Tung On Association at Division Street

 

Like many other criminally influenced tongs, Tung On was on the surface a legitimate social and community assistance center as well as a hotbed for illegal activity. To safeguard its gambling interests, members of the Tung On gang were used to protect it. It's one time leader, Clifford Chi Fai Wong conspired in 1992 with Tsung Tsin's Paul Lai to exact revenge on members of the Ghost Shadows. Clifford Wong, along with his brother Steven, was charged with leading a criminal enterprise that included murder, extortion, racketeering, robbery and heroin smuggling.

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was fifteen years old. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. During a May 1, 2015 news conference, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman stated that, based upon the then-available evidence, his office would not bring further charges in the case.

The Old Amsterdam Investigation: Environmental. Social. Governance

European Union Terrorist State Network insurrection sovereignity; criminally insane, psychopaths, covid response.

Thieves World (Poland) (France) (Bucharest) Brigade Militant Insurrectionist Domestic Terrorist

Environmental

   

Alpha Psi Greek Fraternity Bert Goldstein Mike Pence Alfred Hitchcock (Sweden) Fingerhut (Terror (Sleeper) Cells) Treyvon Henderson (Old Folks) Mc Hammer Occults The Amish Ted Bundy Ecomap (The Time (Clock) Trial,Extradited Sentencing) Sheldon Whitehouse (Euro Amerikan Sports)The Louder Family Rex Chapman Jimmy Hoffa American Partnership Project The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Brit Box Full Eclipse Chance the Rapper Rep Oh Kevin Miller Ted Kaczynski Troy Aikman The Rat Pack Feeding America David Alexrod Kid Rock The Projects The Huntsman Family Miami, Oh Reggie Jackson Timberland and Magoo Sarah Palin Donald Trump Cbo Razelle (Communist) David Koresh Branch Davidians Liechtenstein Jeffery Dahmer Voices From Within Michael Avenatti Crimea Door Dash (Chase Manhattan) (The Jews) Wes Welker Lazy Girl Jobs Treasury Oh Robert Sprague Howey Mandel Bob Lee Trusted News Loius Negron David Duke Fat Man Scoop The Pkk Fr Gov Minn Jesse Ventura Wild Gremlins Flamboyant The Hateful 8 America First Patriot Lighting River Direct Media Gloria Johnson Tree of Life Pew Research Center Michigan James Hoover Smothers Brothers Judge Judy Sheindlin Sky News Republic of Doyle Freedom House The Divine Prince Trillville Adam Jones Utah Morgan and Morgan J Bolin Bayard Rustin Dep. Kin Folk Kia Shine bl800 Skin Heads Fr Us Ambassador Bolivia Manuel Rocha Us Center of Mayors Vedant Patel The Franchise Boys Bipartisan Policy Center Sn Oh Matt Dolan Kodak Black Fr Osu Pres Karen A.Holbrook The Three Headed Monster The Wilson Family The Turners Earth Shot Shot Spotters Robert Traylor Rabbit Hole Richard Roundtree J Edgar Hoover Republican Unity Coalition Bob Saget Michael Strahan Kool Keith Blaze Media Rebecca Auborn The Lachlan Family GenZ Girls Tim Robbins Burt Young One Fair Wage James Inglehart Black Lives Matter Howard Schultz Forged by Fire Artic Oscillation Polar Vortex World on Fire Julian Edelman Fr Pres Us Jimmy Carter Half Price Books Dru Down Hyphy Jeffery Epstein Jake Scott Matt Damon The Nest Blumhouse Young Money Richard Moll Horror Noire Rl Stine Faith and Freedom Coalition Dr. Arron Boster Rege Jean Page Sag Aftra Tech N9ne Fr Gov Ar Mike Huckabee Rep Tx Patrick Fallon Sky Net Net Credit Rep Tx Kevin Brady Rep Oh Thomas West George Lopez Insight The Browns Tracy Adkins John Lamb Albert Kahn Ernest Hemingway Tree of Life Kimmelot Us Global Leadership Coalition The Teamsters Bakhmut Roblox John Lithgow Bread Financial Crumbsnatcher Boundless Health Maurice Hall Justin Sylvester Lebanon Myanmar United Citizens Party Liberty Union Party The Geek Squad (Torture, Larceny ) Columbus Short The Stott Family Ben Affleck Omar Epps Gz Doom Arrested Development The Daily Blast The Kessler Foundation Rep Pa Scott Perry Huawei Oliver Stone Insomnia Tv Rep Tx Tom Delay Ralph West Rupert Murdock Will Hindmarch Sn Md Jill Carter Mark Herder Ali Vegas David Mauger Chris Doegher Alameda Research Abercrombie and Fitch Matt Leinart Horror Matt Perry Bertie Bowman Ted Danson Penn and Teller The Byrd Gang Limelight Pk Pitel Trolls Veterans Service Commission Optima Serbia Apprentice Jared Kushner Republican Liberterian Party Sn Tx Roger Williams Beatnuts Gold Star Matt Gutman Post Malone Big Daddy Kane Dizzy Rascal Tony Robbins 5 Eyes The Hoover Institution Titus Burgess Ag David Yost Judge Jeff Myers Chip Kelly Talk Show Host Dak Prescott Jeff Schneider K Pop Galahager New Mexico Easy Thomas Devlin Dr. Landon Duyka Mathew Knowles James Laurenitis Alex Murdaugh Tim Anderson Todd Bowles Homeland Security Us Alejandro Mayorkas Sam Hubbard Kia BoysThe Group of 9 Chevy Chase Len Goodman Jason Mamoa Kelsey Grammer Glisko Family Paul Reubens Heath Ledger Danny Serafini Chris Pratt Credible David Duchovny Que Bo Gold The Quad Alliance Tommy Lee Amptp Sn Wis Paul Ryan Tim Ryan Sn Oh Jd Vance Andrei Konchalovsky Angus Cloud Mi6 Ludwig Fainberg Brighton Beach, Nj Mikhail Prokhorov Beurer American Restoration Burisma Dennis Byrd Alex Murdaugh Sn Il Rod Blagojevich Pres Ukrn Volodymyr Zelensky Luka Doncic Jersey Shore Tom Brady Chrls Motty The Sopranos Ronald Reagan Hollywood Neurolink The Brotherhood Tim Tebow The Problem Solvers Greg Taylor Dr Matt Levitt Harry Style Mayor Little Rock,Arkn Frank Scott Brand Nubian Consumer Cellular Quentin Tarantino Sn Az Mark Kelly Roger Stone Stedman Graham Dr Phil Mcgraw Dick Vital Jacob Arabo Pat Croce Larry Brown George Soros Roscoe Elon Musk Gary Busey (French Indians) Wayne Gretzky Armie Hamer Art Schlichter Richard Kuklinski Joe Paterno Geoffry Fowler Ozzy Osbourne The Brothers Osbournes Chris Hemsworth Mike Lindell Sam Brock Joe Rogan Jerry Sandusky Warcraft Blair Underwood Larry Cable Guy Hal Lindsey Lenardo Dicaprio Galvin Family Kastle Technology Systems Grand Crew John Stamos Lupe Fiasco J.Cole Steve Martin Charles Hawkins Corey Sickles Josh Gad TRe Up Gang (French Canadians)

Perjury Treason Conspiracy Extortion Identity Theft Human Trafficking Armed Robbery Loitering Corruption Watchdog! Hostage Kidnapping Hate Crimes Kleptomania Terrorism Murder Deficit

  

PM Canada Justin Trudeau PM Brexit Boris Johnson Blake Masters Ross Perot Barclays The Simms Osito Honarary Consul Dragon Code Nso Group (The Mafia) Duck Dynasty J Crew Lok Sabha Phoenix Project Ed Sheeran

 

Fr Us Treasury Larry Summers

Mayor Rudy Giuliani John Gotti Nick Santoro Sam Gravano Merrick Garland Sn Joe Manchin Karl Rove Ben Stein Billy Blanks John Shutlesworth Kaiser Family Foundation Rep Tn Justin Pearson Huddy Combs Bob Woodward Anthony Fauci Ryan Kelly Frank Rosenthal Project Verita Oath Keepers Proud Boys Bill Nye Transportation Us Pete Buttigieg Pulte Robert Dell Sam Neill Sammy Sasso Martin Short Arm Holdings Brady Quinn Primary Wave Dr Simar Singh Das Efx The Black Pumas

Jon Batiste Stat Quo Ben Gates Cardan Stack Bundles Jelly Roll Screwball Nerd Wallet Joran Van Der Sloot Rep Mn Dean Phillips Small Towns Cudda Love (Island Def Jam)

Tyson Beckford Forged by Fire Sean Penn Milli Vanilli Matthew McConaughey Frontotemporal Degeneration Easton The Hills The OC The Daybells The Kardashians Daniel Radcliffe Rafferty Law Burlington Continent Village Green Slate Synagogues Sway and Tech The Patriot Fund Helter Skelter

Sn Az John McCain Brittany Griner James Bulgar Brett Farve The Wahlbergs Winter Hill Gang Gordon Gee Wells Fargo Ukraine The Maloofs Viktor Bout Dennis Rodman Martin Shkreli David Beckham Red Baron Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Allen Wesseilberg Dark Communities Drew Carey Stephen Cobert Paul Whelan Will Farrell Paula White Mark Morial Gumbo Coalition Bridge Credit Union Nick Fuentes Flavor Unit William Shatner Pele Rosati Windows Jinx Da Juvy Perjury Terrorism Watchdog! Corruption Treason Identity Theft Human Trafficking Hate Crimes Lynching Kleptomania Armed Robbery Litigation Policy Extortion Murder Deficit Kidnapping

   

Amerika

Fr Pres Richard Nixon Pres France Emanuel Macron Yuval Harari Ag Will Barr Mack Shelley Cohesion Foundation Harry Dean Bremen Family Raymond James Dr. Joseph Ladapo John Whyte Andre Talley Cyrus Walker Joe Motil 26.2 to Life Breaking Bad Discord Sn Oh Michele Reynolds The Taylors Gov Tx Greg Abbott John Forte Mike Krzyzewski Lt Gov Pa John Fetterman Golag Jail Gangs Suiky Inmates Td Jakes Alex Barkov Rob Wood Prospera Boy Bands Rave Mobile Peter Gabriel Ounona The Kennedys Marge Schott Sec St John Kerry Rep Ny Anthony Weiner Rep Fl Matt Gaetz Tony Blair Penn St Dome Walker Truth Reconciliation Commission The Baulke Group Gilgo Beach Ruthless A Team Al Davis The Song House Julian Assange Wikileaks Edward Snowden Arriyan Militias (Ku Klux Klan) Concentration Camps Neo Nazis Baked Alaska Dr Jack Kevorkian Eastwood Industry Slendertone Relax A Cizors The Citadel Col. Al West Elton John Billie Ray Cyrus Rep La Steve Scalise Rep Wy Liz Cheney Derek Jeter Dirk Nowtzki Susan B Anthony Mel Mcgee David Berkawitz E! Alex Trebek Ice T Rep Mark Rodgers Jim Jones Jimmy Swagert The Backstreet Boys Cassidy Montel Williams Mayor Buf, Ny Byron Brown Pennsylvania Josh Duhamel

Rep Wis Mike Galahager Michael Allen Jack Black Dr Chris Murrey Maxwell Frost Dr Todd Shumer Field Mob Rob Coltrane Deep Fake Net Credit Eric Legrand Matt Groaning Adnan Syed Paul Walker Sam Fried Scott Gottlieb Donna Brazile Larry King Chingy N Sync The Harmony Project Kevin Lyles David Depape Hard Wired Maury Povich Jacob Elordi The Foundation Sn Ny Lee Zeldin Lang Lang House of Villains Net Credit Perjury Watchdog! Corruption Treason Retention Extortion Indignation Identity Theft Human Trafficking Trespassing Loitering Hostage Kidnapping Kleptomania Hate Crimes Lynching Cyber Attacks Torture Armed Robbery Terrorism Murder Deficit Loitering

Gov Oh Mike Dewine Mayor Col, Oh Andrew Ginther Mayor Michael Coleman Dr. Richard Straus Advisor John Bolton Sn Oh Steve Huffman The Wagner Group

Sn Oh Steve Stivers Rep Oh Jim Jordan Osu Rep Oh Anthony Gonzalez John Cooper Ryan Day Dr Michael Thompson Lumineux Maino Sn Oh Hearcel F. Craig Rep Tn Justin Jones Hitman Sammy Sam Sn Oh Sharrod Brown Gov Oh George Voinovich Fr Mayor Col,Oh Greg Lashutka Po James Jackson Dead Prez Ben Moss Eddie George Brian Hartline Austin Butler Secretary of State Frank Larose Judge Jeffery Brown Columbus,Mob Rep Oh Rich Brown Rich Kids Porter Ken Starr Mos Def Will Oremus Doug Worthington Johnnie Cochrane The Cochrane’s The Black Stone P’s CW! Kevin Boyce Archie Griffin Zach Klein Mark Kantorwitz Dr. Will Husel Maurice Clarett Billy Bush Matthew Delmont Sn John Kasich The Jewish Federation Judge Pat Dewine Pat Fischer Wolverine Watchman Woody Hayes Mayor Chi, Il Lori Lightfoot Ryan Seacrest Chris Angel Ron Klain Oak St Major Figures Ryan Shazier Akron,Oh Steve Bellasari Kirk Herbstreet Dr.Vernon Williams Dr. Fred Corley Joes The Hood Adam Lehman Larry Householder Jim Tressel Kevin Federline

Perjury Retention Treason Conspiracy Extortion Loitering Detriment Identity Theft Human Trafficking Watchdog! Corruption Wire Fraud Trespassing! Armed Robbery Hostage Kidnapping Hate Crimes Lynching Kleptomania Inciting violence Terrorism Murder Deficit

  

Social

 

Latin Amerika

Fr PM Belize Dean Barrow Fr Pres Venezuela Hugo Chavez Fr Pres Brazil Jair Bolsonaro Pres Brazil Lula Silva Fr Pres Hondorus Juan Hernandez Michael Jackson Jackson 5 Lgbtq (The Aussies) Panic 911 Joe Jackson

Rep PA Dwight Evans Mayor Rochester, Ny Malik Evans James Franklin Gordon Brad Edward Evans Archie Bunker (Kidnapping) The Sackler Family (Extortion )

Jeff Bezos Amazon Bikers Manuel Noriega The Menendez John Leguizamo Benny Medina The Shark Tank Rosco P Coldchain

Pres Hti Jovenel Moise Carter Evans KO Ned Lil Dicey Spm Oj Simpson Julio Iglesias Enrique Iglesias Ommia Sc Rep Tim Scott Wendy Day Hangman3 Almighty Rso Raymond Benzino Scott Monster Cody Scott Denny Hamlin Mile Iq

Az Sheriff Joe Arpaio The Mexican Mob Lenny Kravitz Jimmy Henchmen Czar (Nok) Ent Lionel Ritchie Dr. Vivek Murthy Mitchell Brown Saint Guard Defenders Havana Syndrome Guantanamo Bay Hive Ransomware Midi Mafia Judge Joe Brown Bobby Brown Jim Brown Azie Faison Penn and Teller Limp Bizkit Pete Lapp David Sacco Johnathan Parnam Gorilla Black Mayor Rio Grande Joel Villareal Ray Eric Scar Jimmie Byron Marcus Allen Alpo Martinez Miyan Williams Militainment Capone N Nore Truth Freedom Coalition Everything Breaks

Calvin Dark Jamal Barrow Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman MS13 Kane Brown The Escobars Farc Dave Navarro Bishop Don Magic Juan Terror Squad Carlos Santana MarioLopez Pitbull Sean Paul Marc Anthony White Folks

Marcus Steve Michael Moore Ashton Kutcher Punk'D Redman Cypress Hill Jack Ass Reggaeton 310 Motors Dr. Greg Postel Wayne Brady Tj Holmes Pete Davidson Toby Regbo Ike Ejiochi Ray Liota Black Eyed Peas Chris Evans Jayo Felony The Davis The Weekend The Conrad Family Coach Tim Kish Roger Kish Perjury Conspiracy Human Trafficking Terrorism Trespassing! Watchdog! Identity Theft Corruption Kleptomania Home Invasion Hostage Kidnapping Hate Crimes Lynching Retention Extortion Armed Robbery Attempted Murder Deficit

