Misplaced Pages

#613386

160-697: 55 Wall Street , formerly the National City Bank Building , is an eight-story building on Wall Street between William and Hanover streets in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City , New York, United States. The lowest three stories were completed in either 1841 or 1842 as the four-story Merchants' Exchange and designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style . Between 1907 and 1910, McKim, Mead & White removed

320-655: A cruciform space , covers 25,000 square feet (2,300 m) and measures 187 feet (57 m) from west to east and about 120 feet (37 m) from north to south. When built, it was among the United States' largest banking halls. It was accessed by a pair of bronze doors on Wall Street, each weighing 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg). The room's ceiling is approximately 60 feet (18 m) tall, with an 83-foot-tall (25 m) dome measuring 52 feet (16 m) across. On each side are four Corinthian columns, each measuring 41 feet (12 m) tall; these support an entablature that circles

480-416: A portico . These vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental brackets supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway. When a pilaster appears at the corner intersection of two walls it is known as a canton . As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its profile and can be represented in

640-524: A "cornerstone" of the NYSE, with a benefit of having all of a deal's players close at hand, including investment bankers , lawyers , and accountants . After Wall Street firms started to expand westward in the 1980s into New Jersey , the direct economic impacts of Wall Street activities have gone beyond New York City. The employment in the financial services industry, mostly in the "back office" roles, has become an important part of New Jersey's economy. In 2009,

800-490: A "phoenix-like resurrection" of the area, with residential, commercial, retail and hotels booming in the "third largest business district in the country". At the same time, the investment community was worried about proposed legal reforms, including the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which dealt with matters such as credit card rates and lending requirements. The NYSE closed two of its trading floors in

960-453: A "tug-of-war" between business interests on Wall Street and authorities in Washington, D.C. , the capital of the United States by then. Generally during the 19th century Wall Street developed its own "unique personality and institutions" with little outside interference. In the 1840s and 1850s, most residents moved further uptown to Midtown Manhattan because of the increased business use at

1120-517: A $ 4 stock transfer tax , stock clerks protested. At other times, city and state officials have taken steps through tax incentives to encourage financial firms to continue to do business in the city. A post office was built at 60 Wall Street in 1905. During the World War I years, occasionally there were fund-raising efforts for projects such as the National Guard . On September 16, 1920, close to

1280-471: A 23-story tower and preserving the existing building at the tower's base, as well as modifying the existing building while retaining the rotunda from Rogers's design. The Customs Service moved its offices to Bowling Green on November 4, 1907. Four days afterward, City Bank finally took title to the building, having paid no taxes for the structure during the past eight years. After the Customs Service moved,

1440-605: A City Bank vice president to Italy to study the Pantheon's architecture. The bank's officers initially advocated for replacing the Merchants' Exchange Building with a skyscraper, and members of the public worried that the building would be demolished. Until early 1907, it was unclear whether City Bank would expand the building or replace it with an 18-to-20-story structure, so the firm was asked to prepare two sets of plans. Stillman and architect Charles Follen McKim also considered developing

1600-544: A backwater in American life". During the New Deal years, as well as the 1940s, there was much less focus on Wall Street and finance. The government clamped down on the practice of buying equities based only on credit, but these policies began to ease. From 1946 to 1947, stocks could not be purchased " on margin ", meaning that an investor had to pay 100% of a stock's cost without taking on any loans. However, this margin requirement

1760-476: A crash. They made a fortune but turned into the crisis's pantomime villains. Most, though, got burned – the banks are still gradually running down portfolios of non-core loans worth $ 800bn. The first months of 2008 was a particularly troublesome period which caused Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to "work holidays and weekends" and which did an "extraordinary series of moves". It bolstered U.S. banks and allowed Wall Street firms to borrow "directly from

SECTION 10

#1732877119614

1920-620: A currency printing plant in the penthouse between 1862 and 1867. The Custom House on Wall Street had become overcrowded by 1887. William J. Fryer Jr., superintendent of repairs of New York City's federal-government buildings, wrote to the United States Department of the Treasury 's Supervising Architect in February 1888 about the "old, damp, ill-lighted, badly ventilated" quarters at 55 Wall Street. Architecture and Building magazine called

2080-513: A day which caused a "traffic jam" of paper with "batteries of clerks" working overtime to "clear transactions and update customer accounts". In 1973, the financial community posted a collective loss of $ 245 million, which spurred temporary help from the government. Reforms were instituted; the Securities & Exchange Commission eliminated fixed commissions, which forced "brokers to compete freely with one another for investors' business". In 1975,

2240-524: A depth of 150 feet (46 m) to Exchange Place. The main facade was made of white Tuckahoe marble and the entrance portico had a marble staircase and four Ionic columns. Inside were two large trading rooms with Ionic columns. At the top of the building was a colonnaded cupola rising 120 feet (37 m). The cupola's design was inspired by that of the Old Town Hall in Manchester . The first structure

2400-472: A downtown headquarters. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated 55 Wall Street's exterior as one of the city's earliest official landmarks in 1965. Through the late 20th century, Citibank continued to operate a full-service retail branch at 55 Wall Street called Branch #001. It also remained a substantial location for private banking operations. A universal tellers' station, which allowed tellers to perform multiple banking functions,

2560-488: A downturn with a sizable drop in year-end bonuses of $ 6.5 billion, according to one estimate from a state comptroller's office. To guard against a vehicular bombing in the area, authorities built concrete barriers, and found ways over time to make them more aesthetically appealing by spending $ 5000 to $ 8000 apiece on bollards . Parts of Wall Street, as well as several other streets in the neighborhood, were blocked off by specially designed bollards: ... Rogers Marvel designed

2720-431: A financial wall in the crisis. Foolishly and recklessly, the banks didn't look at these loans adequately, relying on flawed credit-rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's and Moody's, which blithely certified toxic mortgage-backed securities as solid ... A few of those on Wall Street, including maverick hedge fund manager John Paulson and the top brass at Goldman Sachs, spotted what was going on and ruthlessly gambled on

2880-405: A flattened column which has lost its three-dimensional and tactile value.". In discussing Leon Battista Alberti 's use of pilasters, which Alberti reintroduced into wall-architecture, Rudolf Wittkower wrote: "The pilaster is the logical transformation of the column for the decoration of a wall. A pilaster appears with a capital . and entablature , also in "low- relief " or flattened against

3040-442: A gate. There were three stories of offices at each corner of the banking hall, which were originally used by the bank. The spaces were designed with few decorations. The southeastern corner of the first floor contained the six-room president's suite, which included the executive and secretary's offices, two conference rooms, a hall, and decorative restroom. Bookkeepers and National City Bank's bond and foreign departments were in each of

3200-590: A key magnet for the Wall Street remains the New York Stock Exchange Building . Some "old guard" firms such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch (bought by Bank of America in 2009), have remained "fiercely loyal to the Financial District" location, and new ones such as Deutsche Bank have chosen office space in the district. So-called "face-to-face" trading between buyers and sellers remains

