Woolworth Building - 233 Broadway

[bak]

Once the World's Tallest Building @ 792 feet, the Woolworth Building is still one of Lower Manhattan's Greatest skyscrapers. *Cass Gilbert is, to put it bluntly, AWESOME!

http://www.abacustotality.com/Personal/NewYork/woolworth%20building.jpg
Image from abacustotality.com

http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-ny/Ko/pix/nyc028.JPG
Image from vintageviews.org

Add more pics, we're just getting started!

[Fabb]

It's proud of its verticality.
Something contemporary architects have to think about.

[Stern]

Yeah small floorplates might be thrilling but no longer make financial sense.

[Eugenius]

Speaking of small floorplates, the GE building at 51st and Lex was apparently so unprofitable that it was donated to Columbia University. *Still, if I headed a small company, I'd love to stick my office up there.

[NYatKNIGHT]

...or a hotel room, or apartment....

[yanni111]

anyone notice how one of those pointy things on the corners of is different from the rest? One of them appear to be transparent, i mean there is only the frame of the cone shape. Im pretty sure its the northeast cone, when looking downtown from broadway around NYU you notice it, i mean you can see the sky through it, its like they opened it up.

[tugrul]

I took this shot today for you Yanni. Good eye :)

http://photos.galatali.com/skyscrapers/tugrul/2002-10-24/Woolworth,%20Empty%20Cone%20(from%20West%20Broadwa y).jpg;OP=IMAGE;ROTATE=0;WIDTH=800

Full Size (http://photos.galatali.com/skyscrapers/tugrul/2002-10-24/Woolworth,%20Empty%20Cone%20(from%20West%20Broadwa y).jpg;OP=VIEWIMAGE;WIDTH=-1)

[yanni111]

thanks tugrul! maybe they open it up and have outdoor barbecues? BBQ with a View!! :)

[NYC kid]

lol. BBQ...mmm...

Woops! *wipes off drool* ahem!

The Woolworth building is one of my favorite buildings in downtown. It makes a big impact on the skyline especially now that the WTC is gone...

[Fabb]

I'm not sure.

It used to have some significance thanks to the contrast with the monolithic towers.
Now, it's overwhelmed by the huge, squat boxes that are the new eye-catchers.
I think the Woolworth building lost more than it gained with the destruction of the WTC.

[markmartin6]

I can only go twice a year too but the Woolworth, the Chrysler, and the WFC are and always will be my favs!

[NYC kid]

Those are three of my favorites too. Though I like the Empire State Building slightly better.

Maybe your right Fabb...The World Trade Center went well with Woolworth...

[NYatKNIGHT]

They did go well together especially when viewing Woolworth between the two twin towers.

However, Woolworth looks better the closer you get, not a common trait in NY skyscrapers. The detail becomes clear, and it isn't crowded by other buildings.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Speaking of those pointy things (from yanni111's post above) check out this photo posted at skyscraperpage.com by forum member TowersNYC

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cf22b3127cce91f992edf1d90000001410
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?s=3ba402f60ce1a7c53d233a8b1a589269& threadid=9312

Transparent indeed! With City Hall below.

[tugrul]

Hey Yanni:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cf22b3127cce91f992edf1d90000001410

http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=9312

[NYatKNIGHT]

Whoa! Holy scary coincidences tugrul....

(Edited by NYatKNIGHT at 2:22 pm on Nov. 4, 2002)

[yanni111]

wow that pic is awesome!! i wonder why that one is open, id like to live in that thing! it looks like it has doors!!
the design is interesting, it looks very futuristic and metallic with those zig zags, different from the old stone look of the rest of the building

[Bob]

Yep, the Woolworth is a gem alright. But the security guards won't let you into the lobby to take a peek.

Anybody know if tours, public or private, are available?

[g@tor]

You guys are damn happy that you can see that architectural masterpiece with your own eyes! Grrr... I guess I'll never get that ability :(

[Gulcrapek]

Never say never.

[g@tor]

Gulcrapek
Yes you're right! In my dreams I'm walking down from the Central to Battery thru the Wall St and so on... Damn... Municipal... I'm gonna cry now... :cry:

addition: and well how can I forget the Trinity Church!

[NYatKNIGHT]

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/NYatKNIGHT/WoolworthGroup.sized.jpg

[thomasjfletcher]

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019-constructionworker_lg.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019-woolworthbuilding_lg.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC19-woolworth_const1.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/Pict0600.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC19C.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/019a3_copy.gif

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019-Woolworth.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/019a2_copy.gif


more at
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019.htm

[ZippyTheChimp]

NYatKnight, nice composition with the Transportation Building, but I'm deducting 2 points for not cropping out that sliver. :P

[NYatKNIGHT]

:shock: They need to be cropped too? Jeez!

What's next, focussing? :lol:

[BigMac]

Nice pictures, thomasjfletcher.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Here's a good website with information on the Woolworth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworth_Building
It used to have a 58th floor observation deck, which was shut down in 1945.

.

[kliq6]

you cant get in becasue the top 22 floors are being converted to residential

[alonzo-ny]

The pics with the world trade dust and through the wfc look really eerie and the gothic woothworth really captures the sombre mood of that event for me

[sirhcman]

Photo taken 5/16/05..

[Zoe]

http://img276.echo.cx/img276/5765/copyofdowntownpics0047gd.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[DKfreddy]

Two pics from my trip to NYC in summer 2004 ..

http://img245.echo.cx/img245/207/2988jc.th.jpg (http://img245.echo.cx/my.php?image=2988jc.jpg)


http://img245.echo.cx/img245/7759/2916bd.th.jpg (http://img245.echo.cx/my.php?image=2916bd.jpg)

[michelle1]

Awesome pictures, Thomas! I wouldn't seat beside that guy! No way!

[ddawg]

i dunno if neone has noticed and/or knows y, but the top of the woolworth building is being painted from green to a white-greyish color. anyone know y?

