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103-747: The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse (originally the United States Courthouse or the Foley Square Courthouse ) is a 37-story courthouse at 40 Centre Street on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City , United States. Opened in 1936, the building was designed by Cass Gilbert and his son, Cass Gilbert Jr., in the Classical Revival style. The United States Court of Appeals for

206-582: A United States post office as well as court facilities for the District of New Jersey . Some branches of U.S. federal government courts are housed in rented office space in buildings housing commercial tenants; for instance, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware is located in an office building in Wilmington, Delaware , across the street from the main courthouse of

309-472: A black hole into which every urban nightmare and unspeakable fear could be projected." The Old Brewery had formerly been Coulthard's Brewery, which was located on the outskirts of the town less than thirty years earlier in the 1790s. Later enveloped by the growing city, it was located on Cross Street just south of the Five Points intersection. The brewery became known as the "Old Brewery" after being converted to

412-415: A blast-resistant film. The base measures 321 by 234 feet (98 by 71 m). It is six stories high, excluding the basement story. The site slopes downward to the north; as a result, there are entrances to the building's basement from Pearl Street. The facade contains a colonnade of round columns on Centre Street, as well as flat pilasters on the other elevations. Built around three interior courtyards ,

515-500: A completely different continent. These characteristics include the materiality in terms of large stone construction, the repetitive rhythmic use of windows containing various sized arches and barrel vaults directing attention towards them, decorated spandrels (wall section connecting arches) and the inclusion of gabled walls (pointed sections). Old City Hall has been designated a National Historical Site since 1989. Five Points, Manhattan Five Points (or The Five Points )

618-541: A cornice and a small attic. The top of the tower contains stone eagles at each corner, between which are low parapets . The eagles and parapets surround the steep pyramidal roof. The roof of the tower is pyramidal , pitched steeply, and made of terracotta clad in gold leaf . Before he was hired to design the United States Courthouse, Gilbert had designed the roof of the New York Life Building in

721-690: A depth of 381.25 feet (116 m). The courthouse is flanked by two high-rise government buildings: the Manhattan Municipal Building to the south and the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse to the north. Adjacent to the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, and also facing Foley Square, is the New York County Courthouse to the north. The building also abuts St. Andrew Church to

824-584: A federally owned building that houses courtrooms, chambers and clerk's offices. Many federal judicial districts are further split into divisions, which may also have their own courthouses. However, sometimes divisional court facilities are located in buildings that also house other agencies or offices of the United States government; for instance, the Mitchell H. Cohen United States Courthouse in Camden, New Jersey houses

927-517: A half years; it was among the first federal skyscrapers constructed. After Gilbert's death, his son Cass Gilbert Jr. supervised construction. The building opened on January 15, 1936, and was renovated in the 1990s. The United States Congress passed a bill renaming the building in honor of former United States Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall in 2001, and the courthouse was rededicated on April 15, 2003. The building underwent extensive renovations from 2006 to 2013. The United States Courthouse

1030-645: A large-scale riot which raged back and forth on Bayard Street, between Bowery and Mulberry Street. Rioting resumed on July 5. The Bowery Boys and the Dead Rabbits fought again in front of 40 and 42 Bowery Street (original buildings still extant in May 2017), erecting barricades in the street. On July 6 the Bowery Boys fought the Kerryonians (Irishmen from County Kerry ) at Anthony and Centre Street. Historian Tyler Anbinder says

1133-515: A new Civic Center municipal building and a plaza, although the United States Courthouse would have remained in place. The General Services Administration planned to rearrange the interior of the United States Courthouse, but a federal judge placed an injunction on the plans in 1963. The city presented a revised proposal for the neighborhood in April 1964. As part of the Civic Center redevelopment, in 1965,

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1236-486: A similar style. The lowest section of the roof contains a small dormer window on each elevation. Above that are three additional levels of dormer windows. There is also a small open lantern, also gold- glazed terracotta, at the top. The base of the lantern is surrounded by a railing, while the lantern's corners and steep roof contain finials . The public interior spaces were intended as "ceremonial spaces". Under Gilbert's original plan, visitors would access these spaces in

1339-401: A specific order, passing through the portico, the lobby, and various hallways before reaching the courtrooms. The ceremonial spaces were then ornamented by details, such as plaster ceilings, in a particular color scheme. Gilbert died before the interior designs were finished; as a result, the interior spaces were executed in a different color palette than Gilbert had planned. The main hall spans

