Liberty Tower (Manhattan)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Liberty Tower, formerly the Sinclair Oil Building, is a 33-story residential 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
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 is at 55 Liberty Street at the northwest corner with Nassau Street. It was built in 1909–10 as a commercial office building and was designed by
Henry Ives Cobb Henry Ives Cobb (August 19, 1859 – March 27, 1931) was an architect from the United States. Based in Chicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in the Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Gothic styles. ...
in a
Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
. The site is adjacent to the
New York Chamber of Commerce Building The Chamber of Commerce Building is a commercial building on 65 Liberty Street, between Liberty Place and Broadway, in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect James Barnes Baker, the four-story Beaux-Arts ...
, while the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building, also known as 33 Liberty Street, is a building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, which serves as the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The building ...
is to the east, across Nassau Street. Upon its completion, Liberty Tower was said to be the world's tallest building with such a small footprint, having a
floor area ratio Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The ...
of 30 to 1. The building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
, namely a base, shaft, and
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
. The limestone building is covered in white
architectural terracotta Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta pottery, as earthenware is called when not us ...
with elaborate ornament. The law office of future U.S. president
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
was one of its first commercial tenants after the building opened in 1910. Shortly after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the entire building was bought by
Sinclair Oil Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation combined, amalgamated, the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corp ...
. In 1979, architect
Joseph Pell Lombardi Joseph Pell Lombardi is a New York City-based architect and real estate investor, headinThe Office of Joseph Pell Lombardi, Architect Born in New York City where he spent his childhood, Lombardi moved to Irvington, New York for his high-school ye ...
converted the building from commercial use into residential apartments and renamed it the "Liberty Tower", in one of the first such conversions in Manhattan south of Canal Street. 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 1982 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 1983. It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district created in 2007.


Site

The Liberty Tower 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 ...
, on the southern half of a block bounded by Nassau Street to the east, Liberty Street to the south, Liberty Place to the west, and Maiden Lane to the north. The building has a frontage of about on Nassau Street, on Liberty Street, and on Liberty Place, as well as a northern lot line measuring about long. None of these sides are parallel to each other. The tower'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 Liberty Tower is surrounded by numerous buildings, including the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building, also known as 33 Liberty Street, is a building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, which serves as the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The building ...
to the east, 28 Liberty Street to the southeast,
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 south, and the
New York Chamber of Commerce Building The Chamber of Commerce Building is a commercial building on 65 Liberty Street, between Liberty Place and Broadway, in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect James Barnes Baker, the four-story Beaux-Arts ...
to the west.


Architecture

The Liberty Tower was designed by
Henry Ives Cobb Henry Ives Cobb (August 19, 1859 – March 27, 1931) was an architect from the United States. Based in Chicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in the Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Gothic styles. ...
and constructed by the C. L. Gray Construction Company, with the
Atlantic Terra Cotta Company The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, established in 1846 as A. Hall and Sons Terra Cotta, was founded in Perth Amboy, New Jersey due to Perth Amboy's rich supplies of clay. It was one of the first successful terra cotta companies in the United Stat ...
as a major contractor. It is 33 stories tall with a roof height of . The building was designed in the English
Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, and was influenced by Cobb's experiences in the
École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...
and the Chicago school of architecture. Cobb intended the Liberty Tower to be "a tower rising from a solid base and growing lighter toward the top". The Liberty Tower's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
, namely a base, shaft, and
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
. The building is freestanding on the west, south, and east sides, which face the streets, while the northern side abuts other buildings and has a facade of white brick. The freestanding facades are covered in white
architectural terracotta Architectural terracotta refers to a fired mixture of clay and water that can be used in a non-structural, semi-structural, or structural capacity on the exterior or interior of a building. Terracotta pottery, as earthenware is called when not us ...
ornamented with birds, alligators, gargoyles and other fanciful subjects. The terracotta was manufactured by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, while the dull porcelain brick on the facade was made by the Sayre and Fisher Company. The Liberty Tower, while smaller than other skyscrapers being built at the time, was one of New York City's first structures to be clad entirely with terracotta. It was also one of the earlier steel-cage skyscrapers to be built. With a
floor area ratio Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The ...
of over 30:1, the Liberty Tower was believed to be the world's slimmest skyscraper at the time of its completion. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', reporting on the tower's conversion into a residential building in 1979, said that very few buildings had higher floor area ratios because the Liberty Tower's ratio was 50% higher than was allowed under New York City zoning code in 1979.


