One Chase Manhattan Plaza
28 Liberty Street | also 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza | Financial District | built 1964
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1882
Mutual Life's Romanesque Revival building by Charles Clinton stands on the Chase block
Before Chase Manhattan's tower, the block north of Cedar Street belonged to the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. A Romanesque Revival building by Charles W. Clinton, begun in 1882, stood there along with six other Mutual Life buildings. The company moved to Broadway and 55th Street in 1950, leaving the block empty until Chase bought it in 1955.
- 1955
Zeckendorf urges Chase to bid for the Mutual Life block, and the bank pays $4.67 million
At a hastily called meeting at Chase's headquarters in February 1955, the developer William Zeckendorf pointed out the window and told executives the Mutual Life site was about to sell and they had to bid that day. The bank paid $4.67 million. It kept saying it had no definite plans for a new head office, but signed a contract in May to demolish the entire north block.
“As one of the largest sites available in the area, the bank acted without delay, paying $4.67 million.”
- 1959
A Mohawk steelworker raises the flag as the Chase tower is topped out
The tower's 53,000-ton steel frame, made by Bethlehem Steel with up to about 1,800 workers on site, was topped out in September 1959. Executives and 200 invited guests watched on closed-circuit television as a Mohawk steelworker in a headdress hoisted the American flag. Four citywide construction strikes then delayed the move-in until January 1961.
“…executives and two hundred invited guests watched the ceremonial hoisting of the United States flag by a steelworker from the Mohawk tribe…”
- 1961
Chase Manhattan Bank opens its 60-story Lower Manhattan headquarters
David Rockefeller, then Chase's executive vice president, proposed the tower in the 1950s to keep the newly merged Chase National and Manhattan Company banks downtown under one roof. Construction began in early 1957 on a 60-story design by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and the tower opened in January 1961. It held 7,500 employees but had only 150 private offices, since most staff worked in open plan space.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1964
Goldfish added to Noguchi's sunken garden soon die, apparently from brass piping and pennies
Soon after the garden was finished, a passer-by put in some goldfish and bank staff added more, until about 100 large fish drew lunchtime crowds two or three deep, according to a July 1964 New York Times report. The fish died quickly, apparently poisoned by the brass piping and by copper from the many pennies tossed into the pool.
“…the 100 large goldfish that flirted with the fountain's currents. At noontime, fish-watchers often stood two or three deep.”
- 1964
Isamu Noguchi's sunken rock garden opens in the plaza
The plaza around the tower opened on May 7, 1964, with a circular sunken garden of Japanese-style rocks designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi at its southern end. The recess lies about 16 feet below the plaza, spans 60 feet, and holds seven large basalt rocks from Japan. Cedar Street, which once crossed this block, was closed in the late 1950s to clear the site.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1969
A Vietnam War protest bomb goes off in Chase's international department on the 16th floor
In November 1969 a bomb exploded in the bank's international department on the 16th floor of One Chase Manhattan Plaza, set to protest the Vietnam War. It was one of several early setbacks for the new tower, which also had a sub-basement fire in 1962 and windows that popped from their frames in 1964.
“…a bombing in the bank's international department on the 16 th floor protesting the Vietnam War in November 1969…”
- 1972
Jean Dubuffet's Group of Four Trees is dedicated in the Chase plaza
Jean Dubuffet's Group of Four Trees, a sculpture 40 feet tall, stands in the south part of the plaza by the east stairs; it was put in place in 1971 and dedicated in October 1972. The French artist (1901-1985) is represented by a piece that is not part of the landmark designation covering the tower and plaza.
- 1979
Armed men in a stolen fish truck rob a Brink's truck in the tower's garage
In 1979 two armed men driving a stolen fish truck robbed a Brink's armored truck in the building's underground garage. They took two hostages and loaded more than $2 million into the refrigerated vehicle. Police later found that vehicle abandoned, and the robbers got away.
“A Brink's truck in the building's underground garage was robbed in 1979 by two armed men driving a stolen fish truck…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2009
The city designates the tower a landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission held hearings on One Chase Manhattan Plaza in mid-2008 and officially designated it a city landmark on February 10, 2009. Architect Robert A. M. Stern had suggested as early as 1996 that the tower was a viable candidate for landmark status.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2011
Chase fences off its plaza as Occupy Wall Street protesters gather nearby
In September 2011 Chase put a temporary barricade fence around the plaza while the Occupy Wall Street protests were under way nearby. The stated reason was construction work, but observers saw little activity, and lawsuits followed, including one claiming a free-speech violation although the plaza is private. The barricades came down in November 2013.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
JPMorgan Chase sells the tower to the Chinese investment firm Fosun
After an auction that reportedly drew about a dozen bidders, JPMorgan sold the building to Fosun, a Chinese investment company, for $725 million, with the sale finalized that December. Chase had moved its headquarters out in 1997. Fosun rebranded the tower as 28 Liberty Street in 2015, a name that also nods to the Statue of Liberty.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 28 Liberty StreetWikipedia
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