The Construction Of City Hall

The corner-stone of the present City Hall was laid by Mayor Livingston on September 20, 1893; but the building was not used until July 4, 1811, and not fully completed until 1812. The building is of white marble brought from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at prices which caused several of the contractors to fail, owing to the lack of cheap and convenient means of transportation. This delayed the completion of the structure. The original plans called for a marble building; but the matter was put into the hands of an aldermanic committee who declared for freestone on account of the expense, and also decided to cut down the size of the edifice.

Upon the solicitations of the architects, the building was restored to its first size; and after the foundations had been carried above the ground, the committee consented to the marble on all but the north side, which was built of brownstone as a matter of economy. The architects showed that this construction of marble would cost the city but $43,750 more than for brown stone. The building was erected by day's work, the pay of the best skilled mechanics ranging from one dollar to one and a quarter a day. In 1890, the brownstone was painted white to resemble the rest of the building, and today it is impossible to tell without the closest scrutiny whether it is marble or not. The structure cost about half a million of dollars, and is a contrast in the matter of cost with its near neighbor, the County Court-house, which cost over fourteen millions.

The New York Post-Office

The imposing, but ugly, building now occupying the southern end of the Park triangle is the New York post-office. The ground was acquired from the city, and the building was first occupied by the Federal Government on September 1, 1875. Its cost was between $6,000,000 and $7,000,000. It contains not only the post-office proper, but also the United States courts of this district and the rooms of many Federal officials. So rapid has been the growth of the city that the building is entirely inadequate for the demands made upon it, and a new post-office is now (1911) in course of construction on the plot of ground above the tunnels of the Pennsylvania railroad, between Eighth and Ninth avenues and Thirty-first and Thirty-second streets.

A New Site For The County Court-House

In 1903, it became apparent that the present county court-house would not long answer the demands made upon it, and a committee was appointed to select a new site. After many sites had been considered, it was determined in February, 1910, that the most available was that at the north end of the Park, extending from Broadway to Park Row; and the mayor and governor both approved the bill to place the court-house there. The plans call for a ten-story structure, equipped with modern sanitary and ventilating systems, in which the present building is sadly lacking, and incorporating the present edifice. The chief point to recommend this site is that the city owns the land. The lovers of the City Beautiful at once attacked the plan, and maintained that it would be cheaper for the city in the end to spend several millions for a new site, rather than still further to encroach upon the limits of the Park.

No decision as to site having been arrived at, Senator Stillwell introduced a bill in the Legislature of 1911 making it mandatory upon the authorities to use the Park site and to appropriate the necessary money for the construction of the court-house within four months after the passage of the bill. Notwithstanding the almost unanimous opposition of the newspapers and the civic societies, the iniquitous measure was railroaded through the Legislature and sent to the Mayor for his consideration. Mayor Gaynor gave a public hearing and promptly vetoed the bill and returned it to Albany in July; but the bill was at once re-introduced, with some changes to meet the Mayor's objections. The matter was still pending when this volume went to press. The committee of judges has been in existence eight years and has succeeded in not selecting a site, another example of the law's delay.

The Rotunda

East of the court-house and fronting on Chambers Street there formerly stood a circular building called the Rotunda. The ground was secured from the city in 1816 on a ten years' lease by John Vanderlyn the artist, a protégé and friend of Aaron Burr; and the building was erected the following year. It was used for panoramic displays of the battle of Waterloo, the Palace and Garden of Versailles, and of other places and events, as well as serving as an art gallery. In 1832, there were exhibited pictures of Adam and Eve, who were shown in a semi-nude condition. This shocked a large portion of the community, who had not yet been educated up (or down) to such impropriety, and the exhibition was much censured. Of course, everybody went to see for himself, there were the same old arguments for the nude in art that we hear even today, and the exhibition was a financial success. The building was used for a time in 1849 as the city post-office during the cholera epidemic of that year; later it was used for municipal purposes. It gave way in 1852 to the ugly, square brown-stone building now occupying the site which is used for the City Court, and which was formerly occupied by the criminal courts until the construction of the new Criminal Court building on Centre Street in 1894.

The Astor House (Purchase of Property)

In 1830, John Jacob Astor determined to build a hotel which should be the finest in the country. He bought all the property between Vesey and Barclay streets, except that belonging to John G. Coster. It is related that he said to Coster: "You are not especially attached to your house; you can build somewhere else and find a home. I'll tell you what I'll do, Coster. You select two friends and I'll select one. Let them get together and appraise the value of your house and lot, and I'll give you twenty thousand dollars more than they decide as the value." Under such a liberal proposition, the transfer of the land was soon made, and the construction of the mammoth hotel begun.

The Astor House (Its completion and Opening)

It was completed and opened in 1836, the marvel of that age, with its elegant rooms and equipments, and its interior quadrangle, now used for the lunch counter and room, laid out as a garden with a fountain in the centre. Notwithstanding that it was an expensive place, it cost a dollar a day, the hotel became the stopping-place of many distinguished men. Among the names of its guests may be mentioned Andrew Jackson, "Sam" Houston, Webster, Clay, Lincoln, Irving, Hawthorne, Dickens, Macready, Rachel, and Jenny Lind. Thurlow Weed had his political headquarters in the hotel, whence he dictated the policy of his party and determined its candidates for office.

He was one of the first of the political "bosses" who have ruled the state and the nation. Many banquets were given here to distinguished visitors to the city; among these may be mentioned one given to the Prince de Joinville on November 26, 1840; and a contemporary historian remarks that "the dinner was held to be an exceptional one, inasmuch as the great number of dignitaries, officers of the army and navy, etc., invited, filled the capacity of the hall and as there was not any space le of the guests and of the occasion." In 1844, on St. Valentine's Day, was given the first of the "Bachelor's balls," which was long remembered for its brilliancy.

The Astor House The Resort Of Many Literary Men First Half Of 18th Century

The Astor House became the resort of many of the literary men of the first half of the nineteenth century; and it was no unusual thing to see many of the city's best in journalism, art, literature, science, and business taking their afternoon lounge upon its steps, watching the omnibuses, when, as one writer says, "You could walk from Barnum's to the Battery on their roofs," so numerous were they, or exchanging salutations with the passing crowds of shoppers and merchants on their daily walk from business to their homes below Bleecker street; for, like the present mayor of New York, Mr. Gaynor, they disdained to ride to or from their places of business.

There were several reasons why they did this: their shops and offices were not too far away; they liked the exercise; riding would in those simple days have been considered as tending toward luxury and indolence; and last, there were very few private equipages and the risk too great to use them over the rough cobblestones with which the streets were paved. In fact, there were so few private carriages that each was as well known as if the owner's name had been blazoned on its sides. The public vehicles were rickety, dilapidated affairs, taken only in cases of dire necessity. They were not even needed at funerals, for the body was borne by under bearers and everybody walked to the grave, usually only a few blocks away.