Bennett Building (New York City)
Historic building in Manhattan, New York / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bennett Building is a cast-iron building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The building is on the western side of Nassau Street, spanning the entire block from Fulton Street to Ann Street. While the Bennett Building contains a primary address of 93-99 Nassau Street, it also has entrances at 139 Fulton Street and 30 Ann Street.
Bennett Building | |
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General information | |
Type | Commercial |
Architectural style | French Second Empire style |
Location | 93-99 Nassau Street Manhattan, New York |
Coordinates | 40°42′38″N 74°00′28″W |
Named for | James Gordon Bennett Jr. |
Construction started | June 1872 |
Opened | May 1873 |
Renovated | 1890–92, 1894 |
Height | 125 ft (38 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 11 |
Grounds | 10,310 sq ft (958 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Arthur D. Gilman |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | James M. Farnsworth |
Bennett Building | |
Location | 93–99 Nassau Street, Manhattan, New York |
Built | 1872–1873, 1890–1892, 1894 |
Architect | Arthur D. Gilman, James M. Farnsworth |
Architectural style | French Second Empire style |
Part of | Fulton–Nassau Historic District (ID05000988) |
NYCL No. | 1937 |
Significant dates | |
Designated CP | September 7, 2005[1] |
Designated NYCL | November 21, 1995[2] |
The building was designed by Arthur D. Gilman in the French Second Empire style, with expansions by James M. Farnsworth that closely followed Gilman's original design. The Bennett Building contains a fully realized cast-iron facade, the largest known such example in the world, and is one of two remaining Second Empire-style office buildings south of Canal Street with cast-iron faces. The building's three fully designed facades face Fulton, Nassau, and Ann Streets, while the fourth side faces an adjacent property and is made of plain brick.
The building's namesake was James Gordon Bennett Jr., who commissioned the project as an investment. The original structure designed by Gilman was seven stories tall, including a mansard roof. Real estate investor John Pettit bought the building in 1889, and he hired Farnsworth to design two expansions. The original mansard roof was demolished to allow the addition of the top four stories between 1890 and 1892, while an eleven-story annex was erected on Ann Street in 1894. After Pettit disappeared in 1898, ownership of the Bennett Building passed to several other companies and individuals, who made minor modifications to the building. In 1995, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building a New York City landmark. The Bennett Building is also a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district created in 2005.