Mediterrannean Bernez Lee Mc Search Dj Twitch Barry Foster Amina Diop Charlie Murphy Bartell Hugh Hefner Cooper Playboy Jerry O'Connel Dynasty Series Bob Guccione Marc Bell The Outsidaz Penthouse Georgia Bernie Madoff's Griselda “An” Blanco Fredricks Hustler Igor Stygn Solja Slim Kevin Eubanks Jay Leno Fr Pres Uganda Idi Amin Street Fam The Shower Posse Vibe Aftermath Victoria Secret John Thompson Youngbloodz John Kotchkoski Marco Merino Inflation Campaign Verne Wernike Miracle Perjury Loitering Retention Treason Inciting violence Extortion Gerrymandering Identity Theft Hate Crimes Lynching Hostage Kidnapping Armed Robbery Watchdog! Kleptomania Corruption Deficit Murder

Middle East Paul Pelosi Comedians Fr Pres Libya Maummar Gaddafi Quantum Health Pres Turkey Tayyip Erdogen Fr Pres Egypt Hosni Mubarak Abdel Sisi Fr PM Isreal Benjamin Netanyahu (Terrorist groups) Jeremy Shockey Uzbekistan Violatar Red Burb Filtration Spies Imran Khan Dr.Oz Mehmet Cengiz Doug Levin Hamdan Bin Muh Al Maktoum Gary Keese David Blane Umar Izahor John Cheney Seth Grae Qatar Dj Khaled Salman Rushdie Jamal Khashogi Shabir Dawood Kaskar Marc Short The Hilton Cody Feldman Rick Ruben (Morocco) Tunisia Phoenician Carthage Noble Gold Investments Guy Fieri Bosnia Crucial Conflict Armenia Mark Spiegler Marlon Brando Mayanmar Chota Shakeel Chota Rajan Abu Salem Junaid Javid Miandad James Cordon Twitter Democratic Leadership Counsul Business Insider Michael Cohn Chris Guerieri Gov Fl Ron Desantis Drama Mel Tucker Perjury Deficit Gerrymandering Watchdog! Identity Theft Extortion Kidnapping Trespassing! Kleptomania Corruption Terrorism Murder

  

Governance

Justice Clarence Thomas Cecil Rep Fl Byron Donald Reggae Fr Mayor Washington Dc Marion Berry Kevin Durant Montgomery Evans

Vernon Jordan Rep Ms Bennie Thompson Fr Rep Ga John Lewis Robert Johnson The Johnsons Bet Kaos R&B Charlamagne Radio NOI Campus Reform Bill Cosby

Rainbow Push Coalition Jesse Jackson Rep Il Jesse Jackson Jr. The Jacksons Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis Omega Bubba Sparxx Canibus

Mayor Sac, Ca Kevin Johnson Magic Own Harpo Ben Carson Rep Sc James Clyburn The Wayans Bros Disc Jockeys Tracy Lee National Security Advisor H.R. Mcmaster Russell Simmons Dr. Cornel West Bryan Kohberger Harry Anderson Todd and Julie Chrisley Chelsea Handler Rep Ny Ritchie Torres Reddit Vlad Tv

Michael Jordan Vince Cris Carter Walter Carter The Carters Buddy Tracy Mcgrady Ruben Judge David Carter Lebron James Dwayne Wade Kobe Bryant Carmelo Anthony Treason Conspiracy Watchdog! Initiation Black Movement Terrorism Identity Theft Field Management Trespassing! Corruption Hostage Kidnapping Home Invasion Armed Robbery Hate Crimes Lynching Kleptomania Extortion Retention Deficit Loitering Policy Infractions Perjury Litigation Murder

Sn Ky Mitch McConnell Mayor Phil, Pa Michael Nutter Mayor Blt,Md Brandon Scott Mayor Nyc, Ny Eric Adams The Lost Boys Michael “Harry O” Harris Chelsea Handler Secretary of Defense Us Lloyd Austin Safe Guard Defenders Center Sink American Nationlist Initiative Opus Data Gov Nj Larry Hogan Ice Cold Case The Suburbs Heavy D Tyler Perry Swisha House Ice Age A Tribe Called Quest Coolio De La Soul The Hot Boys Psycho Drama Down South Georgia Boys Wanda Sykes Mc Eiht The Westbrooks Michael Robert Brian Russell Westbrook Ben Crump Do or Die Common Since Mike Concepcion D12 Lance Riviera Gangster Rap Labels Death Row Marion Knight Digital Underground Thug Life The Outlaws Amaru 2pac TheGame Dj Quik Nerd Quan Clipse The Alphabet Gang Allen Iverson Van Jones The Jones QD3 Firm The Imagine Group Oynx Bravehearts Queens Bridge Projects Mobb Deep Mc Shan Take Down Records The Roots St. Property Demetreis Smith Gene Smith Steven A Smith Dr. Ian Smith Will Smith The Smiths Lovie Smith Spice 1 Sick Wid It B Legit E 40 Lizard Lick Towing Big Bloc Entertainment Jimmy Rod Emmitt Smith Run Dmc Antonio Smith Bros Dr. Steve Auciello Epmd Quincy Jones James Smith Dr. James Simmons Mark Madsen Nwa Lynch Mob West Side Con Snoop Dog Pound 213 Eastsidaz Short Luniz Xhibit Richie Rich Brotha Lynch Hung Geto Boys Konvict Music (French Indian Lobbyist) Tre Ball Production Steve Patterson Media Group Bad Boy Jr Mafia The Lox Dip Set Murda Inc G Unit Pape Mason Supreme Mcgriff Team Tyree Fat Cat Nichols Drake Rich Paul Twista Mase Christian McCafferty Dave Mays Cardinal Official Paul Sorvino Trik Trik Ida May Perkins Max Julian (Home Invasion) (Family members) Conspiracy Corruption Initiation Identity Theft Home Invasion Extortion Hostage Kidnapping Armed Robbery Watchdog! Abuse Deficit Murder Terrorism Kleptomania Perjury Litigation Loitering

  

Rep Illinois Bobby Rush Geronimo Pratt Huey Newton Black Panthers Seal Lost Boys Eric B Rakim Memphis Scorpion Unit Fr Gov Wis Mandela Barnes The Baldwins Dr Andrew Ordon Dr Ish Major Ismat Kaseem Greg Mathis Lords of Underground Dupry Kelly Chad Johnson Rep Ca Adam Schiff Diggin in Crates DITC Fat Boys Arol Nick Tony Vera Dr.Mann Steve Stoute Camp Lejeune Monica Gandhi Rep Ga Marjorie Greene Mayor Det,Mich Kwame Kilpatrick The Black Mafia Family Roc A Fella Wu Tang Clan Gov Nj Chris Christie Mark Madsen Benjamin Foster Nicky Frank Lucas Guy Fisher Mike Vince Dwight Evans The Evans Kendrick Perkins The Perkins The Short North Posse Krondone Good Music Dale Bronner Persia The Millers P. Miller No Limit Tru La Reid The Chambers Gary Suave House David Banner Street Soldiers Gangs (members) Cold Chilln Tela Shady Sheist Jason Caleb Wendy Billie D Williams Boobie Boys Kenneth Williams Hush Management Armstrong Montel Juan Williams Tony Todd The Williams Cash Money Records Ellis Jesse Ronald Brian Pj Hot Michael Otis Williams The Big Tymers Waka Flaka Flame Play N Skillz Nipsy Hustle Boy Stop Mean Mug Ny Damian Williams Ny Jumaane Williams Doug Williams Tookie Williams Chaz Williams Black Hand Ent Nasir Jones Rap A Lot Slim Thug Dj Screw Hump ZRo Trae Clover Gs Lil Flip Ugk 36 Mafia Memphis Mr. Big Project Pat Hypnotized Minds Maybach Music Rick Ross Slip N Slide Flowrider Da Sqad Restriction Act Ace Hood 2 Live Crew Trevor Noah Siri Sat Nam Truth Social Chronicle of Higher Compliance Grand Hustle Stat Quo Fr Mayor Nyc, Ny Michael Bloomberg Rick James The Ruff Ryders M.o.p Public Enemy Gary Goldsmith Thomas Markle The Duggars Dugga Tru Life Bone Thugs N Harmony Fugees Flipmode Squad Dr. Chris Murray Jeremy Renner Dave Holmes Big L Bone Crusher So So Def Ti Ying Yang Twins Michael Vick Christian Bryant Dungeon Family (The Chain Gang) (Pawn Star Copy Cats) D4L Project Dark Derek Chauvin Fo Real Dirty Ent Naughty by Nature Boot Camp Click Slick Rick George Berry Rick Singer Phil Keoghan Colin Kaepernick Gordon Ramsey Phu Paul Rep Tx Michael Mccaul Andrew Giuliani John Thadeus Oosit Stokely Carmichael Krs1 Bdp Black Wall St Dmx Coyotes Billy Packer Celly Cell Jordan Walker Boo Ya Tribe Timothy Mcvey Rodney Bryant Jay Shetty Gersh Agency Paul Pelletier Ike Turner The Players Ball Boko Haram Fr Nigeria Acct Gen Ahmed Idris Al Shabab Rep Oh Dontavius Jarrells The Heritage Foundation Smiley Face Killers Hardcore Pawn Niraj Autni Satya Nadela Nate Bergetz Sam Aldemen Watchdog! Treason Perjury Extortion Deficit Retention Initiation Conspiracy Identity Theft Trespassing! Corruption Home Invasion Armed Robbery Hostage Kidnapping Terrorism Kleptomania Murder

  

I Team (First Community Board Rock City (Church) Staff) (Racketeering) The Church of Scientology Ecosense Glint Elitone Mike Vrabel Hyphy The Bling Bling Gang United Doug Gottlieb The Talk Mark Herron Rep Tx Kevin Brady Rep Az Andy Biggs James Harden Mitchy Slick Fr Pres Mexico Enrique Nieto Pres Mexico Andrew Lopez Sinbad The View Mayor Sc Tim Goodwin Country music Mayor Mem, Tn Jim Strickland Tom Cruise The Commission The B Team Paul Iversen Wu Chronicles Chris Moody Al Franken Mark Herder Alliance of Securing Democracy Gov Pa Joshua Shapiro A.G. Gancarski Happy Days MSU Conspiracy Litigation Policy Perjury Identity Theft Trespassing! Insubordination Watchdog! Treason Human Trafficking Gerrymandering Initiation Terrorism Home Invasion Hostage Kidnapping Extortion Loitering Retention Corruption Armed Robbery Kleptomania Hate Crimes Lynching Murder Deficit Debt Repayment

Jp Morgan (Extortion) Rock n Roll Sn Ga Raphael Warnock Herschel Walker Reggie Bush Al Roker Rev Calvin Butts Undercover Boss Charles Manson Jimmy Kimmel Jimmy Fallon Talib Kweli Hi Tek Rick Vicky Casey White Roman Polasky Styger Lee Cake Boss Nerd Wallet Linkedin Lt Gov Oh Jon Husted Knocturnal Conspiracy Litigation Policy Human Trafficking Identity Theft Retention Hate Crimes Interference Loitering Gerrymandering Hostage Kidnapping Extortion Watchdog! Corruption Kleptomania Inciting violence Debt Repayment Deficit Perjury Murder

Invocare Mayor Cin, Oh Jerry Springer Rep Fl Debbie Schultz Lyor Cohen Jimmy Valvano Gangstar Bobby Carpenter Ron Carpenter (Wu Syndicate) The Safron Group Republican Jewish Coalition Rep Ca Kevin McCarthy Harvey Weinstein Bob Arum Harvey Levin Les Wexner The Limited Rod Gronkwoski Marc Fogel Andrew Lieb George Floyd Mollie Bowman Harlem World Gun Free Zone Signature Bank Qanon James Franco Steven Spielberg David Letterman Howard Stern Seinfield Adam Sandler John Galecki Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Pro Publica Allen Dershowetz Silver Bank Rep Sc Robert Williams Lt Col Daniel Davis Seth Rogen Larry David Bradley Cooper Shia La Beouf Mark Zuckerberg Asher Roth Steve Rifkind Marc Echo Ed Markey Peter Greenberg Goldman Sachs Death Penalty Info Fields of Honor Restriction Act Auction Kings Combat Dealers Freddie Foxx Loud Records Jerry Heller Tim Roth Paul Rosenberg Albert Pujols Henry Jonah Hill Alchemist Jefery Epstein Beastie Boys JJ Reddick The Dark Web Smiley Face Killers Ubs Suisse Bank Southern Poverty Rockland Silicon Valley Bank Scott Scorch Tuff Jew Justin Bieber Paul Wall Chamilionaire Icp George Jung Beanie Wells Eminem Doug Emhoff Lou Pearlman The Points Guy Canada Goose Plo Dru Down Trojan Horse Craigslist Disabled Vet Facebook Pegasis Kurt Cobain Lloyd Jefferson Rep Il Jerry Lee Long Sn Oh Rob Portman Charles Evans Gersh Kuntzman My Space Take Over Cheers Raymond James Dog The Bounty Hunter War Project Papa Joe Williams Crystal River Bank FIU Jamie Dimon Treason Perjury Conspiracy Trespassing! Initiation Identity Theft Human Trafficking Hate Crimes Extortion Corrupt Armed Robbery Watchdog! Hostage Kidnapping Terrorism Kleptomania Deficit Murder

 

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was fifteen years old. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. During a May 1, 2015 news conference, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman stated that, based upon the then-available evidence, his office would not bring further charges in the case.

#FITN First In Nation Republican Leadership Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire

 

Crowne Plaza Nashua

Address: 2 Somerset Pkwy, Nashua, NH 03063

 

Every four years, the political world descends upon New Hampshire to take part in the “First-in-the-Nation” Presidential Primary. On April 17th and 18th that excitement will again percolate in the Granite State for the #FITN Republican Leadership Conference.

 

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was 15. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. Investigations of the affair by United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and the New Jersey Legislature are ongoing.

 

Jim Traficant spoke today in Boardman, Ohio just days after being released from prison. The former Congressman lobbed some shots at the regional media and the federal government. He also promised to support the local Delphi Packard workers in their quest to keep their pensions.

 

Traficant started his career as a Mahoning Valley Sheriff. In 1983 he was brought to trial on racketeering charges for his involvement with the Youngstown Mafia. Incredibly, Traficant beat the charges while representing himself. He is the only person to have accomplished that feat during a racketeering trial.

 

In 2002, Traficant was convicted of taking kickbacks while serving as a Congressman. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Jim Traficant spoke today in Boardman, Ohio just days after being released from prison. The former Congressman lobbed some shots at the regional media and the federal government. He also promised to support the local Delphi Packard workers in their quest to keep their pensions.

 

Traficant started his career as a Mahoning Valley Sheriff. In 1983 he was brought to trial on racketeering charges for his involvement with the Youngstown Mafia. Incredibly, Traficant beat the charges while representing himself. He is the only person to have accomplished that feat during a racketeering trial.

 

In 2002, Traficant was convicted of taking kickbacks while serving as a Congressman. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

www.lawyerplug.com/law/affordable-fraud-lawyer/

 

Have you been charged with Fraud? Have You been arrested for Theft? Are you looking for a fraud Lawyer in Toronto or a theft Lawyer who works in all Courts in Ontario?

 

Michael McKee has over 25 years of expertise dealing with Bribery, Credit Card Fraud, Embezzlement, Extortion, Forgery, Fraud, Identity Theft, Insurance Fraud, Money Laundering, Mortgage Fraud, Pyramid Schemes, Racketeering/RICO, Securities Fraud, Tax Evasion, Telemarketing Fraud, View All Criminal Charges, White Collar Crime, Wire Fraud and his LawyerPlug.com team of Lawyers are committed to working with clients to help avoid Jail time and a Criminal record.

 

Contact our offices anytime if you have any questions about your specific matter:

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Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3P8

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www.lawyerplug.com/

 

Source: youtu.be/1eYCVpFZtzk

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

The Postcard

 

A postcard published by the Success Postal Card Co. of New York.

 

On the back of the card they have printed:

 

'Woolworth Building.

On Broadway, from Barclay

Street to Park Place.

Highest office building in

the world, 55 storeys,

750 feet high; approximate

cost $14,000,000.

Plot 152x197. Foundation

110 to 130 feet below street

level.

Main building 29 storeys.

Contains offices of F.W.

Woolworth Co., largest

5 and 10 cent syndicate in

the world'.

 

The card was posted at Times Square Station on Friday the 11th. December 1914 to:

 

Per S.S. Rochambeau.

Revd. Vivian Evans,

22, Rue Saint Joseph Prolongée,

Le Chesnay,

Versailles,

France.

 

The message on the back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dearest Mike,

Just a card to let you know

I'm still kicking!

Hope you are well too and

my apey the same.

Did you receive my last p.c.

also Mme L - did she get

hers?

I have not seen Aunt T.

lately, I have sent her seats

for Alda's Recital.

Much love,

'Boo'".

 

The Woolworth Building

 

The Woolworth Building is a residential building and early skyscraper at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in NYC.

 

Designed by Cass Gilbert, it was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the U.S..

 

The Woolworth Building consists of a 30-story base topped by a 30-story tower. Its façade is mostly decorated with architectural terracotta, though the lower portions are limestone, and it features thousands of windows.

 

The ornate lobby contains various sculptures, mosaics, and architectural touches. The structure was designed with several amenities and attractions, including a now-closed observatory on the 57th. floor and a private swimming pool in the basement.

 

F. W. Woolworth, the founder of a brand of popular five-and-ten-cent stores, conceived the skyscraper as a headquarters for his company. Woolworth planned the skyscraper jointly with the Irving National Exchange Bank, which also agreed to use the structure as its headquarters.

 

The Woolworth Building had originally been planned as a 12- to 16-story commercial building, but it underwent several revisions during its planning process. Construction started in 1910, although the building's final height was not decided upon until January 1911. The building officially opened on the 24th. April 1913.

 

The Woolworth Building has undergone several changes throughout its history. The façade was cleaned in 1932, and the building received an extensive renovation between 1977 and 1981.

 

The Irving National Exchange Bank moved its headquarters to 1 Wall Street in 1931, but the Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the Woolworth Building for most of the 20th. century.

 

The structure was sold to the Witkoff Group in 1998. The top 30 floors were sold to a developer in 2012 and converted into residences.

 

Office and commercial tenants use the rest of the building.

 

-- Architecture of the Woolworth Building

 

Cass Gilbert designed the Woolworth Building in the neo-Gothic style. The building resembles European Gothic cathedrals; Reverend S. Parkes Cadman dubbed it "The Cathedral of Commerce" in a booklet published in 1916.

 

F. W. Woolworth, who had devised the idea for the Woolworth Building, had proposed using the Victoria Tower as a model for the building; he reportedly also admired the design of Palace of Westminster.

 

Gilbert, by contrast, disliked the comparison to religious imagery. The architect ultimately used 15th.- and 16th.-century Gothic ornament on the Woolworth Building, along with a complementary color scheme.

 

The Woolworth Building was designed to be 420 feet (130 m) high, but was eventually raised to 792 feet (241 m).

 

The Woolworth Building was 60 stories tall when completed in 1913, though this consisted of 53 usable floors topped by several mechanical floors.

 

The building's ceiling heights, ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m), make it the equivalent of an 80-story building. It remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building in 1930, both in New York City.

 

The building is assigned its own ZIP Code; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019.

 

-- The Form of the Woolworth Building

 

The building's tower, flush with the main frontage on Broadway, joins an office block base with a narrow interior court for light. The base occupies the entire lot between Park Place to the north, Broadway to the east, and Barclay Street to the south.

 

The site measures 155 feet (47 m) wide on Broadway and 200 feet (61 m) wide on both Park Place and Barclay Street. The base contains two "wings" extending westward, one each on the Park Place and Barclay Street frontages, which form a rough U-shape when combined with the Broadway frontage.

 

This ensured that all offices had outside views. The U-shaped base is approximately 30 stories tall. All four elevations of the base are decorated, since the building has frontage on all sides.

 

The tower rises an additional 30 stories above the eastern side of the base, abutting Broadway. Above the 30th. floor are setbacks on the north and south elevations. There are additional setbacks along the north, south, and west elevations on the 45th. and 50th. floors.

 

The 30th. through 45th. floors measure 84 by 86 feet (26 by 26 m); the 46th. through 50th. floors, 69 by 71 feet (21 by 22 m); and the 51st. through 53rd. floors, 69 by 61 feet (21 by 19 m).

 

The tower has a square plan below the 50th.-story setback and an octagonal plan above. Though the structure is physically 60 stories tall, the 53rd. floor is the top floor that can be occupied. Above the 53rd. floor, the tower tapers into a pyramidal roof.

 

-- The Façade of the Woolworth Building

 

The lowest four stories are clad in limestone. Above that, the exterior of the Woolworth Building was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terracotta panels.

 

F. W. Woolworth initially wanted to clad the skyscraper in granite, while Gilbert wanted to use limestone. The decision to use terracotta for the façade was based on both aesthetic and functional concerns.

 

Terracotta was not only fireproof but also, in Gilbert's mind, a purely ornamental addition clarifying the Woolworth Building's steel construction. Each panel was of a slightly different color, creating a polychrome effect.

 

The façade appeared to have a uniform tone, but the upper floors were actually darker and more dense. Behind the terracotta panels were brick walls; the terracotta pieces are attached to the brick walls by metal rods and hangers.

 

The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company provided the original terracotta cladding. The panels were manufactured in shades of blue, green, sienna, and rose. The terracotta panels were partially vitrified, allowing them to bear large loads.

 

Gilbert also asked that John Donnelly and Eliseo V. Ricci create full-size designs based on Atlantic Terra Cotta's models.

 

In 1932, Atlantic Terra Cotta carried out a comprehensive cleaning campaign of the Woolworth's façade in order to remove blackening caused by the city's soot and pollution.

 

The Ehrenkrantz Group restored the building's façade between 1977 and 1981. During the renovation, much of the terracotta was replaced with concrete and Gothic ornament was removed.

 

The building has several thousand windows: the exact number is disputed, but various sources state that the Woolworth Building has 2,843, 4,400, or 5,000 windows.

 

Windows were included for lighting and comfort; because the Woolworth Building was built before air conditioning became common, every office is within 10 feet (3.0 m) of a window.

 

Some of the Woolworth Building's windows are set within arch-shaped openings. Most of the building's spandrels, or triangles between the top corners of the window and the top of the arch, have golden Gothic tracery against a bright blue backdrop.

 

On the 25th., 39th., and 40th. stories, the spandrels consist of iconography found in the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

 

Gold-on-blue tracery is also found on the 26th., 27th., and 42nd. floors.

 

-- The Base of the Woolworth Building

 

The main entrance on Broadway is a three-story Tudor arch, surrounded on either side by two bays: one narrower than the main arch, the other wider. The five bays form a triumphal arch overhung by a balcony and stone motifs of Gothic design.

 

The intrados of the arch contains 23 niches. The topmost niche depicts an owl; the lowest niches on both sides depict tree trunks; and the other twenty niches depict animated figures.

 

The spandrel above the left side of the arch depicts Mercury, classical god of commerce, while that above the right side depicts Ceres, classical goddess of agriculture.

 

Above all of this is an ogee arch with more niches, as well as two carvings of owls hovering above a "W" monogram. There are salamanders within niches on either side of the main entrance.

 

Inside the triumphal arch, there is a smaller arch with a revolving door and a Tudor window; it is flanked by standard doors and framed with decorations. There is a pelican above this smaller arch.

 

-- The Tower Section of the Woolworth Building

 

At the 45th.- and 50th.-story setbacks, there are turrets at each corner of the tower. The northeast corner turret concealed a smokestack.

 

There is a pyramidal roof above the 53rd. floor, as well as four ornamental tourelles at the four corners of the tower. The roof was originally gilt but is now green. The pyramidal roof, as well as the smaller roofs below, used 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of gold leaf.

 

The main roof is interspersed with small dormers, which contain windows into the maintenance levels inside. The pyramidal roof is topped by another pyramid with an octagonal base and tall pointed-arch windows. In turn, the octagonal pyramid is capped by a spire.

 

The three layers of pyramids are about 62 feet (19 m), or five stories tall. An observation deck was located at the 55th. floor, about 730 feet (220 m) above ground level. The deck, which was octagonal in plan, measuring 65 feet (20 m) across, was accessed by a glass-walled elevator.

 

It was patronized by an estimated 300,000 visitors per year, but was closed as a security measure in 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack.

 

Strongly articulated piers, which carry right to the pyramidal cap without intermediate cornices, give the building its upward thrust. This was influenced by Aus's belief that:

 

"From an engineering point of view,

no structure is beautiful where the

lines of strength are not apparent."

 

The copper roof is connected to the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure, which serves to ground the roof electrically. The Gothic detailing concentrated at the highly visible crown is over-scaled, and the building's silhouette could be made out from several miles away.

 

Gilbert's choice of the Gothic style was described as "an expression of the verticality of the tower form", and as Gilbert himself later wrote, the style was "light, graceful, delicate and flame-like".

 

Gilbert considered several proposals for exterior lighting, including four powerful searchlights atop nearby buildings and a constantly rotating lamp at the apex of the Woolworth Building's roof.

 

Ultimately, the builders decided to erect nitrogen lamps and reflectors above the 31st. floor, and have the intensity of the lighting increase with height.

 

-- Structural Features of the Woolworth Building

 

-- The Substructure

 

In contrast to other parts of Manhattan, the bedrock beneath the site is relatively deep, descending to between 110 and 115 feet (34 and 35 m) on average. The site also has a high water table, which is as shallow as 15 feet (4.6 m) below ground level.

 

Due to the geology of the area, the building is supported on 69 massive caissons that descend to the bedrock. The caissons range in depth from 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m).

 

To give the structure a sturdy foundation, the builders used metal tubes 19 feet (5.8 m) in diameter filled with concrete. These tubes were driven into the ground with a pneumatic caisson process to anchor the foundations to the bedrock.

 

Because the slope of the bedrock was so sharp, steps had to be carved into the rock before the caissons could be sunk into the ground. The caissons were both round and rectangular, with the rectangular caissons located mainly on the southern and western lot lines.

 

The caissons are irregularly distributed across the site, being more densely concentrated at the northeastern corner. This is because the building was originally planned to occupy a smaller site at the corner of Broadway and Park Place; when the site was enlarged, the caissons that had already been installed were left in place.

 

The two basement levels, descending 55 feet (17 m), are constructed of reinforced concrete.

 

-- The Superstructure

 

Whereas many earlier buildings had been constructed with load-bearing walls, which by necessity were extremely thick, the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure was relatively thin, which enabled Gilbert to maximize the building's interior area.

 

Engineers Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle designed the steel frame. Each column carries a load of 24 tons per square foot, supporting the building's overall weight of 233,000 tons.

 

Where the columns of the superstructure did not match up with the caissons, they were cantilevered above on plate girders between two adjoining caissons. These girders are extremely large; one such girder measures 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, 6.75 feet (2 m) wide, and 23 feet (7.0 m) long.

 

For the wind bracing, the entire Woolworth Building was considered as a vertical cantilever, and correspondingly large girders and columns were used in the construction.

 

-- Interior

 

Upon completion, the Woolworth Building contained seven water systems — one each for the power plant, the hot-water plant, the fire-protection system, the communal restrooms, the offices with restrooms, the basement swimming pool, and the basement restaurant.

 

Although the water is obtained from the New York City water supply system, much of it is filtered and reused. A dedicated water system, separate from the city's, was proposed during construction, but workers abandoned the plan after unsuccessfully digging 1,500 feet (460 m) into Manhattan's bedrock.

 

The Woolworth Building was the first structure to have its own power plant, with four Corliss steam engine generators totaling a capacity of 1,500 kilowatt-hours; the plant could support 50,000 people.

 

The building also had a dedicated heating plant with six boilers producing 2,500 horsepower. The boilers were fed from subterranean coal bunkers capable of holding over 2,000 tons of anthracite coal.

 

-- Lobby

 

The ornate, cruciform lobby, known as the "arcade", was characterized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as:

 

"One of the most spectacular of

the early 20th. century in New

York City".

 

It consists of two perpendicular, double-height passageways with barrel-vaulted ceilings. Where the passageways intersect, there is a domed ceiling. The dome contains pendentives that may have been patterned after those of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

 

Veined marble from the island of Skyros in Greece covers the lobby. Patterned glass mosaics that contain blue, green, and gold tiling with red accents decorate the ceilings.

 

There are other Gothic-style decorations in the lobby, including on the cornice and the bronze fittings. Twelve plaster brackets, which carry grotesques depicting major figures in the building's construction, are placed where the arcade and the mezzanine intersect.

 

These ornaments include Gilbert with a model of the building, Aus taking a girder's measurements, and Woolworth holding nickels and dimes. Two ceiling murals by C. Paul Jennewein, titled Labor and Commerce, are located above the mezzanine where it crosses the south and north wings, respectively.

 

The staircase hall is a two-story room located to the west of the arcade. It consists of the ground level, which contains former storefronts, as well as a mezzanine level above it. The ground floor originally contained 18 storefronts.

 

A 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) marble staircase leads westward from the arcade to a mezzanine, where the entrance to the Irving National Exchange Bank office was formerly located. The mezzanine contains a stained-glass skylight surrounded by the names of several nations. The skylight contains the dates 1879 and 1913, which respectively signify the years of the Woolworth Company's founding and the building's opening.

 

The skylight is also surrounded by sculpted grotesques, which depict merchandising activities in the five-and-dime industry.

 

There is a smaller space west of the staircase hall with a one-story-high ceiling. This room contains a coffered ceiling with a blue-green background. The crossbeams contain Roman portrait heads, while the cornice contains generic sculpted grotesques.

 

-- Basement

 

The basement of the Woolworth Building contains an unused bank vault, restaurant, and barbershop. The bank vault was initially intended to be used for safe-deposit boxes, though it was used by the Irving National Exchange Bank in practice.

 

In 1931, Irving moved some $3 billion of deposits to a vault in its new headquarters at 1 Wall Street, and the Woolworth Building's vault was converted into a storage area for maintenance workers.

 

There is also a basement storage room, known as the "bone yard", which contains replacement terracotta decorations for the facade.

 

The basement also contains closed entrances to two New York City Subway stations. There was an entrance to the Park Place station directly adjacent to the building's north elevation, served by the 2 and ​3 trains. This entrance was closed after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

 

Another entrance led to the City Hall station one block north, now served by the R and ​W trains, but this was closed in 1982 because of concerns over crime.

 

A private pool, originally intended for F. W. Woolworth, exists in the basement. Proposed as early as 1910, the pool measured 15 by 55 feet (4.6 by 16.8 m) and had a marble perimeter.

 

The pool was later drained, but was restored in the mid-2010's as part of the conversion of the Woolworth Building's upper floors into residential units.

 

-- Offices

 

At the time of construction, the Woolworth Building had over 2,000 offices. Each office had ceilings ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m) high. Gilbert had designed the interior to maximize the amount of usable office space, and correspondingly, minimize the amount of space taken up by the elevator shafts.

 

The usable-space consideration affected the placement of the columns in the wings, as the columns in the main tower were positioned around the elevator shafts and facade piers.

 

Each of the lowest 30 stories had 31 offices, of which ten faced the light court, eight faced Park Place, eight faced Barclay Street, and five faced Broadway. Above the 30th.-story setback, each story had 14 offices.

 

For reasons that are unknown, floor numbers 42, 48, and 52 are skipped.

 

Woolworth's private office on the 24th. floor, revetted in green marble in the French Empire style, is preserved in its original condition. His office included a mahogany desk with a leather top measuring 7.5 by 3.75 feet (2.29 by 1.14 m).

