Liberty Tower (Manhattan)

The Liberty Tower is in the Financial District of Manhattan, 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.{{Cite web|title=NYCityMap|url=http://maps.nyc.gov/|access-date=March 20, 2020|website=NYC.gov|publisher=New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications|archive-date=February 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219214900/http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/|url-status=live}} The building has a frontage of about {{Convert|82|ft||abbr=}} on Nassau Street, {{Convert|58|ft||abbr=}} on Liberty Street, and {{Convert|86|ft||abbr=}} on Liberty Place, as well as a northern lot line measuring about {{Convert|66|ft|0|abbr=}} long.{{cite news|date=January 28, 1909|title=The Bryant Sold|page=8|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56841358/|access-date=August 6, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190444/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56841358/the-bryant-sold/|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=4}}{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=439}} None of these sides are parallel to each other.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=337}}

The tower's land lot has a total area of {{convert|5198|ft2}}.{{Cite web|title=53 Liberty Street, 10038|url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/64/8#17.77/40.708848/-74.008579|access-date=September 8, 2020|publisher=New York City Department of City Planning|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120052442/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/64/8#17.77/40.708848/-74.008579|url-status=live}} The Liberty Tower is surrounded by numerous buildings, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building to the east, 28 Liberty Street to the southeast, 140 Broadway to the south, and the New York Chamber of Commerce Building to the west.

The Liberty Tower was designed by Henry Ives Cobb and constructed by the C. L. Gray Construction Company, with the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company as a major contractor.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=2}} It is 33 stories tall with a roof height of {{Convert|385|ft||abbr=}}.{{cite web|title=Liberty Tower|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/115151/liberty-tower-new-york-city-ny-usa|access-date=August 6, 2020|publisher=Emporis|archive-date=April 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411115900/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/115151/liberty-tower-new-york-city-ny-usa|url-status=usurped}}{{efn|Some sources quote the number of floors as being as little as 29.{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=August 8, 2014|title=When Downtown Real Estate Turned Upward|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/realestate/when-downtown-real-estate-turned-upward.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623151229/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/realestate/when-downtown-real-estate-turned-upward.html|url-status=live}} However, the New York City Department of Buildings' records show that the Liberty Tower has 33 stories.}} The building was designed in the English Gothic style, and was influenced by Cobb's experiences in the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chicago school of architecture.{{harvnb|National Park Service|1983|ps=.|p=6}} Cobb intended the Liberty Tower to be "a tower rising from a solid base and growing lighter toward the top".{{cite magazine|date=April 3, 1909|title=Manhattan's Latest Tower Building|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_7031148_043/ldpd_7031148_043.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=83|pages=654|via=columbia.edu|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135231/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_7031148_043/ldpd_7031148_043.pdf|url-status=live}}

The Liberty Tower's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, shaft, and capital. 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.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|pp=337–338}}{{harvnb|National Park Service|1983|ps=.|p=2}} The freestanding facades are covered in white architectural terracotta ornamented with birds, alligators, gargoyles and other fanciful subjects.{{cite nycland|page=13}}{{cite aia5|page=39}} 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.{{cite magazine|date=1910|title=New York's New Municipal Building And Some Others|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c041991257&view=1up&seq=447|journal=Architects' and Builder's Magazine|volume=42|pages=436–437|ref={{harvid|Architects' and Builder's Magazine|1910}}|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=January 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118090730/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c041991257&view=1up&seq=447|url-status=live}}

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.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=3}} With a floor area ratio 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, 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.

File:Liberty Tower entrance.jpg

The main elevation 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.{{harvnb|National Park Service|1983|ps=.|p=3}} The 1st and 2nd floors consist of the base, and are rusticated, with a string course running above the second stories. The 3rd through 5th stories are treated as transitional stories, with lintels on the spandrels above the third and fourth stories (except in the center bay on Liberty Street), and a small cornice 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. The 2nd through 5th stories of the central bay on Liberty Street contains a four-bay-wide, three-sided bay window. The center bay is flanked by four-story-tall paneled buttresses capped by pinnacles.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=5}}

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, 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.{{harvnb|Engineering Record|1910|ps=.|p=358}} The copper roof rises {{Convert|64|ft||abbr=}} above the 30th floor. The center bay of the Liberty Street facade has a large dormer at the roof, as do the second and fourth bays on Liberty Place and Nassau Street.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|pp=4–5}}