1442-412: A tenement / boarding house in 1837. Its lower, high-ceilinged floor and the above two floors were converted into four floors of rundown apartments. The rent was cheap and attracted many low-income tenants, many of them immigrants. The only census record taken in 1850 reported 221 people living in 35 apartments, averaging 6.3 persons per apartment. Accounts conflict as to the total number of people living in

1545-685: Is equivalent to the city hall as the symbol of the municipium in European free cities . Courthouses are often shown in American cinema (i.e. " Peyton Place ", " Back to the Future ", and " My Cousin Vinny "). They range from small-town rural buildings with a few rooms to huge metropolitan courthouses that occupy large plots of land. The style of American architecture used varies, with common styles including federal , Greek Revival , neoclassicist , and modern . Due to

1648-447: Is in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City , United States. It occupies most section of the city block bounded by Centre Street and Foley Square to the northwest, Pearl Street to the north, Cardinal Hayes Place to the southeast, and St. Andrews Plaza to the south. The irregularly shaped land lot covers 74,180 square feet (6,892 m), with a frontage of 205.58 feet (63 m) on Pearl Street and

1751-487: Is now Columbus Park. Infectious diseases , such as cholera , tuberculosis , typhus , and malaria and yellow fever , had plagued New York City since the Dutch colonial era. The lack of scientific knowledge, sanitation systems, the numerous overcrowded dwellings, and absence of even rudimentary health care made impoverished areas such as Five Points ideal for the development and spread of these diseases. Several epidemics swept

1854-639: Is now known as Columbus Park . That the place known as "Five points" has long been notorious... as being the nursery where every species of vice is conceived and matured; that it is infested by a class of the most abandoned and desperate character.... [They] are abridged from enjoying themselves in their sports, from the apprehension... that they may be enticed from the path of rectitude, by being familiarized with vice; and thus advancing step by step, be at last swallowed up in this sink of pollution, this vortex of irremediable infamy.... In conclusion your Committee remark, that this hot-bed of infamy, this modern Sodom ,

1957-403: Is rounded off. The first floor is mostly above ground level, except at the southwestern end, where it abuts St. Andrew Church. At that location, the first floor is the same height as the ground. Above the sixth story, the base has a green roof covering 21,000 square feet (2,000 m). The green roof also includes a 10,000-U.S.-gallon (38,000 L) rainwater tank , which was intended to reduce

2060-624: Is said to have had a murder a night for 15 years, until its demolition in 1852. Italians first settled in the Five Points in the 1850s. The parish of the Church of the Transfiguration at 25 Mott Street was largely Italian by the 1880s. Mulberry Bend, named for the curve in Mulberry Street in the Chatham District, became the heart of Little Italy , which at its most populated was bordered on

2163-489: Is situated in the very heart of your City, and near the centre of business and of respectable population.... Remove this nucleus—scatter its present population over a larger surface—throw open this part of your city to the enterprise of active and respectable men, and you will have effected much for which good men will be grateful. A major effort was made to clear the Old Brewery on Cross Street, described as "a vast dark cave,

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2266-553: Is sometimes considered the original American melting pot , at first consisting primarily of newly emancipated Black Americans (gradual emancipation led to the end of outright enslavement in New York on July 4, 1827) and ethnic Irish, who had a small minority presence in the area since the 1600s. The local politics of "the Old Sixth ward" (The Points' primary municipal voting district), while not free of corruption, set important precedents for

2369-400: Is treated as an attic, with rectangular windows separated by pilasters. A bronze flagpole rises above the portico. On the other elevations of the base, there are pilasters topped by Corinthian capitals, which are similar to those above the columns in the portico. The pilasters face north toward Pearl Street and east toward Cardinal Hayes Place. The northeast corner of the building, facing east,

2472-576: The New York City Department of Correction are clustered around lower Centre Street. The Tombs jail/prison , in which many criminals from Five Points were incarcerated and quite a few executed, stood near the site of the City Prison Manhattan at 125 White Street; the latter prison stood on the site until 2023. The northeastern and eastern portion of Five Points is now within the sprawling Chinatown . Many tenement buildings dating from

2575-573: The Oklahoma City bombing , the federal government proceeded to heavily fortify all large federal buildings, including many urban courthouses. Some courthouses in areas with high levels of violent crime have redundant layers of security. For example, when the Supreme Court of California hears oral argument in San Francisco or Los Angeles, visitors must pass through one security checkpoint to enter

2678-574: The government of New York City , selling the City Hall Post Office to the city. In addition, the city and the St. Andrew Church swapped two land parcels, since the church owned some property that was to be part of the courthouse. In July 1932, the federal government hired the George J. Atwell Foundation Corporation to excavate the site of the courthouse. The U.S. Treasury had approved the exterior design, but