3360-656: A kitchen, ice-cream room, and kitchen. Dining rooms were also provided for officers and guests. The attic was surrounded by an outdoor patio measuring 15 feet (4.6 m) wide. Part of the patio on the eighth floor could also be used as an outdoor restaurant for employees. In 2006, the five upper stories were converted to a residential condominium development, the Cipriani Club Residences. There are 106 condominiums in total, divided into 22 studio apartments , 62 one-bedroom apartments, 11 two-bedroom apartments, and 11 three-bedroom apartments. The development also includes

SECTION 20

#1732877119614

3520-401: A larger building on the site of the older structure. The remaining lots on the block were acquired for this purpose. The same year, construction started on a new building designed by Isaiah Rogers. According to Rogers's private diaries, he moved his family to a house on the block while construction was ongoing. A time capsule was also placed within the building's foundations, though a search for

3680-430: A modern skyscraper. Stillman's immediate successor Frank A. Vanderlip had preferred such a tower because he predicted that National City Bank would quickly outgrow the space. Hudson wrote that other critics "viewed the renovation as an aesthetic aberration", especially with regards to the juxtaposition of the colonnades. After the building was renovated in the late 1970s, architectural writer Ada Louise Huxtable described

3840-474: A move towards transforming itself into an electronic exchange. Beginning in September 2011, demonstrators disenchanted with the financial system protested in parks and plazas around Wall Street. On October 29, 2012, Wall Street was disrupted when New York and New Jersey were inundated by Hurricane Sandy . Its 14-foot-high (4.3 m) storm surge, a local record, caused massive street flooding nearby. The NYSE

4000-562: A new kind of bollard, a faceted piece of sculpture whose broad, slanting surfaces offer people a place to sit in contrast to the typical bollard, which is supremely unsittable. The bollard, which is called the Nogo, looks a bit like one of Frank Gehry's unorthodox culture palaces, but it is hardly insensitive to its surroundings. Its bronze surfaces actually echo the grand doorways of Wall Street's temples of commerce. Pedestrians easily slip through groups of them as they make their way onto Wall Street from

4160-506: A pilaster is a ridge that extends vertically across the femur , which is unique to modern humans . Its structural function is unclear. A pilaster is foremost a load-bearing architectural element used widely throughout the world and its history where a structural load is carried by a thickened section of wall or column integrated into a wall. It is also a purely ornamental element used in Classical architecture . As such it may be defined as

4320-465: A post office in the building operated until 1845. The Stock Exchange was also situated in 55 Wall Street until 1854. By 1861, the New York Custom House was looking to relocate from 26 Wall Street (now Federal Hall) to 55 Wall Street. The federal government signed a lease with the Merchants' Exchange in February 1862, intending to move into the building that May, when the Merchants' Exchange

4480-477: A renewed push for capitalism and business , with national efforts to de-regulate industries such as telecommunications and aviation . The economy resumed upward growth after a period in the early 1980s of languishing. A report in The New York Times described that the flushness of money and growth during these years had spawned a drug culture of sorts, with a rampant acceptance of cocaine use although

4640-490: A residential condominium development called the Cipriani Club Residences. Louise Sunshine was hired to sell the apartments through her company Sunshine Group, and tenants began buying apartments in November 2005. Two early residents, actor Mickey Rourke and supermodel Naomi Campbell , appeared in advertisements for the Cipriani Club Residences in exchange for discounts on the building's condominiums. Sunshine Group had sold 37 of

4800-475: A restaurant, and a fitness center. After the September 11 attacks destroyed the nearby World Trade Center in 2001, 55 Wall Street served as a relief center for workers and area residents and was used by Tribeca Film Festival attendees. The hotel's overall business declined, leading to its closure in 2003. Cipriani and developer Steve Witkoff formed a partnership in 2004, converting the defunct hotel rooms into

4960-492: A sign with the bank's name outside the building because visitors frequently got lost while looking for the bank. National City Bank merged with the First National Bank in 1955, becoming First National City Bank; the newly merged banks were headquartered at 55 Wall Street. During the same period, the main banking room at 55 Wall Street underwent a multi-year restoration that finished in 1958. The two-story safe-deposit vault

55 Wall Street - Misplaced Pages Continue

5120-576: A staff and accompanied by motifs of a cornucopia, an eagle, a globe with a branch, and a parcel. The 1900s renovation placed a second colonnade of Corinthian columns above the original facade. The Corinthian columns were made of granite sourced from Spruce Head, Maine , and Rockport, Massachusetts . In addition, some of the granite from the lower section of the building was reused in the upper colonnade. These columns measure 3.75 feet (1.14 m) in diameter, and their centers are spaced 14 feet (4.3 m) apart. The upper colonnade has similar dimensions to

5280-523: A vast, neural spaghetti of wires, Web sites and trading platforms — the N.Y.S.E. is clearly no longer the epicenter. Nor is New York. The largest mutual-fund complexes are in Valley Forge, Pa. , Los Angeles and Boston , while trading and money management are spreading globally. Since the end of the cold war, vast pools of capital have been forming overseas, in the Swiss bank accounts of Russian oligarchs, in

5440-478: A wooden structure with a roof and open sides, although walls may have been added over the years; it could hold approximately 50 people. New York's municipal authorities directly benefited from the sale of slaves by implementing taxes on every person who was bought and sold there. In these early days, local merchants and traders would gather at disparate spots to buy and sell shares and bonds, and over time divided themselves into two classes—auctioneers and dealers. In

5600-510: A year (about $ 4 million in 2023) to rent space in the building. Democrats in the House of Representatives criticized the transaction, saying Congress's decision to provide rent appropriations to the Customs Service was an "extravagant" use of money. In a vote in 1905, the House blocked an appropriation that would have paid the Customs Service's rent to City Bank. House Republicans eventually approved

5760-451: Is a revolving door and two single doors beneath a brass double transom . The facade was originally topped by a frieze , according to lithographs published during the 19th century. The center of the frieze contained the inscription "Erected MDCCCXXXVIII" (1838 in Roman numerals) and was flanked by carved figures in classical robes. Above the center of the frieze was a sculpture of a woman holding

5920-445: Is eight stories tall and has a basement; it is composed of the original three-story building and a five-story addition. The original building was designed by Boston architect Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style and built between 1836 and either 1841 or 1842. As constructed, the building was topped by a brick dome rising 124 feet (38 m) above ground level. The dome was 80 feet (24 m) wide and rose 90 feet (27 m) above

6080-572: Is near 48 Wall Street and 60 Wall Street to the north, the Wall and Hanover Building to the east, 20 Exchange Place to the south, and 15 Broad Street to the west. Immediately outside the building's northwestern corner is an entrance to the Wall Street station on the New York City Subway 's Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (served by the 2 and ​ 3 trains). 55 Wall Street

6240-402: Is placed atop pilings that descend 35 feet (11 m). The pilings were constructed as close as possible to the original walls of the Merchants' Exchange, eliminating the need to excavate the site using caissons . The building's first floor was originally one story above the street, but it was lowered to ground level during the 1900s renovation. National City Bank employees could enter and exit

