Former Bank of New York & Trust Company Building

History and architecture

This thirty-two-story neo-Georgian skyscraper, with its distinctive setback tower, was erected by the Bank of New York & Trust Company in 1927-29 to the plans of Benjamin Wistar Morris, a prominent designer of business and institutional buildings. Established in 1784, the Bank of New York was the second bank in the nation and is New York's oldest financial institution. In 1796, it became the first bank to erect a building on Wall Street, setting a precedent for the future development of the street as New York's financial center.

The present building, the bank's third on the site, was erected when the banking industry was taking a leadership role in the redevelopment of downtown with large new skyscrapers. An elegant steel-framed, limestone-clad structure, with a series of graceful setbacks, the building is decorated with large scale neo-Georgian details that reinforce the building's picturesque qualities.

The impressive three-story rusticated base, which housed the main banking floors, incorporates a raised basement, pedimented doorways, and large arched second-story windows. The building is a notable presence on Wall Street, while its setback tower, culminating in a Federal-style cupola crowned by an American eagle, contributes a striking and highly recognizable element to the skyline of Lower Manhattan.

The Bank of New York & Trust Company Building is located on a sloping site which has a frontage of 99 ft on Wall Street and 126 ft on William Street. A steel-framed structure clad in limestone above a granite water table, the building rises in a series of setbacks culminating in a central thirty-two story tower, 513 ft above Wall Street.

Designed in the neo-Georgian style, the building is articulated to create an impression of symmetry even though programmatic considerations and the presence of adjacent structures to the east and north resulted in considerable irregularity in the plan and massing of the upper stories. The ornamental scheme is largely concentrated on the building's lower portion and on the tower. The building was designed with both interior and exterior window sashes. It retains its special bronze multipane windows at the second story and a large percentage of its original three-over-three exterior steel sash windows.