2781-407: The "dead rabbits" name "so captured the imagination of New Yorkers that the press continued to use it despite the abundant evidence that no such club or gang existed". Anbinder notes that, "for more than a decade, 'Dead Rabbit' became the standard phrase by which city residents described any scandalously riotous individual or group." Brick-bats , stones and clubs were flying thickly around, and from

2884-444: The 22nd floor, a denticulated cornice runs horizontally across all elevations of the facade. There are seven square windows on each elevation at the 23rd story. On the 24th and 25th floors, each elevation contains seven bays separated by double-height pilasters. On each elevation, each of the five central bays contains a double-height arched window, above which is a square window; the two outer bays contain narrow rectangular windows. At

2987-479: The 27th floor, the tower contains a small setback and is surrounded by a parapet. The setback section is marked by urns at the corners. Above the setback, the tower rises for three additional stories and contains five bays on each elevation. The bays are separated by triple-height engaged columns designed in the Ionic order , and there are two pilasters on each end of either elevation. These columns and pilasters support

3090-518: The 30th. The main hall, spanning the width of the building along Centre Street, is decorated with marble floors and walls and a coffered ceiling . The building also contains 35 courtrooms, as well as a double-height library on the 25th floor. The courthouse was proposed in 1928 because of overcrowding at the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse . Construction began in July 1932 and lasted three and

3193-606: The Brewery flats, but all agreed that it was well over capacity. The poverty seen throughout the Five Points was also displayed at the Old Brewery, and the women of the Home Mission took action. This Methodist charity group was determined to clean up Five Points. The Christian Advocate , also called The Christian Advocate and Journal , a weekly New York newspaper published by the Methodist Episcopal Church , reported on

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3296-533: The City of New York in the 18th and 19th centuries, some of which originated in Five Points. Others were introduced by passengers disembarking from ships from overseas, including immigrants. In June 1832, an outbreak of cholera in Five Points spread rapidly throughout the crowded, unsanitary dwellings of the neighborhood before spreading to the rest of New York City. With no understanding of disease vectors or transmission, some observers believed that these epidemics were due to

3399-452: The Greek key molding seen in the main hall also frames the ceilings of the tower courtrooms. The Court of Appeals courtroom ceiling also depicts nautical symbols. There are 11 elevators, of which four only operate to the 17th floor, the highest floor that is open to the public. The upper floors mostly contain offices, which retain little of the original decorations or layout. Within the tower, at

3502-703: The Los Angeles Superior Court added such checkpoints to all entrances to its main courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles after a woman was shot and killed by her ex-husband in open court in September 1995. The Supreme Court of California ruled in 2002 that Los Angeles County (which at the time was responsible for maintaining the courthouses) was not liable to her three children under the California Government Tort Claims Act. After

3605-664: The Old Brewery, under the direction of the Five Points Mission. It provided housing, clothes, food, and education as part of the charitable endeavor. The new building had 58 rooms available for living space, twenty-three more than the Old Brewery. The area formerly occupied by Five Points was gradually redeveloped through the twentieth century. In the west and south, it is occupied by major federal, state, and city administration buildings and courthouses known collectively as Civic Center, Manhattan . In addition Columbus Park, Collect Pond Park , Foley Square , and various facilities of

3708-742: The Second Circuit and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York hear cases in the courthouse, which is across the street from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City . It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark . The building is divided into two parts: a six-story base and a 31-story office tower. The facade of

3811-446: The U.S. government proposed constructing a new building (later the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building ) to house appellate courts and eleven federal agencies. This would free up about 32,000 square feet (3,000 m) in the courthouse building. The building's facade was also washed in mid-1965 for the first time in three decades. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated

3914-637: The United States acquired land on Church Street for a new federal office building . Federal jurists advocated for their own courthouse, leading the United States Department of the Treasury to approve a second building in 1930. As early as 1930, the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White had drawn up designs for a federal courthouse at Centre and Pearl Streets, replacing the New York City Board of Health building. Architect Cass Gilbert

4017-405: The United States Courthouse as a New York City landmark on March 25, 1975. The same year, the adjacent Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York , jail opened to the east. The United States Attorney 's office was also relocated from the courthouse to the jail building. Although the new jail was not directly visible from Foley Square, it was connected to the courthouse via a footbridge. The building

