marc Eidlitz & Son started constructing the Federal Reserve Building's structural system after the excavations had finished. The steel framework was in place by the end of 1922, followed by the facade in mid-1923. Some of the 2,600 employees of the New York Fed started occupying their new offices in June 1924. That September, three billion dollars in cash and securities were moved to the vault. The relocation, requiring one hundred round trips, represented the largest ever such movement of money at any one time. Employees had moved into the new structure by the next month. The new building's vault replaced what was formerly eleven separate vaults in five buildings throughout the Financial District. By 1927, ten percent of the official gold reserves worldwide were stored in the vault. By January 1934, the Fed purchased the Montauk Building for less than $400,000, thereby acquiring a land lot of . This had been the only structure on the city block that the Fed had been unable to acquire when it started assembling land for the Federal Reserve Building fifteen years prior. York and Sawyer was hired to design the addition, while Marc Eidlitz & Son was hired as the main construction contractor. The Montauk Building's last tenants vacated the building in June 1934, and demolition of the Montauk Building started. By the next month, plans for the annex were filed with the Manhattan Department of Buildings. The executive offices of the annex were formally opened in December 1935, but some of the lower floors were occupied several weeks before that.


Mid- and late 20th century

The building came to be known as the "Old Lady of Liberty Street". It initially did not contain a name identification sign above its main entrance because the Fed had thought the building to be distinctive enough. A name sign was installed in 1944 after numerous war bondholders complained that they had gotten lost for several hours in the Financial District while looking for the building. By that decade, the New York Fed had outgrown its headquarters and had leased additional space at 51 Pine Street, 70 Pine Street, and 95 Maiden Lane. The New York Fed also acquired some land in 1964 on Maiden Lane between Nassau and John Streets, intending to construct an office tower just north of 33 Liberty Street. The tower was intended to house 1,500 of the New York Fed's 4,500 employees, which worked at four separate structures near the Federal Reserve Building. However, the project was canceled in 1976 due to rising costs. Much of the building's gold arrived during and after World War II as countries sought to store their gold in a safe location. By the end of World War II, the reserves of gold inside the vault were valued at $4 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ). At its peak in 1973, the vault contained over of gold. The reserves declined in subsequent years because, in 1971, the direct international
convertibility Convertibility is the quality that allows money or other financial instruments to be converted into other liquid stores of value. Convertibility is an important factor in international trade, where instruments valued in different currencies mus ...
of the United States dollar to gold had been canceled in what was called the Nixon shock. Between December 1973 and May 1974, a replica of the ''Diana'' statue by
Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...
was exhibited in the building's lobby. Meanwhile, the exterior of the Federal Reserve Building deteriorated over the years. Because the sandstone was more
porous Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...
compared to the limestone, dirt particles accumulated in the sandstone blocks, giving the facade a checkerboard appearance. The facade was cleaned between 1999 and 2000 under the supervision of
Beyer Blinder Belle Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP (BBB) is an international architecture firm. It is based in New York City and has an additional office in Washington, DC. The firm's name is derived from the three founding partners: John H. Beyer, Ri ...
and
Turner Construction Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...
, the first major cleaning in the building's history. In addition, by the 1990s, the Federal Reserve Building had outdated mechanical facilities and security infrastructure. Additional space was leased at 3 World Financial Center and 33 Maiden Lane, but the original 33 Liberty Street structure remained the New York Fed's primary building.


21st century

Following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in 2001, which resulted in the
collapse of the World Trade Center The collapse of the World Trade Center occurred during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after the Twin Towers were struck by two hijacked commercial airliners. One World Trade Center (WTC 1, or the North Tower) was hit at 8:46  ...
nearby, the New York Fed continued to operate. The building was temporarily evacuated after the attacks because of fears the nearby
One Liberty Plaza One Liberty Plaza, formerly the U.S. Steel Building, is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is situated on a block bounded by Broadway, Liberty Street, Church Street, and Cortlandt Street, on the ...
would collapse. For several weeks after the attacks, the Federal Reserve used its building to provide assistance to first responders working at the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground zero#World Trade Center, Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounde ...
. The building was not damaged during the attacks, though dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center settled onto the facade. The Federal Reserve Building was renovated between 2007 and 2008, and the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Buffalo Branch The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Buffalo Branch was a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that was closed on . It was located in the Federal Reserve Building at 160 Delaware Avenue, which has now been inhabited by the New Era Cap Com ...
was closed. An audit of the New York Fed's gold was conducted in 2012 after politicians and investors expressed concern that the New York Fed was not accurately stating how much gold was in the vault. The vast majority of the bars audited were found to be of sufficient purity. Also in 2012, a 21-year-old man was arrested while attempting to detonate a bomb outside the Federal Reserve Building. The device was actually a decoy given by undercover law enforcement, and he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.


Impact


Critical reception

The Federal Reserve Building was largely praised upon its completion, especially for its large scale. Margaret Law, writing for ''Architecture'' magazine in 1927, stated that the building carried "a quality which, for lack of a better word, I can best describe as epic". 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 ...
(LPC) stated that the visual impact of the structure derives from its "vast size, fortress-like appearance, fine proportions and in the superb quality of construction". The 1939 ''WPA Guide to New York City'' characterized the building's Florentine design and iron grilles as completing "the picture of a building ready for a siege". The Federal Reserve Building was larger than even the buildings in Italy from which its design was inspired. John Brooks wrote of the Federal Reserve Building in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', "In fact, it is a bigger Florentine palace than has ever stood in Florence", while the ''Architectural Record'' wrote, "There is no building in Italy which remotely resembles this design." At the time of the Federal Reserve Building's construction, many bank buildings in the United States had been built in the neoclassical style. The ''Architectural Record'' praised the Federal Reserve Building's design as being distinctive "without resorting to the usual orders of architecture", namely neoclassical designs. The design of the Federal Reserve Building inspired that of other subsequent bank buildings. Architectural writer
Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known a ...
stated that the building's "innovative" Florentine design had inspired other banks to be built in a similar style. Stern wrote that the structure "demonstrate how a bank could achieve strong visual identity even if located within an office building".


Landmark designations

The building was designated a landmark by the LPC on December 21, 1965. It was one of the first landmarks to be designated by the LPC in Manhattan. The city landmark designation was opposed by the building's owner, the Fed, which wrote that federal property could not be regulated by local governments. The Federal Reserve Building was added to 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 v ...
(NRHP) on May 6, 1980. It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district created in 2007.


See also

*
List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, cla ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Manhattan Island below 14th Street, which is a significant portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. In turn, the bo ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

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External links

* {{Financial District, Manhattan 1920s architecture in the United States 1924 establishments in New York City Buildings of the United States government in New York Federal Reserve Bank buildings Financial District, Manhattan Gold in the United States Government buildings completed in 1924 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state) New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Office buildings completed in 1924 Renaissance Revival architecture in New York City Bank buildings in Manhattan Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City