Facade

The main
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 ...
is on Liberty Street, which is divided into three bays. The side elevations on Liberty Place and Nassau Street, to the west and east respectively, have five bays each. The raised basement contains storefronts facing Liberty and Nassau Streets. The 1st and 2nd floors consist of the base, and are rusticated, with a
string course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...
running above the second stories. The 3rd through 5th stories are treated as transitional stories, with
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
s on the
spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
s above the third and fourth stories (except in the center bay on Liberty Street), and a small
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 ...
above the 5th-story windows. On Liberty Street, the 2nd-floor girder above the center bay is raised above the corresponding girders in the side bays. The entrance is beneath the raised girder, through a Tudor arch that contains a set of bronze and glass doors under a bronze
transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...
. The 2nd through 5th stories of the central bay on Liberty Street contains a four-bay-wide, three-sided
bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...
. The center bay is flanked by four-story-tall paneled
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
es capped by
pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
s. On the 6th through 30th stories, each bay has two double-hung windows on each story, with two exceptions: the southernmost bay on Liberty Place has three double-hung windows per story, while the center bay on Liberty Street has two pairs of double-hung windows per story. There are cornices above the 22nd, 23rd, 26th, 27th, and 28th floors, with the 27th-floor cornice being more elaborate and projecting further outward than the others. The cornices above the 26th and 27th floor are discontinuous; they do not extend across the center bay on Liberty Street, or across the second or fourth bays on Liberty Place and Nassau Street. The bays are separated by vertical
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 ...
, which are flat between the 5th and 23rd stories, and are rounded between the 24th and 30th floors. At the 30th floor, pilasters surround the outward-facing side of the wall columns. The copper roof rises above the 30th floor. The center bay of the Liberty Street facade has a large
dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
at the roof, as do the second and fourth bays on Liberty Place and Nassau Street.


Structural features


Foundation

The Liberty Tower's
foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
were dug with caissons sunk deep through the layers of
quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...
and
hardpan In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan or soil pan is a dense layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost topsoil layer. There are different types of hardpan, all sharing the general characteristic of being a distinct soil layer ...
to the underlying
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 ...
. At the time of construction, these foundations were said to be the second-deepest of any building in the city. Each of the caissons was sunk using of cast-iron
ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...
, although up to of force could be applied to an individual caisson. In addition to digging the foundations, the caissons were used to excavate the quicksand and hardpan. The eight caissons at the interior of the lot are cylindrical and made of steel plates with a reinforced cutting edge and a concrete deck. The thirteen caissons at the lot's perimeter are rectangular and have four vertical sides made of planed timbers; they have a chamfered wooden cutting edge with steel reinforcement. The tops of the caissons were covered by horizontal lagging supported on falsework. The perimeter caissons were situated close together so as to make the foundation waterproof. Above the caissons are twenty-one concrete piers, supporting 24 steel columns. Each of the interior columns is attached to a separate cylindrical pier; the wall columns are carried on the caissons on the perimeter of the site. A layer of concrete mixture and layer of Portland cement mortar was deposited atop each caisson, supporting the piers above. The piers were made of concrete mixture deposited in detachable
forms Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...
. The piers were built in two sections, separated by horizontal "collars" that surrounded them. After the piers were built, the rest of the foundation was excavated by hand to a depth of below the curb to provide space for the basement vaults. The walls of the adjacent buildings were shored up during these excavations. Distributing girders, which supported the superstructure's columns, were deep, slightly beneath the subbasement floor. The vault walls to the east and south were made of concrete poured thick and reinforced with vertical rods whose centers were spaced apart. The vault wall to the west was made of concrete poured thick and reinforced with vertical I-beams spaced apart.


Superstructure

The superstructure is fireproof and made of metal, exerting a total live and dead weight of upon the foundations. There are 24 columns in total: one above each of the eight interior piers, two above each of the corner piers, three above each of the piers on the western and eastern sides, and two carried above cantilever girders extending to the piers on the northern lot line. The columns each carry a load of between , and are connected to the piers through I-beam grillages at the top of the piers. The spandrel girders are deep below the fifth floor and deep above that floor.