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y160/ddawg82/ww1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y160/ddawg82/ww2.jpg

if u look at the second picture, u can see how part of it is still green.

[czsz]

Sacrilege.

[lofter1]

Wow, maybe it's a "primer" coat?

A search or records at both Landmarks & City Planning turned up only one document: A single "Certificate of Appropriateness" (issued 12/2002):

http://search.citylaw.org/isysquery/irl392f/1/doc

Pursuant to Section 25-307 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, at the Public Meeting of December 12, 2000 following the Public Meeting of October 31, 2000 and the Public Hearing and Public Meeting of July 25, 2000, voted to approve a portion of a proposal to create a master plan governing the future installation of storefronts and signage, to install louvers and skylights, and alterations to window openings at the tower and at the terraces at the subject premises, as put forward in your application completed in on July 25, 2000. This Certificate of Appropriateness is issued for the storefront master plan only ...

... staff reviewed the drawings and found that the installation of the louvers, skylights, and alterations to window openings at the tower and terraces are not being pursued at this time ...

At such time as these items are pursued, you must submit two signed and sealed copies of the Department of Buildings filing drawings for these items for the Landmarks Preservation Commission's review and approval prior to the commencement of work.

Upon receipt, review, and approval of the final Department of Buildings filing drawings for the penthouse additions and the glass canopy, a separate Certificate of Appropriateness will be issued for these items. Please note that the approval for these items will expire on December 12, 2006.

Anybody know what's going on with the Woolworth now????

you cant get in becasue the top 22 floors are being converted to residential

A check of DOB records shows that the proposed conversion to residential on the upper floors has changed; the application states:

Owner: CORPORATION -- WITKOFF STEVEN PRESIDENT 233 BROADWAY OWNERS LLC 220 EAST 42ND STREET 212 672 - 4725 NEW YORK NY 10017

Job Description: CONVERT PARTS OF EXISTING OFFICE BUILDING TO SCHOOL. OBTAIN AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY.

Comments: RESPECTFULLY REQUEST TO CHANGE ESTIMATE CONSTRUCTION COST FROM $5,000.000 (PREVIOUSLY FILED FOR THE CONVERSION OF OFFICE TO APARTMENTS ON FLOORS 29- 57, BUT NOW NO LONGER PROPOSED) TO $1,000 (REDUCED SCOPE OF WORK TO CONVERT OFFICES TO CLASSROOM ON FLOORS 2,3,&4).

[ddawg]

well i know nyu has some classrooms there... but it still doesn't explain the paint job on the spires.

[macreator]

well i know nyu has some classrooms there... but it still doesn't explain the paint job on the spires.

An NYU art class project perhaps? ;)

[expose05]

I know why the woolworth's roof is changing color. I found out on lowermanhattan.info that the stuff on it
is only a primer applied as part of the roof's routine maintenance. It will turn green as soon as all necessary repairs are completed.

[lofter1]

I know why the woolworth's roof is changing color. I found out on lowermanhattan.info that the new is only a primer applied as part of the roof's routine maintenance. It will turn green as soon as all necessary repairs are completed.

Whew!
That's a relief -- thanks for the up-date.

[Johnnyboy]

thank god.

[Gulcrapek]

That's a nice shot.

There is some sort loudness about the white. It was like, "you've noticed me for the last 90something years because, well, I'm the tallest thing in my area, but now I'm just an attention whore. Admire me!" I'll be glad when it goes back.

[Jasonik]

Seaboard Weatherproofing Lands Woolworth Restoration
Westchester.com (http://westchester.com/Westchester_News/Westchester_Business_News/Seaboard_Weatherproofing_Lands_Woolworth_Restorati on_200507185457.html)
Monday, 18 July 2005
Port Chester, NY - Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration has been retained to rehabilitate the decorative terra-cotta façade of the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan. Construction recently commenced on the project.

The 60-story landmark building, completed in 1913, is a neo-Gothic masterpiece designed by Cass Gilbert. The scope of the project includes restoring damaged limestone on the first four floors, replacement and repair of over 400 decorative terra cotta stones, and resealing the joints of all copper mansard roofs.

“It is an honor to work on such a classic structure,” said Michael Y. Ahearn, President of Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration. “Historical restoration is one of our specialties and it doesn’t get much better than this.”

Called the “Cathedral of Commerce,” the Woolworth Building stood as the world’s tallest until the Chrysler Building surpassed it in 1930. The building served as the Woolworth Company’s headquarters until the retailer declared bankruptcy in 1997. Architect Cass

Gilbert also constructed 90 West Street which was heavily damaged in the 9-11 attack. Seaboard is in the final stages of restoring 90 West which was recently ranked number 14 by New York Construction Magazine’s Top 20 projects 2004-05.

The Woolworth Building is a New York City Landmark and all work must be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which ensures that exterior alterations are historically accurate. Seaboard takes great care in creating a watertight and sound façade for the future while respecting the history of every stone being repaired.

Seaboard is currently assisting the architect in façade inspections of the entire building envelope. Several new conditions are being uncovered, which Seaboard is working to resolve in consultation with the architect and the terra cotta manufacturer. Work on the building is expected to be completed by the end of 2005.

Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration is located at 530 Willett Avenue in Port Chester, NY. The Company recently celebrated their 60th anniversary in business.

Based in Port Chester, NY, Seaboard Weatherproofing and Restoration is one of the leading restoration and alteration construction firms in the New York City metropolitan area. For more information, please call (800) 347-7464.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I took these yesterday, and was going to ask if the spire is copper. All the info I found stated it was copper, but copper does not get painted.

http://img304.imageshack.us/img304/8558/woolwortrh259nu.th.jpg (http://img304.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woolwortrh259nu.jpg) http://img304.imageshack.us/img304/9286/woolwortrh265jb.th.jpg (http://img304.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woolwortrh265jb.jpg)

I always thought the roof of Pier A was copper, but it is painted steel.