The Liberty Tower's foundations were dug with caissons sunk {{Convert|94|ft||abbr=}} deep through the layers of quicksand and hardpan to the underlying bedrock.{{harvnb|Engineering Record|1910|ps=.|p=665}} At the time of construction, these foundations were said to be the second-deepest of any building in the city.{{cite magazine|date=October 16, 1909|title=Bryant Foundations Finished|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_16.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=84|pages=678|via=columbia.edu|number=2170|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314111555/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_16.pdf|url-status=live}} Each of the caissons was sunk using {{Convert|75|ST|LT t|abbr=|sp=us}} of cast-iron ballast, although up to {{Convert|400|ST|LT t|abbr=|sp=us}} of force could be applied to an individual caisson.{{harvnb|Engineering Record|1910|ps=.|p=667}} In addition to digging the foundations, the caissons were used to excavate the quicksand and hardpan.{{harvnb|Engineering Record|1910|ps=.|p=666}} 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 {{Convert|24|in||abbr=|adj=on}} layer of concrete mixture and {{Convert|6|in||abbr=|adj=on}} 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. 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 {{Convert|37.5|ft||abbr=}} 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 {{Convert|37|ft||abbr=}} deep, slightly beneath the subbasement floor. The vault walls to the east and south were made of concrete poured {{Convert|15|in||abbr=}} thick and reinforced with {{Convert|5/8|in||abbr=|adj=on}} vertical rods whose centers were spaced {{Convert|6|in||abbr=}} apart. The vault wall to the west was made of concrete poured {{Convert|10|in||abbr=}} thick and reinforced with {{Convert|10|in||abbr=|adj=on}} vertical I-beams spaced {{Convert|3|to|4|ft|abbr=}} apart.

File:55-liberty.jpg

The superstructure is fireproof and made of metal, exerting a total live and dead weight of {{Convert|21000|ST|LT t|abbr=|sp=us}} 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 {{Convert|579|and|1396|ST|LT t|abbr=|sp=us}}, and are connected to the piers through I-beam grillages at the top of the piers.{{harvnb|Engineering Record|1910|ps=.|p=357}} The spandrel girders are {{Convert|36|in||abbr=}} deep below the fifth floor and {{Convert|24|in||abbr=}} deep above that floor.

The main entrance contains marble wainscoting and originally had a mural-covered vaulted ceiling.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=6}} 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, editor of the New York Evening Post, 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.{{cite magazine|date=September 18, 1909|title=Electric Equipment for New Buildings|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_12.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=84|pages=523|via=columbia.edu|number=2166|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=July 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729232741/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_12.pdf|url-status=live}} 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.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|pp=1–2}}{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=338}} 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 residential units.{{Cite news|last=Arieff|first=Irwin|date=April 2, 2010|title=Liberty Tower: A Storied Skyscraper With Much to Celebrate|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/realestate/04liberty.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206221602/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/realestate/04liberty.html|url-status=live}} The penthouse apartment 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.{{cite web|last=Strum|first=Beckie|date=April 5, 2018|title=Penthouse Atop Manhattan's Historic Liberty Tower Hits Market for $2.7M|url=https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/penthouse-atop-manhattan-s-historic-liberty-tower-hits-market-for-2-7m-93435|access-date=August 6, 2020|website=Mansion Global|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923102833/https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/penthouse-atop-manhattan-s-historic-liberty-tower-hits-market-for-2-7m-93435|url-status=live}}

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.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982|ps=.|p=1}} This building was known as the Bryant Building—after William Cullen Bryant, the Post{{'s}} editor—and was also nicknamed the "China Tower" because its facade was of "'china'-faced brick".{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1267850750/6CC287074F84395PQ|title=Realty Circles Expect Sale of Liberty Tower: Well Known Investor Said to Consider Purchase at Close to $1,300,000|work=New York Herald Tribune|date=April 22, 1945|access-date=August 21, 2020|via=ProQuest|url-access=subscription|page=A13|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190454/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1267850750/6CC287074F84395PQ|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|date=October 31, 1883|title=Parke Godwin's Building Company.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/10/31/archives/parke-godwins-building-company.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202141635/https://www.nytimes.com/1883/10/31/archives/parke-godwins-building-company.html|url-status=live}}

