Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at 33 Liberty Street, was designated a New York City Landmark on December 21, 1965. "This enormous building occupies an entire city block; it is fourteen stories high and has five stories below grade. The remarkable stone exterior is reminiscent of an early Italian Renaissance palace with the horizontal and vertical joints of the stones deeply grooved (rusticated). The wrought iron window grilles and lanterns represent some of the finest craftsmanship of this Century. The importance of the Federal Reserve Building lies in its vast size, fortress-like appearance, fine proportions and in the superb quality of its construction. It set a precedent for many later banks which were influenced by its design." On April 10, 1918, the New York Federal Board of Directors gave the Real Estate Committee the go-ahead to negotiate for the Maiden Lane/Liberty Street/Nassau Street block. The committee acquired a total of 45,750 square feet at the total cost of $4,797,881.72. Inside the cornerstone, sealed in a copper container, is a time capsule holding documents including a roster of current employees, the New York Times and Herald from the morning, the 1921 Annual Report of the Bank, several Federal Reserve notes and a 1922 Peace Dollar.
Completed in 1924, the New York Fed's main building at 33 Liberty Street in New York City is the largest bank structure in the world, filling almost the entire block bounded by Maiden Lane, Nassau, Liberty and William Streets. The building is composed of rusticated limestone and sandstone ashlar with deeply inset bronze windows and doors. The auditing and accounting departments moved to the eighth floor of the new building on May 29, 1924, beginning a process that would take several months with the last of the 2,500 employees settled in the new quarters by the end of October. The Fed's $3 billion in cash and securities was transferred from the Equitable Building to the recently opened main building on September 21st, 1924. After months of planning, the move was carried out on a quiet Sunday morning taking nearly 100 trips with a fleet of 37 armored cars, 150 NYPD officers, 50 detectives, 15 bomb squad members, 60 Secret Service agents & 40 Federal Reserve guards armed with Thompson automatic rifles.
In September 1933, the New York Fed was finally able to purchase a small building on the east side of the 33 Liberty Street block (known as the Montauk Building) for $356,250. This was less than their original bid over a decade before. It now holds ownership of the complete block. The timing was propitious. Its trucking enclosure was taxed to capacity and the space the extension provided permitted trucks to drive in one way and out the other. On January 17th, 1936, the William Street Addition (on the site of the former Montauk Building) was completed. The addition took two years and cost $800,000.
