New York City Hall

New York City Hall is the seat of the government of New York City. The building houses the office of the Mayor of New York City and the chambers of the New York City Council.

The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions. Constructed from 1803 to 1812, New York City Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its rotunda is a designated interior New York City landmark.

City Hall is located within the small City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan between Broadway and Park Row.

Functions

Official receptions are held in the Governor's room, which has hosted many dignitaries including the Marquis de Lafayette and Albert Einstein. The historic Blue Room is where New York City mayors have been giving official press conferences for decades and is often used for bill-signing ceremonies. Room 9 is the legendary press room at City Hall where reporters file stories in cramped quarters. While the Mayor's Office is in the building, the staff of thirteen municipal agencies under mayoral control are located in the nearby Manhattan Municipal Building, one of the largest government buildings in the world.

The steps of City Hall are the frequent backdrop for political demonstrations and press conferences concerning city politics. Live, unedited coverage of all events at City Hall is broadcast by NYCTV channel 74, one of the City government's official television stations.

Fencing surrounds the building's perimeter, with strong security presence by the New York City Police Department. Public access to the building is restricted to tours and to those with specific business appointments.

History

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

In 1802 the City held a competition for a new City Hall. The first prize of $350 was awarded to John McComb Junior and Joseph Francois Mangin. McComb, whose father had worked on the old City Hall, was a New Yorker and designed Castle Clinton in Battery Park. Mangin studied architecture in his native France before becoming a New York City surveyor in 1795 and publishing an official map of the city in 1803. Mangin was also the architect of the landmark St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street.

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

The building's Governor's Room hosted President-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861, while his coffin was placed on the staircase landing across the rotunda when he lay in state in 1865 after his assassination. Ulysses S. Grant also lay in state beneath the soaring rotunda dome. The Governor's Room, which continues to be used for official receptions, also houses one of the most important collections of 19th century American portraiture and notable artifacts such as George Washington’s desk.

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

City Hall panorama, circa 1909, with New York City Hall centered in the picture, with Mail Street (now closed) open to pedestrian traffic. The Mansard roof of the former Post Office building (demolished 1938) occupies the present site of City Hall Park on the left side of the picture. Behind City Hall is the Tweed Courthouse; to the right is the Municipal Building under construction, behind the Brooklyn Bridge trolley terminal

City Hall panorama, circa 1909, with New York City Hall centered in the picture, with Mail Street (now closed) open to pedestrian traffic. The Mansard roof of the former Post Office building (demolished 1938) occupies the present site of City Hall Park on the left side of the picture. Behind City Hall is the Tweed Courthouse; to the right is the Municipal Building under construction, behind the Brooklyn Bridge trolley terminal

Architecture

The architectural style of City Hall is a combination of two famous historical movements. The exterior facade reflects that of the French Renaissance, and the interior that of the American-Georgian style.

The building's front facade was formerly of white marble, while the back was brown sandstone. In 1954, the decay of the original material led to a replacement of the the stonework of the entire facade with limestone above a pink granite basement level carved according to the original designs, and for the first time since its construction City Hall had four matching sides. The building's distinctive cupola has served as a model for spires on other buildings, notably Eliot House at Harvard University.

On the inside, the rotunda is a soaring space with a grand marble double stairway rising up to the second floor, where ten fluted Corinthian columns support the coffered dome.

City Hall was formerly served by the City Hall subway station, a now-defunct station of the New York City Subway. The City Hall station was the southern terminus of the first tracks for the subway, which ran to the Bronx.

Portrait collection

City Hall has a significant historical portrait collection. There are 108 paintings from the late 18th century through the 20th. The New York Times declared it "almost unrivaled as an ensemble, with several masterpieces." Among the collection is John Trumbull’s 1805 portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the source of the face on the U.S. $10 bill. There were significant efforts to restore the paintings in the 1920s and 1940s. In 2006 a new restoration campaign began for 47 paintings identified by the Art Commission as highest in priority

New York City Hall Online