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 investors.{{Cite news|date=January 28, 1909|title=New 30-story Skyscraper; Will Be Downtown at Liberty and Nassau Streets -- Site Purchased.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/01/28/archives/new-30story-skyscraper-will-be-downtown-at-liberty-and-nassau.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135241/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/01/28/archives/new-30story-skyscraper-will-be-downtown-at-liberty-and-nassau.html|url-status=live}} The investors formed a syndicate called the Liberty-Nassau Building Company, and hired Cobb, a Midwestern architect, to design a speculative, not-yet-named 30-story building on the site.{{Cite news|date=March 28, 1909|title=Thirty-Story Tower on Bryant Building Site; Plans for St. Louis Syndicate for Improvement of Prominent Downtown Plot -- Details of the Structure|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/03/28/archives/thirtystory-tower-on-bryant-building-site-plans-for-st-louis.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202140131/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/03/28/archives/thirtystory-tower-on-bryant-building-site-plans-for-st-louis.html|url-status=live}} 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.{{efn|The name "Liberty Tower" was in use by late 1909.{{cite magazine|last=Parish|first=John L.|date=December 18, 1909|title=The City as a Field for Investments|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_25.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=84|pages=1113|via=columbia.edu|number=2179|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=August 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820053004/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_044_25.pdf|url-status=live}}}}

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 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 suit against the Liberty-Nassau Building Company.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815050/|title=Liberty Tower Litigation|date=December 9, 1910|work=New-York Tribune|access-date=August 6, 2020|page=9|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190445/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815050/liberty-tower-litigation/|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|date=December 23, 1910|title=Power for Liberty Tower Receiver|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815309/|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|page=7|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190447/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815309/power-for-liberty-tower-receiver/|url-status=live}}

File:Liberty Tower 1910.jpg

By March 1911, rental income had nearly doubled from December 1910 levels, and two mortgages were paid off.{{Cite news|date=March 14, 1911|title=The Real Estate Field; Big Loan Saves the Liberty Tower from Being Sold Under the Hammer -- Another Silk House to Move Uptown -- Many Private Dwellings Sold and Leased.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/03/14/archives/the-real-estate-field-big-loan-saves-the-liberty-tower-from-being.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135234/https://www.nytimes.com/1911/03/14/archives/the-real-estate-field-big-loan-saves-the-liberty-tower-from-being.html|url-status=live}} In addition, the syndicate controlling the building had taken out a $1.6 million loan from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.{{Cite news|date=June 22, 1911|title=The Real Estate Field; Mrs. Frederic Bronson Buys Park Avenue Corner at 91st Street for New Home -- Loft Deal in Sixteenth Street -- Liberty Tower Financial Troubles Adjusted -- Sunnybrook Farm in Trade.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/06/22/archives/the-real-estate-field-mrs-frederic-bronson-buys-park-avenue-corner.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135239/https://www.nytimes.com/1911/06/22/archives/the-real-estate-field-mrs-frederic-bronson-buys-park-avenue-corner.html|url-status=live}} A foreclosure auction was planned for July 1911,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56814721/|title=Liberty Tower Building Sale|date=June 9, 1911|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=August 6, 2020|page=6|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190447/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56814721/liberty-tower-building-sale/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=June 10, 1911|title=Liberty Tower at Auction|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815546/|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|page=18|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190517/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56815546/liberty-tower-at-auction/|url-status=live}} but was canceled when control of the building was transferred to another company that June.{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/56815433/|title=Liberty Tower Adjustment|date=June 23, 1911|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=August 6, 2020|page=20|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190448/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/56815433/liberty-tower-adjustment/|url-status=live}} Among the first commercial tenants was the law office of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who worked on the second floor before becoming U.S. president. Other tenants included the People's Surety Company of New York, as well as the Gray Construction Company.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56814947/|title=Liberty Tower Leases|date=February 6, 1910|work=New-York Tribune|access-date=August 6, 2020|page=11|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190448/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56814947/liberty-tower-leases/|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|date=September 14, 1916|title=The Real Estate Field; Record Eight Avenue Lease at Corner of Forty-second Street|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/09/14/archives/the-real-estate-field-record-eight-avenue-lease-at-corner-of.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135232/https://www.nytimes.com/1916/09/14/archives/the-real-estate-field-record-eight-avenue-lease-at-corner-of.html|url-status=live}}

In 1917, an office was leased as cover for German spies seeking to prevent America's intervention in World War I. 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 to declare war against Germany a month later.{{cite book|last=Tuchman|first=Barbara W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57SVAQAACAAJ|title=The Zimmermann Telegram|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=1985|isbn=978-0-345-32425-2|series=Barbara W. Tuchman's great war series|page=70|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122121905/https://books.google.com/books?id=57SVAQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}