Interior

The main entrance contains marble
wainscoting 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 roo ...
and originally had a mural-covered
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 ...
. The walls on either side contained murals: one side had depictions of "Spring, Youth and Ambition", while the other had "Autumn, Age and Achievement". There was also a central figure depicting
William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...
, editor of the ''
New York Evening Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established i ...
'', the newspaper whose headquarters occupied the Liberty Tower's site in the 19th century. The murals had been removed by the end of the 20th century. There are five passenger elevators within the building. The building's staircase and the elevators are clustered on the northern wall of the lobby. When constructed, the Liberty Tower was an office building. According to developer Liberty-Nassau Building Company, the original clientele was limited to companies and individuals in finance or law, as well as large corporations. The company offered to reorganize the configurations of the floors for tenants' needs. Keystone gypsum blocks were used to divide the interior into fireproof partitions. In the original configuration, the 31st floor was an attic, the 32nd floor was the superintendent's residence, and the 33rd floor was a tank story. Since residential conversion, the building contains 86
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
residential units. The
penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distingui ...
occupies the 31st floor and an overhanging mezzanine, and contains four bedrooms, three bedrooms, and a spiral staircase. The penthouse was originally the attic, with steep ceilings and mechanical pipes through many rooms. However, the highest unit in the building is the 32nd floor, which is smaller because of the roof's tapering.


History

Between 1853 and 1875, prior to the Liberty Tower's construction, a seven-story building on the Liberty Tower's site housed the offices of the ''New York Evening Post''. This building was known as the Bryant Building—after William Cullen Bryant, the ''Post'' editor—and was also nicknamed the "China Tower" because its facade was of "'china'-faced brick". Ownership of the structure changed several times in the late 19th century, with the building being conveyed to Parke Godwin in 1881 and to the Bryant Building Company (of which Parke Godwin was part) in 1883.


Construction

The Bryant Building Company, on behalf of the Parke Godwin estate, sold the site to the C. L. Gray Construction Company in January 1909 for $1.2 million. The Gray Construction Company was acting on behalf of a group of
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
investors. The investors formed a syndicate called the Liberty-Nassau Building Company, and hired Cobb, a Midwestern architect, to design a
speculative Speculative may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Speculative art (disambiguation) *Speculative fiction, which includes elements created out of human imagination, such as the science fiction and fantasy genres **Speculative Fiction Group, a Per ...
, not-yet-named 30-story building on the site. In April 1909, Cobb filed plans for the building, which was to be erected by the Gray Construction Company. Because Bryant's offices had previously occupied the site, the new building was also known during construction as the Bryant Building, although the name was changed to Liberty Tower by the time the skyscraper was finished. To aid demolition of the older building, a driveway was built through its first story, two rubbish chutes were installed from the driveway to the top of the old building, and two more chutes were installed outside the Liberty Street facade. Afterward, the trim was removed from each story, then the plaster, and finally the brick walls. The old building was removed within 30 days, and foundation work on the new structure started. Foundation work commenced in May 1909 and finished by October. Moses Greenwood, one of the St. Louis investors who had promoted the project, was simultaneously developing other projects and ultimately ran into financial issues. Two
mortgages A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
totaling $1.7 million had been placed on the building: a $1.3 million first mortgage held by the Title Guarantee and Trust Company and a $400,000 second mortgage held by the Bryant estate. The developers went into default in November 1910, when the building was nearly completed; the next month, Harold Gray filed a
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...
suit against the Liberty-Nassau Building Company. By late December 1910, ownership was transferred to a receiver named Maurice Deiches, who was appointed to complete and insure the building, and to hire a renting agent. At the time, one-third of the building was rented, but the building was largely unfinished, with missing floors and office partitions.