 

That desk contained a hidden console with four buttons to request various members of his staff.

 

The marble columns in the office are capped by gilded Corinthian capitals. Woolworth's reception room contained objects that were inspired by a visit to the Château de Compiègne shortly after the building opened.

 

These included a bronze bust of Napoleon, a set of French Empire-style lamps with gold figures, and an inkwell with a depiction of Napoleon on horseback.

 

The walls of the office contained portraits of Napoleon, and gold-and-scarlet chairs were arranged around the room. At some point, Woolworth replaced the portrait of Napoleon with a portrait of himself.

 

-- Elevators

 

The Woolworth Building contains a system of high-speed elevators capable of traveling 650 feet (200 m) or 700 feet (210 m) per minute. The Otis Elevator Company supplied the units, which were innovative in that there were "express" elevators, stopping only at certain floors, and "local" elevators, stopping at every floor between a certain range.

 

There were 26 Otis electric elevators with gearless traction, as well as an electric-drum shuttle elevator within the tower once construction was complete. Of these, 24 were passenger elevators. Two freight elevators and two emergency staircases were placed at the rear of the building.

 

The elevator doors in the lobby were designed by Tiffany Studios. The patterns on the doors are arabesque tracery patterns in etched steel set off against a gold-plated background.

 

-- History of the Woolworth Building

 

-- Planning

 

F. W. Woolworth, an entrepreneur who had become successful because of his "Five-and-Dime" (5- and 10-cent stores), began planning a new headquarters for the F. W. Woolworth Company in 1910.

 

Around the same time, Woolworth's friend Lewis Pierson was having difficulty getting shareholder approval for the merger of his Irving National Bank and the rival New York Exchange Bank.

 

Woolworth offered to acquire shares in New York Exchange Bank and vote in favor of the merger if Pierson agreed to move the combined banks' headquarters to a new building he was planning as the F. W. Woolworth Company's headquarters.

 

Having received a commitment from the banks, Woolworth acquired a corner site on Broadway and Park Place in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall.

 

Woolworth and the Irving National Exchange Bank then set up the Broadway-Park Place Company to construct and finance the proposed structure. Initially, the bank was supposed to purchase the company's stock gradually until it owned the entire company, and thus, the Woolworth Building.

 

Irving would be able to manage the 18 floors of rentable space on a 25-year lease. While negotiations to create the Broadway-Park Place Company were ongoing, Woolworth and his real estate agent Edward J. Hogan purchased several parcels from the Trenor Luther Park estate and other owners.

 

The entire footprint of the current building, a rectangular lot, had been acquired by the 15th. April 1910, at a total cost of $1.65 million (about $37.7 million in 2022).

 

-- Original designs

 

Woolworth commissioned Cass Gilbert to design the new building. Gilbert later mentioned that he had received the commission for the Woolworth Building after getting a phone call from Woolworth one day.

 

Woolworth wanted his new structure to be of similar design to the Palace of Westminster in London, which was designed in the Gothic style. At the time, Gilbert was well known for constructing modern skyscrapers with historicizing design elements.

 

Gilbert was originally retained to design a standard 12- to 16-story commercial building for Woolworth, who later said:

 

"I have no desire to erect a monument

that would cause posterity to remember

me".

 

However, Woolworth then wanted to surpass the nearby New York World Building, which sat on the other side of City Hall Park and stood 20 stories and 350 feet (110 m).

 

A drawing by Thomas R. Johnson, dated April 22 1910, shows a 30-story building rising from the site. Because of the change in plans, the organization of the Broadway-Park Place Company was rearranged.

 

Woolworth would now be the major partner, contributing $1 million of the planned $1.5 million cost. The Irving Bank would pay the balance, and it would take up a 25-year lease for the ground floor, fourth floor, and basement.

 

By September 1910, Gilbert had designed an even taller structure, with a 40-story tower on Park Place adjacent to a shorter 25-story annex, yielding a 550-foot (170 m)-tall building.

 

The next month, Gilbert's latest design had evolved into a 45-story tower roughly the height of the nearby Singer Building. After the latest design, Woolworth wrote to Gilbert in November 1910 and asked for the building's height to be increased to 620 feet (190 m), which was 8 feet (2.4 m) taller than the Singer Building, Lower Manhattan's tallest building.

 

Woolworth was inspired by his travels in Europe, where he would constantly be asked about the Singer Building. He decided that housing his company in an even taller building would provide invaluable advertising for the F. W. Woolworth Company and make it renowned worldwide.

 

This design, unveiled to the public the same month, was a 45-story tower rising 625 feet (191 m), sitting on a lot by 105 by 197 feet (32 by 60 m). Referring to the revised plans, Woolworth said:

 

"I do not want a mere building.

I want something that will be an

ornament to the city."

 

He later said that he wanted visitors to brag that they had visited the world's tallest building.

 

Louis J. Horowitz, president of the building's main contractor Thompson-Starrett Company, said of Woolworth:

 

"Beyond a doubt his ego was a thing

of extraordinary size; whoever tried to

find a reason for his tall building and

did not take that fact into account would

reach a false conclusion."

 

Even after the revised height was unveiled, Woolworth still yearned to make the building even taller, as it was now close to the 700-foot (210 m) height of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, then the tallest building in New York City and the world.

 

On the 20th. December 1910, Woolworth sent a team of surveyors to measure the Metropolitan Life Tower's height and come up with a precise measurement, so that he could make his skyscraper 50 feet (15 m) taller.

 

He then ordered Gilbert to revise the building's design to reach 710 or 712 feet (216 or 217 m), despite ongoing worries over whether the additional height would be worth the increased cost.

 

In order to fit the larger base that a taller tower necessitated, Woolworth bought the remainder of the frontage on Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street. He also purchased two lots to the west, one on Park Place and one on Barclay Street; these lots would not be developed, but would retain their low-rise buildings and preserve the proposed tower's views.

 

Such a tall building would produce the largest income of any building globally.

 

On the 1st. January 1911, the New York Times reported that Woolworth was planning a 625 feet (191 m) building at a cost of $5 million.

 

By the 18th. January 1911, Woolworth and Hogan had acquired the final site for the project at a total cost of $4.5 million; (about $103 million in 2022) the lot measured 152 feet (46 m) on Broadway, 192.5 feet (58.7 m) on Barclay Street, and 197.8 feet (60 m) on Park Place.

 

In a New York Times article two days later, Woolworth said that his building would rise 750 feet (230 m) to its tip. In order to fit the correct architectural proportions, Gilbert redesigned the building to its current 792-foot (241 m) height.

 

Renderings by the illustrator Hughson Hawley, completed in April 1911, are the first official materials that reflect this final height.

 

Gilbert had to reconcile both Woolworth's and Pierson's strict requirements for the design of the structure. The architect's notes describe late-night conversations that he had with both men. The current design of the lobby, with its arcade, reflected these conflicting pressures.

 

Sometimes Gilbert also faced practical conundrums, such as Woolworth's requirement that:

 

There must be many windows so divided

that all of the offices should be well lighted,

and so that tenants could erect partitions to

fit their needs."

 

Gilbert wrote that:

 

"This requirement naturally

prevented any broad wall

space".

 

Woolworth and Gilbert sometimes clashed during the design process, especially because of the constantly changing designs and the architect's fees. Nevertheless, Gilbert commended Woolworth's devotion to the details and beauty of the building's design, as well as the entrepreneur's enthusiasm for the project.

 

Such was the scale of the building that Gilbert noted:

 

"For several years my sense of scale was

destroyed because of the unprecedented

attuning of detail to, for these days, such

an excessive height".

 

-- Construction of the Woolworth Building

 

In September 1910, wrecking crews demolished the five and six-story structures which previously occupied the site. Construction officially began on the 4th. November 1910, with excavation by The Foundation Company, using a contract negotiated personally by Frank Woolworth.

 

The start of construction instantly raised the site's value from $2.25 million to $3.2 million. The contract of over $1 million was described as the largest contract for foundation construction ever awarded in the world.

 

It took months for Woolworth to decide upon the general construction company. George A. Fuller's Fuller Company was well experienced and had practically invented skyscraper construction.

 

However Louis Horowitz's Thompson-Starrett Company was local to New York, and despite being newer, Horowitz had worked for Fuller before, and thus had a similar knowledge base.

 

On the 20th. April 1911, Thompson-Starrett won the contract with a guaranteed construction price of $4,308,500 for the building's frame and structural elements.

 

The company was paid $300,000 for their oversight and management work, despite Woolworth's attempts to get the company to do the job for free due to the prestige of the project.

 

On the 12th. June 1911, the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company received a $250,000 contract to manufacture the terracotta.

 

The next month, Donnelly and Ricci received the $11,500 contract for the terracotta work and some of the interior design work. Gilbert requested Atlantic Terra Cotta use an office next to his while they drew several hundred designs.

 

The construction process involved hundreds of workers, and daily wages ranged from $1.50 for laborers (equivalent to $44 in 2022) to $4.50 for skilled workers (equivalent to $133 in 2022).

 

By August 1911, the building's foundations were completed ahead of the target date of the 15th. September; construction of the skyscraper's steel frame began on the 15th. August.

 

The steel beams and girders used in the framework weighed so much that, to prevent the streets from caving in, a group of surveyors examined them on the route along which the beams would be transported.

 

The American Bridge Company provided steel for the building from their foundries in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; manufacturing took over 45 weeks.

 

The first above-ground steel had been erected by October 1911, and installation of the building's terracotta began on the 1st. February 1912.

 

The building rose at the rate of 1½ stories a week, and the steelworkers set a speed record for assembling 1,153 tons of steel in six consecutive eight-hour days.

 

By the 18th. February 1912, work on the steel frame had reached the building's 18th. floor. By the 6th. April 1912, the steel frame had reached the top of the base at the 30th. floor, and work then began on constructing the tower of the Woolworth Building.

 

Steel reached the 47th. floor by the 30th. May, and the official topping out ceremony took place two weeks ahead of schedule on the 1st. July 1912, as the last rivet was driven into the summit of the tower.

 

The skyscraper was substantially completed by the end of that year. The final estimated construction cost was US$13.5 million (equivalent to $400,000,000 in 2022), up from the initial estimates of US$5 million for the shorter versions of the skyscraper (equivalent to $148,000,000 in 2022).

 

Woolworth provided $5 million, while investors provided the remainder, and financing was completed by August 1911.

 

-- Opening and the 1910's

 

The building opened on the 24th. April 1913. Woolworth held a grand dinner on the building's 27th. floor for over 900 guests, and at exactly 7:30 p.m. EST, President Woodrow Wilson pushed a button in Washington, D.C., to turn on the building's lights. Additional congratulations were sent via letter from former President William Howard Taft, Governor of New Jersey James Fairman Fielder and United States Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.

 

The building was declared ready for occupancy on the 1st. May 1913, and Woolworth began advertising the offices for rent beginning at $4.00 per square foot.

 

To attract tenants, Woolworth hired architecture critic Montgomery Schuyler to write a 56-page brochure outlining the building's features. Schuyler later described the Woolworth Building as the "noblest offspring" of buildings erected with steel skeletons.

 

On completion, the Woolworth Building topped the record set by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1930.

 

Woolworth had purchased all of the Broadway-Park Place Company's shares from the Irving National Exchange Bank by May 1914; his company held no ownership stake in the building.

 

The building contained offices for as many as 14,000 employees. By the end of 1914, the building was 70% occupied and generating over $1.3 million a year in rents for the F. W. Woolworth Company.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the 1920's to 1960's

 

During the Great War, only one of the Woolworth Building's then-14 elevators was turned on, and many lighting fixtures in hallways and offices were turned off. This resulted in about a 70% energy reduction compared to peacetime requirements.

 

The building had more than a thousand tenants by the 1920's, who generally occupied suites of one or two rooms. These tenants reportedly collectively employed over 12,000 people in the building.

 

In 1920, after F. W. Woolworth died, his heirs obtained a $3 million mortgage loan on the Woolworth Building from Prudential Life Insurance Company in order to pay off $8 million in inheritance tax.

 

By this point, the building was worth $10 million and grossed $1.55 million per year in rental income. The Broadway-Park Place Corporation agreed to sell the building to Woolco Realty Co., a subsidiary of the F. W. Woolworth Company, in January 1924 at an assessed valuation of $11.25 million (about $153 million in 2022).

 

The company paid $4 million in cash and obtained a five-year, $11 million mortgage from Prudential Life Insurance Company at an annual interest rate of 5.5%. The sale was finalized in April 1924, after which F. W. Woolworth's heirs no longer had any stake in the building.

 

In 1927, the building's pinnacle was painted green, and the observation tower was re-gilded for over $25,000 (about $340,647 in 2022). The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company cleaned the Woolworth Building's façade in 1932.

 

Prudential extended its $3.7 million mortgage on the building by ten years in 1939, and the observation deck was closed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

 

Ten of the building's 24 elevators were temporarily disabled in 1944 because of a shortage of coal. The next year, the building's owners replaced the elevators and closed off the building above the 54th. story.

 

By 1953, a new chilled water air conditioning system had been installed, bringing individual room temperature control to a third of the building.

 

The old car-switch-control elevators had been replaced with a new automatic dispatching systems and new elevator cars. The structure was still profitable by then, although it was now only the sixth-tallest building, and tourists no longer frequented the Woolworth Building.

 

The building's terracotta façade deteriorated easily, and, by 1962, repairs to the terracotta tiles were occurring year-round.

 

The Woolworth Company had considered selling the building as early as the 1960's, though the planned sale never happened.

 

-- Restoration and Landmark Status

 

The National Park Service designated the Woolworth Building as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) considered giving the Woolworth Building official city-landmark status in 1970. The F. W. Woolworth Company called the landmark law "onerous" since it would restrict the company from making modifications to many aspects of the building.

 

The commission ultimately declined to give the Woolworth Building a designated-landmark status because of the company's opposition to such a measure, as well as the increased costs and scrutiny.

 

The lobby was cleaned in 1974.

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company commissioned an appraisal of the building's façade in 1975 and found serious deterioration in the building's terracotta. Many of the blocks of terracotta had loosened or cracked from the constant thermal expansion and contraction caused by New York's climate.

 

The cracks in the façade had let rain in, which had caused the steel superstructure to rust. By 1976, the Woolworth Company had placed metal netting around the façade in order to prevent terracotta pieces from dislodging and hitting pedestrians.

 

The issues with the façade were exacerbated by the fact that very few terracotta manufacturers remained in business, making it difficult for the company to procure replacements.

 

The New York City Industrial and Commercial Incentives Board approved a $8.5 million tax abatement in September 1977, which was to fund a proposed renovation of the Woolworth Building.

 

The Woolworth Company still occupied half the building; its vice president for construction said:

 

"We think the building merits

the investment, in part because

F. W. Woolworth had used his

own wealth to fund the building's

construction."

 

Much of the remaining space was occupied by lawyers who paid rentals of between $7 to $12 per square foot ($75 to $129/m2).

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company began a five-year restoration of the building's terracotta and limestone façade, as well as replacement of all the building's windows, in 1977.

 

Initially, the company had considered replacing the entire terracotta façade with concrete; however this was canceled due to its high cost and potential backlash from preservationists.

 

The renovation, carried out by Turner Construction to plans by the New York architectural firm Ehrenkrantz Group, involved the replacement of roughly one-fifth of the building's terracotta.

 

Since there were so few remaining terracotta manufacturers, Woolworth's replaced 26,000 of the tiles with concrete lookalikes; many of those tiles had to be custom-cut. The concrete was coated with a surface that was meant to be replaced every five years, like the glazing on the terracotta blocks.

 

Similarly, the original copper windows were replaced with aluminum frames which allowed them to be opened, whereas the originals were sealed in place.

 

The company also removed some decorative flying buttresses near the tower's crown and refaced four tourelles in aluminum because of damage.

 

The building's renovation was completed without fanfare in 1982. The estimated cost of the project had risen from $8 million to over $22 million. Much of the renovation was financed through the city government's tax break, which had increased to $11.4 million.