The Sinclair Oil Corporation 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 stated that the company desired more space than was available for lease in the Financial District.{{Cite news|date=May 14, 1919|title=Sinclair Co. Buys 33-story Building; Oil Corporation Purchases Liberty Tower to Solve Problem of Getting Office Room|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/05/14/archives/sinclair-co-buys-33story-building-oil-corporation-purchases-liberty.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135230/https://www.nytimes.com/1919/05/14/archives/sinclair-co-buys-33story-building-oil-corporation-purchases-liberty.html|url-status=live}} 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 of the 1920s.{{Cite news|last=Cooper|first=Michael|date=January 28, 1996|title=New Yorkers & Co.: The Ghosts of Teapot Dome; Fabled Wall Street Offices Are Now Apartments, but Do Not Yet a Neighborhood Make|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/28/nyregion/new-yorkers-ghosts-teapot-dome-fabled-wall-street-offices-are-now-apartments-but.html|access-date=August 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028135150/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/28/nyregion/new-yorkers-ghosts-teapot-dome-fabled-wall-street-offices-are-now-apartments-but.html|url-status=live}} Following the construction of Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, Sinclair Oil moved to Rockefeller Center in 1935, and the Rockefeller family acquired the Liberty Tower.{{Cite news|last=Cooper|first=Lee E.|date=August 4, 1950|title=Sinclair Is Moving to Skyscraper On Side of Old St. Nicholas Church; Leaving Rockefeller Center, Oil Concern Leases Eight Floors for 21 Years at a Reported Rental of $16,000,000|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/04/archives/sinclair-is-moving-to-skyscraper-on-side-of-old-st-nicholas-church.html|access-date=August 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202140129/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/04/archives/sinclair-is-moving-to-skyscraper-on-side-of-old-st-nicholas-church.html|url-status=live}} Leonard J. Beck bought the Liberty Tower in 1945 for about $1.3 million.{{Cite news|date=May 28, 1945|title=Buys Liberty Tower; L.J. Beck Gets Downtown Skyscraper From Rockefellers|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/28/archives/buys-liberty-tower-lj-beck-gets-downtown-skyscraper-from.html|access-date=August 6, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202141637/https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/28/archives/buys-liberty-tower-lj-beck-gets-downtown-skyscraper-from.html|url-status=live}} The following November, Beck resold the building to the Liberty-Nassau Corporation.{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1322168140/6CC287074F84395PQ/|title=Liberty Tower Reported To Be In Transaction: Building at Nassau Street Said To Be Under Sate Contract at $1,500,000|work=New York Herald Tribune|date=November 24, 1946|access-date=August 21, 2020|via=ProQuest|url-access=subscription|page=31|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190452/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1322168140/6CC287074F84395PQ|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=December 4, 1946|title=Buys Tall Offices at 55 Liberty St.: Corporation Acquires 33-story Building|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/04/archives/buys-tall-offices-at-65-liberty-st-corporation-acquires-33story.html|access-date=September 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135231/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/04/archives/buys-tall-offices-at-65-liberty-st-corporation-acquires-33story.html|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/108050062/967F93487CE4D89PQ/|title=Office Building in Wall St. Area: Buys 31-stony Structure at 55 Liberty St|work=The New York Times|date=November 9, 1947|access-date=August 21, 2020|via=ProQuest|url-access=subscription|page=R1|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424190530/https://www.proquest.com/docview/108050062/967F93487CE4D89PQ|url-status=live}}