[NYC]

Speaking of small floorplates, the GE building at 51st and Lex was apparently so unprofitable that it was donated to Columbia University. *Still, if I headed a small company, I'd love to stick my office up there.

I think that is the most beautiful deco building I have seen.

[expose05]

So the orginal roof is gone?

[lofter1]

So the orginal roof is gone?
That isn't completely clear ...

Either the copper cladding is gone or the copper that remained was covered up:

From the article above:

"Mr. Baird, like many New Yorkers, said he had always understood that the cladding of the Woolworth's rooftops was copper...

"What everyone thought was copper hasn't been copper since before 1950."

"Acid rain pretty much ate through the roof pretty quickly, and since then it's been covered in a green protective coating that matches the patina of oxidized copper."

[MrShakespeare]

From the Wall Street Journal (subscriber only, so no link):

***

MASTERPIECE

'The Cathedral of Commerce'

Woolworth's 1913 skyscraper has been dwarfed in size but not in achievement
By BRET STEPHENS

December 10, 2005; Page P15

'A Tower of Nickels and Dimes"; "The Cathedral of Commerce": When the Woolworth Building was completed on April 24, 1913, it was a national event. From the White House, President Woodrow Wilson pressed the button that set the building's 80,000 bulbs alight; dozens of congressmen, three senators and hundreds of financiers, tycoons and men of letters rode up to the new structure's 27th floor for a banquet that evening in honor of architect Cass Gilbert. "The Woolworth Building will be New York's true fame," said the Rev. S. Parker Cadman at the building's dedication. "It does not scrape the sky. It greets it."

Fast-forward 92 years and ask a New Yorker where the Woolworth Building is or what it looks like: I'd wager 9 in 10 have no idea. The building became an icon mainly on account of its height -- 792 feet -- which made it, for 16 years, the tallest habitable structure in the world. Today, there are more than 100 buildings taller than it, a dozen of them in New York alone. Yet whatever the building has lost in comparative stature has done nothing to diminish the achievement it represents. The craftsmanship that went into the lobby's whimsical marble likenesses of Gilbert (clutching his building) and Frank Woolworth (counting his change) no longer exists. The skill it took to piece together the Byzantine mosaic on the lobby's ceiling is probably gone forever, too. If one measure of a masterpiece lies in the difficulty of replicating it, there is simply no skyscraper to equal it.

Much is explained by the date, 1913, the eve of the First World War, probably the last year when the fruits of capitalist enterprise could be put so unabashedly in the service of a feudal conceit. Woolworth, the Sam Walton of his day, gave Gilbert a picture of London's Gothic-revival Victoria Tower (part of the Houses of Parliament) to serve as a model. Gilbert, according to historian Spencer Klaw, thought also of the high Gothic spire of the Brussels town hall. The effect both men desired was that the building should soar. Seen from the front, the Woolworth Building reaches nearly its full height with barely a setback. Only at the very top, as the glazed white terracotta exterior gives way to green-tinted copper, does the building recede toward its cupola, further giving the impression of being almost impossibly out of reach. Compare that with the Zoser-like step pyramids of so many Manhattan skyscrapers, which seem to go out of their way to obey the laws of gravity.

The interior of the Woolworth Building is different. The barrel-vaulted lobby is more Romanesque than Gothic; as in an early Christian church, the tiled phoenixes in the ceiling mosaic symbolize resurrection -- in this case, Woolworth's from early business failures. As in a church, too, the side entrances to the lobby create a kind of transept, above which are two devotional-style murals to "Commerce" and "Labor." The materials are lavish: white marble from Carrara; yellow marble from Skyros; bronze for the elevator doors; Tiffany glass in the ceiling beyond the tiled vault. The overall effect -- warm, hushed and soft-hued -- perfectly offsets the monumentality of the building's exterior, just as the sculpted caricatures of Gilbert and Woolworth offset the heavy seriousness of the murals and mosaics.

Behind the façade there is technology, the most impressive of its day. In order for its foundations to reach bedrock, Gilbert sank caissons more than 100 feet below street level. Every floor is fireproofed by layers of brick, steel and terracotta. The building is designed to withstand winds of 200 mph or more. The elevators, which still run on the original Otis machines, are a particular marvel. They can move at 900 feet per minute, about the speed of modern elevators. Among other safety features, the elevator shafts are designed to create an air cushion to prevent a falling cab from crashing to the ground. On Oct. 15, 1913, an elevator loaded with 7,500 pounds of freight was experimentally dropped down a shaft from the 45th floor. "There was no indication when examined later that any damage had been done to the car or its contents," reported a satisfied building engineer.

And then there are the idiosyncrasies. Woolworth famously insisted that his building was 60 stories high, which in its day it was (counting the uninhabitable cupola as two floors). Today, however, there is no designated 42nd floor, and soon the 48th floor will be demolished to create a 47th floor with 19-foot ceilings, part of a plan by the building's current management to convert the upper floors into luxury residential units. At the same time, there are two 26th floors, one of them a sort of half-floor reminiscent of the 7½th floor in the film "Being John Malkovich." It's a dark place reached through a very small door.

We live in a time in which great men no longer build great buildings. There is no "Walton Building" to rival the Woolworth; no "Gates Building" to rival the Chrysler. Instead, corporations increasingly prefer campuses to skyscrapers, while the skyscrapers that do get built are designed according to the consensus tastes of corporations and city planners. Sometimes the results are striking and felicitous, as in Manhattan's Citibank building, but usually they're not, as in the design for the new Freedom Tower.

The Woolworth Building is something else entirely. A product of the vanity, ambition and quirks of a single man, it transcends and transforms all that with its majestic old-world grace. And at night, when its upper floors are spotlighted, it seems like an otherworldly lantern suspended from the sky. What a pity they just don't build them like they used to.

***

(I know the image is small, but it is that small on the WSJ site, too. It is a larger image in the actual newspaper.)

[lofter1]

A GREAT building ... and so much better off now, ever since that hulk of a Post Office seen in the photo was torn down so many years ago.

[lofter1]

A similar pic:

http://museumofnyc.doetech.net/VoyagerImages/Z002/Z00252/Z0025243.jpg

[BigMac]

Downtown Express
February 3 - 9, 2006

Restaurant in the Woolworth Building

As the full throttle of life picks up again around the City Hall and Financial District areas, it’s only natural that restaurants follow suit — and the newly opened Woolworth Tower Kitchen is ready to accommodate, says Sharif Adlouni, the restaurant’s co-owner.

Adlouni, formerly of 17 Murray Restaurant, and Louis Adolfsen, of the law firm Melito & Adolfsen and who is also a co-owner, opened in December after first becoming interested in the space, which is located on the first floor of the landmark Woolworth Building, a couple of years ago.

“It’s really important to have more businesses in this area,” Adlouni told Downtown Express on Wednesday, as he greeted the waiting patrons with a smile.

The restaurant’s space on Broadway and Barclay had been vacant for six years, after the Coffee Cup, a diner, closed.

The décor of the Kitchen is contemporary, though the framed portraits of the Woolworth Building that hang on the Kitchen’s walls pay homage to the restaurant’s historically rich host.

The Kitchen’s chef is Robert Gushue, trained at the Culinary Institute of America trained chef. Dishes that range from bacon-wrapped sea scallops with pulled pork and cheddar grits to a simple hamburger or stake fries.

“I love Downtown,” he said. “There’s no other place I’d rather be.”

-Chad Smith

Downtown Express is published by Community Media LLC.

[lofter1]

Viewing the Woolworth from the north at night it is apparent that the upper floors have been pretty much gutted as part of the renovation work: Temporary construction lights are visible in most of the windows in the tower.

[TLOZ Link5]

I hope the floodlights will remain.

[MidtownGuy]

The Woolworth last Thursday, against a crystal blue sky took my breath away.(well, it always does that I guess)

http://static.flickr.com/40/102706105_9ab856c5c7_b.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Hasn't lost an ounce of its luster through the ages....I'll take one of these over 30 Hearst Towers any day. Thanks.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Yesterday
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1681/woolworth522mx.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woolworth522mx.jpg)

Last year
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8803/woolworth513ab.th.jpg (http://img230.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woolworth513ab.jpg)

[lofter1]

The great juxtaposition shown in the first shot is about to be ruined forever by the rising hulk at 12 Barclay -- :(

[drlax15m]

I briefly worked in the Woolworth Building this past winter break and the lobby is amazing and beautiful, I've never been in such a lobby before.

[thomasjfletcher]

pictures please....

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019A-1.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/wwbnor.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/wwbsta.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/019U.jpg

[MidtownGuy]

WOW!!!!! Can you imagine living here???!!!

[Vulgar]

The woolworth, after a long whirlwind romance,
inspired me to fall in love
with the Municipal building
and some other enchanting bricks.
What a corner. It is my absolute favorite.
I have imagined over and over again just peeping inside.
I have bought books and bios, just absurdly obsessed.



Frank Woolworth said he "made the lobby for all the people".
And now, only selected individuals can go inside.
I hope it really will preserve it longer, because it breaks my heart.
..would die to go inside.. see frank's office... the pool downstairs.

[aprokos]

I have always wanted to get inside to shoot the astonishing gothic-inspired lobby of the Woolworth building. I read somewhere that the inspiration for the building came from Woolworth's vision of himself as akin to some kind of Medieval merchant-baron. Whatever his trip was...we're glad he was on it! Here's another gallery of photos of the Woolworth Building from different perspectives:

Woolworth Building, NYC photos (http://andrewprokos.com/photos/new-york/landmarks/woolworth-building/)

[kliq6]

WOW!!!!! Can you imagine living here???!!!

FYI nobody will be living here, Witkoff has called off conversion plans

[macreator]

FYI nobody will be living here, Witkoff has called off conversion plans

So I assume we'll see a boutique office building then?

[kliq6]

the building is there, what do you mean a boutique office building? They are renovating space yes but they are not taking the thing down!!!

[macreator]

the building is there, what do you mean a boutique office building? They are renovating space yes but they are not taking the thing down!!!

:D I would hope not, I just meant that the building would be renovated and marketed as a new office building.

[mumbles]

i definitely dig this building's top in the downtown skyline. i can see it from my apt. people are currently working in here, so must just be a reno.

btw, near the top before it triangulates, from the south it looks like there is a large candle in a window/passageway on the SE corner of the building. it must not be a candle, but it certainly adds to the buildings gothic mystique and is fun to look at!

[Dagrecco82]

Drove by the Woolworth last night and I was astonish to see it drenched in a golden light. It was absolutely breathtaking. I always thought they only lit it up green and white. Is this new?

[MidtownGuy]

wow mumbles- I'm certainly envious of your view. That sounds spectacular.:)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/1713/woolworth55tm7.th.jpg (http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woolworth55tm7.jpg)

[harsaphes]

didnt read the whole thread...arent students living there now?

[MidtownGuy]

students?? Of what school, and where do I register?

[Fahzee]

My understanding is that:

1) NYU school of continuing studies holds classes in the building (but they have a seperate entrance, which is decidely not that majestic) and
2) as kliq6 pointed out, the condo conversion of the building fell through, so therefore no one is currently living in the buidling

has anyone heard anything different?

[antinimby]

Saw this pic of the Woolworth over at ssp (http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/79030717/original.jpg) (warning: lots of pics, click only if you have a fast connection) and all I can say is WTF!!?

http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/79030717/original.jpg

[macreator]

What happened!?!? Is that real? It looks like they haphazardly did pointwork or something. Isn't Woolworth landmarked?

