Potter Building

The Potter Building is in the Financial District of Manhattan, just east of New York City Hall, City Hall Park, and the Civic Center. The building abuts Park Row for about {{Convert|97|ft|0}} to the west, Beekman Street for {{Convert|144|ft}} to the south, and Nassau Street for about {{Convert|90|ft|0}} to the east. The northern wall abuts 41 Park Row on the same block for {{Convert|104|ft}}.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/04/18/archives/am-bing-son-buy-the-potter-building-operators-acquire-elevenstory.html|title=A.M. Bing & Son Buy the Potter Building; Operators Acquire Eleven-Story Offices at 38 Park Row-- Former Wallack's Theatre Sold.|date=April 18, 1929|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202102/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/04/18/archives/am-bing-son-buy-the-potter-building-operators-acquire-elevenstory.html|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|pp=137, 139}} The Morse Building and 150 Nassau Street are across Nassau Street, while 5 Beekman Street is across Beekman Street.{{Cite web|url=http://maps.nyc.gov/|title=NYCityMap|website=NYC.gov|publisher=New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications|access-date=March 20, 2020|archive-date=May 24, 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150524114059/http://maps.nyc.gov/|url-status=live}} The corner of Park Row and Beekman Street is at an acute angle.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=5}} The Potter Building's addresses include 35–38 Park Row, 2–8 Beekman Street, and 138–145 Nassau Street.{{efn|Address numbers on the southeast side of Park Row run consecutively because the northwest side of the street is occupied by City Hall Park. In the area's standard address numbering system, odd- and even-numbered addresses are on opposite sides of the street.}}

The 11-story Potter Building is arranged in a mixture of styles, including the Queen Anne, neo-Grec, Renaissance Revival, and Colonial Revival styles. As a result, it stands out from the surrounding buildings. The Potter Building's architect, Norris Garshom Starkweather, was known for designing churches and villas in the mid-Atlantic states.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=2}}{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=414}} The building measures {{Convert|165|ft}} tall from sidewalk to roof, with finials extending upward another {{Convert|30|ft}}.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=139}} The original design remains mostly intact.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=1}}

The Potter Building employed the most advanced fireproofing methods available at the time of construction, due to its predecessor having burned down. This included the use of rolled iron beams, cast iron columns, brick exterior walls, as well as tile arches and terracotta.{{cite nycland|page=27}}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnI2AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA89|title=Fireman's Herald|publisher=William T. Comstock|year=1883|series=Building|volume=1-3|page=89|chapter=The New Potter Building|access-date=March 24, 2020|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922080448/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnI2AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA89|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=29}} Five iron companies provided the material.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HXmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA161|title=Building Age|publisher=David Williams Company|year=1885|pages=161–162|access-date=March 24, 2020|issue=v. 7|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424003608/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HXmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA161|url-status=live}} The fireproofing is insulated by the brick-and-terracotta facade. The Potter Building, characterized by architectural historian Robert A. M. Stern as a "textbook case for fire retardation", was the last major building to be supported by load-bearing walls, which would have been unnecessary in light of the iron superstructure.

The Potter Building is U-shaped, with a "light court" within the two arms of the "U", facing outward toward Beekman Street.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=137}} The building is one of the city's oldest extant structures with a light court. The Real Estate Record and Guide said that "the rooms on each side are made symmetrical in spite of the irregularity of the lot; the irregularity, of course, appearing in the court itself". A writer for the Fireman's Herald stated that the court split the facade so that "it looks almost like two buildings". There is a fire escape in the middle of the light court.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=8}}

At the time of the Potter Building's construction, the facades of many 19th-century early skyscrapers consisted of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, midsection, and capital. The base comprises the bottom two stories, the midsection included the middle seven stories, and the capital was composed of the top two floors. The base has an iron facade and the remaining stories have a red brick and terracotta facade.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/07/20/archives/a-new-building-in-parkrow.html|title=A New Building in Park-Row.|date=July 20, 1883|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202108/https://www.nytimes.com/1883/07/20/archives/a-new-building-in-parkrow.html|url-status=live}} Each side has similar ornamentation, containing column capitals, pediments, corbels, panels, and segmental arches made of terracotta. The ornamental detail is elaborately designed in the classical style and includes massive capitals atop the vertical piers, as well as triangular and swans'-neck pediments.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=141}}

The piers divide the facades into multiple bays, which each contain two windows on each floor. The piers, clad with brick above the second floor, are {{Convert|4.5|ft}} wide at the base, with a uniform width for the building's entire height, but range in thickness from {{Convert|40|in}} at the first floor to {{Convert|20|in}} at the eleventh floor. They contain concealed flues that ventilate the gases from the building's furnaces into hidden chimneys underneath the finials atop each pier. The lintels on the upper stories, clad with terracotta, consist of four parallel wrought-iron beams with a width of {{Convert|21|to|32|in}} between flanges. The lintel beams sit atop iron plates embedded within the masonry of each pier and anchored with a twisted iron strap.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|pp=139, 141}}

Because of the presence of elevator lobbies at the northern end of the building, the northernmost bays on Park Row and Nassau Street are wider. At Park Row and Beekman Street, a 270-degree-wide column rounds out the corner.

The Potter Building is among the oldest remaining buildings in New York City to retain architectural terracotta. The terracotta was sculpted by the Boston Terra Cotta Company and was more highly detailed than in other contemporary buildings.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=6}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Geer|1920|p=66}}{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=30}} At the time, there were no terracotta companies in New York City, and four other firms competed to supply the building's terracotta.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=12}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Geer|1920|p=84}} The structure ultimately included {{Convert|540|ST|LT t}} of terracotta. Boston Terra Cotta Company superintendent James Taylor supervised the placement of the terracotta.{{harvnb|ps=.|Geer|1920|pp=87–88}} The fourth and eighth floors contain windows ornamented with terracotta segmental arches; the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and tenth-story windows contain terracotta corbels; and the eleventh-story windows have terracotta hoods.

File:Civic Center NYC Aug 2020 17.jpg

The foundation walls of the Potter Building were {{Convert|4|ft}} thick and sunken to a depth of {{Convert|22.5|ft}}. The underlying bedrock layer was more than {{Convert|100|ft}} below the ground, so the foundations were placed on separate pier footings. The site is {{Convert|44|ft}} above groundwater. During the construction of the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh Brooklyn}}) underneath Beekman Street in 1915, the southern elevation was underpinned using concrete-and-steel tubes sunk to a depth of {{Convert|56|to|59|ft}}, underneath the groundwater level.{{cite magazine|date=September 16, 1915|title=Jacking Tests on Piles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1egRAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA559|journal=Engineering News|volume=74|pages=559|access-date=September 5, 2020|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424003608/https://books.google.com/books?id=1egRAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA559|url-status=live}}

The exterior columns are made of iron. All of the above-ground floors were built on girders made of rolled iron. The girders were {{Convert|15|in}} thick and range from {{Convert|13.75|to|16.25|ft}} long. The floor beams, {{Convert|10.5|in}} thick, sit atop the flanges of each girder; their centers are set {{Convert|4.5|ft}} apart, and most of the beams have a uniform length of {{Convert|18.33|ft}}.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|pp=141, 414}} Flat brick arches were placed within each set of floor beams and were leveled with concrete, brick, and stone aggregate. The floors were finished with wood, while the ceilings were finished in plaster.

Potter's original plans for the building were for the first floor to contain bank offices and for the upper floors to be used by other businesses. He wished for the Potter Building to be "an ornament to the neighborhood". Inside were originally 351 suites that could be used by up to 1,800 people at a time.{{cite news|date=March 7, 1887|title=Heaven-Kissing Roofs|page=3|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54389039/|access-date=June 29, 2020|via=newspapers.com|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424001213/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54389039/heaven-kissing-roofs/|url-status=live}} The ceilings of each story are {{Convert|11|ft}} high. The building's upper floors were later converted into apartments of {{Convert|1,700|ft2}} each, though the apartments retained the {{Convert|18.5|in|cm|-thick|abbr=|adj=mid}} walls.{{Cite news|date=March 8, 1992|title=Postings: $1 Million Facelift; Preserving the Terra Cotta|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/08/realestate/postings-1-million-facelift-preserving-the-terra-cotta.html|access-date=March 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202106/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/08/realestate/postings-1-million-facelift-preserving-the-terra-cotta.html|url-status=live}}