Office use

By March 1911, rental income had nearly doubled from December 1910 levels, and two mortgages were paid off. In addition, the syndicate controlling the building had taken out a $1.6 million loan from the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...
. A foreclosure auction was planned for July 1911, but was canceled when control of the building was transferred to another company that June. Future U.S. president
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's law office was one of its first commercial tenants. Other tenants included the People's Surety Company of New York, as well as the Gray Construction Company. The building was considered "well rented" by 1916, but the Liberty-Nassau Building Company still had financial issues. That year, Title Guarantee and Trust filed a foreclosure suit against Liberty-Nassau, and the building was sold at auction for $1.8 million to the Garden City Company, which held the second mortgage. In 1917, an office was leased as cover for German spies seeking to prevent America's intervention in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The plot involved an attempt to draw the United States into a diversionary war with Mexico and Japan. It was exposed on March 1, 1917, with news reports of an intercepted telegram decoded by British cryptographers known as the " Zimmermann Telegram", which prompted President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
to declare war against Germany a month later. The
Sinclair Oil Corporation Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation combined, amalgamated, the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York cor ...
bought the entire Liberty Tower in 1919 for almost $2.5 million. At the time, the company was in the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, and the company's president
Harry Ford Sinclair Harry Ford Sinclair (July 6, 1876 – November 10, 1956) was an American industrialist, and the founder of Sinclair Oil. He was implicated in the 1920s Teapot Dome scandal, and served six months in prison for jury tampering. Afterwards he return ...
stated that the company desired more space than was available for lease in the Financial District. After the purchase, the Liberty Tower was known as the Sinclair Oil Building until 1945. While in the building, Sinclair formulated the deals with the Warren G. Harding administration that led to the
Teapot Dome scandal The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomin ...
of the 1920s. Following the
construction of Rockefeller Center The construction of the Rockefeller Center complex in New York City was conceived as an urban renewal project in the late 1920s, spearheaded by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to help revitalize Midtown Manhattan. Rockefeller Center is on one of Colum ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, Sinclair Oil moved to
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
in 1935, and the
Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brothe ...
acquired the Liberty Tower. Leonard J. Beck bought the Liberty Tower in 1945 for about $1.3 million. The following November, Beck resold the building to the Liberty-Nassau Corporation. It was sold again to the Ronor Realty Corporation in November 1947; at the time, there were 100 tenants paying $300,000 a year in rent.


Residential conversion

The Liberty Tower was bought by G. T. Properties for $1 million in 1978, at which point it was two-thirds empty. Starting in 1979, the Liberty Tower was converted from office use into a residential building. The conversion, led by architect
Joseph Pell Lombardi Joseph Pell Lombardi is a New York City-based architect and real estate investor, headinThe Office of Joseph Pell Lombardi, Architect Born in New York City where he spent his childhood, Lombardi moved to Irvington, New York for his high-school ye ...
(one of G. T. Properties' principals), became one of the first such conversions in Manhattan south of Canal Street, and one of the tallest such conversions worldwide. All of the newly converted housing units were unfurnished, coming without kitchens, bathrooms, or interior partitions. The renovation, completed in 1980, benefited from a
tax abatement A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in the ...
regulation called J-51. Lombardi retained an apartment on the entirety of the 29th floor, in Sinclair Oil's old boardrooms. The Liberty Tower was designated a
New York City landmark 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 1982, 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 ...
on September 15, 1983. The deteriorating facade was restored for $6 million in the 1990s, with residents being charged an average of $55,000. Some residents could not pay their share of the restoration and sold their units. The building was damaged by 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  ...
some to the west on
September 11, 2001 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 commerc ...
. Previous repairs to the facade had not been extensive, and LZA Technology published a report in September 2003 showing that the
aftermath of the September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks transformed the first term of President George W. Bush and led to what he has called the war on terror. The accuracy of describing it as a "war" and its political motivations and consequences are the topic of strenuous ...
caused major damage. Water leakage had led to
rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH ...
on the interior steel structure, which in turn expanded the steel beams, and thereby the preexisting cracks. The building received $450,000 in insurance payouts, though another $4.6 million was needed for renovations, averaging $54,000 for each of the 86 apartments. About half of residents chose to pay their share of the renovation up front, while the other half paid in installments over five years. A restoration of the building was undertaken from 2007 to 2009. During the process, 202 sculptures on the facade and 3,200 terracotta blocks were fixed or replaced, while another 1,040 terracotta blocks underwent minor repairs. The restoration cost $10 million. In 2007, the Liberty Tower was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district.


Critical reception

When the Liberty Tower was completed, an unnamed critic in ''Architecture'' magazine lauded the use of the Gothic style for the facade's vertical lines. They also praised 90 West Street and the Liberty Tower for the use of "a high sloping roof to complete the structure", saying that "this is a more desirable termination than a plain flat deck".


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

* * * * ** **


External links

*
Liberty Tower
at CityRealty {{Financial District, Manhattan, state=collapsed 1910 establishments in New York City Financial District, Manhattan Franklin D. Roosevelt Gothic Revival architecture in New York City 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 1910 Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan