In 1802, the City of New York held a competition for a new City Hall. The winning plan by architects Joseph François Mangin, a French émigré, and John McComb Jr., a New Yorker, set the stage for the construction of one of the finest architectural achievements of the period. City Hall is designed in the Federal style with clear French influences that are exemplified by the five arched windows, delicate ornamental swags, and decorative Corinthian- and Ionic-style columns and pilasters.