The Potter Building lot, and the adjoining lot immediately to its north (which is occupied by 41 Park Row), was the site of the Old Brick Church of the Brick Presbyterian Church, built in 1767-1768 by John McComb Sr.{{harvnb|ps=.|Geer|1920|p=76}}{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=3}} Starting in the early 19th century and continuing through the 1920s, the surrounding area grew into the city's "Newspaper Row"; several newspaper headquarters were built on Park Row, including the New York Times Building, the Park Row Building, the New York Tribune Building, and the New York World Building.{{Cite enc-nyc2|page=893}} Meanwhile, printing was centered around Beekman Street.{{cite magazine|date=May 14, 1836|title=Paternoster Row of New-York|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015014128451&view=1up&seq=371&q1=paternoster|journal=New York Mirror|volume=13|pages=363|access-date=July 15, 2020|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715190918/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015014128451&view=1up&seq=371&q1=paternoster|url-status=live}} When the Brick Presbyterian Church congregation moved uptown to Murray Hill in 1857,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/09/30/archives/city-items.html|title=City Items. The New "Brick Church"|date=September 30, 1858|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 31, 2013|page=4|archive-date=June 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615214453/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/09/30/archives/city-items.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Knapp|first=Shepherd|url=https://archive.org/details/phistoryofbrickpr00knap|title=A history of the Brick Presbyterian church in the city of New York|publisher=Trustees of the Brick Presbyterian church|year=1909|location=New York|pages=277–292|oclc=1050750793}} Orlando B. Potter, a politician and a prominent real estate developer at the time, purchased the southern half of the Old Brick Church lot.{{harvnb|ps=.|Geer|1920|p=77}} Potter erected a five-story Italianate stone building on the lot for $350,000 (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US|start_year=1857|value=0.35|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}{{inflation/fn|group=lower-alpha|index=US}}); it became the first headquarters of the New York World, which was established in 1860. Potter purchased the building outright in 1867.{{harvnb|ps=.|Potter|1923|p=40}}

A fire broke out in the World building around 10:00 p.m. on January 31, 1882, supposedly because of a draft of wind from the nearby Temple Court Building.{{cite web|date=1899|title=History of architecture and the building trades of greater New York|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000004890652?urlappend=%3Bseq=367|publisher=Union History Co.|page=317|via=HathiTrust|volume=2|hdl=2027/pst.000004890652?urlappend=%3Bseq=367|access-date=June 28, 2020|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424001224/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000004890652;seq=367;a=zoom:1|url-status=live}} The fire destroyed much of the block within a few hours, killing six people{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1882/02/06/archives/no-more-bodies-found-the-work-of-excavation-in-the-ruins-of-the.html|title=No More Bodies Found.; the Work of Excavation in the Ruins of the Potter Building.|date=February 6, 1882|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324172123/https://www.nytimes.com/1882/02/06/archives/no-more-bodies-found-the-work-of-excavation-in-the-ruins-of-the.html|url-status=live}} and causing more than $400,000 in damage (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US|start_year=1882|value=0.4|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}{{inflation/fn|group=lower-alpha|index=US}});{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1882/02/01/archives/flames-in-a-deathtrap-the-potter-building-completely-destroyed-loss.html|title=Flames in a Death-Trap; the Potter Building Completely Destroyed. Loss of at Least Five Lives and $700,000 in Property.|date=February 1, 1882|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324144634/https://www.nytimes.com/1882/02/01/archives/flames-in-a-deathtrap-the-potter-building-completely-destroyed-loss.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|date=February 4, 1882|title=That Fire|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_029_5.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=29|pages=95|via=columbia.edu|number=725|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324185226/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_029_5.pdf|url-status=live}} The World building was said to have "made itself notorious the country over for burning up in the shortest time on record", and it took a week to examine the wreckage, Several days after the fire, the Real Estate Record and Guide said that "the ground is so valuable that it will no doubt be immediately built upon".{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|pp=3–4}}

File:(King1893NYC)_pg831_POTTER_BUILDING._PARK_ROW,_NASSAU_AND_BEEKMAN_STREETS.jpg

Potter sought to replace the burned-down edifice with a fireproof structure,{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=4}} having incurred more than $200,000 of losses (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US|start_year=1882|value=0.2|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}{{inflation/fn|group=lower-alpha|index=US}}) in addition to loss of income.{{harvnb|ps=.|Potter|1923|p=129}}{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=11}} By mid-February 1882, Potter was planning to construct an 11-story building at the site of the old World building, which he specified should be fireproof.{{cite magazine|date=February 18, 1882|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_029_7.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=29|pages=142|via=columbia.edu|number=727|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324185224/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_029_7.pdf|url-status=live}} In 1883, Starkweather presented plans for the structure, of which the first two stories would have an iron facade and the remainder would have a brick facade.{{cite magazine|date=July 14, 1883|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_013_25.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=32|pages=501|via=columbia.edu|number=800|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323021026/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_013_25.pdf|url-status=live}} Potter decided to defer construction for one year due to the high cost of acquiring materials.

Construction of the foundation started in April 1883.{{cite magazine|date=April 21, 1883|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_031_16.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=31|pages=163|via=columbia.edu|number=788|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202102/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_031_16.pdf|url-status=live}} To test the relative strength of iron versus wooden floor beams, Potter built two small, nearly-identical structures, one with each material. After setting them on fire for two to three days, Potter determined that the iron structure was more suitable for use, since the iron floor suffered little damage compared to the totally-burned wooden floor. Plans for the Potter Building were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in July 1883, at which point it was supposed to cost $700,000 (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US|start_year=1883|value=0.7|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}{{inflation/fn|group=lower-alpha|index=US}}).

Construction was underway by mid-1884.{{cite magazine|date=March 12, 1884|title=Prominent Buildings Underway|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_033_12.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=33|pages=289|via=columbia.edu|number=836|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202104/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031128_033_12.pdf|url-status=live}} Workers were hired by the day, rather than contracted for the entire project. Since the World building fire had occurred during the construction of Potter's 750 Broadway building in NoHo, further uptown, workers from the 750 Broadway project were also contracted to work on the Potter Building. Construction was delayed in May 1884 due to a bricklayers' strike, and the costs increased to $1.2 million (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US|start_year=1885|value=1.2|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}{{inflation/fn|group=lower-alpha|index=US}}). Work was also delayed by a painters' and carpenters' strike in 1885.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/08/20/archives/strikers-gain-a-victory-they-make-a-stubborn-contractor-yield-every.html|title=Strikers Gain a Victory.; They Make a Stubborn Contractor Yield Every Point.|date=August 20, 1885|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202103/https://www.nytimes.com/1885/08/20/archives/strikers-gain-a-victory-they-make-a-stubborn-contractor-yield-every.html|url-status=live}} The building was completed in June 1886. Potter's involvement in the process of terracotta selection was so extensive that he founded the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company with his son-in-law Walter Geer.{{cite NY1880|pages=415, 418}} An 1888 brochure for the company stated that the Potter Building was "an example of the best use of terra-cotta, both for constructive and ornamental purposes".

File:Potter_Parkrow_Beekman_jeh.JPG

At the time of its completion, the Potter Building was among the tallest in the area, towering above every other structure except the New York Tribune Building.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47260208/potter-building-opposite-city-hall-is/|title=Potter Building, Opposite City Hall, is Sold|date=December 5, 1919|work=New-York Tribune|access-date=March 24, 2020|page=21|via=newspapers.com|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324172126/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47260208/potter-building-opposite-city-hall-is/|url-status=live}} The Boston Globe called the Potter Building "the tallest straight-wall building in the world". The 1892 King's Handbook of New York City stated that newspapers, magazines, insurance companies, and lawyers occupied 200 offices within the building.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996|ps=.|p=7}} The newspaper tenants included The Press, a Republican Party-affiliated penny paper, as well as The New York Observer. The Potter Building was also occupied by paper manufacturers Peter Adams Company and Adams & Bishop Company, the Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association insurance company, and the Otis Elevator Company. In addition, Potter occupied the top floor, and his New York Architectural Terra Cotta Company also had offices in the building.

Potter died in 1894,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/01/03/archives/orlando-b-potter-dead-fell-in-fifth-avenue-and-expired-immediately.html|title=Orlando B. Potter Dead; Fell in Fifth Avenue and Expired Immediately|date=January 3, 1894|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325171203/https://www.nytimes.com/1894/01/03/archives/orlando-b-potter-dead-fell-in-fifth-avenue-and-expired-immediately.html|url-status=live}} and the building was given over to his estate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/02/01/archives/the-bridgegroom-was-not-there-bride-and-guests-waited-but-fletcher.html|title=Transfer of the Potter Estate|date=February 1, 1894|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325171203/https://www.nytimes.com/1894/02/01/archives/the-bridgegroom-was-not-there-bride-and-guests-waited-but-fletcher.html|url-status=live}} O.B. Potter Properties acquired the building from Potter's estate in 1913. The Potter Building, along with some of the Potter estate's other properties (such as the Empire Building), was sold in 1919 to the Aronson Investing Company.{{harvnb|ps=.|Potter|1923|p=240}} The building's ownership was then transferred several times within a decade: the Parbee Realty Corporation acquired the structure in 1923, followed by A.M. Bing & Son in 1929, and the 38 Park Row Corporation in 1931, before Parbee re-acquired the Potter Building the following year. The Seaman's Bank for Savings acquired the structure at a foreclosure auction in 1941,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/09/archives/old-potter-building-is-bid-in-by-bank-newspaper-row-structure-goes.html|title=Old Potter Building is Bid in by Bank; 'Newspaper Row' Structure Goes to Seamen's Savings|date=April 9, 1941|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324202104/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/09/archives/old-potter-building-is-bid-in-by-bank-newspaper-row-structure-goes.html|url-status=live}} and four years later, sold it to Beepark Estates. Tenants throughout this time included the United States Housing Authority, accountants, and lawyers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/09/14/archives/fpha-gets-space-for-new-offices-leases-in-38-park-row-in.html|title=Fpha Gets Space for New Offices; Leases in 38 Park Row in Consolidation Plan -- Hatters Rent Broadway Store|date=September 14, 1944|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325171206/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/09/14/archives/fpha-gets-space-for-new-offices-leases-in-38-park-row-in.html|url-status=live}} The 38 Park Row Corporation purchased the building in 1954.

The New York World and Tribune buildings to the north were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, and Pace College (later Pace University) built 1 Pace Plaza on the site of the latter.{{Cite news|last=Porterfield|first=Byron|date=May 20, 1966|title='Newspaper Row' Shrinking Again; The Old Tribune Building on Nassau Is Giving Way to Pace College Center|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/20/archives/newspaper-row-shrinking-again-the-old-tribune-building-on-nassau-is.html|access-date=March 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323222844/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/20/archives/newspaper-row-shrinking-again-the-old-tribune-building-on-nassau-is.html|url-status=live}} The university also acquired the Potter Building and other nearby buildings in 1973, with plans to destroy them and build an office tower. These plans did not proceed and Pace sold the building in 1979 to a joint venture named 38 Park Row Associates, composed of Martin Raynes and the East River Savings Bank.{{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=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/29/archives/wall-st-image-facing-change-as-apartments-replace-offices.html|access-date=July 11, 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}} 38 Park Row Associates converted the building into residential cooperatives and gave it to the 38 Park Row Residence Corporation in 1981.

Following the residential conversion, a structural engineer noted that the facade had "significant deterioration particularly in the mortar jointings". The Potter Building's co-op board subsequently arranged for a renovation of the facade in 1992-1993, to be carried out by Siri + Marsik and Henry Restoration. The Potter Building, along with the Manhasset Apartments and 110 East 42nd Street,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/22/realestate/three-buildings-join-city-s-landmarks-list.html|title=Three Buildings Join City's Landmarks List|date=September 22, 1996|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 29, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029143102/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/22/realestate/three-buildings-join-city-s-landmarks-list.html|url-status=live}} was made a New York City designated landmark on September 21, 1996. A controversy ensued in 1999 when the Blimpie restaurant at the Potter Building's ground level decided to place outdoor seating on Nassau Street, which had recently been converted from a weekday-only pedestrian zone into a full-time pedestrian plaza. Residents of the Potter Building complained that the seating violated a city ordinance on sidewalk cafes.{{Cite news|last=Stamler|first=Bernard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/16/nyregion/sidewalk-cafes-up-close-outdoor-seats-outrage-some-on-nassau-st.html|title=Sidewalk Cafes Up Close; Outdoor Seats Outrage Some On Nassau St.|date=May 16, 1999|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325171944/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/16/nyregion/sidewalk-cafes-up-close-outdoor-seats-outrage-some-on-nassau-st.html|url-status=live}} In 2005, the Potter Building was designated as a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District,{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=22–23}} a National Register of Historic Places district.{{cite web|date=2005|title=National Register of Historic Places 2005 Weekly Lists|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2005-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|access-date=July 20, 2020|publisher=National Park Service|page=242|archive-date=September 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901115418/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2005-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|url-status=live}}

