Court Square Building

2 Lafayette Street | also 48 Duane Street, 10 Reade Street | Civic Center | built 1925

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1850

   Iron works and glass cutters occupy 42-46 Duane Street before the tower

   Before the Court Square Building rose, 42-46 Duane Street, an address now part of its site, held the Turner and Lane glass-cutting shop beside the D. D. Badger Iron Works. By the end of the century the Connor type foundry occupied much of the block.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1925

   Construction starts on the 21-story Court Square Building beside the new courthouse

   Builders broke ground in 1925 on a 21-story office tower at 2 Lafayette Street, designed by Buchman & Kahn, just as the New York County Court House was nearing completion. The tower was named for the open space west of the courthouse, which became Foley Square the following year.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

3. 1925

   The Uris family builds the Court Square Building

   The Landmarks Commission lists the Court Square Building among the Manhattan structures built by the Uris family. Harris H. Uris, an immigrant from Latvia who had run an iron foundry with his brothers, and his son Percy became commercial developers in the early 1920s, building hotels and apartment buildings. Harold Uris joined them in 1925, the year work began here, and the tower was finished in 1925-26.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

4. 1981

   The City of New York buys the Court Square Building at 2 Lafayette Street

   The city acquired the tower in 1981. Built in the 1920s as a commercial office building, it had housed municipal offices since the 1960s.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

• Jones Building52 Duane Street | 1 entry
• Surrogate's Court31 Chambers Street | 9 entries
• 22 Reade Street (City Planning Building)22 Reade Street | 4 entries
• James L. Watson U.S. Court of International Trade Building1 Federal Plaza | 6 entries
• 49 Chambers (Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building)49 Chambers Street | 13 entries
• Ted Weiss Federal Building290 Broadway | 15 entries

All 64 buildings with stories in Civic Center