 

The LPC again considered the Woolworth Building for landmark designation in early 1982, shortly after the renovation was completed. However upon the request of the building's lawyers, the LPC postponed a public hearing for the proposed landmark designation to April 1982.

 

That year, the building's entrance to the City Hall subway station was closed because of fears over crime. The LPC granted landmark protection to the building's façade and the interior of its lobby in April 1983.

 

The Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the building for a decade and a half. After struggling financially for years, and with no need for a trophy office building, Venator Group began discussing a sale of the building in 1996.

 

To raise capital for its other operations, Venator formally placed the Woolworth Building for sale in April 1998.

 

-- Witkoff Group Ownership

 

Venator Group agreed to sell the building in June 1998 to Steve Witkoff's Witkoff Group and Lehman Brothers for $155 million (about $261 million in 2022). However before the sale was finalized in December 1998, Witkoff renegotiated the purchase price to $137.5 million (about $231 million in 2022), citing a declining debt market.

 

Venator shrunk its space in the building from eight floors to four; this was a sharp contrast to the 25 floors the company had occupied just before the sale.

 

Witkoff also agreed to license the Woolworth name and invest $30 million in renovating the exterior and interior of the building.

 

After purchasing the building, the Witkoff Group rebranded it in an attempt to attract entertainment and technology companies. In April 2000, the Venator Group officially moved their headquarters to 112 West 34th. Street, and Witkoff indicated that he would sell the upper half of the building as residential condominiums.

 

That October, the company proposed a two-story addition to the 29th.-floor setbacks on the north and south elevations of the tower, to be designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who were also leading the renovation of the building. The LPC denied the proposal.

 

The company unveiled an ambitious plan in November 2000 that would have converted the top 27 floors of the building into 75 condominiums, including a five-story penthouse. The plan would have included a new residential lobby on Park Place, a 100-space garage, a 75-seat underground screening room, and a spa in the basement.

 

The developers planned to spend $60 to $70 million on the conversion which would be ready for occupancy by August 2002. However the LPC opposed the plan because it would have required exterior changes to the roof.

 

The commission eventually approved a modified version of the plan. Following the September 11 attacks and the subsequent collapse of the nearby World Trade Center, the proposal was later canceled.

 

-- Security Increases and New Plan

 

Prior to the September 11 attacks, the World Trade Center was often photographed in such a way that the Woolworth Building could be seen between the complex's twin towers.

 

After the attacks occurred only a few blocks away, the Woolworth Building was without electricity, water and a telephone service for a few weeks; its windows were broken, and falling rubble damaged a top turret.

 

Increased post-attack security restricted access to most of the ornate lobby, previously a tourist attraction. New York Times reporter David W. Dunlap wrote in 2006 that a security guard had asked him to leave within twelve seconds of entering the Woolworth Building.

 

However, there was renewed interest in restoring public access to the Woolworth Building during planning for its centennial celebrations. The lobby reopened to public tours in 2014, when Woolworth Tours started accommodating groups for 30- to 90-minute tours.

 

The tours were part of a partnership between Cass Gilbert's great-granddaughter, Helen Post Curry, and Witkoff's vice president for development, Roy A. Suskin.

 

By 2007, the concrete blocks on the Woolworth Building's façade had deteriorated because of neglect. A lack of regular re-surfacing had led to water and dirt absorption, which had stained the concrete blocks.

 

Though terracotta's popularity had increased since the 1970's, Suskin had declined to say whether the façade would be modified, if at all.

 

Around the same time, Witkoff planned to partner with Rubin Schron to create an "office club" on the top 25 floors building to attract high-end tenants like hedge funds and private equity firms. The plan would have restored the 58th. floor observatory as a private amenity for "office club" tenants, in addition to amenities like a private dining room, meeting rooms, and a new dedicated lobby.

 

The partners planned to complete the project by the end of 2008, but the financial crisis of 2007–2008 derailed the plans, leaving the top floors gutted and vacant.

 

-- Residential Conversion

 

On the 31st. July 2012, an investment group led by New York developer Alchemy Properties which included Adam Neumann and Joel Schreiber, bought the top 30 floors of the skyscraper for $68 million (about $86.1 million in 2022) from the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International.

 

The firm planned to renovate the space into 33 luxury apartments and convert the penthouse into a five-level living space. The lower 28 floors are still owned by the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International, who planned to maintain them as office space.

 

The project was expected to cost approximately $150 million including the $68 million purchase price. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the changes to the building in October 2013.

 

When the sale was first announced in 2012, the developers expected the building's conversion to be complete by 2015. However, construction took longer than expected.

 

Workers could not attach a construction hoist to the building's façade without damaging it, and they were prohibited from using the elevators because of the active office tenants on the lower floors and the regular public tours of the landmarked lobby.

 

The renovation included many restorations and changes to the building's interior. Two of the elevator shafts only went to the 29th. floor, allowing extra floor space for the residents above.

 

A new private lobby was also built for residents, and the coffered ceiling from F. W. Woolworth's personal 40th. floor office was relocated to the entryway. Each unit received space in a wine cellar, along with access to the restored private pool in the basement.

 

The 29th. floor was converted to an amenity floor named the "Gilbert Lounge" after the structure's architect, while the 30th. floor hosts a fitness facility.

 

In August 2014, the New York Attorney General's office approved Alchemy's plan to sell 34 condos at the newly branded Woolworth Tower Residences for a combined total of $443.7 million. After a soft launch in late 2014, units at the building were officially listed for sale in mid-2015.

 

Alchemy initially intended to leverage an in-house sales staff, and hired a director from Corcoran Sunshine to lead the effort. However, the new sales director left at the end of 2015 amid rumors of slow sales. Following his departure, the company hired Sotheby's International Realty to market the units.

 

The building's penthouse unit, dubbed "The Pinnacle", was listed at $110 million, the highest asking price ever for an apartment in downtown Manhattan. If it had sold at that price, the unit would have surpassed the record $50.9 million penthouse at Ralph Thomas Walker's Walker Tower, and even the $100.5 million record price for a Manhattan penthouse set by Michael Dell at Extell's One57 in 2014.

 

Due to delays, the conversion was expected to be completed by February or March 2019, about six and a half years after Alchemy bought the property. However by February 2019, only three of the building's 31 condos had been sold, since the developers had refused to discount prices, despite a glut of new luxury apartments in NYC.

 

The still-vacant penthouse's asking price was reduced to $79 million. By 2021, Alchemy had sold 22 condominiums to tenants such as the entrepreneur Rudra Pandey.

 

-- Corporate Tenants

 

On the building's original completion, the F. W. Woolworth Company occupied only one and a half floors. However, as the owner, the Woolworth Company profited from renting space out to others.

 

The Woolworth Building was almost always fully occupied because of its central location in Lower Manhattan, as well as its direct connections to two subway stations.

 

The Irving Trust Company occupied the first four floors when the building opened. It had a large banking room on the second floor accessible directly from a grand staircase in the lobby, vaults in the basement, offices on the third-floor mezzanine, and a boardroom on the fourth floor.

 

In 1931, the company relocated their general, out-of-town, and foreign offices from the Woolworth Building after building their own headquarters at 1 Wall Street.

 

Columbia Records was one of the Woolworth Building's tenants on opening day and housed a recording studio in the skyscraper. In 1917, Columbia made what are considered the first jazz recordings, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in this studio.

 

Shortly after the building opened, several railroad companies rented space. The Union Pacific Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad occupied the ground floor retail space with ticket offices.

 

The inventor Nikola Tesla also occupied an office in the Woolworth Building beginning in 1914; he was evicted after a year because he could not pay his rent.

 

Scientific American moved into the building in 1915 before departing for Midtown Manhattan in 1926. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America was present at the building's opening, occupying the southern half of the 18th. floor.

 

By the 1920's, the building also hosted Newport News Shipbuilding and Nestlé.

 

In the 1930's, prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey maintained his offices in the building while investigating racketeering and organized crime in Manhattan. His office took up the entire fourteenth floor, and was heavily guarded.

 

During World War II, the Kellex Corporation, part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, was based here.

 

During the early 1960's, public relations expert Howard J. Rubenstein opened an office in the building. In 1975, the city signed a lease for state judge Jacob D. Fuchsberg's offices in the Woolworth Building.

 

-- Educational Tenants

 

The structure has a long association with higher education, housing a number of Fordham University schools in the early 20th. century. In 1916, Fordham created "Fordham Downtown" at the Woolworth Building by moving the School of Sociology and Social Service and the School of Law to the building.

 

The Fordham University Graduate School was founded on the building's 28th. floor in the same year, and a new Teachers' College quickly followed on the seventh floor.

 

In September 1920, the Business School was also established on the seventh floor, originally as the School of Accounting. By 1929, the school's combined programs at the Woolworth Building had over 3,000 enrolled students.

 

Between 1916 and 1943 the building was also home at various times to the Fordham College (Manhattan Division), a summer school, and the short-lived School of Irish Studies.

 

In 1943, the Graduate School relocated to Keating Hall at Fordham's Rose Hill campus in Fordham, Bronx, and the rest of the schools moved to nearby 302 Broadway because of reduced attendance due to World War II.

 

The New York University School of Professional Studies' Center for Global Affairs leased 94,000 square feet (8,700 m2) on the second, third, and fourth floors in 2002 from defunct dot-com startup FrontLine Capital Group.

 

The American Institute of Graphic Arts also moved its headquarters to the Woolworth Building.

 

-- 21st-Century Tenants

 

By the early 2000's, the Woolworth Building was home to numerous technology tenants. Digital advertising firm Xceed occupied 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) across four floors as its headquarters. Organic, Inc. took 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2), and advertising agency Fallon Worldwide used two floors.

 

Xceed terminated its lease in April 2001 during the midst of the Dot-com bubble collapse in order to move to smaller offices in the Starrett–Lehigh Building.

 

One month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Northeast Regional Office at 7 World Trade Center was destroyed in the September 11 attacks, the commission's 334 employees moved into 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) across five floors of the Woolworth Building. The SEC left for a larger space in Brookfield Place in early 2005.

 

The General Services Administration took over the commission's space on the 1st. November 2005 and used it as offices for approximately 200 staff of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System.

 

The New York City Police Department pension fund signed a lease for 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) on the 19th. and 25th. floors in April 2002.

 

Starbucks opened a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) location on the ground floor in the spring of 2003. In 2006, Levitz Furniture moved its headquarters to the 23rd. floor from Woodbury, Long Island, after declaring bankruptcy a second time.

 

In May 2013, SHoP Architects moved the company's headquarters to the entire 11th. floor, occupying 30,500 square feet (2,830 m2) of space. In February 2016, the New York City Law Department leased the entire 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2) fifth floor for the Department's tort office.

 

Joseph Altuzarra's namesake fashion brand, Altuzarra, signed on to occupy the 14th. floor in June 2016. In 2017, the New York Shipping Exchange moved into the 21st floor. In May 2018, architecture and design firm CallisonRTKL signed a lease for the entire 28,100 square feet (2,610 m2) 16th. floor.

 

-- Impact of the Woolworth Building

 

Before construction, Woolworth hired New York photographer Irving Underhill to document the building's construction. These photographs were distributed to Woolworth's stores nationwide to generate enthusiasm for the project.

 

During construction, Underhill, Wurts Brothers, and Tebbs-Hymans each took photographs to document the structure's progression. These photos were often taken from close-up views, or from far away to provide contrast against the surrounding structures.

 

They were part of a media promotion for the Woolworth Building. Both contemporary and modern figures criticized the photos as:

 

"Standard solutions at best and

architectural eye candy at worst".

 

Later critics praised the building. Amei Wallach of Newsday wrote in 1978 that the building resembled:

 

"A giant cathedral absurdly

stretched in a gigantic fun

mirror. The lobby certainly

looks like a farmboy's dream

of glory".

 

A writer for The Baltimore Sun wrote in 1984 that:

 

"The lobby's lighting, ceiling mosaic,

and gold-leaf decorations combine

for a church-like atmosphere, yet the

grotesques provide a touch of

irreverence".

 

Richard Berenholtz wrote in his 1988 book Manhattan Architecture that:

 

"At the Woolworth Building, Gilbert

succeeded in uniting the respected

traditions of architecture and

decoration with modern technology".

 

In a 2001 book about Cass Gilbert, Mary N. Woods wrote that:

 

"The rich and varied afterlife of

the Woolworth Building enhances

Gilbert's accomplishment".

 

Dirk Stichweh described the building in 2005 as being:

 

"The Mozart of skyscrapers".

 

In 2007, the building ranked 44th. among 150 buildings in the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.

 

In recognition of Gilbert's role as the building's architect, the Society of Arts and Sciences gave Gilbert its gold medal in 1930, calling it:

 

"An epochal landmark in the

history of architecture".

 

On the 40th. anniversary of the building's opening in 1953, one news source called the building:

 

"A substantial middle-aged lady, with

a good income, unconcern over years—

and lots of friends".

 

A one-third-scale replica of the Woolworth Building, the Lincoln American Tower in Memphis, Tennessee, was also built in 1924.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the Media

 

The Woolworth Building has had a large impact in architectural spheres, and has been featured in many works of popular culture, including photographs, prints, films, and literature.

 

One of the earliest films to feature the skyscraper was Manhatta (1921), a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.

 

Since then, the building has made cameo appearances in several films, such as the 1929 film Applause. It was also the setting of several film climaxes, such as in Enchanted (2007), as well as the setting of major organizations, such as in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).

 

The television show Ugly Betty used the Woolworth Building as the 'Meade Publications' building, a major location in the series, while one of the vacant condominiums was used in filming the TV series Succession in 2021.

 

The building has also appeared in literature, such as Langston Hughes's 1926 poem "Negro" and the 2007 novel Peak.

 

The S.S. Rochambeau

 

The S.S. Rochambeau entered service in 1911 and became part of a regular route between Bordeaux and New York City. Refitted in 1926, she was scrapped at Dunkirk in 1934.

 

Francis Alda

 

Madame Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th. century due to her outstanding voice, fine technique and colourful personality, as well as her frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with Enrico Caruso.

 

Frances used to give song recitals in French, German and English, typically at Carnegie Hall in New York.

 

Frances, who was born in 1879, died in 1952 of a stroke in Venice, Italy aged 73.

 

Bill Nicholson

 

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

 

Well, on Friday the 11th. December 1914, Bill Nicholson was born in the United States. He became a baseball player who played right field for the Chicago Cubs from 1939 to 1948.

Leah Jumeaux Wiki

Leah Jumeaux Biography

Who is Leah Jumeaux ?

  

A woman who faked her own kidnapping in an attempt to scam her ex-boyfriend out of £2,000 so she could buy Christmas presents has been jailed for 34 weeks.

 

Leah Jumeaux, 20, from Blackpool, Lancashire, sent photos of herself bound and gagged along with a gun to her partner in October 2020, a court has heard.

 

She posed as a kidnapper in the messages and demanded a £2,000 ransom in exchange for her safe return.

 

But her strange plot failed when the matter was reported to the police and she was forced to admit her lines.

 

In an interview with the police, he confessed that he had made it all up because he wanted the money to buy Christmas presents for his family

 

Jumeaux appeared at Blackpool Magistrates Court in September charged with racketeering and false representation fraud

 

She was released on bail ahead of a trial at Preston Crown Court, but on Friday she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of fraud .

'Give me the money or I'll shoot you': Terrifying moment...

Jumeaux was sentenced to 34 weeks in a juvenile institution.

 

He must also pay a victim surcharge of £156.

 

Detective Constable Lisa Carr of Lancashire Police said: "Jumeaux's behavior and actions were unusual.

 

She staged a kidnapping in a failed attempt to scam an ex-boyfriend, posing tied up with a gun next to him.

 

wikicnn.com/leah-jumeaux/

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard which was published by Lumitone Press of New York.

 

The photography was by Irving Underhill (1872 - 1960) of New York. Irving was one of the most notable commercial photographers in New York City during the first half of the 20th. century.