File:Civic Center NYC Aug 2020 06.jpg

Lower Manhattan's late-19th century skyscrapers generally received mixed reception, and the Potter Building was especially criticized by professional architectural journals.{{harvnb|Landau|Condit|1996|ps=.|p=142}} A Real Estate Record and Guide writer remarked in 1885 that "there is not an interesting or refined piece of detail in the whole building". The critic also said that the building's design focused too much on its vertical aspect,{{cite magazine|date=June 20, 1885|title=The Potter Building|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031138_001_25.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=35|pages=701–702|via=columbia.edu|number=901|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-date=March 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324214912/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031138_001_25.pdf|url-status=live}} though this contrasted with the opinions of other contemporary critics, who generally saw vertical emphasis favorably. In 1889, a writer for the same magazine compared the Potter Building with the Times Building at 41 Park Row, saying that the Potter Building's architect "contrived to make [it] appear at once monotonous and uneasy".{{cite magazine|date=January 12, 1889|title=The 'Times' Building|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_003_2.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=43|pages=32|via=columbia.edu|number=1087|access-date=July 15, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717124548/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_003_2.pdf|url-status=live}}

There were also positive reviews of the design. An 1885 Carpentry and Building article stated that the building was "one of the most conspicuous new buildings in the lower part of New York City", because of its juxtaposition of iron with brick and terracotta. The King's Handbook described the Potter Building as being among the city's "great and illustrious monuments of commercial success",{{cite book|last=King|first=Moses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKkUAAAAYAAJ|title=King's Handbook of New York City: An Outline History and Description of the American Metropolis|publisher=Moses King|year=1892|page=778|oclc=848600041}} while an 1899 architecture guidebook said that the Potter Building's "design is unusual and perhaps excessive in detail, but has great interest in the disposition of its masses."{{cite book|last=New York Union History Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8M4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA374|title=History of Architecture and the Building Trades of Greater New York|publisher=Union History Company|year=1899|series=History of Architecture and the Building Trades of Greater New York|page=100|access-date=March 24, 2020|issue=v. 1|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424003609/https://books.google.com/books?id=s8M4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA374|url-status=live}} Later, in 1991, New York Times writer David W. Dunlap described the Potter Building as "almost hallucinatory in its Victorian encrustation".{{Cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/15/travel/hidden-corners-of-lower-manhattan.html|title=Hidden Corners of Lower Manhattan|date=September 15, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130174651/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/15/travel/hidden-corners-of-lower-manhattan.html|url-status=live}} Architectural writers Sarah Landau and Carl Condit characterized the Potter Building as "distinguished above all by its ruggedly picturesque red brick and cast-iron-clad outer walls abundantly trimmed with terra-cotta".

Informational notes

{{notelist}}

Citations

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• {{cite web|date=September 7, 2005|title=Fulton–Nassau Historic District|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000988.pdf|publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|ref={{harvid|National Park Service|2005}}}}
• {{Cite book|last=Geer|first=Walter|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofterracott00geer|title=The story of terra cotta|date=1920|publisher=New York, T. A. Wright|others=The Library of Congress|oclc=1157574719}}
• {{Cite nysky}}
• {{Cite book|last=Potter|first=Blanche|title=More Memories: Orlando Bronson Potter and Frederick Potter|publisher=J.J. Little & Ives Co.|year=1923}}
• {{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1948.pdf|title=Potter Building|date=September 17, 1996|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1996}}}}

{{commonscat|Potter Building (Manhattan)}}

• [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC011.htm New York City Architecture Images - Potter Building]
• [http://www.nysonglines.com/parkrow.htm New York Songlines: Park Row]

{{Civic Center, Manhattan}}

{{Financial District, Manhattan}}

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

Category:1880s architecture in the United States

Category:1880s establishments in New York City

Category:1886 establishments in New York (state)

Category:Apartment buildings in New York City

Category:Cast-iron architecture in New York City

Category:Civic Center, Manhattan

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1886

Category:Financial District, Manhattan

Category:Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan

Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan

Category:Residential buildings completed in 1886