[alonzo-ny]

Replaced masonry unpainted?

[lofter1]

They are replacing / renovating pieces of the terracotta facade ...

[ablarc]

^ How will they make it match? Terra-cotta on Woolworth gets its whitish shade not from paint but from a glazed finish, like pottery. Doesn't that need to be factory-applied before the piece is even shipped?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Not sure, but I think those dark areas are where the outer skin has been removed.

Only the crown , which is not copper, is painted.

[lofter1]

Facade Maintenance Design, PC

http://www.facademd.com/buildings/woolworth-building.htm

233 Broadway - WOOLWORTH BUILDING
The Witkoff Group (Owner)
New York City

http://www.facademd.com/graphics/ww2.jpg

Since 1987, FMD professionals have been responsible for exterior condition surveys as well as the identification and analysis of all conditions affecting deterioration of this famous New York landmark. Such surveys have been undertaken from the ground, from the roofs, and from various scaffolding, and have led to the preparation of necessary construction documents for all on-going restoration work.

Throughout this period, the FMD Team has coordinated all bidding and filing processes, site meetings with owners and contractors, and has performed periodic visits to the site throughout the construction phases. FMD Team professionals have handled necessary replacement of original deteriorated terra cotta cladding and ornament with new cast concrete and GFRC panels to match as closely as possible the original building appearance.

http://www.facademd.com/graphics/ww3.jpg

Restoration has included stabilization pinning of original terra cotta cladding, in place whereverpossible, re-setting of original terra cotta stones, re-pointing of mortar joints, patching of original terra cotta glaze material and repair and replacement of corroded structural steel as required, in addition to the repair and replacement of copper and bituminous roofing wherever necessary. FMD also designed unique flashing and anchorage details and restored missing ornamentation and color schemes.

Unique Historic Structure:

A Local and National landmark structure, The Woolworth Building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and was the tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1913. FMD has been the professional of record for all exterior work since 1987, including continuous, on-going restoration and preservation assignments.

© 2005 FMD All Rights Reserved

[Ninjahedge]

If I heard right, the WWB i one of teh early ones that used Terra Cottia with steel. I forget whether it was teh steel meshing for formwork, or the steel of the building (I just remember "steel" being mentioned).

The basic nature of the terra cotta does not interact well with steel, causing corrosion. I believe the biggest problem was with things like anchor points. When these needed to be replaced, they used concrete, which they matched in color.

But the only problem with concrete is its porosity. When it rains, it soaks up a bit of water and changes color. All those dark spots? That's concrete patchwork.

I do not hav ethe solid information on this, so you may want to look it up to verify/tighten up my explanation. I am only offering what I have heard from word-of-mouth in the biz....

[lofter1]

Dark Spots Mar an Aging, Yet Exquisite, Face

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/09/realestate/09scape.xlarge1.jpg
Tina Fineberg for The New York Times
It Didn't Age Well The splotchy look of the Woolworth Building, at Broadway and Park Place, comes
from the dirt absorbed by precast concrete blocks that replaced the original terra cotta in the 1970s.

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/realestate/09scap.html?ref=realestate)
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY
September 9, 2007

Streetscapes | Woolworth Building

It's like a fungus that runs up and down the tower of the Woolworth Building, at Broadway and Park Place. From every angle the cream-colored surface has dirty, discolored patches, the unanticipated consequences of a major restoration project three decades ago.

Frank Woolworth began accumulating his 5-and-10-cent store fortune in 1879, and by 1886 he opened a headquarters in New York City. He was a multimillionaire by 1900, when he built a lacy Gothic-style limestone house at Fifth Avenue and 80th Street, a building demolished in the 1920s.

It was designed by Charles P. H. Gilbert, a mansion specialist who worked up and down the avenue. He also designed the main building of the Jewish Museum, at 92nd Street.

In 1911, Woolworth announced plans for the tallest building in the world, to be constructed on Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street. Like his house, Woolworth’s new building was to be neo-Gothic and designed by a Gilbert — in this case, Cass Gilbert, who was not related to Charles but was instead an aggressive out-of-towner who had elbowed his way into New York City architecture.

In 1905, Gilbert had designed the boxy Gothic-style West Street Building, at West and Cedar Streets, one of many structures to use the new technology of glazed terra cotta to clad a tall building, and the architect used it as a model for the Woolworth Building.

For Woolworth, Gilbert doubled the size of the 23-story West Street building and then some, to 55 floors, with a pyramidal roof 792 feet high. That topped the 700-foot Metropolitan Life tower, built at Madison Avenue and 24th Street in 1909.

Paul Starrett was one of the contractors bidding on the Woolworth project, and in his 1938 book, “Changing the Skyline,” he recalled trying to persuade Woolworth to use more traditional materials.

“In stone it would be magnificent,” he said, but in terra cotta, “it would look like a 5-and-10-cent store proposition.”

He did not get the job.

The utility of terra cotta was irrefutable: each block of fired clay, usually hollowed out, was a fraction of the weight of brick or stone. The blocks were easily modeled in intricate forms and were protected by a glaze that shed dirt.

A 1912 ad by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in The Real Estate Record and Guide boasted, “Cream color in another material would be dark and dirty after a few years’ exposure.”

Unlike many prior skyscrapers, the Woolworth Building was well received by the architectural intelligentsia. It had no raw blank side walls, and the Gothic-style detailing seemed an honest reflection of the new steel-frame technology.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/09/realestate/09scap.1902.jpg
The Architectural Record, 1913
Office for Metropolitan History

Writing in The Architectural Record in 1913, Montgomery Schuyler particularly admired the way Gilbert adjusted the scale of the ornament. The finials, shields, crockets and other details were not simply giant-sized to look good from a distance but also held up to close view from neighboring buildings.

Compared with European models, “this brand-new American Gothic loses nothing,” Mr. Schuyler said.