6400-695: The Boston Consulting Group suggesting that 65,000 jobs had been permanently lost because of the downturn. But there were signs that Manhattan property prices were rebounding with price rises of 9% annually in 2010, and bonuses were being paid once more, with average bonuses over $ 124,000 in 2010. A requirement of the New York Stock Exchange was that brokerage firms had to have offices "clustered around Wall Street" so clerks could deliver physical paper copies of stock certificates each week. There were some indications that midtown had been becoming

6560-635: The East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial services industry , New York–based financial interests, or the Financial District. Anchored by Wall Street, New York has been described as the world's principal fintech and financial center . The street was originally known in Dutch as Het Cingel ("the Belt") when it

55 Wall Street - Misplaced Pages Continue

6720-571: The Harlem Ship Canal had not been dug), he ordered a ditch and wooden palisade to be constructed on the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. The wall was built of dirt and 15-foot (4.6 m) wooden planks, measuring 2,340 feet (710 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and was built using the labor of both Black slaves and white colonists. In fact Stuyvesant had ordered that "the citizens, without exception, shall work on

6880-651: The Manhattan Institute was that the securities industry accounts for 4.7 percent of the jobs in New York City but 20.7 percent of its wages, and he estimated there were 175,000 securities-industries jobs in New York (both Wall Street area and midtown) paying an average of $ 350,000 annually. Between 1995 and 2005, the sector grew at an annual rate of about 6.6% annually, a respectable rate, but that other financial centers were growing faster. Another estimate, made in 2008,

7040-572: The New York Mercantile Exchange and other commodity futures exchanges, along with the NYSE American . Many brokerage firms owned offices nearby to support the business they did on the exchanges. The economic impacts of Wall Street activities extend worldwide. In the original records of New Amsterdam , the Dutch always called the street Het Cingel ("the Belt"), which was also the name of

7200-602: The Newmark Group , agreed to buy the building in early 1987. Pilevsky and his associates Jeffrey Gural and Barry Gosin, both of the Newmark Group, bought 55 Wall Street later that year for $ 49 million. Newmark began looking for tenants to occupy more than half of the building's space. Milgrim Thomajan & Lee, a large law firm based in Midtown Manhattan, agreed to lease 120,000 square feet (11,000 m), becoming one of

7360-515: The U.S. state of New Jersey , and only two salespeople in New York City; the remaining 33 employees work in a center in Kansas. Wall Street in a conceptual sense represents financial and economic power. To Americans, it can sometimes represent elitism and power politics, and its role has been a source of controversy throughout the nation's history, particularly beginning around the Gilded Age period in

7520-481: The subprime mortgage crisis from 2007 to 2010, Wall Street financing was blamed as one of the causes, although most commentators blame an interplay of factors. The U.S. government with the Troubled Asset Relief Program bailed out the banks and financial backers with billions of taxpayer dollars, but the bailout was often criticized as politically motivated, and was criticized by journalists as well as

7680-584: The "werken" (meaning the works or city fortifications) were reinforced and expanded to protect against potential incursions from Native Americans , pirates, and the English. The English also expanded and improved the wall after their 1664 takeover (a cause of the Second Anglo-Dutch War ), as did the Dutch from 1673 to 1674 when they briefly retook the city during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , and by

7840-856: The $ 50 billion fraud perpetrated by Bernie Madoff . When large firms such as Enron , WorldCom , and Global Crossing were found guilty of fraud, Wall Street was often blamed, even though these firms had headquarters around the nation and not in Wall Street. Many complained that the resulting Sarbanes-Oxley legislation dampened the business climate with regulations that were "overly burdensome". Interest groups seeking favor with Washington lawmakers , such as car dealers, have often sought to portray their interests as allied with Main Street rather than Wall Street , although analyst Peter Overby on National Public Radio suggested that car dealers have written over $ 250 billion in consumer loans and have real ties with Wall Street . Pilaster In human anatomy ,

8000-482: The 106 condominiums by February 2006, when Witkoff hired a new leasing agent, Douglas Elliman . The buyers of the remaining condominiums included financiers; two friends of Sarah, Duchess of York ; and soccer captain Claudio Reyna . Most of the studios and one-bedroom apartments had been sold by mid-2006, though the two- and three-bedroom apartments were still being completed. The main banking floor remained in use as

8160-424: The 1900s, an elevator was installed to carry valuables between the basement and main banking floor. The safe-deposit vault on the main banking floor was relocated to the basement in 1957. The concrete floor of the basement is 10 feet (3.0 m) thick, requiring workers to blast into the floor while they were installing the vault. The basement includes heating and cooling machinery as well. The site of 55 Wall Street

SECTION 50

#1732877119614

8320-512: The 1950s, as well as the installation of new counters and a partition wall that ran diagonally across the banking room. The developer George Klein bought 363,000 square feet (33,700 m) of the unused air rights on 55 Wall Street's site in 1983 as part of the construction of the adjacent 60 Wall Street; the LPC supported this move. Shearman & Sterling moved out of 55 Wall Street in 1987. The developer Philip Pilevsky , along with three principals of

8480-738: The 20th century, several early skyscrapers were built on Wall Street, including 40 Wall Street , once the world's tallest building. The street is near multiple subway stations and ferry terminals . The Wall Street area is home to the New York Stock Exchange , the world's largest stock exchange by total market capitalization , as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York , and commercial banks and insurance companies. Several other stock and commodity exchanges have also been located in Lower Manhattan near Wall Street, including

8640-536: The Cipriani Club, a set of private residential amenities that are available only to residents. The club includes a library, spa, business lounge, screening room, and hair salon. In addition, club members could use the building's patio and ballroom, and the Cipriani Club also hosted wine-and-cheese tasting events. When the Cipriani Club Residences were completed, residents were given two years of free club membership, after which they had to pay $ 5,000 annually. Remnants of

8800-579: The Cipriani Wall Street event venue, which hosted the Peabody Awards from 2015 to 2019. In May 2020, amid a loss of income during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City , Cipriani defaulted on a mortgage loan that had been placed on its event venues at 110 East 42nd Street and 55 Wall Street. A special servicer took over the mortgage in 2021, but the two event venues were at risk of foreclosure by

8960-647: The Fed" through a vehicle called the Fed's Discount Window, a sort of lender of last report. These efforts were highly controversial at the time, but from the perspective of 2010, it appeared the Federal exertions had been the right decisions. By 2010, Wall Street firms, in Clark's view, were "getting back to their old selves as engine rooms of wealth, prosperity and excess". A report by Michael Stoler in The New York Sun described

9120-541: The Financial Service cluster, there were three major sectors: more than 60 percent were in the securities industry ; 20 percent were in banking ; and 8 percent in insurance . Additionally, New Jersey has become the main technology infrastructure to support the Wall Street operations. A substantial amount of securities traded in the United States are executed in New Jersey as the data centers of electronic trading in

9280-584: The Fixed Income Clearing Corporation and Emerging Markets Clearing Corporation. Having a direct tie to Wall Street employment can be problematic for New Jersey, however. The state lost 7.9 percent of its employment base from 2007 to 2010 in the financial services sector in the fallout of the subprime mortgage crisis . Of the street's importance as a financial center, New York Times analyst Daniel Gross wrote: In today's burgeoning and increasingly integrated global financial markets —

