41f. Wall Street Historic District
Location: Roughly bounded by Cedar Street, Maiden Lane, Pearl Street, Bridge Street, South William Street, Greenwich Street, and Trinity Place.
Built: N/A
Architect: N/A
National Register Number: 07000063
Listed: February 2, 2007
Visited: December 30, 2007
The AIA Guide to New York City calls this the Old Morgan Guaranty Building (Francis Kimball, 1907), but just about nobody else does, instead preferring "37 Wall Street" or the "Trust Company of America Building." The fate of this Beaux Arts beaut neatly summarizes the evolution of the district: from a home of a financial giant (one that eventually lent its genetic material to what we now call JPMorgan Chase) to not only apartments (arrrgh, again) but a branch of Tiffany's. Along with the Hermès around the corner, this is yet another recognition that Wall Street (qua the location) is a tourist power point, a place to spend money, not make it.
How did this happen? Obviously, 9/11 had a lot to with this new state of affairs: once security checkpoints on Wall, Broad, Nassau and Exchange streets were in place, the New York Stock Exchange and its environs became virtually traffic-free, a walker's paradise in a city where most drivers seem to have an unconscious desire to simply run pedestrians down. Yet the tourist crowds of last week--when it seemed I was as likely to overhear people speaking in French as English--weren't here as recently as five years. (As far as I remember, anyway.) I think this may be due to the way the threat of terrorism has receded in our consciousness. Rather than a likely target for a suicide bomber or suitcase nuke, Wall Street feels safe, safe enough to walk through in the middle of the night without any trouble, something I did a lot last year to my great pleasure. (A pity most of the night photos I took came out all blurry 'n' shit. A tripod, next time.) In 2001 and 2002, Wall Street's social geography was determined by fear; in 2007 and 2008, it's determined by our collective forgetfulness of that fear.
Built: N/A
Architect: N/A
National Register Number: 07000063
Listed: February 2, 2007
Visited: December 30, 2007
The AIA Guide to New York City calls this the Old Morgan Guaranty Building (Francis Kimball, 1907), but just about nobody else does, instead preferring "37 Wall Street" or the "Trust Company of America Building." The fate of this Beaux Arts beaut neatly summarizes the evolution of the district: from a home of a financial giant (one that eventually lent its genetic material to what we now call JPMorgan Chase) to not only apartments (arrrgh, again) but a branch of Tiffany's. Along with the Hermès around the corner, this is yet another recognition that Wall Street (qua the location) is a tourist power point, a place to spend money, not make it.
How did this happen? Obviously, 9/11 had a lot to with this new state of affairs: once security checkpoints on Wall, Broad, Nassau and Exchange streets were in place, the New York Stock Exchange and its environs became virtually traffic-free, a walker's paradise in a city where most drivers seem to have an unconscious desire to simply run pedestrians down. Yet the tourist crowds of last week--when it seemed I was as likely to overhear people speaking in French as English--weren't here as recently as five years. (As far as I remember, anyway.) I think this may be due to the way the threat of terrorism has receded in our consciousness. Rather than a likely target for a suicide bomber or suitcase nuke, Wall Street feels safe, safe enough to walk through in the middle of the night without any trouble, something I did a lot last year to my great pleasure. (A pity most of the night photos I took came out all blurry 'n' shit. A tripod, next time.) In 2001 and 2002, Wall Street's social geography was determined by fear; in 2007 and 2008, it's determined by our collective forgetfulness of that fear.
Labels: Bank, Financial District, Francis H. Kimball
posted by Michael at
4:10 PM
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