 

Irving produced work that was frequently featured on postcards and in numerous publications while he was alive, and his work continues to be exhibited and receive recognition long after his death.

 

On the back of the card the publishers state:

 

"Woolworth Building - Cathedral of Commerce.

Highest building in the world. Height 792 feet,

Sixty storeys. Gothic architecture.

12,000 people occupy the building. There are

3,000 offices.

Contains 24 high-speed elevators that can

travel at a rate of 750 feet per minute.

The power plant generates sufficient electrical

energy to supply the requirements of a city of

50,000 population".

 

The Woolworth Building

 

The Woolworth Building is a residential building and early skyscraper at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in NYC.

 

Designed by Cass Gilbert, it was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the U.S..

 

The Woolworth Building consists of a 30-story base topped by a 30-story tower. Its façade is mostly decorated with architectural terracotta, though the lower portions are limestone, and it features thousands of windows.

 

The ornate lobby contains various sculptures, mosaics, and architectural touches. The structure was designed with several amenities and attractions, including a now-closed observatory on the 57th. floor and a private swimming pool in the basement.

 

F. W. Woolworth, the founder of a brand of popular five-and-ten-cent stores, conceived the skyscraper as a headquarters for his company. Woolworth planned the skyscraper jointly with the Irving National Exchange Bank, which also agreed to use the structure as its headquarters.

 

The Woolworth Building had originally been planned as a 12- to 16-story commercial building, but it underwent several revisions during its planning process. Construction started in 1910, although the building's final height was not decided upon until January 1911. The building officially opened on the 24th. April 1913.

 

The Woolworth Building has undergone several changes throughout its history. The façade was cleaned in 1932, and the building received an extensive renovation between 1977 and 1981.

 

The Irving National Exchange Bank moved its headquarters to 1 Wall Street in 1931, but the Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the Woolworth Building for most of the 20th. century.

 

The structure was sold to the Witkoff Group in 1998. The top 30 floors were sold to a developer in 2012 and converted into residences.

 

Office and commercial tenants use the rest of the building.

 

-- Architecture of the Woolworth Building

 

Cass Gilbert designed the Woolworth Building in the neo-Gothic style. The building resembles European Gothic cathedrals; Reverend S. Parkes Cadman dubbed it "The Cathedral of Commerce" in a booklet published in 1916.

 

F. W. Woolworth, who had devised the idea for the Woolworth Building, had proposed using the Victoria Tower as a model for the building; he reportedly also admired the design of Palace of Westminster.

 

Gilbert, by contrast, disliked the comparison to religious imagery. The architect ultimately used 15th.- and 16th.-century Gothic ornament on the Woolworth Building, along with a complementary color scheme.

 

The Woolworth Building was designed to be 420 feet (130 m) high, but was eventually raised to 792 feet (241 m).

 

The Woolworth Building was 60 stories tall when completed in 1913, though this consisted of 53 usable floors topped by several mechanical floors.

 

The building's ceiling heights, ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m), make it the equivalent of an 80-story building. It remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building in 1930, both in New York City.

 

The building is assigned its own ZIP Code; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019.

 

-- The Form of the Woolworth Building

 

The building's tower, flush with the main frontage on Broadway, joins an office block base with a narrow interior court for light. The base occupies the entire lot between Park Place to the north, Broadway to the east, and Barclay Street to the south.

 

The site measures 155 feet (47 m) wide on Broadway and 200 feet (61 m) wide on both Park Place and Barclay Street. The base contains two "wings" extending westward, one each on the Park Place and Barclay Street frontages, which form a rough U-shape when combined with the Broadway frontage.

 

This ensured that all offices had outside views. The U-shaped base is approximately 30 stories tall. All four elevations of the base are decorated, since the building has frontage on all sides.

 

The tower rises an additional 30 stories above the eastern side of the base, abutting Broadway. Above the 30th. floor are setbacks on the north and south elevations. There are additional setbacks along the north, south, and west elevations on the 45th. and 50th. floors.

 

The 30th. through 45th. floors measure 84 by 86 feet (26 by 26 m); the 46th. through 50th. floors, 69 by 71 feet (21 by 22 m); and the 51st. through 53rd. floors, 69 by 61 feet (21 by 19 m).

 

The tower has a square plan below the 50th.-story setback and an octagonal plan above. Though the structure is physically 60 stories tall, the 53rd. floor is the top floor that can be occupied. Above the 53rd. floor, the tower tapers into a pyramidal roof.

 

-- The Façade of the Woolworth Building

 

The lowest four stories are clad in limestone. Above that, the exterior of the Woolworth Building was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terracotta panels.

 

F. W. Woolworth initially wanted to clad the skyscraper in granite, while Gilbert wanted to use limestone. The decision to use terracotta for the façade was based on both aesthetic and functional concerns.

 

Terracotta was not only fireproof but also, in Gilbert's mind, a purely ornamental addition clarifying the Woolworth Building's steel construction. Each panel was of a slightly different color, creating a polychrome effect.

 

The façade appeared to have a uniform tone, but the upper floors were actually darker and more dense. Behind the terracotta panels were brick walls; the terracotta pieces are attached to the brick walls by metal rods and hangers.

 

The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company provided the original terracotta cladding. The panels were manufactured in shades of blue, green, sienna, and rose. The terracotta panels were partially vitrified, allowing them to bear large loads.

 

Gilbert also asked that John Donnelly and Eliseo V. Ricci create full-size designs based on Atlantic Terra Cotta's models.

 

In 1932, Atlantic Terra Cotta carried out a comprehensive cleaning campaign of the Woolworth's façade in order to remove blackening caused by the city's soot and pollution.

 

The Ehrenkrantz Group restored the building's façade between 1977 and 1981. During the renovation, much of the terracotta was replaced with concrete and Gothic ornament was removed.

 

The building has several thousand windows: the exact number is disputed, but various sources state that the Woolworth Building has 2,843, 4,400, or 5,000 windows.

 

Windows were included for lighting and comfort; because the Woolworth Building was built before air conditioning became common, every office is within 10 feet (3.0 m) of a window.

 

Some of the Woolworth Building's windows are set within arch-shaped openings. Most of the building's spandrels, or triangles between the top corners of the window and the top of the arch, have golden Gothic tracery against a bright blue backdrop.

 

On the 25th., 39th., and 40th. stories, the spandrels consist of iconography found in the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

 

Gold-on-blue tracery is also found on the 26th., 27th., and 42nd. floors.

 

-- The Base of the Woolworth Building

 

The main entrance on Broadway is a three-story Tudor arch, surrounded on either side by two bays: one narrower than the main arch, the other wider. The five bays form a triumphal arch overhung by a balcony and stone motifs of Gothic design.

 

The intrados of the arch contains 23 niches. The topmost niche depicts an owl; the lowest niches on both sides depict tree trunks; and the other twenty niches depict animated figures.

 

The spandrel above the left side of the arch depicts Mercury, classical god of commerce, while that above the right side depicts Ceres, classical goddess of agriculture.

 

Above all of this is an ogee arch with more niches, as well as two carvings of owls hovering above a "W" monogram. There are salamanders within niches on either side of the main entrance.

 

Inside the triumphal arch, there is a smaller arch with a revolving door and a Tudor window; it is flanked by standard doors and framed with decorations. There is a pelican above this smaller arch.

 

-- The Tower Section of the Woolworth Building

 

At the 45th.- and 50th.-story setbacks, there are turrets at each corner of the tower. The northeast corner turret concealed a smokestack.

 

There is a pyramidal roof above the 53rd. floor, as well as four ornamental tourelles at the four corners of the tower. The roof was originally gilt but is now green. The pyramidal roof, as well as the smaller roofs below, used 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of gold leaf.

 

The main roof is interspersed with small dormers, which contain windows into the maintenance levels inside. The pyramidal roof is topped by another pyramid with an octagonal base and tall pointed-arch windows. In turn, the octagonal pyramid is capped by a spire.

 

The three layers of pyramids are about 62 feet (19 m), or five stories tall. An observation deck was located at the 55th. floor, about 730 feet (220 m) above ground level. The deck, which was octagonal in plan, measuring 65 feet (20 m) across, was accessed by a glass-walled elevator.

 

It was patronized by an estimated 300,000 visitors per year, but was closed as a security measure in 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack.

 

Strongly articulated piers, which carry right to the pyramidal cap without intermediate cornices, give the building its upward thrust. This was influenced by Aus's belief that:

 

"From an engineering point of view,

no structure is beautiful where the

lines of strength are not apparent."

 

The copper roof is connected to the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure, which serves to ground the roof electrically. The Gothic detailing concentrated at the highly visible crown is over-scaled, and the building's silhouette could be made out from several miles away.

 

Gilbert's choice of the Gothic style was described as "an expression of the verticality of the tower form", and as Gilbert himself later wrote, the style was "light, graceful, delicate and flame-like".

 

Gilbert considered several proposals for exterior lighting, including four powerful searchlights atop nearby buildings and a constantly rotating lamp at the apex of the Woolworth Building's roof.

 

Ultimately, the builders decided to erect nitrogen lamps and reflectors above the 31st. floor, and have the intensity of the lighting increase with height.

 

-- Structural Features of the Woolworth Building

 

-- The Substructure

 

In contrast to other parts of Manhattan, the bedrock beneath the site is relatively deep, descending to between 110 and 115 feet (34 and 35 m) on average. The site also has a high water table, which is as shallow as 15 feet (4.6 m) below ground level.

 

Due to the geology of the area, the building is supported on 69 massive caissons that descend to the bedrock. The caissons range in depth from 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m).

 

To give the structure a sturdy foundation, the builders used metal tubes 19 feet (5.8 m) in diameter filled with concrete. These tubes were driven into the ground with a pneumatic caisson process to anchor the foundations to the bedrock.

 

Because the slope of the bedrock was so sharp, steps had to be carved into the rock before the caissons could be sunk into the ground. The caissons were both round and rectangular, with the rectangular caissons located mainly on the southern and western lot lines.

 

The caissons are irregularly distributed across the site, being more densely concentrated at the northeastern corner. This is because the building was originally planned to occupy a smaller site at the corner of Broadway and Park Place; when the site was enlarged, the caissons that had already been installed were left in place.

 

The two basement levels, descending 55 feet (17 m), are constructed of reinforced concrete.

 

-- The Superstructure

 

Whereas many earlier buildings had been constructed with load-bearing walls, which by necessity were extremely thick, the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure was relatively thin, which enabled Gilbert to maximize the building's interior area.

 

Engineers Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle designed the steel frame. Each column carries a load of 24 tons per square foot, supporting the building's overall weight of 233,000 tons.

 

Where the columns of the superstructure did not match up with the caissons, they were cantilevered above on plate girders between two adjoining caissons. These girders are extremely large; one such girder measures 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, 6.75 feet (2 m) wide, and 23 feet (7.0 m) long.

 

For the wind bracing, the entire Woolworth Building was considered as a vertical cantilever, and correspondingly large girders and columns were used in the construction.

 

-- Interior

 

Upon completion, the Woolworth Building contained seven water systems — one each for the power plant, the hot-water plant, the fire-protection system, the communal restrooms, the offices with restrooms, the basement swimming pool, and the basement restaurant.

 

Although the water is obtained from the New York City water supply system, much of it is filtered and reused. A dedicated water system, separate from the city's, was proposed during construction, but workers abandoned the plan after unsuccessfully digging 1,500 feet (460 m) into Manhattan's bedrock.

 

The Woolworth Building was the first structure to have its own power plant, with four Corliss steam engine generators totaling a capacity of 1,500 kilowatt-hours; the plant could support 50,000 people.

 

The building also had a dedicated heating plant with six boilers producing 2,500 horsepower. The boilers were fed from subterranean coal bunkers capable of holding over 2,000 tons of anthracite coal.

 

-- Lobby

 

The ornate, cruciform lobby, known as the "arcade", was characterized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as:

 

"One of the most spectacular of

the early 20th. century in New

York City".

 

It consists of two perpendicular, double-height passageways with barrel-vaulted ceilings. Where the passageways intersect, there is a domed ceiling. The dome contains pendentives that may have been patterned after those of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

 

Veined marble from the island of Skyros in Greece covers the lobby. Patterned glass mosaics that contain blue, green, and gold tiling with red accents decorate the ceilings.

 

There are other Gothic-style decorations in the lobby, including on the cornice and the bronze fittings. Twelve plaster brackets, which carry grotesques depicting major figures in the building's construction, are placed where the arcade and the mezzanine intersect.

 

These ornaments include Gilbert with a model of the building, Aus taking a girder's measurements, and Woolworth holding nickels and dimes. Two ceiling murals by C. Paul Jennewein, titled Labor and Commerce, are located above the mezzanine where it crosses the south and north wings, respectively.

 

The staircase hall is a two-story room located to the west of the arcade. It consists of the ground level, which contains former storefronts, as well as a mezzanine level above it. The ground floor originally contained 18 storefronts.

 

A 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) marble staircase leads westward from the arcade to a mezzanine, where the entrance to the Irving National Exchange Bank office was formerly located. The mezzanine contains a stained-glass skylight surrounded by the names of several nations. The skylight contains the dates 1879 and 1913, which respectively signify the years of the Woolworth Company's founding and the building's opening.

 

The skylight is also surrounded by sculpted grotesques, which depict merchandising activities in the five-and-dime industry.

 

There is a smaller space west of the staircase hall with a one-story-high ceiling. This room contains a coffered ceiling with a blue-green background. The crossbeams contain Roman portrait heads, while the cornice contains generic sculpted grotesques.

 

-- Basement

 

The basement of the Woolworth Building contains an unused bank vault, restaurant, and barbershop. The bank vault was initially intended to be used for safe-deposit boxes, though it was used by the Irving National Exchange Bank in practice.

 

In 1931, Irving moved some $3 billion of deposits to a vault in its new headquarters at 1 Wall Street, and the Woolworth Building's vault was converted into a storage area for maintenance workers.

 

There is also a basement storage room, known as the "bone yard", which contains replacement terracotta decorations for the facade.

 

The basement also contains closed entrances to two New York City Subway stations. There was an entrance to the Park Place station directly adjacent to the building's north elevation, served by the 2 and ​3 trains. This entrance was closed after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

 

Another entrance led to the City Hall station one block north, now served by the R and ​W trains, but this was closed in 1982 because of concerns over crime.

 

A private pool, originally intended for F. W. Woolworth, exists in the basement. Proposed as early as 1910, the pool measured 15 by 55 feet (4.6 by 16.8 m) and had a marble perimeter.

 

The pool was later drained, but was restored in the mid-2010's as part of the conversion of the Woolworth Building's upper floors into residential units.

 

-- Offices

 

At the time of construction, the Woolworth Building had over 2,000 offices. Each office had ceilings ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m) high. Gilbert had designed the interior to maximize the amount of usable office space, and correspondingly, minimize the amount of space taken up by the elevator shafts.

 

The usable-space consideration affected the placement of the columns in the wings, as the columns in the main tower were positioned around the elevator shafts and facade piers.

 

Each of the lowest 30 stories had 31 offices, of which ten faced the light court, eight faced Park Place, eight faced Barclay Street, and five faced Broadway. Above the 30th.-story setback, each story had 14 offices.

 

For reasons that are unknown, floor numbers 42, 48, and 52 are skipped.

 

Woolworth's private office on the 24th. floor, revetted in green marble in the French Empire style, is preserved in its original condition. His office included a mahogany desk with a leather top measuring 7.5 by 3.75 feet (2.29 by 1.14 m).

 

That desk contained a hidden console with four buttons to request various members of his staff.

 

The marble columns in the office are capped by gilded Corinthian capitals. Woolworth's reception room contained objects that were inspired by a visit to the Château de Compiègne shortly after the building opened.

 

These included a bronze bust of Napoleon, a set of French Empire-style lamps with gold figures, and an inkwell with a depiction of Napoleon on horseback.

 

The walls of the office contained portraits of Napoleon, and gold-and-scarlet chairs were arranged around the room. At some point, Woolworth replaced the portrait of Napoleon with a portrait of himself.

