A few nice real estate commission images I found:
NYC - Stone Street
Image by wallyg
Sandwiched between South William and Pearl Street, the slender alley today known as Stone Street is said to be the first paved street in the city of New York.
The Dutch West India Company first sold what is now the Stone Street Historic District, bounded by Stone, Pearl, Hanover Square, and South William Streets, including Stone Street--originally called Hoogh Straet (High Street)--to European property owners in the 1640s. A few years later, Hoogh Straet was moved to connect with Brouwer Street which was paved in 1658. When the colony came under British control, Hoogh Straet was renamed Duke Street, in honor of the Duke of York. In 1794, it was renamed Stone Street.
Destroyed by the Great Fire of 1835, the area was rebuilt with four-story Greek Revival-style countinghouses, with granite bases of post-and-lintel construction and brick upper stories, erected for importers, dry goods and dealers and other merchants--many of which survive to this day.
At the beginning of the 20th century, major changes began occuring the district, initiated by the Eno family. In 1903, Amos F. Eno commissioned C.P.H. Gilbert to design new street facades on the building at 13 South William Street/57 Stone Street for his family's real-estate office. Gilbert's picturesque neo-Dutch Renaissance design features stepped gables and strapwork detail.
The area deteriorated in the 20th century as the maritime industry shifted locations. The southern portion of Stone Street between Broad and William Streets was closed and demapped in 1980. Coenties Alley, located between Stone and Pearl Streets, was demapped and relocated northward.
In 1995 Beyer Blinder Belle prepared a master plan for upgrading and economic revitalization of the area. With .8 million in financing secured from New York City and the Alliance for Downtown New York, Stone Street received a makeover, including a new street bed duplicating the original cobblestone paving and new bluestone sidewalks lined with traditional looking lighting fixtures. Business followed and today Stone Street boasts a "restaurant row" of dining experiences, including Smorgas Chef, Brouwers of Stone Street, Ulysses, and Adrienne's Pizza Bar,
The Stone Street Historic District was designated landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1996.
Stone Street National Historic District #99001330 (1999)
Explore: February 20, 2008
NYC: The Trump Building
Image by wallyg
40 Wall Street, built in 1928-1930 for the Bank of the Manhattan Co., is best known for its race for the world's tallest building neck to neck with the Chrysler Building. Designed by H. Craig Servance, along with Yasuo Matsui and Shreve & Lamb, it was built simultaneously with the rivalling building. Both made design revisions as they were being built to add height, first with a raised spire in the Chrysler Building, countered by a heighened pyramid roof in the 40 Wall St. Finally, the 70-storey building was topped out with the raised pyramidal top and lantern, escalating the height to 927 feet, the builders being certain that they'd won. But when the Chrysler Building's secretly-raised needle-like vertex, raised three weeks earlier, was finally publicized, 40 Wall was left to hold the second place in skyscraper rankings. (Although according to the Real Estate Weekly, the 282.5 m tall building still holds the title of the "tallest mid-block building".)
The Bank of the Manhattan Company, which eventually became Chase Manhattan, opened its first office here in September 1799. It was founded by Aaron Burr against the opposition of Alexander Hamilton. The New York Stock & Exchange Board, as the NYSE was then called, had its first permanent office here in 1817. The United States Life Insurance Co. moved its operations here in 1852.
In 1946, 40 Wall Street was hit by a United States Coast Guard airplane in 1946 during fog. The crash killed five people, and the pyramidal tower was damaged. Though zoned for commercial use only, it has been said that Governor Thomas A. Dewey took residence below the observation deck for a time.
In 1995, Donald Trump bought the building for million and renamed it the Trump Building. He intended to convert the upper half of it to residential space, leaving the bottom half as commercial space. However, today it remains 100% commercial space.
40 Wall Street was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1998.
Manhattan Company Building National Register #00000577 (2000)
