Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1912 — CITY OFFICERS OF NEW YORK HAVE NEW HOME [ARTICLE]

CITY OFFICERS OF NEW YORK HAVE NEW HOME

Building Will Be Largest and Costliest of Kind In the World. IS A SKYSCRAPER NEW YORK (Special) New York, the city of “big tilings.'* will soon have the largest municipal building occupied toy any city government in the world. Good progress is being made upon the Immense structure at Park Row, Duane and Centre streets and the gigantic gaunt red steel frame-work- rising 40 stories In the air, is rapily being “fleshed” in white stone and granite. The Municipal Office Building, as it is known, stands out prominently, even among the many sky-scrapers which rear heavenward an the lowei part of Manhattan. Standing near the entrance to the Brooklyn bridge, its tower is one of the most conspicuous objects on New York’s sky line. New York’s City Hall will cost $lO,000,000, exclusive of $4,686,698 paid for the site, which in addition to being the largest, also makes It the most costly government building on earth. But, “City Hall” can hardly apply to the structure. It is a radical departure from the lines and architecture found and associated- with municipal government buildings, which usually have been erected after classic designs of state capitols and federal buildings. There Is nothing “classic” about New York’s skyscraping municipal building. Neither can it be said to be ‘beautiful,”'but “striking” it is. It is just what Its official name—Municipal Oflice Building implies. A series of 40 rows of offices, one above the other, quite in keeping with the utilitarian spirit of the age. When it is said that even with Its 40 stories, the new Municipal Office building will not be able to house all of the many departments of New York's vast city government, some idea is gained of the amount of ground space that would be necessary for a building of three or four stories in height, constructed upon the usual classic lines. The foundation -which alone cost 11,500,000, was a new record in engineering achievements. It extends 130 feet below the sidewalk for an area of 44,000 square feet. It is the deepest foundation of any building in the world and 33 feet deeper than the foundation of the Singer building. The massive structure is supported by 108 concrete caissons. When completed, the Municipal Office Building will have a height of 582 feet and be the third highest in New York. There are 25 office floors in the main portion and a feet high, above that, with offices. On top of the tower wRI be a figure 28 feet in height. It would be sixty feet higher than the great battleship Florida”if the warship were stood on end beside It. In the construction of the Municipal Office Building, it is estimated that more than 26,000 tons, or 520 carloads, of steel were used; 65,000 tons or 1300 carloads of granite And approximately 12,500,000 bricks. The building will provide a floor areg, of 1,263,000 square feet for offioe purposes. Chambers street runs directly through the center of the building. The Municipal Office Building will toe one of the most modern structures for office purposes that ever has been erected. There will be miles and miles of steam and water pipes and electric wijfes. The requirements of the different city departments have been kept in view in the interior arrangements. There will be 32 elevators in the building and in the basement provision is made for a six-track Subway station. It is intended as a terminal for the Brooklyn loop lines —to be one of the largest down town Subway centers. An enormous annual rental will be saved by the city when the Municipal Office Building is completed. For years the various departments of the municipal government have been scattered over a wide area. Aside from the inconvenience of such wide separation in the location of departments, the rental aggregates many thousand dollars a month. This will be saved when New York “owns its own home.”