9440-490: The NRHP. 55 Wall Street's granite facade includes two stacked colonnades facing Wall Street, each with twelve columns. Inside is a cruciform banking hall with a 60-foot (18 m) vaulted ceiling , Corinthian columns, marble floors and walls, and an entablature around the interior. The banking hall was among the largest in the United States when it was completed. The offices of Citibank 's predecessor National City Bank were in

9600-472: The National City Bank were also placed throughout the space. The dome is decorated with 16 panels in low relief. Four of the panels bear the directions of the compass, and the remaining twelve have astrological signs . The largest coffer in the ceiling is above the southern portion of the banking hall. When the National City Bank moved into the space in 1908, there was a large safe on the south side of

9760-660: The SEC threw out the NYSE 's "Rule 394" which had required that "most stock transactions take place on the Big Board's floor", in effect freeing up trading for electronic methods. In 1976, banks were allowed to buy and sell stocks, which provided more competition for stockbrokers . Reforms had the effect of lowering prices overall, making it easier for more people to participate in the stock market. Broker commissions for each stock sale lessened, but volume increased. The Reagan years were marked by

SECTION 60

#1732877119614

9920-576: The Shanghai vaults of Chinese manufacturing magnates and in the coffers of funds controlled by governments in Singapore, Russia, Dubai , Qatar and Saudi Arabia that may amount to some $ 2.5 trillion. An example is the alternative trading platform known as BATS , based in Kansas City , which came "out of nowhere to gain a 9 percent share in the market for trading United States stocks". The firm has computers in

10080-412: The U.S. Congress in early 1891. No progress was made until 1897, when Cass Gilbert was selected to design a new U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green . James Stillman , president of National City Bank (predecessor bank of Citibank ), arranged for his company to buy 55 Wall Street for its headquarters. National City Bank had grown into one of the United States' largest banks under Stillman's leadership;

10240-535: The U.S. equity market for all major stock exchanges are located in North and Central Jersey . A significant amount of securities clearing and settlement workforce is also in the state. This includes the majority of the workforce of Depository Trust Company, the primary U.S. securities depository ; and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation , the parent company of National Securities Clearing Corporation,

10400-514: The Wall Street employment wages were paid in the amount of almost $ 18.5 billion in the state. The industry contributed $ 39.4 billion or 8.4 percent to the New Jersey's gross domestic product in the same year. The most significant area with Wall Street employment is in Jersey City . In 2008, the "Wall Street West" employment contributed to one third of the private sector jobs in Jersey City. Within

10560-527: The William Street side has ten bays and the Exchange Place side has eight bays. Most of the bays contain one window on each floor. There is an entrance for office tenants at 53 Wall Street, on the west side of the building. The central entrance at 55 Wall Street connects with the former banking room. A cornice and various entablatures wrap around the entire facade. Two colonnades face Wall Street, but

10720-403: The area around historic Trinity Church. Cars, however, cannot pass. The Guardian reporter Andrew Clark described the years of 2006 to 2010 as "tumultuous", in which the heartland of America was "mired in gloom" with high unemployment around 9.6%, with average house prices falling from $ 230,000 in 2006 to $ 183,000, and foreboding increases in the national debt to $ 13.4 trillion, but that despite

10880-558: The average. Business writer John Brooks in his book Once in Golconda considered the start of the 20th century period to have been Wall Street's heyday. The address of 23 Wall Street , the headquarters of J. P. Morgan & Company , known as The Corner , was "the precise center, geographical as well as metaphorical, of financial America and even of the financial world". Wall Street has had changing relationships with government authorities. In 1913, for example, when authorities proposed

11040-548: The bank decided to expand the building. Work was delayed slightly because of the Panic of 1907 . The renovation included replacing the fourth floor, adding four more floors, and completely destroying and rebuilding the interior. Contractors retained as much of the existing exterior as possible. The upper stories were constructed from 1908 to 1910, though some of the interior spaces were not completed until 1914. National City Bank moved to 55 Wall Street on December 19, 1908. Messengers carried

11200-436: The bank held $ 13 million in deposits when he became its president in 1891, a figure that had increased to nearly $ 309 million when he retired in 1909. Despite this rapid growth, the bank still occupied a dilapidated space at 52 Wall Street, directly across the street to the north. The U.S. government held a pro forma public auction, in which City Bank made a formal bid for the building, and the bank agreed on July 4, 1899, to buy

11360-499: The bank said that because it had not taken title to the building, the bank should not have to pay property taxes. Stillman, wishing to modify 55 Wall Street, had hired McKim, Mead & White in 1904. Stanford White was the original head of the project, though he died in 1906 before work started. White had suggested redesigning the building to resemble the Pantheon in Rome , and Stillman sent

11520-427: The bank's $ 500 million holdings from the old office across the street in leather satchels containing at least $ 10,000 each. Several days later, the building opened to the public. The expansion had cost $ 2.3 million (about $ 54 million in 2023). Upon the completion of the renovation, National City Bank's law firm Shearman & Sterling had offices on the upper stories. According to Forbes magazine in 1917,

11680-475: The banking floor's interior as a city landmark on January 12, 1999. Additionally, in 2007, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District , a NRHP district. Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City . It runs eight city blocks between Broadway in the west and South Street and

11840-405: The banking floor, which weighed 300 tons. The double-height safe measured approximately 22 by 24 feet (6.7 by 7.3 m) across and 20 feet (6.1 m) high. It was surrounded by 18-inch-thick (46 cm) steel plating and supported by steel and marble stilts that extended into the basement. If anyone attempted to break in, coils along the exterior of the safe would eject hot steam. The interior of

12000-725: The banking hall was "one of the great spaces in the city" because of its "sheer magnitude". In 1972, the Times described 55 Wall Street's banking hall as one of several "notable interior spaces" in New York City, along with the banking halls of 14 Wall Street , 23 Wall Street , and 110 East 42nd Street ; the Chamber of Commerce Building 's great hall; the Cunard Building 's lobby; and the Bowling Green Custom House's rotunda. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated

12160-492: The branch at 55 Wall Street "does more business in its head office than is done under any other nongovernmental banking roof on the face of the earth." A balcony was constructed in 1925 on the south side of the main banking room. The bank had outgrown its offices at 55 Wall Street by February 1927, prompting bank officials to announce plans for a 31-story building on the site of its old headquarters at 52 Wall Street. National City Bank's compound interest and trust departments moved to

12320-417: The building for $ 21.15 million. Credit Suisse wanted to convert 55 Wall Street into a residential structure or a hotel. In September 1997, the building was sold again to a group headed by restaurant-and-ballroom company Cipriani S.A. , businessman Sidney Kimmel , and Hotel Jerome operator T. Richard Butera for $ 27 million. By that point, there was high demand for luxury hotels in Lower Manhattan. Starting

12480-409: The building for $ 3.265 million. The arrangement had been facilitated by Stillman's friendships with President William McKinley and U.S. Treasury Secretary Lyman Gage . The next month, the old Custom House was sold for $ 3.21 million (about $ 99 million in 2023). The U.S. Customs Service remained in the building for eight years after the sale, and the federal government paid City Bank $ 128,000