4120-422: The United States as well, creating new dance and music forms, in New York this music and dance had spontaneously resulted on the street from competition between African-American and Irish musicians and dancers. It spilled into Almack's, where it gave rise in the short term to tap dance (see Master Juba ) and in the long term to a music hall genre that was a major precursor to jazz and rock and roll . This ground

4223-447: The area, in a natural depression, lacked adequate storm sewers . As a result, the ground gradually subsided. Houses shifted on their foundations, the unpaved streets were often buried in a foot of mud mixed with human and animal excrement, and mosquitoes bred in the stagnant pools created by the poor drainage. Most middle and upper class inhabitants fled the area, leaving the neighborhood open to poor immigrants who began arriving in

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4326-525: The attack …. But the business part of our population, in general, appear to be in perfect health and security. — New-York Mercury , July 18, 1832 The Anti-abolitionist riots of 1834 , also known as the Farren Riots, occurred in New York City over a series of four nights, beginning July 7, 1834. Their deeper origins lay in the combination of nativism and abolitionism among Protestants, who had controlled

4429-443: The base is irregularly shaped, following the outline of the site. On all elevations, the first four stories are clad with rusticated granite blocks. The building's cornerstone is made of granite and contains the names of Treasury secretary Ogden L. Mills , assistant Treasury secretary Ferry K. Heath , architect Cass Gilbert , and supervising architect James A. Wetmore . Massive granite steps flanked by large pedestals lead up to

4532-627: The building housing the courthouse may be named in some way or its function divided as between a judicial building and administrative office building. Philadelphia City Hall , for instance, serves as the seat of the legislative and executive functions of the consolidated city and county of Philadelphia , but most of its floor space is devoted to the Civil Division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas . The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania shares space with three local governments and with

4635-526: The building was rededicated on April 15, 2003. In November 2006, the Second Circuit left the Marshall Courthouse while the building underwent extensive renovations. During this period, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse across the street temporarily housed the Second Circuit. To make way for additional mechanical systems, four elevators in the tower were truncated to the 17th floor,

4738-533: The building's water consumption by 25 percent compared to a conventional building of the same size. The tower is a square measuring 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 m). It is set back from the base parallel to the front of the building on Centre Street. On the first sixteen stories above the base (consisting of the 7th through 22nd floors), each elevation is divided vertically into multiple bays, each with one window. The bays are separated vertically by projecting piers and horizontally by rectangular spandrel panels. Above

4841-643: The building, and another to enter the courtroom. In Canada , each municipality constructs its own courthouse, or several in the case of large cities. In smaller communities the court is in the same building as the city hall and other municipal offices. In the past many courthouses also included the local prison. One well-known court house in Canada is the Romanesque Revival (Neo-Romanesque) Old City Hall in Toronto , Ontario . Designed by E.J. Lennox , Old City Hall

4944-476: The building. After Gilbert's death in 1934, construction was supervised by his son Cass Gilbert Jr. until its completion. The courthouse was originally known as the Foley Square Courthouse and was among the first federal skyscrapers constructed. By early 1935, James Stewart & Co. planned to finish the building before that August. The Federal Courthouse was one of two skyscrapers in Manhattan completed in 1935,

5047-496: The city since the American Revolution , and the fear and resentment of Blacks among the growing numbers of Irish immigrants, who competed with them for jobs and housing. In 1827, Great Britain repealed legislation controlling and restricting emigration from Ireland, and 20,000 Irish emigrated. By 1835, more than 30,000 Irish had arrived in New York annually. Among the casualties of the riots was St. Philip's Episcopal Church ,

5150-486: The coffers. Richly ornamental bronzework surrounds many of the interior doors , including those of the elevators . The elevator doors are made of steel, painted in a gold color; they were initially supposed to be made of brass, but these plans were changed to save money. This bronze detailing features an unusual combination of metaphorical images related to law and government, including dolphins , an erudite if somewhat obscure symbol of birth and democratic ideals. Among

5253-403: The construction of various city government buildings there. Just prior to the construction of the present courthouse, the site had contained the New York City Board of Health building. Prior to the construction of the current courthouse, the City Hall Post Office had contained federal offices and courtrooms. The post office building had become overcrowded by 1928, when the federal government of

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5356-530: The courthouse after the late Supreme Court of the United States justice Thurgood Marshall . Before being elevated to the Supreme Court, Marshall had worked at the courthouse from 1961 to 1965 as a judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The United States Congress passed a bill in 2001, renaming the building in honor of Thurgood Marshall. The legislation was signed into law on August 20, 2001, and