 

-- Elevators

 

The Woolworth Building contains a system of high-speed elevators capable of traveling 650 feet (200 m) or 700 feet (210 m) per minute. The Otis Elevator Company supplied the units, which were innovative in that there were "express" elevators, stopping only at certain floors, and "local" elevators, stopping at every floor between a certain range.

 

There were 26 Otis electric elevators with gearless traction, as well as an electric-drum shuttle elevator within the tower once construction was complete. Of these, 24 were passenger elevators. Two freight elevators and two emergency staircases were placed at the rear of the building.

 

The elevator doors in the lobby were designed by Tiffany Studios. The patterns on the doors are arabesque tracery patterns in etched steel set off against a gold-plated background.

 

-- History of the Woolworth Building

 

-- Planning

 

F. W. Woolworth, an entrepreneur who had become successful because of his "Five-and-Dime" (5- and 10-cent stores), began planning a new headquarters for the F. W. Woolworth Company in 1910.

 

Around the same time, Woolworth's friend Lewis Pierson was having difficulty getting shareholder approval for the merger of his Irving National Bank and the rival New York Exchange Bank.

 

Woolworth offered to acquire shares in New York Exchange Bank and vote in favor of the merger if Pierson agreed to move the combined banks' headquarters to a new building he was planning as the F. W. Woolworth Company's headquarters.

 

Having received a commitment from the banks, Woolworth acquired a corner site on Broadway and Park Place in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall.

 

Woolworth and the Irving National Exchange Bank then set up the Broadway-Park Place Company to construct and finance the proposed structure. Initially, the bank was supposed to purchase the company's stock gradually until it owned the entire company, and thus, the Woolworth Building.

 

Irving would be able to manage the 18 floors of rentable space on a 25-year lease. While negotiations to create the Broadway-Park Place Company were ongoing, Woolworth and his real estate agent Edward J. Hogan purchased several parcels from the Trenor Luther Park estate and other owners.

 

The entire footprint of the current building, a rectangular lot, had been acquired by the 15th. April 1910, at a total cost of $1.65 million (about $37.7 million in 2022).

 

-- Original designs

 

Woolworth commissioned Cass Gilbert to design the new building. Gilbert later mentioned that he had received the commission for the Woolworth Building after getting a phone call from Woolworth one day.

 

Woolworth wanted his new structure to be of similar design to the Palace of Westminster in London, which was designed in the Gothic style. At the time, Gilbert was well known for constructing modern skyscrapers with historicizing design elements.

 

Gilbert was originally retained to design a standard 12- to 16-story commercial building for Woolworth, who later said:

 

"I have no desire to erect a monument

that would cause posterity to remember

me".

 

However, Woolworth then wanted to surpass the nearby New York World Building, which sat on the other side of City Hall Park and stood 20 stories and 350 feet (110 m).

 

A drawing by Thomas R. Johnson, dated April 22 1910, shows a 30-story building rising from the site. Because of the change in plans, the organization of the Broadway-Park Place Company was rearranged.

 

Woolworth would now be the major partner, contributing $1 million of the planned $1.5 million cost. The Irving Bank would pay the balance, and it would take up a 25-year lease for the ground floor, fourth floor, and basement.

 

By September 1910, Gilbert had designed an even taller structure, with a 40-story tower on Park Place adjacent to a shorter 25-story annex, yielding a 550-foot (170 m)-tall building.

 

The next month, Gilbert's latest design had evolved into a 45-story tower roughly the height of the nearby Singer Building. After the latest design, Woolworth wrote to Gilbert in November 1910 and asked for the building's height to be increased to 620 feet (190 m), which was 8 feet (2.4 m) taller than the Singer Building, Lower Manhattan's tallest building.

 

Woolworth was inspired by his travels in Europe, where he would constantly be asked about the Singer Building. He decided that housing his company in an even taller building would provide invaluable advertising for the F. W. Woolworth Company and make it renowned worldwide.

 

This design, unveiled to the public the same month, was a 45-story tower rising 625 feet (191 m), sitting on a lot by 105 by 197 feet (32 by 60 m). Referring to the revised plans, Woolworth said:

 

"I do not want a mere building.

I want something that will be an

ornament to the city."

 

He later said that he wanted visitors to brag that they had visited the world's tallest building.

 

Louis J. Horowitz, president of the building's main contractor Thompson-Starrett Company, said of Woolworth:

 

"Beyond a doubt his ego was a thing

of extraordinary size; whoever tried to

find a reason for his tall building and

did not take that fact into account would

reach a false conclusion."

 

Even after the revised height was unveiled, Woolworth still yearned to make the building even taller, as it was now close to the 700-foot (210 m) height of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, then the tallest building in New York City and the world.

 

On the 20th. December 1910, Woolworth sent a team of surveyors to measure the Metropolitan Life Tower's height and come up with a precise measurement, so that he could make his skyscraper 50 feet (15 m) taller.

 

He then ordered Gilbert to revise the building's design to reach 710 or 712 feet (216 or 217 m), despite ongoing worries over whether the additional height would be worth the increased cost.

 

In order to fit the larger base that a taller tower necessitated, Woolworth bought the remainder of the frontage on Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street. He also purchased two lots to the west, one on Park Place and one on Barclay Street; these lots would not be developed, but would retain their low-rise buildings and preserve the proposed tower's views.

 

Such a tall building would produce the largest income of any building globally.

 

On the 1st. January 1911, the New York Times reported that Woolworth was planning a 625 feet (191 m) building at a cost of $5 million.

 

By the 18th. January 1911, Woolworth and Hogan had acquired the final site for the project at a total cost of $4.5 million; (about $103 million in 2022) the lot measured 152 feet (46 m) on Broadway, 192.5 feet (58.7 m) on Barclay Street, and 197.8 feet (60 m) on Park Place.

 

In a New York Times article two days later, Woolworth said that his building would rise 750 feet (230 m) to its tip. In order to fit the correct architectural proportions, Gilbert redesigned the building to its current 792-foot (241 m) height.

 

Renderings by the illustrator Hughson Hawley, completed in April 1911, are the first official materials that reflect this final height.

 

Gilbert had to reconcile both Woolworth's and Pierson's strict requirements for the design of the structure. The architect's notes describe late-night conversations that he had with both men. The current design of the lobby, with its arcade, reflected these conflicting pressures.

 

Sometimes Gilbert also faced practical conundrums, such as Woolworth's requirement that:

 

There must be many windows so divided

that all of the offices should be well lighted,

and so that tenants could erect partitions to

fit their needs."

 

Gilbert wrote that:

 

"This requirement naturally

prevented any broad wall

space".

 

Woolworth and Gilbert sometimes clashed during the design process, especially because of the constantly changing designs and the architect's fees. Nevertheless, Gilbert commended Woolworth's devotion to the details and beauty of the building's design, as well as the entrepreneur's enthusiasm for the project.

 

Such was the scale of the building that Gilbert noted:

 

"For several years my sense of scale was

destroyed because of the unprecedented

attuning of detail to, for these days, such

an excessive height".

 

-- Construction of the Woolworth Building

 

In September 1910, wrecking crews demolished the five and six-story structures which previously occupied the site. Construction officially began on the 4th. November 1910, with excavation by The Foundation Company, using a contract negotiated personally by Frank Woolworth.

 

The start of construction instantly raised the site's value from $2.25 million to $3.2 million. The contract of over $1 million was described as the largest contract for foundation construction ever awarded in the world.

 

It took months for Woolworth to decide upon the general construction company. George A. Fuller's Fuller Company was well experienced and had practically invented skyscraper construction.

 

However Louis Horowitz's Thompson-Starrett Company was local to New York, and despite being newer, Horowitz had worked for Fuller before, and thus had a similar knowledge base.

 

On the 20th. April 1911, Thompson-Starrett won the contract with a guaranteed construction price of $4,308,500 for the building's frame and structural elements.

 

The company was paid $300,000 for their oversight and management work, despite Woolworth's attempts to get the company to do the job for free due to the prestige of the project.

 

On the 12th. June 1911, the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company received a $250,000 contract to manufacture the terracotta.

 

The next month, Donnelly and Ricci received the $11,500 contract for the terracotta work and some of the interior design work. Gilbert requested Atlantic Terra Cotta use an office next to his while they drew several hundred designs.

 

The construction process involved hundreds of workers, and daily wages ranged from $1.50 for laborers (equivalent to $44 in 2022) to $4.50 for skilled workers (equivalent to $133 in 2022).

 

By August 1911, the building's foundations were completed ahead of the target date of the 15th. September; construction of the skyscraper's steel frame began on the 15th. August.

 

The steel beams and girders used in the framework weighed so much that, to prevent the streets from caving in, a group of surveyors examined them on the route along which the beams would be transported.

 

The American Bridge Company provided steel for the building from their foundries in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; manufacturing took over 45 weeks.

 

The first above-ground steel had been erected by October 1911, and installation of the building's terracotta began on the 1st. February 1912.

 

The building rose at the rate of 1½ stories a week, and the steelworkers set a speed record for assembling 1,153 tons of steel in six consecutive eight-hour days.

 

By the 18th. February 1912, work on the steel frame had reached the building's 18th. floor. By the 6th. April 1912, the steel frame had reached the top of the base at the 30th. floor, and work then began on constructing the tower of the Woolworth Building.

 

Steel reached the 47th. floor by the 30th. May, and the official topping out ceremony took place two weeks ahead of schedule on the 1st. July 1912, as the last rivet was driven into the summit of the tower.

 

The skyscraper was substantially completed by the end of that year. The final estimated construction cost was US$13.5 million (equivalent to $400,000,000 in 2022), up from the initial estimates of US$5 million for the shorter versions of the skyscraper (equivalent to $148,000,000 in 2022).

 

Woolworth provided $5 million, while investors provided the remainder, and financing was completed by August 1911.

 

-- Opening and the 1910's

 

The building opened on the 24th. April 1913. Woolworth held a grand dinner on the building's 27th. floor for over 900 guests, and at exactly 7:30 p.m. EST, President Woodrow Wilson pushed a button in Washington, D.C., to turn on the building's lights. Additional congratulations were sent via letter from former President William Howard Taft, Governor of New Jersey James Fairman Fielder and United States Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.

 

The building was declared ready for occupancy on the 1st. May 1913, and Woolworth began advertising the offices for rent beginning at $4.00 per square foot.

 

To attract tenants, Woolworth hired architecture critic Montgomery Schuyler to write a 56-page brochure outlining the building's features. Schuyler later described the Woolworth Building as the "noblest offspring" of buildings erected with steel skeletons.

 

On completion, the Woolworth Building topped the record set by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1930.

 

Woolworth had purchased all of the Broadway-Park Place Company's shares from the Irving National Exchange Bank by May 1914; his company held no ownership stake in the building.

 

The building contained offices for as many as 14,000 employees. By the end of 1914, the building was 70% occupied and generating over $1.3 million a year in rents for the F. W. Woolworth Company.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the 1920's to 1960's

 

During the Great War, only one of the Woolworth Building's then-14 elevators was turned on, and many lighting fixtures in hallways and offices were turned off. This resulted in about a 70% energy reduction compared to peacetime requirements.

 

The building had more than a thousand tenants by the 1920's, who generally occupied suites of one or two rooms. These tenants reportedly collectively employed over 12,000 people in the building.

 

In 1920, after F. W. Woolworth died, his heirs obtained a $3 million mortgage loan on the Woolworth Building from Prudential Life Insurance Company in order to pay off $8 million in inheritance tax.

 

By this point, the building was worth $10 million and grossed $1.55 million per year in rental income. The Broadway-Park Place Corporation agreed to sell the building to Woolco Realty Co., a subsidiary of the F. W. Woolworth Company, in January 1924 at an assessed valuation of $11.25 million (about $153 million in 2022).

 

The company paid $4 million in cash and obtained a five-year, $11 million mortgage from Prudential Life Insurance Company at an annual interest rate of 5.5%. The sale was finalized in April 1924, after which F. W. Woolworth's heirs no longer had any stake in the building.

 

In 1927, the building's pinnacle was painted green, and the observation tower was re-gilded for over $25,000 (about $340,647 in 2022). The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company cleaned the Woolworth Building's façade in 1932.

 

Prudential extended its $3.7 million mortgage on the building by ten years in 1939, and the observation deck was closed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

 

Ten of the building's 24 elevators were temporarily disabled in 1944 because of a shortage of coal. The next year, the building's owners replaced the elevators and closed off the building above the 54th. story.

 

By 1953, a new chilled water air conditioning system had been installed, bringing individual room temperature control to a third of the building.

 

The old car-switch-control elevators had been replaced with a new automatic dispatching systems and new elevator cars. The structure was still profitable by then, although it was now only the sixth-tallest building, and tourists no longer frequented the Woolworth Building.

 

The building's terracotta façade deteriorated easily, and, by 1962, repairs to the terracotta tiles were occurring year-round.

 

The Woolworth Company had considered selling the building as early as the 1960's, though the planned sale never happened.

 

-- Restoration and Landmark Status

 

The National Park Service designated the Woolworth Building as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) considered giving the Woolworth Building official city-landmark status in 1970. The F. W. Woolworth Company called the landmark law "onerous" since it would restrict the company from making modifications to many aspects of the building.

 

The commission ultimately declined to give the Woolworth Building a designated-landmark status because of the company's opposition to such a measure, as well as the increased costs and scrutiny.

 

The lobby was cleaned in 1974.

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company commissioned an appraisal of the building's façade in 1975 and found serious deterioration in the building's terracotta. Many of the blocks of terracotta had loosened or cracked from the constant thermal expansion and contraction caused by New York's climate.

 

The cracks in the façade had let rain in, which had caused the steel superstructure to rust. By 1976, the Woolworth Company had placed metal netting around the façade in order to prevent terracotta pieces from dislodging and hitting pedestrians.

 

The issues with the façade were exacerbated by the fact that very few terracotta manufacturers remained in business, making it difficult for the company to procure replacements.

 

The New York City Industrial and Commercial Incentives Board approved a $8.5 million tax abatement in September 1977, which was to fund a proposed renovation of the Woolworth Building.

 

The Woolworth Company still occupied half the building; its vice president for construction said:

 

"We think the building merits

the investment, in part because

F. W. Woolworth had used his

own wealth to fund the building's

construction."

 

Much of the remaining space was occupied by lawyers who paid rentals of between $7 to $12 per square foot ($75 to $129/m2).

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company began a five-year restoration of the building's terracotta and limestone façade, as well as replacement of all the building's windows, in 1977.

 

Initially, the company had considered replacing the entire terracotta façade with concrete; however this was canceled due to its high cost and potential backlash from preservationists.

 

The renovation, carried out by Turner Construction to plans by the New York architectural firm Ehrenkrantz Group, involved the replacement of roughly one-fifth of the building's terracotta.

 

Since there were so few remaining terracotta manufacturers, Woolworth's replaced 26,000 of the tiles with concrete lookalikes; many of those tiles had to be custom-cut. The concrete was coated with a surface that was meant to be replaced every five years, like the glazing on the terracotta blocks.

 

Similarly, the original copper windows were replaced with aluminum frames which allowed them to be opened, whereas the originals were sealed in place.

 

The company also removed some decorative flying buttresses near the tower's crown and refaced four tourelles in aluminum because of damage.

 

The building's renovation was completed without fanfare in 1982. The estimated cost of the project had risen from $8 million to over $22 million. Much of the renovation was financed through the city government's tax break, which had increased to $11.4 million.

 

The LPC again considered the Woolworth Building for landmark designation in early 1982, shortly after the renovation was completed. However upon the request of the building's lawyers, the LPC postponed a public hearing for the proposed landmark designation to April 1982.

 

That year, the building's entrance to the City Hall subway station was closed because of fears over crime. The LPC granted landmark protection to the building's façade and the interior of its lobby in April 1983.

 

The Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the building for a decade and a half. After struggling financially for years, and with no need for a trophy office building, Venator Group began discussing a sale of the building in 1996.

 

To raise capital for its other operations, Venator formally placed the Woolworth Building for sale in April 1998.