But Mr. Starrett’s misgivings were well founded. In his 1938 book he recalled, apparently from years earlier, “the spectacle of the upper part of the Woolworth Building, wired up with metal mesh to catch the falling terra cotta.”

By 1962, The New York Times reported that riggers were repairing broken pieces all year round.

These problems only grew worse, and in the 1970s the Woolworth company retained Ezra D. Ehrenkrantz & Associates (now Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn) to examine every one of the 400,000 terra-cotta blocks. The architecture firm found that 25,000 of them needed complete replacement and selected precast concrete instead.

The concrete had a surface coating, meant to be renewed every five years, to shed soil and moisture, like the glaze on the terra-cotta blocks.

Timothy Allanbrook, now a senior consultant at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, an architecture and engineering firm in Northbrook, Ill., worked for Ehrenkrantz at the time and was on and off the scaffolds at the Woolworth Building for three years.

He says the prescription for periodic resealing has not been followed, so the porous concrete has been absorbing water and dirt for years. He suspects that the concrete has absorbed so much dirt that it cannot be cleaned sufficiently so that it matches the original terra cotta, which may leave another replacement as the only option.

Mr. Allanbrook said that 30 years ago, the terra-cotta industry was in decline, making concrete “the optimal choice in a narrow field of imperfect choices.”

Now, terra cotta has seen a resurgence, so the original material could be a reasonable replacement, Mr. Allanbrook said; so could newer materials like concrete reinforced with glass fiber.

Roy Suskin, a vice president of the Witkoff Group, the building’s owner, declined to discuss the problem and any plans for remedying it.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

[BigMac]

kmf164 on Flickr
October 6, 2007

From 7 World Trade:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/1502371047_ecc4f6888c_b.jpg

[DarrylStrawberry]

The whole building is lit up tonight.

[macreator]

Fantastic! I don't think I've ever seen the entire building floodlit before. Usually only the crown is lit. Let's hope this keeps up.

[Comelade]

Je voudrais savoir si il est prevu de redonner vie à ce superbe immeuble. Il est dommage qu'il reste comme cela. J'ai trouver des photos de l'interieur de l'immeuble maintenant, c'est triste. Avoir sur le post
I want to know whether there are plans to restore life to this wonderful building. It is a pity that it remains like that. I find pictures of the inside of the building now is sad. Get on the post

http://curbed.com/archives/2007/10/09/curbed_inside_the_woolworth_buildings_makeover.php

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool2.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool5.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool3.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool14.jpg

Les autres photos sont sur le blog Curbed
Other photographs are on the blog Curbed

http://curbed.com/archives/2007/10/09/curbed_inside_the_woolworth_buildings_makeover.php

[DarrylStrawberry]

from the library of congress' collection.

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c00000/3c05000/3c05500/3c05567r.jpg

[DarrylStrawberry]

http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c00000/3c00000/3c00100/3c00109r.jpg

[lofter1]

It must have just been astounding for NYers to watch this one rise up to nearly 800' from what was, back then, basically a city of low-rise buildings.

[lostnyc]

The issue with terra cotta was the steel anchors the construction crews used with terra cotta cladding to tie the blocks into the brickwork better. I'm not convinced these straps of steel were necessary as I have seen them used on occasion in tenements, especially on keystones.

They used a flat piece of steel maybe an inch wide by 1/8 inch thick or a little more about 8" long and bent an inch of one end down 90 degrees and an inch of the other end up 90 degrees, the down end slipped into a hole made in the keystone's top, and the up end slipped behind the first course of brick behind the keystone.

I suspect it was mostly to anchor the top heavy keystones in DURING construction while the wall was going up and the mortar not hard, because there was no way for the keystone to just fall forward when the wall was above it.

That steel rusts and swells and then cracks brick and terra cotta, ditto for rebar used inside balustrades to anchor them into the rail above and the base below, the hollow balustrades were usually filled with mortar and that rebar making them solid, the rod rusts and expands and cracks the balustrade usually in half vertically.

None of this is the fault of terra cotta!
All of the terra cotta was high fired stoneware, fired to high temperature in a kiln and vitrified to an extent it's porosity is extremely low. After around 1905 glazes became popular, and these are the same kinds of glazes applied to your dinner plates- completely waterproof and glass-like.
Some poorly made units that the glaze formula didn't fit well tended to craze due to expansion differences, the tiny cracks in the glaze could let some water in but not likely, and the terracotta itself is vitrified as mentioned.

So most of the water comes in from bad mortar joints, cracks from settling, and especially thru the top of the facade wall if the parapet overhanging cornice is gone or leaking- a lot of them are gone, most were sheet metal and older ones from the 1870's were WOOD, newer ones were often terra cotta and one fault was the joint between cornice blocks, They either overlapped one raised edge over the adjacent block, or bocks had raised edges where the mortar was to shed the water off that joint.
As the raised joint if cracked or the mortar loose is horizontal, rainwater can soak right in, freeze and crack the walls. As the cracks begin from freezing, they get wider and wider each time water in there freezes.

The problem with GFRC panels is they are not terra cotta, so they will NOT look the same and will change in color like those patches did. The only real repair is replacing the damaged terra cotta with new units like they did on 90 West.
The problem with this is, clay shrinks considerably- up to 10%, so simply making a mold of existing cornices and ornaments doesn't work well because any casts made from those molds will wind up 6-10% smaller, leaving large gaps that have to be filled.

