Wednesday, July 16, 2025 – A building building with a grand history on Wall Street

By admin

Bank of New York
&
Trust Company Building
48 Wall Street

Wednesday, July 16, 2025
New York Municipal Archives
Ken Cobb, Director
Brian Ferree, Archivist
Issue # 1486

I took this photo last week and could not find out what building this artwork  was atop it’s roof. I turned to the Municipal Archives, who identified the building
as 48 Wall Street.

Landmarks Preservation Commission
October 13, 1998; Designation List 298
LP-2025
(FORMER) BANK OF NEW YORK & TRUST COMPANY BUILDING, 48 Wall Street
(aka 48-50 Wall Street and 46-48 William Street), Manhattan. Built 1927-29, Benjamin Wistar Morris, architect.

Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 40, Lot 14.

On August 4, 1998, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the (Former) Bank of New York & Trust Company Building and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 1). The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. Three witnesses spoke in
favor of designation including a representative of the Historic Districts Council who also read a statement in support of the designation from the Municipal Art Society. A representative of the owner indicated the owner’s willingness to work with the Commission in adapting the building to new uses.

Summary
This thirty-two-story neo-Georgian skyscraper,with its distinctive setback tower, was erected by the Bank of New York & Trust Company in
1927-29 to the plans of Benjamin Wistar Morris, a prominent designer of business and institutional buildings. Established in 1784, the Bank of New
York was the second bank in the nation and is New York’s oldest financial institution. In 1796, it became the first bank to erect a building on
Wall Street, setting a precedent for the future development of the street as New York’s financial center. The present building, the bank’s third on the site, was erected when the banking industry was taking a leadership role in the redevelopment of downtown with large new skyscrapers. An
elegant steel-framed, limestone-clad structure, with a series of graceful setbacks, the building is decorated with large scale neo-Georgian details
that reinforce the building’s picturesque qualities. The impressive three-story rusticated base, which housed the main banking floors, incorporates a
raised basement, pedimented doorways, and large arched second-story windows. The building is a notable presence on Wall Street, while its setback
tower, culminating in a Federal-style cupola crowned by an American eagle, contributes a striking and highly recognizable element to the skyline of Lower Manhattan.

The building was occupied by The Museum of Finance for a few years. The lower public spaces are now used as entertainment venues.
About the Eagle from Wikipedia:
The section above the 30th story forms a lantern-like cupola with four layers. The lowest layer is composed of the 31st and 32nd stories: the former has rectangular windows and the latter has square windows. Both stories measure three by three bays wide, with round-arched, gabled wings to the south and north. The second layer is a windowless octagonal section with niches cut into each corner.The third layer is cruciform-shaped, with rectangular openings on each of four sides flanked by a pair of columns, forming a colonnade. The top layer is a windowless square mass, topped by a pyramidal roof.[ The lantern is designed in the Federal style.

The pyramidal roof is capped by a 11-foot-tall (3.4 m) representation of an eagle on a globe, which represented New York state.] The eagle is located 513 feet (156 m) above the ground, and is gilded. The eagle was restored in 2008.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

How many structures can you identify from this 1930 photo?
Click reply to Mailchimp

CREDIT TO

New York Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York Municipal Archives
Wikipedia
JUDITH BERDY

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

Copyright © 2025 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com