5459-427: The courthouse also contains the main administrative office for the county government, or when a new courthouse is constructed, the former one will often be used for other local government offices. Either way, a typical courthouse will have one or more courtrooms and a court clerk's office with a filing window where litigants may submit documents for filing with the court. Each United States district court also has

5562-433: The courthouse out of granite, awarding a contract to James Stewart & Co. for $ 5.996 million on January 20, 1933. The contractor was given 720 business days to finish the job. Lawyers and federal officials laid the building's cornerstone on March 1, 1933. The next month, Bethlehem Steel subsidiary McClintic-Marshall Company received a contract to manufacture 10,500 short tons (9,400 long tons; 9,500 t) of steel for

5665-617: The designer of the Woolworth Building took great pride," referring to how Gilbert had also designed the Woolworth Building nearby. Paul Goldberger of the same paper wrote that the United States Courthouse's staircase, along with that of the neighboring New York County Courthouse, "create a strong urban order that gives definition to the east side of Foley Square". The front steps of the Federal Courthouse, along with that of

5768-482: The disorganized state of the city's police force, brought about by the conflict between the Municipal and Metropolitan police , gangsters and other criminals from all parts of the city began to engage in widespread looting and the destruction of property. The Daily National Intelligencer of July 8, 1857, estimated that between 800 and 1,000 gang members took part in the riots, along with several hundred others who used

5871-570: The district court. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has a courthouse in Yosemite to hear misdemeanors and petty crimes for Yosemite National Park . Most of the United States courts of appeals are based in the main courthouses of the federal district court in the city in which they are seated. The courthouse is part of the iconography of American life and

5974-625: The disturbance to loot the Bowery area. It was the largest disturbance since the Astor Place Riot in 1849. Order was restored by the New York State Militia (under Major-General Charles W. Sandford ), supported by detachments of city police. Eight people were reported killed, and more than 100 people received serious injuries. Various efforts by different charitable organizations and individuals, most of them Christian, attempted to alleviate

6077-457: The early 1820s. This influx reached a height in the 1840s, with large numbers of Irish Catholics fleeing the Great Famine . At the height of Five Points' inhabitation, only parts of London's East End were equivalent in the western world for population density, child and infant mortality , disease, violent crime, unemployment, prostitution, and other classic problems of the urban destitute. It

6180-569: The election of Catholics to key political offices. Before that time, New York, and the United States at large, had been governed by the Anglo-Protestant founders. Although there were many tensions between Black Americans and the Irish, their cohabitation in Five Points was the first large-scale instance of voluntary racial integration in American history. Gradually, this African-American community moved to Manhattan's West Side and to undeveloped lands on

6283-523: The equivalent term is a palace of justice (French: palais de justice, Italian: palazzo di giustizia, Portuguese: palácio da justiça). In the United States , most counties maintain trial courts in a county-based courthouse, which also house other county government offices. The courthouse may be a part of a wider county government building or complex. The courthouse is usually located in the county seat , although large metropolitan counties may have satellite or annex offices for their courts. In some cases,

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6386-406: The fifth-story frieze , which does not have any windows. The frieze is carved with a detailed floral design. The ends of the entablature above are embellished with roundels , designed to resemble ancient coins , on which are carved the heads of four ancient lawgivers: Plato , Aristotle , Demosthenes , and Moses . Above this entablature is a cornice with denticulated blocks. The sixth story

6489-455: The first black Episcopal church in the city, then located at 122 Centre Street. It was sacked and looted by the mostly ethnic Irish mob. The media designated a branch of the " Roach Guards ", a violent Irish gang, "Dead Rabbits". The Dead Rabbits Riot began when one faction destroyed the headquarters of the Bowery Boys at 26 Bowery, on July 4, 1857. The Bowery Boys retaliated, which led to

6592-440: The footprint of the building. Secure entrance vestibules provide court staff the opportunity to screen visitors to the building for contraband, such as weapons and narcotics, as well as for unauthorized access. Mid size to larger courthouses often have separate entrances to the building for the public, prisoners, judges, and witnesses. These entrances may be monitored remotely from a central security station. In lower risk settings,

6695-403: The highest story accessible by members of the public. Pipes and wiring were installed in the upper portions of these elevator shafts, and mechanical equipment was installed in the attic, which had a low ceiling. Some of the new wires and pipes were concealed behind existing decorations. For example, air-conditioning ducts were installed under the floor of the double-height library, while a sprinkler

