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The New York City Hall is located within the small City Hall Park, near the approach from Brooklyn Bridge, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It houses the office of the Mayor of New York City, and chambers for the New York City Council.
The New York City Hall is the oldest city hall building in the United States that is still being used for its original functions. It was constructed between 1803 and 1812, and is actually the third city hall building for New York City. The first city hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century, on Pearl Street. The second, built in 1700, became the original Federal Hall building on Wall and Nassau Streets. In 1802, a competition was held to gather designs for the present city hall building. The prize of $350 went to John McComb Junior and Joseph Francois Mangin. McComb had also designed Castle Clinton while Mangin was the architect of the landmark St Patrick's Cathedral. His father worked on the old City Hall.
The New York City Hall was built in the American Federal style. Its front facade was formerly of white marble, while its back was brown sandstone. Deterioration of the sandstone required it to be replaced with limestone in 1954. A distinctive feature of the building is its huge rotunda with grand marble double stairway to the second floor. Ten fluted Corinthian columns support the coffered come. The cupola served as a model for other buildings including Eliot House and Harvard University.
The City Hall has an unrivalled ensemble of historical portrait collection, numbering some 108 pieces from the late 18th century to the 20th. It includes John Trumbull's 1805 portrait of Alexander Hamilton which is used on the US $10 bill. A restoration effort on the paintings conducted in 2006 identified 47 as urgently needing restoration.
The New York City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
New York City Hall
Photo: Momos, GNU Free Documentation License
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