12640-470: The building from the southwestern corner of the basement. The interior has a total floor area of 241,000 square feet (22,400 m). The original interior was completely demolished and refurbished during McKim, Mead & White's renovation. The banking hall is designed similarly to the former waiting room of Pennsylvania Station , another project the firm designed at the same time. The spaces include marble, mahogany, and brass decorations. The banking hall,

12800-592: The building's exterior as a landmark on December 21, 1965, even though First National City Bank had opposed the designation. 55 Wall Street was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and it was further designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, marking the building as a site that adds "exceptional value to the nation". The building was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places in 1980 as well. The LPC designated

12960-518: The building's major tenants in the 1980s and early 1990s. Gural, Gosin, and Pilevsky spent over $ 20 million to renovate the building. While the renovation was ongoing, the building's chief engineer won a $ 3 million lottery jackpot and resigned. The group sold 55 Wall Street in 1990 to a group of private Japanese investors for $ 69 million. The buyer was later identified as Tokyo-based builders Kajima. Citibank closed its branch bank in 1992, and Migrim Thomajan & Lee went bankrupt. Afterward, 55 Wall Street

13120-473: The building's usage by the United States Custom House included the jail cells used to detain smugglers and spies. The basement contained 12 jail cells, which were used between 1863 and 1899. Embedded in a wall was a cannonball, a keg of gunpowder, and over 100 rudimentary bombs that were believed to have been armaments for custom house employees during the New York City draft riots of 1863. During

13280-405: The buildings on Wall Street itself saw only little physical damage. One estimate was that 45% of Wall Street's "best office space" had been lost. The NYSE was determined to re-open on September 17, almost a week after the attack. During this time Rockefeller Group Business Center opened additional offices at 48 Wall Street . Still, after September 11, the financial services industry went through

13440-538: The capsule in the 1990s was unsuccessful. The Quincy-granite columns were delivered as single blocks via sea; oxen pulled the columns along Wall Street from the dock to the building site. The building was completed in either 1841 or 1842. The last column was not installed until December 16, 1844, the ninth anniversary of the Great Fire. The new structure was initially occupied by the National Bank of Commerce until 1853, and

13600-496: The city's tax revenue, and 22 percent of the city's total wages, including an average salary of US$ 360,700. The seven largest Wall Street firms in the 2000s were Bear Stearns , JPMorgan Chase , Citigroup , Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers . During the recession of 2008–10, many of these firms, including Lehman, went out of business or were bought up at firesale prices by other financial firms. In 2008, Lehman filed for bankruptcy, Bear Stearns

13760-426: The city's tax revenues and 20% of the state's, the downturn has had huge repercussions for government treasuries. New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly over a four-year period dangled over $ 100 million in tax incentives to persuade Goldman Sachs to build a 43-story headquarters in the Financial District near the destroyed World Trade Center site. In 2009, things looked somewhat gloomy, with one analysis by

13920-590: The clamor of business and trade and the owners complaining that they can't get anything done," according to a historian named Burrows. The opening of the Erie Canal in the early 19th century meant a huge boom in business for New York City, since it was the only major eastern seaport which had direct access by inland waterways to ports on the Great Lakes . Wall Street became the "money capital of America". Historian Charles R. Geisst suggested that there has constantly been

14080-462: The coming of night and the suspension of business was entirely changed last night as hundreds of men worked under the glare of searchlights to repair the damage to skyscrapers that were lighted up from top to bottom. ... The Assay Office, nearest the point of explosion, naturally suffered the most. The front was pierced in fifty places where the cast iron slugs, which were of the material used for window weights, were thrown against it. Each slug penetrated

14240-446: The companies included in Dow's original calculations were American Tobacco Company , General Electric , Laclede Gas Company , National Lead Company , Tennessee Coal & Iron , and United States Leather Company . When the average "peaks and troughs" went up consistently, he deemed it a bull market condition; if averages dropped, it was a bear market . He added up prices, and divided by

14400-611: The constructions… by immediately digging a ditch from the East River to the North River, 4 to 5 feet deep and 11 to 12 feet wide..." And that "the soldiers and other servants of the Company, together with the free Negroes, no one excepted, shall complete the work on the fort by constructing a breastwork, and the farmers are to be summoned to haul the sod." The first Anglo-Dutch War ended in 1654 without hostilities in New Amsterdam, but over time

14560-564: The corner of Wall and Broad Street , the busiest corner of the Financial District and across the offices of the Morgan Bank , a powerful bomb exploded . It killed 38 and seriously injured 143 people. The perpetrators were never identified or apprehended. The explosion did, however, help fuel the Red Scare that was underway at the time. A report from The New York Times : The tomb-like silence that settles over Wall Street and lower Broadway with

14720-477: The corner of Wall and Broad streets", and in 1998, offered substantial tax incentives to try to keep it in the Financial District. Plans to rebuild it were delayed by the September 11 attacks. The exchange still occupies the same site. The exchange is the locus for a large amount of technology and data. For example, to accommodate the three thousand people who work directly on the exchange floor requires 3,500 kilowatts of electricity, along with 8,000 phone circuits on

14880-492: The corners of the banking hall, while the fourth through eighth floors were used as office space. The Merchants' Exchange building replaced a structure that had burned down in the Great New York City Fire of 1835 . 55 Wall Street subsequently hosted the New York Stock Exchange , then the United States Custom House until a new Custom House building was developed on Bowling Green in the 1900s. After 55 Wall Street

15040-425: The dealer slipped him a heat-sealed plastic envelope of cocaine and he passed her cash, the transaction was being watched through the sunroof of her car by Federal drug agents in a nearby building. And the customer — an undercover agent himself -was learning the ways, the wiles and the conventions of Wall Street's drug subculture. In 1987, the stock market plunged, and, in the relatively brief recession following,

15200-439: The dome and top story; adding five floors and a second colonnade; and redesigning the exchange floor into a main banking floor. A net total of four stories were added. The first floor was also lowered slightly to resemble a basement and the actual basement was relabeled as a sub-basement. The facade is composed of ashlar granite masonry. The northern and eastern facades are composed of thirteen vertical architectural bays , while

15360-406: The economy changed from "agricultural to industrial to financial" and New York maintained its leadership position despite these changes, according to historian Thomas Kessner. New York was second only to London as the world's financial capital. In 1884, Charles Dow began tracking stocks, initially beginning with 11 stocks, mostly railroads. He looked at average prices for these eleven. Some of

15520-405: The end of that year. By June 2022, King Street Capital Management was considering giving Cipriani $ 150 million to refinance the debt on 110 East 42nd Street and 55 Wall Street. That September, W. P. Carey gave Cipriani a $ 52.1 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan and a $ 28 million mezzanine loan for the two properties. According to James Stillman, 55 Wall Street's 1900s expansion

15680-447: The exterior, and the rotunda was only attractive to large retailers, while office tenants were relegated to a side entrance. Kajima subsidiary Commercial Development had tried to lease the banking hall to a retailer, such as CompUSA or Barnes & Noble , and it enlarged an existing loading dock on Exchange Place to attract retail tenants. Despite the lack of potential tenants for the rotunda, several firms had shown interest in leasing