6798-494: The immorality of residents of the slum: Every day's experience gives us assurance of the safety of the temperate and prudent, who are in circumstances of comfort …. The disease is now, more than before rioting in the haunts of infamy and pollution. A prostitute at 62 Mott Street , who was decking herself before the glass at 1 o'clock yesterday, was carried away in a hearse at half past three o'clock. The broken down constitutions of these miserable creatures, perish almost instantly on

6901-551: The interior arrangement was still being finalized. A groundbreaking ceremony for the building was held on July 20, 1932. The federal government solicited bids for the courthouse's construction in January 1933, with each bidder submitting three cost estimates for different construction materials. James Stewart & Co. submitted a low bid for granite, while the N. P. Severin Company submitted a low bid for limestone. The Treasury decided to build

7004-556: The intersection and Park (formerly Cross) has been eliminated on both sides of it; thus, the junction of Baxter and Worth remaining today has only two corners. Also, what remained of Park Street was renamed to Mosco Street in 1982. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan , the main source of drinking water for the growing city was Collect Pond , or Fresh Water Pond , which also supplied abundant fish. The pond occupied approximately 48 acres (190,000 m ) and

7107-1005: The legislative and executive branches of the state government of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia City Hall in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg , which it shares with the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Governor of Pennsylvania , and the Pittsburgh City-County Building in Pittsburgh , which it shares with the governments of the City of Pittsburgh and of Allegheny County . Many judges also officiate at civil marriage ceremonies in their courthouse chambers. In some places,

7210-423: The main entrance on Foley Square. Gilbert intended the pedestals to bear two monumental sculptural groups, but they were never executed. On Centre Street, ten quadruple-height Corinthian columns form a colonnade, behind which is the main entrance portico . There are windows recessed behind this portico, as well as flat pilasters on either side of the colonnade. The words "United States Court House" are inscribed on

7313-405: The marble walls. The ceiling is made of plaster and wood and is divided into seven rectangular, coffered sections. These coffers are separated from each other by elaborate moldings with Greek key motifs. The coffers are decorated with large plaster rosettes tipped with 22- karat gold leaf on alternating backgrounds of crimson and peacock blue , with smaller rosettes at the junctions of

7416-465: The modalities involved in the hearing of complex cases, including civil, criminal, and family law disputes, the architecture of court buildings can present significant security challenges to enforcement officers. Architects typically use two main tools to mitigate security risks within the adjudicative space depending upon local needs, such as the proliferation of weapons: secure entrance vestibules and separation of circulation pathways and adjacencies within

7519-461: The neighborhood. Slum clearance efforts (promoted in particular by Jacob Riis , author of How the Other Half Lives , published 1890), succeeded in razing part of Mulberry Bend off Mulberry Street, one of the worst sections of the Five Points neighborhood. It was redeveloped as a park designed by noted landscape architect Calvert Vaux and named Mulberry Bend Park at its opening in 1897; it

7622-657: The neighboring New York County Courthouse, have also been used as a filming location. Court administrator Steven Flanders told The Wall Street Journal in 1989: "The steps are where fantasy and reality seem to merge into a spectacle that the public can't resist." Notes Sources Courthouse The term is commonly used in the English-speaking countries of North America. In most other English-speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply called "courts" or "court buildings". In most of continental Europe and former non-English-speaking European colonies,

7725-598: The north end of the island in the famous Harlem by the early 20th century and across the Harlem River into the South Bronx , as the city developed northward. Five Points is alleged to have had the highest murder rate of any slum at that time in the world. According to an old New York urban legend , the Old Brewery , formerly Coulthard's Brewery from the 1790s, then an overcrowded tenement on Cross Street housing 1,000 poor,

7828-698: The ongoing project in October 1853: In a meeting held in Metropolitan Hall , in December 1851, such convincing proof was given of the public interest in this project, that the resolution was passed by the Executive Committee to purchase the Old Brewery. Other appeals were made to the public, and nobly met. That celebrated haunt was purchased, in a few months utterly demolished, and already a noble missionary building occupies its site. The New Mission House replaced

7931-419: The only place the systems of circulation, including hallways, stairwells, and elevators overlap is within the monitored setting of the courtroom. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to court materials by the public, such as court clerk record vaults, as well as the risk of in-custody defendants intimidating witnesses or jurors while being escorted through the public areas of the courthouse. For example,

8034-445: The other being Rockefeller Center 's International Building . Judges did not move into the courthouse until January 15, 1936. The new building had 10 courtrooms for cases with juries and four courtrooms for cases that did not require juries. Notable events over the years that have occurred in the courthouse include the espionage conspiracy trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ; the guilty plea of Ivan Boesky to conspiracy charges; and