So the effective solution there is making new patterns from photos much as I do, and making them 6-10% larger to compensate for the shrinkage.
Any sculptor can make replacement units, but the sheer number of them, say 25,000 is daunting to say the least!
Also, these original units were made in factories on an assembly line type production, and these companies had several HUGE beehive shaped kilns usually around 35 or more feet in diameter made of brick, and big enough to hold tens of thousands of pounds of greenware.
The earlier ones in the 1880's etc were wood or coal fired, later ones were gas fired. Once the kiln was full, the doorway was bricked shut and the fires started, it took one week on a low fire followed by one week of stoneware temperature to soak all of the greenware completely through to the centers, and then a week of cool down.
The temperature had to be maintained 24/7 within a narrow range around cone 8, which would be around 2100 degrees.
Glazed units had to be removed when cool, glazes applied and the fired a second time to a lower temperature and shorter duration.

The unique specific clay and glaze formulas used for the Woolworth building's terra cotta could be difficult to replicate, most of the clay used in NYC for this stuff seemed to have come from New Jersey, it may not even be available any more. Staten Island's clay was found to be very inferior and was not used despite being right nearby in a terra cotta company's "back yard".

[pianoman11686]

Thanks for those photos, Darryl. That second one is a view I don't think I've ever seen, and it reminded me of another famous terra cotta-clad skyscraper...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e3/Smithtower.jpg/434px-Smithtower.jpg

The Smith Tower of Seattle - built in 1914 (one year after the Woolworth), it was the 6th tallest building in the world at the time (3rd tallest outside Manhattan). 462 feet, still lookin' good today:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/SmithTower_Seattle_WA_USA2.jpg/487px-SmithTower_Seattle_WA_USA2.jpg

[GVNY]

The Great Dame, in full glory, here (http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7804/woolworthbuilding19125xr.jpg), and here (http://img273.imageshack.us/img273/8562/woolworthbuildingaboveparkrowa.jpg).

[Glen Hunter]

It is possible to get quality terra cotta replacements in GFRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete). See the recent restoration of terra cotta in Michigan by the Stromberg company. http://www.strombergarchitectural.com/restoration/terracotta.php (the website shows several examples of terra cotta connections and how the metal straps were used in old terra cotta buildings. Stromberg website also shows old connection drawings from the Woolworth gargoyles)
http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/galleries/Default/Features/Issue%2080/da-240.jpg
This shows both old terra cotta and new GFRC side by side.
http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/galleries/Default/Features/Issue%2080/da-480.jpg

[Glen Hunter]

http://www.strombergarchitectural.com/restoration/images/gargoyle.jpgThe terra cotta gargoyles on the Woolworth building was anchored by steel angle. Here is a drawing from original manufacturers shop drawings and plans (for more details see http://www.strombergarchitectural.com/restoration/terracotta.php they produce GFRC Terra Cotta replacement elements and have collected the original drawings, models and molds from several thousand terra cotta elements, including many of the original patterns from the Woolworth.)

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/www.strombergarchitectural.com/restoration/images/gargoyle.jpg

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/www.strombergarchitectural.com/restoration/images/gargoyle.jpg

[BrooklynLove]

there are for-rent signs up now in the former chase ground floor space. according to the signs there is an olympic size pool in the basement. interesting.

[lostnyc]

"they produce GFRC Terra Cotta replacement elements "

There's no such thing as glass fiber reinforced concrete Terra Cotta! call it GFRC, plastic or whatever, it's still just poured or sprayed molded concrete, and it's no substitute for an honest historic restoration in my opinion, it's a fake, pseudo, paper thin look-alike that smacks of cheapness compared to the original hand-made Terra Cotta.

Much of the problems can be traced right back to POOR MAINTENANCE, and unless that changes, no matter what replaces what, it will not hold up either.

Sculpting models to re-create traditional elements is not difficult, I do it every week as a self-taught sculptor most of my models are done in an average of 20-25 hours.
Some samples of my architectural sculpted clay models all done from photos;

Keystone, after keystones on 208 Eldridge St (demolished 1977)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/208-R-done.jpg

Public School 168, after dormer gargoyles
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/171-r-done4.jpg

Public School 168, after dormer gargoyles
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/169-R12-21-07sm.jpg

Spandrel panel after one at the Brooklyn museum's sculpture garden
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/putti-dragons12-28-06-sm.jpg

Art Deco after a frieze on a Chicago theater
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/D7-Rdone-sm.jpg

Keystone after keystones on 202 Eldridge st (demolished 1977)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/202-R-12-31-06a.jpg

Work in progress, keystone, after keystones on 621 East 5th st (standing)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/Randall2/621-R-2-26-08.jpg

[BrooklynLove]

not lit up tonight. anyone know why?

[econ_tim]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2372445034_0560f55d5a_b.jpg

[lofter1]

12 Barfclay had its crown lit up pink last night.

[BrooklynLove]

yup, it started up a few weeks back and seems to be lit every night now - much to my glee. other than that 1 (maybe 2) night a few days back woolyb seems to be lit per the norm. hopefully the gehry and stern buidlings will have lit crowns as well.

[antinimby]

I didn't know they put up plaques here. I gotta check it out the next time I pass by.

Kinda like NY's own little version of Grauman's Chinese theater. I like it.

Super Bowl-Winning Giants Get Canyon of Heroes Honor



By FERNANDA SANTOS
Published: June 11, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/nyregion/11bloomberg.html)

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined the defensive end Justin Tuck of the New York Giants in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday morning to unveil a sidewalk plaque commemorating the Giants’ historic win over the heavily favored New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

“Like Lower Manhattan, the New York Giants know what it is to be underestimated, even written off,” Mayor Bloomberg said during the ceremony, which unfolded under scorching heat outside the Woolworth Building on Broadway, where the plaque was set. The plaque is one of the more than 200 granite strips in a route known as the Canyon of Heroes, marking those who have been honored by the city with ticker-tape parades.

Mr. Tuck, who wore a beige four-button suit but no Super Bowl ring, thanked the fans and his family for their support and said, “It’s just a special moment not only to bring this trophy back to New York City and the tristate area, but in doing so beating a Boston team.”

