Park Row Building

 landmark, skyscraper, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, apartment building, 1899_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

391-foot, 30-story Beaux-Arts residential/office building completed in 1899. Designed by R.H. Robertson, a pioneer in steel skyscraper design, and engineered by the firm of Nathaniel Roberts, it was the tallest building in the world when completed, and the first ever to reach 30 floors. It was surpassed by the Singer Building in 1908. The Park Row Building is one of several surviving late-19th Century office towers on a street that became known as Newspaper Row, the center of newspaper publishing in New York City from the 1840s to the 1920s.

The Park Row Building, situated on Park Row between Beekman Street and Ann Street, extends through the block to Theater Alley with a narrow wing fronting on Ann Street. The principal architectural features of the building are concentrated on the Park Row facade, with a similar secondary facade on the Ann Street wing. The designed facades are faced with granite from the 3rd to the 5th story, and limestone, light-colored brick, and terra-cotta from the 6th-26th floors. The two lowest floors were clad in metal and glass during the 1930 alteration. The two towers are faced primarily in light-colored brick, surmounted with large copper domes. The sides and rear of the building are faced entirely with plain red brick (with traces of cream-colored paint), punctuated by window openings. Two angled light courts are visible on the south side of the building, facing toward Ann Street.

The Park Row facade is divided vertically into three sections. Each side is fashioned as a continuous pier, faced with rusticated stone punctuated by three evenly-spaced window openings at each story. Stone voussoirs cap each squared window opening. Between these end piers is a recessed center section, five bays wide, which is emphasized by a series of pilasters,columns, balconies and moldings. The numerous horizontal divisions of the Park Row facade are delineated by belt courses or projecting cornices. The first horizontal division is located above the first two floors which contain commercial storefronts and large display windows created in 1930. These lowest stories are seven bays wide with the centrally-placed main entrance doorway framed in black polished marble topped by a slightly stepped design. On the western side are three bays with a central doorway centered between two large display windows. The door is a simple, non-historic glass and bronze entrance and is topped by a canvas awning. On the eastern half of the building, the center bay has a similar door, but it is topped by a plain projecting panel. At the easternmost bay is a recess in the building which shelters another entrance. This is fronted by a large marquee suspended from the building. Between each bay are double-height metal pilasters topped by gilded panels with art deco-type designs. Each of these is capped by two small, torch-like finials. Pressed metal spandrel panels with inset squares, also gilded, fill the area between the two floors while plain display windows are at the second level. An original, double-height stone pilaster capped by egg and dart moldings is located on each side of this facade.

Above the 2nd floor is a deeply projecting stone cornice whose underside is adorned with lozenge-shaped designs, and a frieze with rosettes. The next horizontal section is two stories high and is faced with rusticated stone. Four large female figures stand on huge decorated brackets at the 3rd floor. Another, smaller cornice runs above the 4th floor, becoming a balustrade with heavy stone balusters in the center section. Flat paneled stone sections separate the center bays at this level.

Above the 5th floor is a large, projecting cornice with a plain frieze. This division extends from the 6th through the 10th floors, with flat pilasters separating the center bays in the 7th through the 9th floors. Small, projecting balconies are located in front of the three windows in the side piers on the 10th floor. At the 11th floor is another cornice which runs across the facade and develops into a rounded, projecting balcony in front of the center section. From the 11th through the 13th stories, and again from the 14th through the 16th stories are continuous piers between the bays of the center section. Each set is capped by continuous friezes in this center area. A more highly ornamented frieze is located above the 17th floor, while the side bays at this level are fronted by narrow balconies. Other continuous piers extend from the 18th through the 21st floors in the center area. Another projecting cornice extends across the entire facade above the twenty first story, with a wide frieze in the center section. At the twenty-second story is another curved, projecting balcony at the center section, while rounded columns separate the center bays on floors 23 through 26.

A deeply projecting, ornately decorated cornice caps this facade. It, in tum is topped by stone balustrades on each side with a copper entablature above the center section. Above the cornice of the Park Row Building are its two distinctive towers, which sit atop the pier-like sections at the sides of the facade. Each tower is composed of three fully visible stories, with a fourth story located in the large dome. Circular in shape, the towers are flanked by four solid, octagonal brick piers, each capped by a copper cornice and small dome. Each dome originally had a figure on top which has been removed. These piers divide each tower into four sides, each containing three bays which are separated by engaged pilasters. The large tower domes are pierced by copper-trimmed oculus windows and capped by a copper, domed cupola.

The facade of the Ann Street wing of the Park Row Building is only 20 feet wide. The base of the facade is two stories in height, capped with a cornice. An entrance to the building has been closed, and the large window on the second floor has been bricked-up. Above the 2nd floor, the Ann Street facade contains three bays on each floor. Ornament on this facade is limited to a belt course between the 5th and 6th floors, and balconies, similar to those on the Park Row facade, that project from the 11th, 18th, and 26th floors.

Because of the unusual configuration of the lot and the building, the unadorned brick side and rear walls are highly visible. The north side of the building, which is the largest, is clad in reddish-brown brick and contains a number of window openings close to the Park Row facade, but few window openings near the rear of the building at Theater Alley. The top story of the building, just beneath the towers, has minimal ornamentation in the form of a series of engaged pilasters between blind brick walls. A round, faceted addition for the elevator housing was added above this level in 1940. The building's south side, visible from Ann Street, consists of a large wall containing window openings, an opening to a light court that is spanned by eight steel struts, and a blank brick wall on the side of the wing of the building on Ann Street. In contrast, the east side of this wing is punctuated with window openings.

The first headquarters of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway were located in the building, as was the first office of the newly formed Associated Press. In 2000 plans were undertaken to renovate the entire structure, which included converting all floors above the 11th into 210 rental apartments, while the lower floors remained commercial. Initial renovations were completed in 2002.