8137-460: The other motifs are grasshoppers apparently feeding on stalks of wheat , accompanied by the Greek word meta , meaning "to transform", which conveys the idea that change, even conflict, is essential to growth; there are also owls , representing wisdom , and acorns and oak leaves , signifying strength and endurance. Variations on the decorative motifs employed within the main hall appear throughout

8240-507: The plan, the United States Courthouse would be the central structure of a new "civic center", surrounded by several public buildings. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also occupied nine stories in the United States Courthouse until 1952, when the FBI leased other space nearby. The government of New York City proposed redeveloping the Civic Center in 1962 as part of the "ABC plan". Several structures were to have been demolished to make way for

8343-419: The pond and making it a centerpiece of a recreational park, around which the residential areas of the city could grow. His proposal was rejected, and it was decided to fill in the pond. The landfill was completed in 1811, and middle class homes were soon built on the reclaimed land . The landfill was poorly engineered. The buried vegetation began to release methane gas (a byproduct of decomposition ) and

8446-432: The rest of the interior. The building contains 35 courtrooms. Sixteen are original to the courthouse: five in the base and eleven in the tower, including the historic United States Court of Appeals courtroom. Many of the smaller courtrooms have been significantly modified, but many of the larger courtrooms retain their original decorations. All have wood- paneled walls with colossal round arches and fluted Ionic pilasters;

8549-654: The security screening may be more perfunctory and serve as an information desk to direct visitors to the various agencies and offices housed within the court building. Once users of the court have entered the building through security screenings and access control checkpoints, the circulation systems of passageways through the building provide discrete pathways by which the public, court staff, and in-custody defendants access to courtrooms and other court services, such as attorneys, pretrial and probation services, and clerks' offices. The circulation pathways and adjacency diagrams designed for newer and larger courthouses often ensure that

8652-543: The south by Worth Street, on the east by the Bowery, and on the west by West Broadway. "Almack's" (also known as "Pete Williams's Place"), an African American-owned dance hall located at 67 Orange Street in Mulberry Bend (today Baxter Street), just south of its intersection with Bayard Street, was home to a fusion of Irish reels and jigs with the African shuffle . Though different ethnic groups interacted in other parts of

8755-404: The southeast and the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York , jail to the east. Historically, the site of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse was occupied by the southern portion of Collect Pond . By the mid-19th century, slums and tenements had been developed in the area, which had become known as Five Points . The area was redeveloped into the Civic Center in the early 20th century, with

8858-491: The southeastern part of the pond in an easterly direction to the East River . In the 18th century, the pond was used as a picnic area during summer and a skating rink during the winter. Beginning in the early 18th century, various commercial enterprises were built along the shores of the pond in order to use the water. These businesses included Coulthards Brewery , Nicholas Bayard 's slaughterhouse on Mulberry Street (which

8961-407: The structure is made of gray Minnesota granite. The base of the courthouse, built around three interior courtyards , occupies an irregular lot. The main entrance on Centre Street contains a portico accessed by massive granite steps, while the remainder of the base contains flat pilasters . A square tower, recessed from the base, rises to a small setback on the 27th floor and a pyramidal roof above

9064-419: The suffering of the poor in Five Points. Padre Felix Varela , a Cuban -born priest, established a Roman Catholic parish at the former Episcopalian Christ Church on Ann Street in 1827, to minister to the poor Irish Catholics. In 1836, Father Varela's parish was divided into two parishes, with one on James Street dedicated to St. James, and second one housed in a former Presbyterian church on Chambers Street, which

9167-414: The trial of Martha Stewart . In 1942, the federal government sued the city government, requesting that the city pay $ 5.2 million as part of the land swap. The city government unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to rule on the dispute, and the city had paid for the land in full by the end of 1945. The city government was planning to redevelop the surrounding area by 1948. Under

9270-462: The twentieth century, the former Five Points area was gradually redeveloped, with streets changed or closed. The area is now occupied by the Civic Center to the west and south, which includes major federal, state, and city facilities. To the east and north, the former Five Points neighborhood is now part of Manhattan's Chinatown . Two crossing streets and a third that ends at their intersection form five corners, or "points". About 1809, Anthony Street

9373-401: The twenty-fifth floor, a double-height library features large ceiling beams supported by brackets painted with stenciled foliate designs. The library largely retains its original design, although a balcony has been added to increase the capacity of the stacks . The library's high arched windows overlook of the Manhattan skyline . The courthouse was not unanimously well received when it