The Liberty Tower was bought by G. T. Properties in 1978, at which point it was two-thirds empty. The architect Joseph Pell Lombardi, one of G. T. Properties' principals, agreed to pay $922,000, and he took ownership of the building after making a down payment of about $25,000. At the time, no one else wanted to buy the tower, and Lombardi recalled that the neighborhood was empty. Starting in 1979, the Liberty Tower was converted from office use into a residential building. The Liberty Tower was the Financial District's first office-to-residential conversion project,{{cite web | last=Falk | first=William | title=Joseph Pell Lombardi, Turning Offices Into Apartments | website=The New York Times | date=June 28, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/nyregion/joseph-pell-lombardi-real-estate-office-apartments.html | access-date=July 10, 2024|issn=0362-4331|url-access=subscription}} and it was also one of the tallest such conversions worldwide.{{Cite news|last=Horsley|first=Carter B.|date=July 29, 1979|title=Wall St. Image Facing Change As Apartments Replace Offices|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/29/archives/wall-st-image-facing-change-as-apartments-replace-offices.html|access-date=August 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715050803/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/29/archives/wall-st-image-facing-change-as-apartments-replace-offices.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Liberty Tower, 55 Liberty St.|publisher=Joseph Pell Lombardi Architects|date=April 3, 2009|url=http://www.josephpelllombardi.com/projects/libertytower.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403232959/http://www.josephpelllombardi.com/projects/libertytower.html|archive-date=April 3, 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=August 7, 2020}} 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 regulation called J-51.{{Cite news|last=Popper|first=Ellen Kirschner|date=June 30, 1996|title=Developers Are Bullish On Wall Street|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/30/realestate/developers-are-bullish-on-wall-street.html|access-date=August 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721102608/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/30/realestate/developers-are-bullish-on-wall-street.html|url-status=live}} Lombardi retained an apartment on the entirety of the 29th floor, in Sinclair Oil's old boardrooms.{{Cite news|last=Brown|first=Patricia Leigh|date=July 5, 1990|title=One Man, Three Homes, One Mission: Preserving Architectural Treasures|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/05/garden/one-man-three-homes-one-mission-preserving-architectural-treasures.html|access-date=August 8, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009110433/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/05/garden/one-man-three-homes-one-mission-preserving-architectural-treasures.html|url-status=live}} The Liberty Tower was designated a New York City landmark in 1982, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 1983.{{cite web|title=Federal Register: 49 Fed. Reg. 4459 (Feb. 7, 1984)|publisher=Library of Congress|date=February 7, 1984|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr049/fr049026/fr049026.pdf|access-date=March 8, 2020|page=4653|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126190956/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr049/fr049026/fr049026.pdf|url-status=live}} 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 some {{convert|660|ft}} to the west on September 11, 2001. 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 caused major damage. Water leakage had led to rust on the interior steel structure, which in turn expanded the steel beams, and thereby the preexisting cracks.{{cite book|author=Klersfeld|first1=Noah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ|title=World Trade Center emergency damage assessment of buildings: Structural Engineers Association of New York inspections of September and October 2001|last2=Nordenson|first2=Guy|last3=LZA Technology Associates|publisher=Structural Engineers Association of New York|year=2003|volume=1|access-date=August 3, 2010|archive-date=September 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907051213/https://books.google.com/books?id=7fBUAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|date=2007|title=National Register of Historic Places 2007 Weekly Lists|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2007-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|access-date=July 20, 2020|publisher=National Park Service|page=65|archive-date=December 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228214611/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2007-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|url-status=live}}

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".{{cite magazine|date=August 15, 1910|title=Architectural Criticism|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013161818&view=1up&seq=268|journal=Architecture|volume=22|pages=116|access-date=April 24, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202135302/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013161818&view=1up&seq=268|url-status=live}}

{{portal bar|Architecture|New York City|NRHP}}

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite report|date=September 15, 1983|title=Historic Structures Report: Liberty Tower|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001734.pdf|publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|ref={{harvid|National Park Service|1983}}}}
• {{cite nysky}}
• {{Cite report|date=August 24, 1982|title=Liberty Tower|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1243.pdf|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1982}}}}
• {{cite magazine|date=1910|title=Volume 61|journal=Engineering Record|volume=61 |ref={{harvid|Engineering Record|1910}}}} {{PD-notice}}
• {{cite magazine|date=March 26, 1910|title=Steelwork of the Bryant Building, New York|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?q1=%22bryant%20building%22;id=mdp.39015085454695;view=1up;seq=515;start=1;sz=10;page=search;num=357|journal=Engineering Record|volume=61|pages=357–359}} {{PD-notice}}
• {{cite magazine|date=May 21, 1910|title=The Bryant Building Substructure|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.72736624&view=1up&seq=7|journal=Engineering Record|volume=61|pages=665–667}} {{PD-notice}}

• {{commons category-inline|Liberty Tower (Manhattan)}}
• [http://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/manhattan/liberty-tower-55-liberty-street/5284 Liberty Tower] at CityRealty

{{New York City Historic Sites|state=collapsed}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York|state=collapsed}}

{{Financial District, Manhattan|state=collapsed}}

Category:1910 establishments in New York City

Category:Financial District, Manhattan

Category:Gothic Revival architecture in New York City

Category:Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan

Category:Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state)

Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan

Category:Office buildings completed in 1910

Category:Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan

Category:Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan

Category:Sinclair Oil Corporation