Mr. Bloomberg, who was born and grew up in Massachusetts, said after the ceremony — and after Mr. Tuck had left — that he was not a Patriots fan because “the Patriots didn’t exist” when he lived in Massachusetts. (The franchise, then known as the Boston Patriots, began as an American Football League team in 1960, right around the time Mr. Bloomberg left for college in Maryland.)

He also said that he did not root for the Giants or the New York Jets when he was younger and was, in fact, a Colts fan.

“I hate to admit this, but when I was in college, I was a rabid Colts fan because I went to school in Baltimore,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1964, when the Colts, now in Indiana, still played in Baltimore.

When it comes to basketball, the mayor said he roots for the Boston Celtics. But when it comes to baseball, his allegiances remain a mystery.

Mr. Bloomberg would disclose only that he was not a fan of the Boston Red Sox — and, this being New York, the statement was perhaps his saving grace.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

The plaques are inset into the sidewalk along Broadway commemorating those who have had a ticker tape parade in their honor -- the plaques are chronological, with the earliest starting near Bowling Green and then moving north (on the west side of the street) ...

Heady Days, Immortalized Where the Ticker Tape Fell

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2004/09/30/nyregion/20040930_blocks.jpg
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
Jorge Condez, left, and Paul Corrales
setting a plaque commemorating 1986
ticker-tape honors for the Mets,
on Broadway near Vesey Street.

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/30/nyregion/30blocks.html)
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
September 30, 2008

BLOCKS

In the midst of the longest ticker-tape drought in a quarter century, lower Broadway - the Canyon of Heroes - has been paved instead with 164 granite plaques from Bowling Green to the Woolworth Building.

They commemorate ticker-tape parades from October 1886, when the Statue of Liberty was dedicated, to October 2000, when the Yankees last won the World Series. They were commissioned before 9/11 under a plan by the Alliance for Downtown New York to improve the streetscape with new sidewalks, lampposts, signs and wastebaskets.

Only in recent weeks has the parade chronology been finished from beginning to end. Thirty-six intermediate plaques will be installed as permitted by construction projects along the route.

Against the shadow of Sept. 11, 2001, these plaques recall a carefree, exuberant, giddy spirit that may be difficult to conjure again downtown, even if the Yankees do their part.

Carefree? How about the parade in May 1962 when President Félix Houphouët-Boigny of the Ivory Coast was cheered as "Scott Carpenter" by spectators who mistakenly assumed he was a newly returned astronaut.

Exuberant? How about the 1,900 tons of paper showered on Douglas (Wrong Way) Corrigan in August 1938 after his flight from New York to Ireland "instead of his 'intended' destination of California," as the plaque says, with quotation marks that constitute one of the few instances of editorializing.

Giddy? How about May 1950, when there was a parade every day for three days, beginning with one for Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan. He was assassinated a year later, one of many foreign leaders who were hailed in the Canyon of Heroes and then jailed, deposed or murdered back home.

"It was almost like a death sentence to get a ticker-tape parade," said Kenneth R. Cobb, the director of the municipal archives, who has compiled a parade history.

After several spontaneous outbursts, one of the first organized uses of paper tape from stock-market tickers occurred Nov. 18, 1919, in a parade for the Prince of Wales, later the Duke of Windsor.

Grover A. Whalen, the city's official greeter, recalled in his 1955 autobiography, "Mr. New York," that he arranged a word-of-mouth campaign among downtown businesses to give the prince a spectacular reception with streams of ticker tape. It wound up including torn-up phone books. (Hmmm. A city official, proud of his Irish descent, contriving to welcome the Prince of Wales by inundating him with waste paper thrown out of windows in tall buildings.)

Watching the paper fall on the Yankees in 1996, Carl Weisbrod, the president of the Downtown Alliance, and Suzanne O'Keefe, the vice president for design, agreed that something should be done to commemorate the parades.

As part of the $20 million streetscape project, under the direction of Cooper, Robertson & Partners, the design studio Pentagram came up with the idea of simple granite sidewalk strips - not unlike the ticker-tape ribbons that remain after a parade, said Michael Bierut, a Pentagram partner - with the date and a few words of description.

(An illustrated brochure and map with information about all 200 parades can be picked up at kiosks outside City Hall and the World Trade Center PATH station or through the alliance, at downtownny.com or 212-835-2789.)

The plaques were made by Dale Travis Associates, the firm responsible for the silver-leaf lettering in the Freedom Tower cornerstone. The granite blocks, 8 inches wide and 3 inches deep, were cut with a water jet, Dale L. Travis said. Then the two-inch stainless-steel letters were inserted, held by pins and thermoplastic grout.

Last week, Jorge Condez and Paul Corrales of A.F.C. Enterprises set some of the last plaques, including "October 28, 1986 * New York Mets, World Series Champions," into place near Vesey Street.

THREE years and 11 months have passed since the last parade, the longest interval since the 1978 Yankees broke a nine-year dry spell in the Canyon of Heroes.

The next parade will not be easy. The image of a paper blizzard suspended in midair among the downtown skyscrapers, once a visual metaphor for civic celebration, was transformed on Sept. 11, 2001, into a metaphor for cataclysm.

Is it still? Mr. Bierut hopes not. "Part of the resiliency of the city is retaining its own meaning for those metaphors and not surrendering them," he said. "The post-terror condition has acclimated people to view any disruption of routine as a cause for alarm. There will come a time when the disruption of the routine of city life is seen as something wonderful."

"Ticker-tape parades were the very essence of that," Mr. Bierut said.

Just in case, Ms. O'Keefe said, there are 33 blank spots available on Broadway and Park Row to mark future parades. At the current pace, she figured, that ought to last a century and a half.

Copyright 2004 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times (http://www.nytco.com/)

[brianac]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/24/nyregion/wool.533.jpg
The Woolworth Building, known for its height when it opened in 1913, is being extensively renovated. (Photo: Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)


A new book about the Woolworth building HERE (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=242496&postcount=23)