9476-509: The width of the building along its principal elevation on Centre Street. It is very similar in design and ornamentation to the main hall of the United States Supreme Court building , which Gilbert designed at the same time. Twenty-nine feet in height, it has green- and black-veined white marble floors; the white marble that lines its walls has gold- and cream-colored veining. There are double-height Ionic pilasters superimposed onto

9579-504: The windows in all directions, and the men ran wildly about brandishing firearms. Wounded men lay on the sidewalks and were trampled upon. Now the Rabbits would make a combined rush and force their antagonists up Bayard street to the Bowery. Then the fugitives, being reinforced, would turn on their pursuers and compel a retreat to Mulberry, Elizabeth and Baxter streets. The New-York Daily Times , July 6, 1857 As residents took advantage of

9682-655: Was a 19th-century neighborhood in Lower Manhattan , New York City . The neighborhood, partly built on low-lying land which had filled in the freshwater lake known as the Collect Pond , was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street to the west, the Bowery to the east, Canal Street to the north, and Park Row to the south. The Five Points gained international notoriety as a densely populated, disease-ridden, crime-infested slum which existed for over 70 years. Through

9785-464: Was as deep as 60 feet (18 m). Fed by an underground spring, it was located in a valley, with Bayard's Mount (at 110 feet or 34 metres, the tallest hill in lower Manhattan) to the northeast. A stream flowed north out of the pond and then west through a salt marsh (which, after being drained, became a meadow by the name of "Lispenard Meadows") to the Hudson River , while another stream issued from

9888-598: Was commissioned to design a new federal courthouse at Foley Square, and Gilbert submitted plans for the courthouse to the Treasury Department in February 1932. The 38-story building, composed of a 7-story base and 31-story tower, would contain all offices for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York . In June 1932, the federal government acquired the Health Department Building from

9991-633: Was completed in 1899 and has been functioning as a municipal building ever since. It was originally constructed to facilitate Toronto's City Council, legal and municipal offices and the city's courts however following the construction of the fourth city hall (adjacent to the third, on Queen Street) the building's purpose was limited to being solely a courthouse for the Ontario Court of Justice . The building can be described as Romanesque Revival due to multiple characteristics it shares with Romanesque architecture, despite being constructed seven centuries later in

10094-456: Was completed. Modernist architecture proponent and sociologist Lewis Mumford called it "the supreme example of pretentiousness, mediocrity, bad design and fake grandeur." Christopher Gray of The New York Times wrote: "The total composition, seen from Foley Square, is impressive but not inspirational." On the other hand, Lee E. Cooper of the Times wrote in 1935: "This is the type of work in which

10197-474: Was extended east to the junction of Cross and Orange streets. As a result, the surrounding neighborhood came to be called Five Points. In 1854, the three streets were renamed from Anthony Street to Worth Street, Orange Street to Baxter Street, and Cross Street to Park Street. In 1868, Worth Street was again extended eastward, from the five-pointed intersection to Chatham Square, adding a sixth point. Since then, Baxter (formerly Orange) has been eliminated south of

10300-439: Was nicknamed "Slaughterhouse Street"), numerous tanneries on the southeastern shore, and the pottery works of German immigrants Johan Willem Crolius and Johan Remmey on Pot Bakers Hill on the south-southwestern shore. The contaminated wastewater of the businesses surrounding the pond flowed back into the pond, creating a severe pollution problem and environmental health hazard. Pierre Charles L'Enfant proposed cleaning

10403-524: Was placed within the library's mezzanine. The Second Circuit returned to the Marshall Courthouse in early 2013 after renovations were completed. The building has two major parts: an irregular six-story base and a square tower with a lantern. In total, the building is 590 feet (180 m) tall and 37 stories . On all elevations of the facade , the building is clad with off-white Minnesota granite , mottled with peach and gray colors. The building's windows largely consist of single-glazed panes, coated with

10506-545: Was renamed the Church of the Transfiguration (Roman Catholic) . In 1853, the parish relocated to the corner of Mott and Cross streets, when they purchased the building of the Zion Protestant Episcopal Church (c.1801) from its congregation, which moved uptown. The first call for clearing the slums of Five Points through wholesale demolition came in 1829 from merchants who maintained businesses in close proximity to

10609-480: Was slightly damaged by flooding in 1977, after a water main broke. The United States Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 2, 1987. In 1992, three large historic courtrooms were restored. The courthouse was substantially renovated in 1999. The United States Courthouse originally did not have an official name. In 1999, the United States Congress proposed renaming

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