Cipriani Wall Street
55 Wall Street | also 21 Exchange Place, 53 Wall Street, 57 Wall Street | Financial District | built 1842
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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1835
The Great Fire destroys the first Merchants' Exchange on this site
A fire broke out near the Merchants' Exchange on the night of December 16, 1835. By the next afternoon Collector Samuel Swartwout sent a letter to a Senate Ways and Means Committee member saying that four to five hundred buildings had been destroyed, with losses of fifteen to twenty million dollars. Importing merchants had relied on the Exchange for meetings, business and auctions, so its loss hit them hard. About two months later the Herald reported a plan for a new Exchange covering the whole block.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1842
Isaiah Rogers completes the fireproof Merchants' Exchange
Rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1835 destroyed its predecessor on the site, the new Merchants' Exchange was designed by Isaiah Rogers as a fireproof granite structure that took six years to complete. Monolithic Ionic columns at the second floor were each about three feet thick and weighed more than 33 tons, and a massive iron dome topped the building, its oculus lighting the rotunda below.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1862
The building becomes the U.S. Custom House
With the Merchants' Exchange relocating, the federal government leased the building starting in February 1862 and moved the U.S. Customs Service into it that August, later buying the building outright in 1865. Customs operations grew cramped inside the old exchange and finally moved to Bowling Green in 1907.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1899
National City Bank buys the former Custom House
National City Bank agreed to purchase the vacating Custom House for about $3.3 million, then spent several years and $2.3 million expanding and renovating it before moving its headquarters in on December 19, 1908. The bank, later renamed Citibank, remained until 1961.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1907
McKim, Mead & White crown the old exchange with a Corinthian colonnade
For its new owner National City Bank, the firm of McKim, Mead & White added four stories atop Isaiah Rogers's original structure and wrapped the addition in a Corinthian colonnade, finishing the work in 1910. The firm also redesigned the banking rotunda below in a classical Roman style.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1908
National City Bank moves in, with messengers carrying its holdings across Wall Street
On December 19, 1908, National City Bank moved from its old office at 52 Wall Street into the rebuilt headquarters across the street. Messengers carried roughly $500 million in holdings over in leather satchels, each holding at least $10,000. The building opened to the public several days later. The expansion had cost $2.3 million.
“Messengers carried the bank's $500 million holdings from the old office across the street in leather satchels containing at least $10,000 each.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1910
A teenage messenger loses a $10,000 bill on his way to National City Bank
On Friday, February 4, 1910, 17-year-old messenger Benson Lang left the banking house of Hornblower & Weeks with one of the roughly twenty $10,000 bills then in circulation, to deposit it at National City Bank. He said he had shown it off to an elevator man, another runner and a bootblack, and that it was gone when he reached the bank. A ticker notice about the lost bill reached hundreds of offices. Three days later Lang was in the Tombs with bail set at $10,000, and his lawyer later cited a temporary loss of memory.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1937
Six thousand City Bank employees gather under the rotunda for a Christmas party
Each year during the Depression, National City Bank held a Christmas party under the dome of its rotunda. In 1937 all 6,000 employees from the bank's 74 offices gathered at 55 Wall Street. A 125-voice City Bank Club Choral Society sang carols with an electric organ, a 50-foot Christmas tree stood among the decorations, and the program went out over radio station WHN.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1957
A vault weighing more than 1.4 million pounds goes into the basement
National City Bank installed a massive new safe deposit vault in the building, reportedly weighing over 1.4 million pounds, reflecting the scale of the bank's operations at its Wall Street headquarters.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1965
The Landmarks Commission designates the bank over the owner's objection
On December 21, 1965, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the First National City Bank at 55 Wall Street a landmark. At an October 19 hearing four witnesses spoke for designation, among them a spokesperson for the American Institute of Architects' New York Chapter, while the building's owner opposed it. The commission counted the building among the city's few truly monumental classical buildings, and noted that the bank had saved it by acquiring it when the Custom House moved to the Battery.
“Four witnesses spoke in favor of designation. The owner of the building opposed its designation as a Landmark.”
- 1992
Citibank closes its branch, and the empty building becomes a film set
Citibank closed its branch at 55 Wall Street in 1992, and the law firm Milgrim Thomajan & Lee, a major tenant, went bankrupt. With the rotunda empty and much of the upper office space vacant, the building was used mostly for film shoots and advertisements, including ads for Cadillac and PNC. Batman Forever and Die Hard with a Vengeance also used it. Landmark limits on changing the exterior made it harder for prospective tenants to renovate.
“…used mostly for film shoots, since the rotunda was unoccupied and much of the office space on the upper floors was also vacant…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1996
Donald Trump boasts of a $20 million price for the emptying bank, then walks away
In September 1996 Donald Trump said he had negotiated a bargain price of $20 million for a building that had lost many tenants, and that he was in talks with several entertainment and restaurant chains about space. He did not go through with the purchase. In May 1997 the Times reported that a subsidiary of the investment bank behind his intended financing had bought the building instead, and the Cipriani family announced plans for a luxury hotel and banquet hall.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 2002
Liza Minnelli and David Gest hold their wedding reception at the Regent Wall Street hotel
After a renovation, the building opened in 2000 as the 144-room Regent Wall Street hotel. After the September 11 attacks it served as a relief center for workers and neighbors and was used by Tribeca Film Festival attendees. In 2002 the hotel hosted the reception and after-party for the wedding of Liza Minnelli and David Gest. Its business later declined.
“The hotel was the venue for the reception and after party for the 2002 wedding of David Gest and Liza Minnelli.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 55 Wall StreetWikipedia
- A Downtown Treasure, The National City Bank Building - 55 Wall StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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