15840-430: The first official designation of Wall Street in 1686, the same year he issued a new charter for New York. Confusion over the origins of the name Wall Street appeared in modern times because in the 19th and early 20th century some historians mistakenly thought the Dutch had called it "de Waal Straat", which to Dutch ears sounds like Walloon Street. However, in 17th century New Amsterdam, de Waal Straat (Wharf or Dock Street)

16000-548: The former investment firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette was described as a Wall Street firm but had its headquarters on Park Avenue in Midtown . A report described the migration from Wall Street: The financial industry has been slowly migrating from its historic home in the warren of streets around Wall Street to the more spacious and glamorous office towers of Midtown Manhattan. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bear Stearns have all moved north. Nevertheless,

16160-453: The headquarters of banks. These include: Another key anchor for the area is the New York Stock Exchange Building at the corner of Broad Street . It houses the New York Stock Exchange , which is by far the world's largest stock exchange per market capitalization of its listed companies, at US$ 28.5 trillion as of June 30, 2018. City authorities realize its importance, and believed that it has "outgrown its neoclassical temple at

16320-454: The late 1600s the wall encircled most of the city and had two large stone bastions on the northern side. The Dutch named these bastions "Hollandia" and "Zeelandia" after the ships that carried their invasion force. The wall started at Hanover Square on Pearl Street, which was the shoreline at that time, crossed the Indian path that the Dutch called Heeren Wegh , now called Broadway , and ended at

16480-477: The late 18th century, there was a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade securities. The benefit was being in proximity to each other. In 1792, traders formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement which was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange . The idea of the agreement was to make the market more "structured" and "without

16640-456: The late 19th century. Wall Street became the symbol of a country and economic system that many Americans see as having developed through trade, capitalism, and innovation. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial services industry , or New York–based financial interests. Wall Street has become synonymous with financial interests, often used negatively. During

16800-527: The letter "worthy of thoughtful investigation". This led to an act of Congress which authorized the selection of a site for a new custom house and appraiser's warehouse. Soon after, Fryer presented his report to the New York State Chamber of Commerce . The Chamber said in 1889 that "We have not seriously considered the removal of the present Custom House proper, since it is well located, and, if found inadequate, can easily be easily be enlarged to meet all

16960-436: The locus of financial services dealings even by 1911. But as technology progressed, in the middle and later decades of the 20th century, computers and telecommunications replaced paper notifications, meaning that the close proximity requirement could be bypassed in more situations. Many financial firms found that they could move to Midtown Manhattan , only four miles (6 km) away, and still operate effectively. For example,

17120-433: The lower colonnade, though the upper colonnade's columns have lighter proportions. The arrangement of lighter Corinthian columns above heavier Ionic columns was in keeping with a principle of classical architecture . The original building's structural system is made of masonry, while the addition is built around a steel structure. The roof has a cornice with a masonry parapet that surrounds all four sides. The steel frame

17280-402: The lower tip of the island. The Civil War greatly expanded the northern economy, bringing greater prosperity to cities like New York which "came into its own as the nation's banking center" connecting "Old World capital and New World ambition", according to one account. J. P. Morgan created giant trusts and John D. Rockefeller 's Standard Oil moved to New York City. Between 1860 and 1920,

17440-468: The main exchange floor. It was supported by "eight pilasters of fine variegated Italian marble". The original domed structure was the most prominent part of the Lower Manhattan skyline in the early 19th century. Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White, along with William S. Richardson, was hired to enlarge the building between 1907 and 1910. The firm had previously designed commercial buildings, including numerous banks. Their work included removing

17600-420: The main triple-height banking hall on the first floor, there was originally office space on the fourth through seventh floors and staff facilities on the eighth floor. All of these stories surrounded a light court at the center of the building. The offices on the fourth through seventh floors had the address 53 Wall Street. these offices were rented to outside firms. Elevators for the office stories were placed at

17760-439: The manipulative auctions", with a commission structure. Persons signing the agreement agreed to charge each other a standard commission rate; persons not signing could still participate but would be charged a higher commission for dealing. In 1789, Wall Street was the scene of the United States' first presidential inauguration when George Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall on April 30, 1789. This

17920-613: The new building at 52 Wall Street in May 1928. National City Bank and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company merged in 1929, with the latter becoming the City Bank Farmers Trust Company. Two years later, City Bank Farmers Trust erected 20 Exchange Place immediately to the south to house the operations of the expanded bank. First National Bank temporarily moved to 55 Wall Street from its former location at 2 Wall Street, when that structure

18080-444: The next year, building was completely renovated into a luxury hotel. The banking room became a ballroom and luxury restaurant space called Cipriani Wall Street. Midway through the renovation, Cipriani was replaced with Regent Hotels & Resorts as the prospective operator of the hotel. Kimmel also bought out Cipriani's share of the management contract for 55 Wall Street. The Regent Wall Street Hotel opened in 2000 with 144 guest rooms,

18240-445: The north, Hanover Street to the east, Exchange Place to the south, and William Street to the west. Though the building occupies an entire city block , each side is a different length due to the irregular street grid in the area. The dimensions of the building are 191 feet (58 m) on Wall Street, 141 feet (43 m) on Hanover Street, 197 feet (60 m) on Exchange Place, and 177 feet (54 m) on William Street. The building

18400-404: The northwestern corner of the building, near Wall and William streets. The fifth floor contained three dining rooms for office employees: one each for officers, other male workers, and other female workers. Also on the fifth floor were laundry, storage, and serving rooms, as well as a kitchen. On the eighth floor was an attic containing facilities used by bank staff. The building's janitor lived on

18560-522: The northwestern corner of the eighth floor, where there was a suite with six rooms and a restroom. For officers who needed to remain at the building overnight, the eighth floor contained two bedrooms with a shared bathroom on the south side of the light court. The eastern side of the eighth floor contained National City Bank's library, while the northern side contained the No.   8 social club. The eighth floor also contained dining rooms for men and women, as well as

18720-463: The number and quality of financial jobs in the city. One estimate was that Wall Street firms employed close to 200,000 persons in 2008. Another estimate was that in 2007, the financial services industry which had a $ 70 billion profit became 22 percent of the city's revenue. Another estimate (in 2006) was that the financial services industry makes up 9% of the city's work force and 31% of the tax base. An additional estimate from 2007 by Steve Malanga of

18880-538: The number of stocks to get his Dow Jones average . Dow's numbers were a "convenient benchmark" for analyzing the market and became an accepted way to look at the entire stock market . In 1889 the original stock report, Customers' Afternoon Letter , became The Wall Street Journal . Named in reference to the actual street, it became an influential international daily business newspaper published in New York City. After October 7, 1896, it began publishing Dow's expanded list of stocks. A century later, there were 30 stocks in

19040-447: The office space. Real estate developer Donald Trump offered to buy 55 Wall Street in 1996 for $ 20 million, which he stated was a bargain cost. At the time, many tenants had left the building after their leases had expired, and an excess of vacant office space in Lower Manhattan had reduced property values in the area. Trump ultimately decided not to buy 55 Wall Street, and one of Credit Suisse First Boston 's subsidiaries instead purchased

