49 Chambers (Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building)
49 Chambers Street | also 29 Reade Street, 4951 Chambers Street | Civic Center | built 1910
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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1850
Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank opens in leased rooms at 51 Chambers Street
Bishop John Hughes and the Irish Emigrant Society organized the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank to shield the savings of newly arrived immigrants, especially Irish ones, from people who might exploit their inexperience. It began business in October 1850 in rented quarters on this lot, years before the present tower existed. The bank rebuilt on the site in 1858 and came through the Panic of 1873 intact. By 1882 it had outgrown its space and bought the neighboring property at 49 Chambers Street.
- 1887
The bank erects an eight-story fireproof building at 49 Chambers Street
By 1882 the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank had outgrown its quarters, so it bought the property at 49 Chambers Street, which ran through to Reade Street. William H. Hume and Little & O'Conner designed an eight-story fireproof bank and office building there, put up in 1885-87. It had a granite front with a rusticated base and a mansard roof, and a large central entrance opened onto a banking room that spanned the lot from Chambers Street to Reade Street.
- 1907
The bank buys the neighboring lots and hires Raymond Almirall for a new building
In 1907 the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank purchased the lots next door, 43 to 47 Chambers Street, a parcel reaching through to 21 to 25 Reade Street. It then hired Raymond F. Almirall, a Paris-trained architect from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, to design a new building for the whole enlarged lot. The result was the third bank the institution built on this site, completed in 1912.
“In 1907 the bank bought the adjoining property at 43 to 47 Chambers Street through to 21 to 25 Reade Street…”
- 1912
Raymond Almirall completes a 17-story bank with a pioneering H-shaped plan
Raymond F. Almirall, a Paris-trained Beaux-Arts architect, designed the third bank the Emigrant organization put up on this site. Above a full-lot base, the tower splits into two wings joined by a deep recess, so daylight and air reach every office. The Landmarks Preservation Commission called this H plan an important stage in the evolution of the early skyscraper.
“The pioneering "H"-plan of the Emigrant represents an important phase in the development of the early skyscraper…”
- 1912
The New York Supreme Court takes over the building's 13th floor for judges' chambers
Soon after the bank building opened, the state Supreme Court, short of room in the old county courthouse nearby, announced it would use the thirteenth floor and half of the twelfth. Judges were to get chambers of about 15 by 25 feet, along with a judicial library. The Associated Press moved in as a tenant in 1914, while the bank kept the banking hall below.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1914
The Associated Press moves into the bank building's office floors
While the Emigrant Savings Bank used the banking hall, the other floors of the new building were rented to outside tenants. One early tenant was the Associated Press, which relocated to the building in 1914 from the Western Union Telegraph Building. The bank's own deposits had been growing in the years after the new headquarters was finished.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1969
Emigrant Savings Bank leaves Chambers Street as the city plans a civic center
In 1964 New York City won authority to buy the building and nearby plots for a new Civic Center municipal building, and in 1967 it told the bank the structure would be demolished. The bank shut its Chambers Street office in 1969 and relocated temporarily to a site on Broadway. After the 1975 fiscal crisis the redevelopment plans were dropped, but the city retained the building.
“The bank closed its Chambers Street location in 1969, moving to a temporary location on Broadway.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1978
Paul Goldberger helps defeat a plan to strip the banking hall of its decoration
By 1978 the city, which owned the building, planned to renovate the main banking hall and remove much of its ornament. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic of The New York Times, called the hall irreplaceable and the one real asset of a near-bankrupt city. After opposition mounted, the city dropped the renovation plan, and the marble-and-bronze interior survived to be landmarked and later reused as an event space.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1985
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the former bank a landmark
The Commission held a public hearing on June 14, 1983, where two witnesses spoke for designation and none against, and the city's Commissioner of General Services sent a supporting letter. The 1985 designation report described the bank as a beneficent institution for the city's large immigrant population. It also called the building's H-plan an important phase in the development of the early skyscraper.
“Two witnesses spoke in favor of designation. There were no speakers in opposition to designation.”
- 2002
The city's 9/11 Family Assistance Center moves from Pier 94 to 51 Chambers Street
On January 7, 2002, the New York Family Assistance Center, which helped families of those killed at the World Trade Center, relocated from Pier 94 on the Hudson River to 51 Chambers Street. The center in the former bank building kept weekday and Saturday hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A New Jersey state bulletin passed the new address and telephone number to families who were trying to reach services.
Source: nj.gov
- 2006
Mayor Bloomberg's second inaugural reception fills the old banking hall with 4,000 guests
After the ceremony for Michael Bloomberg's second term, where Liza Minnelli closed by singing "New York, New York," about 4,000 guests went to the former Emigrant bank across from the Tweed Courthouse. The reception served comfort food such as tomato soup and mini sandwiches of grilled cheese and hamburgers, with Brooklyn Brewery beer. Two hundred floating Mylar balloons drifted overhead, and tables bore old city photographs and planning maps.
Source: bizbash.com
- 2013
The Chetrit Group buys the city-owned bank building for $89 million
New York City sold the building in 2013 to the Chetrit Group for $89 million, as part of a $250 million deal that also included 346 Broadway, which went to the Peebles Corporation. The city said it wanted to cut the amount of office space it owned. Chetrit later converted the building into condominiums and renamed it 49 Chambers.
“The Chetrit Group bought the Emigrant Savings Bank Building from the city for $89 million in 2013…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2022
Hall des Lumieres opens in the banking hall with a Gustav Klimt exhibition
The double-height banking hall of the former bank became a digital art venue run by Culturespaces, a French museum operator. Hall des Lumieres opened on September 14, 2022, with an immersive exhibition dedicated to Gustav Klimt. The venue has since hosted other immersive shows and private events in the landmark Beaux-Arts setting.
Source: halldeslumieres.com
Further reading
- 49 ChambersWikipedia
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