- 23 Wall Street
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23 Wall Street
Location: 23 Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York Built: 1914 Architect: Trowbridge & Livingston NRHP Reference#: 72000874[1] Significant dates Added to NRHP: June 19, 1972 Designated NYCL: December 21, 1965 
23 Wall Street in 1914
Damage from the 1920 bombing on 23 Wall Street (Photo taken in 2006)23 Wall Street or "The Corner" is an office building formerly owned by J.P. Morgan & Co. (later the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company) located at the southeast corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, in the heart of New York City's Financial District.
Contents
Description
Designed by Trowbridge & Livingston, started in 1913 and completed in 1914,[2] the somewhat inscrutable building was so well-known as the headquarters of J.P. Morgan & Co., the "House of Morgan", that it was deemed unnecessary to mark the exterior with the Morgan name.[3] The building is known for its beautiful classicizing architecture and formerly for its well-appointed interior, including a massive crystal chandelier and English oak paneling.
Even though property prices in that area are very high, the building was purposely constructed to a height of four stories only; the contrast to the surrounding high-rises is reinforced by the astylar exterior, rendered as a single high piano nobile over a low basement, with a mezzanine above, and an attic storey above the main cornice. The plain limestone walls are pierced by unadorned windows in deep reveals. The foundations were constructed deep and strong enough in order to support a forty-story tower should the need arise in the future.
Across the street from this building is the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall. Directly outside are entrances to the Broad Street station (J Z trains) on the BMT Nassau Street Line of the New York City Subway.
History
1920 Wall Street bombing
On September 16, 1920, the building was the site of the Wall Street bombing. 38 were killed and 400 injured by the bombing.[4] The building received heavy damage, with shrapnel entering the building through its large wide windows. To this day, the damage to the limestone façade is visible on the outside of the building, as the company said it would never repair the damage in defiance to those who committed the crime.
Because the Morgan building was so well known, many assumed that the target of the assumed anarchist bombing was actually the bank itself.
Recent developments
In 1957 the building was linked to neighboring 15 Broad Street, a 42-story L-shaped tower[5] on a limestone base that tactfully echoes 23 Wall Street's facade. In 1989, JP Morgan moved its operations to 60 Wall Street, a larger and more modern building two blocks to the east.[citation needed] 23 Wall Street was extensively renovated in the 1990s as a training and conference facility for J.P. Morgan & Co., destroying the grand banking hall.[citation needed]
This building and 15 Broad Street were sold in 2003 for $100 million to Africa Israel & Boymelgreen.[5] The two buildings have become a condominium development, Downtown by Philippe Starck, named for French designer Philippe Starck, one of a growing number of residential buildings in the Financial District.[5] Starck made the roof of 23 Wall into a garden and pool, accessible to the residents of the development.[6]
Africa Israel gained full control of 23 Wall Street in 2007[7]; it was sold to a partnership of the China International Fund and Sonangol Group in 2008.[8]
References
- ^ NRHP
- ^ "New York Architecture: Morgan Guaranty Trust Building". nyc-architecture.com. http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM035-MORGANGUARANTYTRUSTBUILDING.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "23 Wall Street", Time Magazine, 24 September 1923: accessed 15 March 2010.
- ^ Baily, Thomas A; Kennedy, David M. (1994). The American Pageant (10th ed.). D.C. Heath and Company. ISBN 0-669-33892-3.
- ^ a b c "Project Updates: 15 Broad Street". LowerManhattan.info. http://www.lowermanhattan.info/construction/project_updates/15_broad_street_31950.aspx. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ David W. Dunlap (2004-05-11). "Condos, Not Roll-Tops, on Finance's Holiest Corner". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E6DA133CF932A25756C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ John Koblin (August 2, 2007). "Leviev and Boymelgreen: The Thrill Is Officially Gone". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2007/leviev-and-boymelgreen-dissolving-partnership. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ^ Laura Rena Murray, Beth Morrissey, Himanshu Ojha and Patrick Martin-Menard (October 17, 2011). "African Safari: CIF's Grab for Oil and Minerals". Caixin. http://english.caixin.cn/2011-10-17/100314766.html. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
External links
Media related to 23 Wall Street at Wikimedia CommonsCoordinates: 40°42′25″N 74°00′38″W / 40.706954°N 74.010644°W
Categories:- Broad Street (Manhattan)
- Wall Street
- Buildings and structures completed in 1914
- Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
- House of Morgan
- JPMorgan Chase buildings
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