19200-417: The original fourth story and added five floors to create the present building. The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks , and the building is listed on both the New York State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark . It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District , listed on

19360-606: The original outer barrier street, wall, and canal of Amsterdam . After the English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, they renamed the settlement "New York" and in tax records from April 1665 (still in Dutch) they refer to the street as Het Cingel ofte Stadt Wall ("the Belt or the City Wall"). This use of both names for the street also appears as late as 1691 on the Miller Plan of New York. New York Governor Thomas Dongan may have issued

19520-399: The original structure featured twelve massive Ionic columns on Wall Street, each a single block of granite from Quincy, Massachusetts . These columns are each 30.67 feet (9.35 m) tall and measure 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter. Recessed behind this colonnade is a porch, as well as rectangular brass-framed window openings on the second and third stories. In the center of the second floor

19680-478: The other corners. Conference rooms on the third floor were housed in another lavish suite. Pneumatic tubes and telegraph systems were used to transfer data between National City Bank's different departments. The office mezzanines are connected by bronze and iron balconies, which run on two sides of the room alongside the windows. A balcony was also constructed above the southern portion of the banking hall in 1925. The mezzanines also had 21 smaller safes. In addition to

19840-429: The other shoreline (today's Trinity Place), where it took a turn south and ran along the shore until it ended at the old fort . There was a gate at Broadway (the "Land Gate") and another at Pearl Street, the "Water Gate." The wall and its fortifications were eventually removed in 1699—it had outlived its usefulness because the city had grown well beyond the wall. A new City Hall was built at Wall and Nassau in 1700 using

20000-399: The other three facades on William Street, Exchange Place, and Hanover Street have no colonnades. Instead, these sides contain pilasters between each bay on the second and third stories, except for the center bay, which is a large arched window. When McKim, Mead & White expanded the building, the pilasters were extended to the fourth through seventh stories of these facades. The facade of

20160-496: The overall percent of actual users was most likely small. A reporter wrote: The Wall Street drug dealer looked like many other successful young female executives. Stylishly dressed and wearing designer sunglasses, she sat in her 1983 Chevrolet Camaro in a no-parking zone across the street from the Marine Midland Bank branch on lower Broadway. The customer in the passenger seat looked like a successful young businessman. But as

20320-546: The public. Analyst Robert Kuttner in the Huffington Post criticized the bailout as helping large Wall Street firms such as Citigroup while neglecting to help smaller community development banks such as Chicago's ShoreBank . One writer in the Huffington Post looked at FBI statistics on robbery, fraud, and crime and concluded that Wall Street was the "most dangerous neighborhood in the United States" if one factored in

20480-506: The renovations as "laudable" and that "it would be nice to be able to say that the results are as good as the intentions". The interior was critically acclaimed: the fourth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City called the interior a "facility unequaled in America", and the converted banking hall was described as among the world's "most elegant ballrooms". Historian Leland M. Roth wrote that

20640-512: The rent appropriation for the building in June 1906. Meanwhile, City Bank had paid all except $ 40,000 of the purchase price as part of its agreement with the federal government. The bank had not yet taken title to 55 Wall Street, though the city's tax assessors valued the building at $ 5 million. As a result, the New York City government sued City Bank for non-payment of taxes in January 1906. Representatives of

20800-421: The safe contained separate compartments for the bank's daytime and nighttime staff. The safe was moved to the basement in 1957. There was a marble screen and bank tellers ' desks around the safe, within an enclosure measuring 45 by 93 feet (14 by 28 m) across. The Hanover Street side of the banking hall had desks for bank officers, which were separated from the rest of the room by a low marble balustrade with

20960-466: The setbacks, the American economy was once more "bouncing back". What had happened during these heady years? Clark wrote: But the picture is too nuanced simply to dump all the responsibility on financiers. Most Wall Street banks didn't actually go around the US hawking dodgy mortgages; they bought and packaged loans from on-the-ground firms such as Countrywide Financial and New Century Financial, both of which hit

21120-493: The space at two-thirds of the room's height. The room also features gray floors and walls, a coffered ceiling, and delicate mezzanine railings. Light gray stone was imported from Europe for the columns and floors, and gray marble was used for the floors and walls. Above the columns, the interior was finished with artificial stone of a similar color. The ceiling is lit by bronze chandeliers; originally, there were five chandeliers that each measured 12 feet (3.7 m) across. Seals of

21280-472: The stone an inch or two [3–5 cm] and chipped off pieces ranging from three inches to a foot [8–30 cm] in diameter. The ornamental iron grill work protecting each window was broken or shattered. ... the Assay Office was a wreck. ... It was as though some gigantic force had overturned the building and then placed it upright again, leaving the framework uninjured but scrambling everything inside. The area

21440-507: The stones from the bastions as materials for the foundation. Slavery had been introduced to Manhattan in 1626, but it was not until December 13, 1711, that the New York City Common Council made a market at the foot of Wall Street the city's first official slave market for the sale and rental of enslaved Black people and Indians. The market operated from 1711 to 1762 at the corner of Wall and Pearl Streets, and consisted of

21600-404: The surrounding area lost 100,000 jobs according to one estimate. Since telecommunications costs were coming down, banks and brokerage firms could move away from the Financial District to more affordable locations. One of the firms looking to move away was the NYSE. In 1998, the NYSE and the city struck a $ 900 million deal which kept the NYSE from moving across the river to Jersey City ; the deal

21760-504: The trading floor alone, and 200 miles (320 km) of fiber-optic cable below ground. Finance professor Charles R. Geisst wrote that the exchange has become "inextricably intertwined into New York's economy". Wall Street pay, in terms of salaries and bonuses and taxes, is an important part of the economy of New York City , the tri-state metropolitan area , and the United States . Anchored by Wall Street, New York City has been called

21920-421: The wall. Generally, a pilaster often repeats all parts and proportions of an order column; however, unlike it, a pilaster is usually devoid of entasis . Pilasters often appear on the sides of a door frame or window opening on the facade of a building, and are sometimes paired with columns or pillars set directly in front of them at some distance away from the wall, which support a roof structure above, such as

22080-512: The wants of the Government for an indefinite time to come." By the end of the century, the custom house's proximity to the Subtreasury was no longer advantageous, as it was easier to use a check or certificate to make payments on revenue than to pay with gold. Despite opposition to the new structure, a bill to acquire land for a new custom house and sell the old building was passed in both houses of

22240-399: The world's most economically powerful city and leading financial center . As such, a falloff in Wall Street's economy could have "wrenching effects on the local and regional economies". In 2008, after a downturn in the stock market, the decline meant $ 18 billion less in taxable income, with less money available for "apartments, furniture, cars, clothing and services". Estimates vary about

22400-536: Was a section of what is today's Pearl Street . The original wall was constructed under orders from Director General of the Dutch West India Company , Peter Stuyvesant , at the start of the first Anglo-Dutch war soon after New Amsterdam was incorporated in 1653. Fearing an over land invasion of English troops from the colonies in New England (at the time Manhattan was easily accessible by land because

22560-504: Was added around this time, about 20 years after the building had been completed. The proximity of 55 Wall Street to the Subtreasury, which had moved into the old custom house at 26 Wall Street, was particularly beneficial, since the custom house had to make payments in gold. The federal government bought 55 Wall Street outright in 1865. The building also housed other tenants, including the American Bank Note Company , who operated

22720-506: Was also the location of the passing of the Bill of Rights . Alexander Hamilton , who was the first Treasury secretary and "architect of the early United States financial system", is buried in the cemetery of Trinity Church , as is Robert Fulton famed for his steamboats . In the first few decades, both residences and businesses occupied the area, but increasingly business predominated. "There are old stories of people's houses being surrounded by

22880-399: Was bought by JPMorgan Chase forced by the U.S. government , and Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America in a similar shot-gun wedding. These failures marked a catastrophic downsizing of Wall Street as the financial industry goes through restructuring and change. Since New York's financial industry provides almost one-fourth of all income produced in the city, and accounts for 10% of

23040-499: Was closed for weather-related reasons, the first time since Hurricane Gloria in September 1985 and the first two-day weather-related shutdown since the Blizzard of 1888 . Wall Street's architecture is generally rooted in the Gilded Age . The older skyscrapers often were built with elaborate facades, which have not been common in corporate architecture for decades. There are numerous landmarks on Wall Street, some of which were erected as

23200-514: Was described as the "largest in city history to prevent a corporation from leaving town". In 2001, the Big Board , as some termed the NYSE, was described as the world's "largest and most prestigious stock market". When the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001 , the attacks "crippled" the communications network and destroyed many buildings in the Financial District, although

23360-481: Was expanded, it served as the headquarters of National City Bank from 1908 to 1961; Citibank continued to own the building until 1992. The upper stories operated as a hotel from 2000 to 2003, then were renovated again and converted into the Cipriani Club Residences condominium development in 2006. The original banking room became a ballroom. 55 Wall Street occupies a full block bounded by Wall Street to

23520-560: Was installed in the Exchange by April 1835. The Merchants' Exchange building burned down in the Great Fire of New York on December 17, 1835. Fire swept throughout lower Manhattan. Passersby brought valuable objects from other buildings into the Merchants' Exchange, in the belief that the Merchants' Exchange would survive the fire, but the building's cupola collapsed. The Merchants' Exchange's committee of trustees proposed in February 1836 to build

23680-454: Was installed in the banking hall in 1979, and part of the exterior parapet wall was restored during that time. The Walker Group designed the renovation, while the A. J. Construction Company was the main contractor . By then, the banking hall had not been open to the public for several years, but Citibank had declined several developers' offers to buy the building. The renovations entailed removing escalators and platforms that had been installed in

23840-433: Was meant to be an "outward and visible sign of power and combination". One writer characterized the design as "a temple of finance" that was "one of the most opulent banking houses in the United States", and The New York Times dubbed it a "temple of capitalism". Architectural criticism was mixed. The author Peter James Hudson wrote that some critics praised Stillman for retaining the old structure rather than replacing it with

24000-762: Was moved to the basement between September and November 1957. Shortly afterward, in March 1958, City Bank Farmers Trust took over the construction of a skyscraper on 399 Park Avenue , which the Astor family had previously been developing. First National initially considered relocating all of its operations to Park Avenue. By 1959, the bank had decided to relocate its national and international divisions, as well as administrative offices for its New York City branches, to Park Avenue while retaining its legal headquarters and some departments at 55 Wall Street. The Park Avenue headquarters opened in 1961, although First National retained 55 Wall Street as

24160-490: Was part of New Amsterdam during the 17th century. An actual city wall existed on the street from 1653 to 1699. During the 18th century, the location served as a slave market and securities trading site , and from 1703 onward, the location of New York's city hall, which became Federal Hall . In the early 19th century, both residences and businesses occupied the area, but increasingly the latter predominated, and New York's financial industry became centered on Wall Street. During

24320-510: Was previously occupied by a house built in 1656 and a block of housing built in 1789. The original building of the Merchants' Exchange was erected between April 1825 and June 1827 and opened for business on May 1, 1827. It was designed in the Greek Revival style by Alexander Jackson Davis , Ithiel Town , and Samuel Thompson. The structure was two stories tall with a raised basement . It had a frontage of 114 feet (35 m) along Wall Street and

24480-548: Was primarily used by grain merchants, though it also had a post office, the New York Chamber of Commerce , and the New York Stock Exchange . Its presence contributed to a redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood. In 1829, the Merchants' Exchange hired Robert Ball Hughes to sculpt a marble statue of Alexander Hamilton , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . The statue, measuring 15 feet (4.6 m) tall,

24640-624: Was reduced four times before 1960, each time stimulating a mini-rally and boosting volume, and when the Federal Reserve reduced the margin requirements from 90% to 70%. These changes made it somewhat easier for investors to buy stocks on credit. The growing national economy and prosperity led to a recovery during the 1960s, with some down years during the early 1970s in the aftermath of the Vietnam War . Trading volumes climbed; in 1967, according to Time Magazine , volume hit 7.5 million shares

24800-461: Was safe" on Wall Street. A few days later, on October 24, stock values plummeted. The stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression , in which a quarter of working people were unemployed, with soup kitchens, mass foreclosures of farms, and falling prices. During this era, development of the Financial District stagnated, and Wall Street "paid a heavy price" and "became something of

24960-455: Was set to move out. The architect William A. Potter then renovated the building. The custom house moved to 55 Wall Street starting in August 1862. The agency's departments were relocated one at a time; the relocation was completed by December 1862. Clerks were situated in the central rotunda under the dome, while cashiers and auditors worked in the corner offices. The building's original fourth story

25120-423: Was subjected to numerous threats; one bomb threat in 1921 led to detectives sealing off the area to "prevent a repetition of the Wall Street bomb explosion". September 1929 was the peak of the stock market. October 3, 1929, was when the market started to slip, and it continued throughout the week of October 14. In October 1929, renowned Yale economist Irving Fisher reassured worried investors that their "money

25280-405: Was that Wall Street provided a fourth of all personal income earned in the city, and 10% of New York City's tax revenue. The city's securities industry, enumerating 163,400 jobs in August 2013, continues to form the largest segment of the city's financial sector and an important economic engine, accounting in 2012 for 5 percent of private sector jobs in New York City, 8.5 percent (US$ 3.8 billion) of

25440-419: Was used mostly for film shoots, since the rotunda was unoccupied and much of the office space on the upper floors was also vacant. The building was depicted in advertisements, like those for Cadillac and the mutual funds company PNC Inc., as well as in films such as Batman Forever and Die Hard with a Vengeance . 55 Wall Street's various landmark statuses precluded potential tenants from easily renovating

25600-451: Was weakened during the construction of an annex to 14 Wall Street , although First National returned to 2 Wall Street in 1933. 55 Wall Street and 20 Exchange Place collectively served as National City Bank's global headquarters and were connected by a now-demolished pedestrian bridge over Exchange Place. Initially, 55 Wall Street did not have any signage indicating that it housed the National City Bank. In 1947, bank officials decided to install

#613386