 

-- Witkoff Group Ownership

 

Venator Group agreed to sell the building in June 1998 to Steve Witkoff's Witkoff Group and Lehman Brothers for $155 million (about $261 million in 2022). However before the sale was finalized in December 1998, Witkoff renegotiated the purchase price to $137.5 million (about $231 million in 2022), citing a declining debt market.

 

Venator shrunk its space in the building from eight floors to four; this was a sharp contrast to the 25 floors the company had occupied just before the sale.

 

Witkoff also agreed to license the Woolworth name and invest $30 million in renovating the exterior and interior of the building.

 

After purchasing the building, the Witkoff Group rebranded it in an attempt to attract entertainment and technology companies. In April 2000, the Venator Group officially moved their headquarters to 112 West 34th. Street, and Witkoff indicated that he would sell the upper half of the building as residential condominiums.

 

That October, the company proposed a two-story addition to the 29th.-floor setbacks on the north and south elevations of the tower, to be designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who were also leading the renovation of the building. The LPC denied the proposal.

 

The company unveiled an ambitious plan in November 2000 that would have converted the top 27 floors of the building into 75 condominiums, including a five-story penthouse. The plan would have included a new residential lobby on Park Place, a 100-space garage, a 75-seat underground screening room, and a spa in the basement.

 

The developers planned to spend $60 to $70 million on the conversion which would be ready for occupancy by August 2002. However the LPC opposed the plan because it would have required exterior changes to the roof.

 

The commission eventually approved a modified version of the plan. Following the September 11 attacks and the subsequent collapse of the nearby World Trade Center, the proposal was later canceled.

 

-- Security Increases and New Plan

 

Prior to the September 11 attacks, the World Trade Center was often photographed in such a way that the Woolworth Building could be seen between the complex's twin towers.

 

After the attacks occurred only a few blocks away, the Woolworth Building was without electricity, water and a telephone service for a few weeks; its windows were broken, and falling rubble damaged a top turret.

 

Increased post-attack security restricted access to most of the ornate lobby, previously a tourist attraction. New York Times reporter David W. Dunlap wrote in 2006 that a security guard had asked him to leave within twelve seconds of entering the Woolworth Building.

 

However, there was renewed interest in restoring public access to the Woolworth Building during planning for its centennial celebrations. The lobby reopened to public tours in 2014, when Woolworth Tours started accommodating groups for 30- to 90-minute tours.

 

The tours were part of a partnership between Cass Gilbert's great-granddaughter, Helen Post Curry, and Witkoff's vice president for development, Roy A. Suskin.

 

By 2007, the concrete blocks on the Woolworth Building's façade had deteriorated because of neglect. A lack of regular re-surfacing had led to water and dirt absorption, which had stained the concrete blocks.

 

Though terracotta's popularity had increased since the 1970's, Suskin had declined to say whether the façade would be modified, if at all.

 

Around the same time, Witkoff planned to partner with Rubin Schron to create an "office club" on the top 25 floors building to attract high-end tenants like hedge funds and private equity firms. The plan would have restored the 58th. floor observatory as a private amenity for "office club" tenants, in addition to amenities like a private dining room, meeting rooms, and a new dedicated lobby.

 

The partners planned to complete the project by the end of 2008, but the financial crisis of 2007–2008 derailed the plans, leaving the top floors gutted and vacant.

 

-- Residential Conversion

 

On the 31st. July 2012, an investment group led by New York developer Alchemy Properties which included Adam Neumann and Joel Schreiber, bought the top 30 floors of the skyscraper for $68 million (about $86.1 million in 2022) from the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International.

 

The firm planned to renovate the space into 33 luxury apartments and convert the penthouse into a five-level living space. The lower 28 floors are still owned by the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International, who planned to maintain them as office space.

 

The project was expected to cost approximately $150 million including the $68 million purchase price. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the changes to the building in October 2013.

 

When the sale was first announced in 2012, the developers expected the building's conversion to be complete by 2015. However, construction took longer than expected.

 

Workers could not attach a construction hoist to the building's façade without damaging it, and they were prohibited from using the elevators because of the active office tenants on the lower floors and the regular public tours of the landmarked lobby.

 

The renovation included many restorations and changes to the building's interior. Two of the elevator shafts only went to the 29th. floor, allowing extra floor space for the residents above.

 

A new private lobby was also built for residents, and the coffered ceiling from F. W. Woolworth's personal 40th. floor office was relocated to the entryway. Each unit received space in a wine cellar, along with access to the restored private pool in the basement.

 

The 29th. floor was converted to an amenity floor named the "Gilbert Lounge" after the structure's architect, while the 30th. floor hosts a fitness facility.

 

In August 2014, the New York Attorney General's office approved Alchemy's plan to sell 34 condos at the newly branded Woolworth Tower Residences for a combined total of $443.7 million. After a soft launch in late 2014, units at the building were officially listed for sale in mid-2015.

 

Alchemy initially intended to leverage an in-house sales staff, and hired a director from Corcoran Sunshine to lead the effort. However, the new sales director left at the end of 2015 amid rumors of slow sales. Following his departure, the company hired Sotheby's International Realty to market the units.

 

The building's penthouse unit, dubbed "The Pinnacle", was listed at $110 million, the highest asking price ever for an apartment in downtown Manhattan. If it had sold at that price, the unit would have surpassed the record $50.9 million penthouse at Ralph Thomas Walker's Walker Tower, and even the $100.5 million record price for a Manhattan penthouse set by Michael Dell at Extell's One57 in 2014.

 

Due to delays, the conversion was expected to be completed by February or March 2019, about six and a half years after Alchemy bought the property. However by February 2019, only three of the building's 31 condos had been sold, since the developers had refused to discount prices, despite a glut of new luxury apartments in NYC.

 

The still-vacant penthouse's asking price was reduced to $79 million. By 2021, Alchemy had sold 22 condominiums to tenants such as the entrepreneur Rudra Pandey.

 

-- Corporate Tenants

 

On the building's original completion, the F. W. Woolworth Company occupied only one and a half floors. However, as the owner, the Woolworth Company profited from renting space out to others.

 

The Woolworth Building was almost always fully occupied because of its central location in Lower Manhattan, as well as its direct connections to two subway stations.

 

The Irving Trust Company occupied the first four floors when the building opened. It had a large banking room on the second floor accessible directly from a grand staircase in the lobby, vaults in the basement, offices on the third-floor mezzanine, and a boardroom on the fourth floor.

 

In 1931, the company relocated their general, out-of-town, and foreign offices from the Woolworth Building after building their own headquarters at 1 Wall Street.

 

Columbia Records was one of the Woolworth Building's tenants on opening day and housed a recording studio in the skyscraper. In 1917, Columbia made what are considered the first jazz recordings, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in this studio.

 

Shortly after the building opened, several railroad companies rented space. The Union Pacific Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad occupied the ground floor retail space with ticket offices.

 

The inventor Nikola Tesla also occupied an office in the Woolworth Building beginning in 1914; he was evicted after a year because he could not pay his rent.

 

Scientific American moved into the building in 1915 before departing for Midtown Manhattan in 1926. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America was present at the building's opening, occupying the southern half of the 18th. floor.

 

By the 1920's, the building also hosted Newport News Shipbuilding and Nestlé.

 

In the 1930's, prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey maintained his offices in the building while investigating racketeering and organized crime in Manhattan. His office took up the entire fourteenth floor, and was heavily guarded.

 

During World War II, the Kellex Corporation, part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, was based here.

 

During the early 1960's, public relations expert Howard J. Rubenstein opened an office in the building. In 1975, the city signed a lease for state judge Jacob D. Fuchsberg's offices in the Woolworth Building.

 

-- Educational Tenants

 

The structure has a long association with higher education, housing a number of Fordham University schools in the early 20th. century. In 1916, Fordham created "Fordham Downtown" at the Woolworth Building by moving the School of Sociology and Social Service and the School of Law to the building.

 

The Fordham University Graduate School was founded on the building's 28th. floor in the same year, and a new Teachers' College quickly followed on the seventh floor.

 

In September 1920, the Business School was also established on the seventh floor, originally as the School of Accounting. By 1929, the school's combined programs at the Woolworth Building had over 3,000 enrolled students.

 

Between 1916 and 1943 the building was also home at various times to the Fordham College (Manhattan Division), a summer school, and the short-lived School of Irish Studies.

 

In 1943, the Graduate School relocated to Keating Hall at Fordham's Rose Hill campus in Fordham, Bronx, and the rest of the schools moved to nearby 302 Broadway because of reduced attendance due to World War II.

 

The New York University School of Professional Studies' Center for Global Affairs leased 94,000 square feet (8,700 m2) on the second, third, and fourth floors in 2002 from defunct dot-com startup FrontLine Capital Group.

 

The American Institute of Graphic Arts also moved its headquarters to the Woolworth Building.

 

-- 21st-Century Tenants

 

By the early 2000's, the Woolworth Building was home to numerous technology tenants. Digital advertising firm Xceed occupied 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) across four floors as its headquarters. Organic, Inc. took 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2), and advertising agency Fallon Worldwide used two floors.

 

Xceed terminated its lease in April 2001 during the midst of the Dot-com bubble collapse in order to move to smaller offices in the Starrett–Lehigh Building.

 

One month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Northeast Regional Office at 7 World Trade Center was destroyed in the September 11 attacks, the commission's 334 employees moved into 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) across five floors of the Woolworth Building. The SEC left for a larger space in Brookfield Place in early 2005.

 

The General Services Administration took over the commission's space on the 1st. November 2005 and used it as offices for approximately 200 staff of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System.

 

The New York City Police Department pension fund signed a lease for 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) on the 19th. and 25th. floors in April 2002.

 

Starbucks opened a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) location on the ground floor in the spring of 2003. In 2006, Levitz Furniture moved its headquarters to the 23rd. floor from Woodbury, Long Island, after declaring bankruptcy a second time.

 

In May 2013, SHoP Architects moved the company's headquarters to the entire 11th. floor, occupying 30,500 square feet (2,830 m2) of space. In February 2016, the New York City Law Department leased the entire 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2) fifth floor for the Department's tort office.

 

Joseph Altuzarra's namesake fashion brand, Altuzarra, signed on to occupy the 14th. floor in June 2016. In 2017, the New York Shipping Exchange moved into the 21st floor. In May 2018, architecture and design firm CallisonRTKL signed a lease for the entire 28,100 square feet (2,610 m2) 16th. floor.

 

-- Impact of the Woolworth Building

 

Before construction, Woolworth hired New York photographer Irving Underhill to document the building's construction. These photographs were distributed to Woolworth's stores nationwide to generate enthusiasm for the project.

 

During construction, Underhill, Wurts Brothers, and Tebbs-Hymans each took photographs to document the structure's progression. These photos were often taken from close-up views, or from far away to provide contrast against the surrounding structures.

 

They were part of a media promotion for the Woolworth Building. Both contemporary and modern figures criticized the photos as:

 

"Standard solutions at best and

architectural eye candy at worst".

 

Later critics praised the building. Amei Wallach of Newsday wrote in 1978 that the building resembled:

 

"A giant cathedral absurdly

stretched in a gigantic fun

mirror. The lobby certainly

looks like a farmboy's dream

of glory".

 

A writer for The Baltimore Sun wrote in 1984 that:

 

"The lobby's lighting, ceiling mosaic,

and gold-leaf decorations combine

for a church-like atmosphere, yet the

grotesques provide a touch of

irreverence".

 

Richard Berenholtz wrote in his 1988 book Manhattan Architecture that:

 

"At the Woolworth Building, Gilbert

succeeded in uniting the respected

traditions of architecture and

decoration with modern technology".

 

In a 2001 book about Cass Gilbert, Mary N. Woods wrote that:

 

"The rich and varied afterlife of

the Woolworth Building enhances

Gilbert's accomplishment".

 

Dirk Stichweh described the building in 2005 as being:

 

"The Mozart of skyscrapers".

 

In 2007, the building ranked 44th. among 150 buildings in the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.

 

In recognition of Gilbert's role as the building's architect, the Society of Arts and Sciences gave Gilbert its gold medal in 1930, calling it:

 

"An epochal landmark in the

history of architecture".

 

On the 40th. anniversary of the building's opening in 1953, one news source called the building:

 

"A substantial middle-aged lady, with

a good income, unconcern over years—

and lots of friends".

 

A one-third-scale replica of the Woolworth Building, the Lincoln American Tower in Memphis, Tennessee, was also built in 1924.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the Media

 

The Woolworth Building has had a large impact in architectural spheres, and has been featured in many works of popular culture, including photographs, prints, films, and literature.

 

One of the earliest films to feature the skyscraper was Manhatta (1921), a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.

 

Since then, the building has made cameo appearances in several films, such as the 1929 film Applause. It was also the setting of several film climaxes, such as in Enchanted (2007), as well as the setting of major organizations, such as in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).

 

The television show Ugly Betty used the Woolworth Building as the 'Meade Publications' building, a major location in the series, while one of the vacant condominiums was used in filming the TV series Succession in 2021.

 

The building has also appeared in literature, such as Langston Hughes's 1926 poem "Negro" and the 2007 novel Peak.

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

i've filled up a sketchbook with birdies, now it's time to do something with 'em.

 

racketeering on the blog

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

Photograph taken at the fictitious Shamrocks and Shenanigans pub in Seattle

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

#FITN First In Nation Republican Leadership Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire

 

Crowne Plaza Nashua

Address: 2 Somerset Pkwy, Nashua, NH 03063

 

Every four years, the political world descends upon New Hampshire to take part in the “First-in-the-Nation” Presidential Primary. On April 17th and 18th that excitement will again percolate in the Granite State for the #FITN Republican Leadership Conference.

 

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was 15. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. Investigations of the affair by United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and the New Jersey Legislature are ongoing.

 

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

Directed by Roger Corman. Starring Steve Cochran, Lita Milan, Robert Strauss and Celia Lovsky.

synopsis

By 1958, director Roger Corman had switched from making low-budgeters like Apache Woman to movies like the gangster flic I, Mobster that might be found outside of the drive-in setting. The ungrammatical title refers to Joe Sante (Steve Cochran) and his career of climbing the ladder in the hierarchy of organized crime. Now at the top rung, Sante is taking the Fifth Amendment before a Senate subcommittee on racketeering and as he does so, his life is recalled in flashbacks. His first job was working for a bookie, next he becomes involved in a drug ring, and then he expands into intimidating striking workers. Since the last rung of the ladder is open game for any ambitious gangster, Sante would do well to also recall how homicide got him where he now stands.

review

While hardly a big budget affair, I, Mobster did provide Roger Corman with a more workable budget than those of many of his earlier (and some later) films. Mobster is altogether only an average film, but it does have some elements that stand out. Steve Cochran's star performance is one of these. Cochran could be a frustrating actor, capable of giving quite fine performances but equally capable of falling into an acting rut; sometimes both sides of him appear in one film. In Mobstr, Cochran appears fully engaged, perhaps due to the role itself or perhaps due to Corman's direction (or both). He understands that Joe Sante is a man of two personalities, one of them a ruthless gangster, the other a human with a strict moral compass. Cochran navigates this difficult dual terrain perfectly, and his work here is very, very good. The complexity of this character is one of the other noteworthy aspects of the film, providing more depth than is often found in this kind of routine melodrama. Also of note is Floyd D. Crosby's photography, which adds considerable depth and atmosphere. There's also a lot to Mobster that's run of the mill, including the rise-and-fall plot; but fans of the genre will find enough original here to keep them engaged.

 

Smiley D is fighting a murder charge

www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/crime/ct-ptb-...

All kinds of conspiracy theories have actually turned out to be true, from Watergate, to Iran-Contra, to the Black Sox Scandal, to organized crime, to Operation Paperclip, to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, to the latest corporate/government financial cluster-fucking of the global public.

 

And a facade of comical incompetence can make a great cover, like it did for a Mafia don named Vincent Gigante, who faked being crazy to elude federal prosecution for decades.  He'd shower with an umbrella, stumble and mumble around Manhattan in only his bedwear, and routinely use mental asylums as hideouts.

 

Even when cornered in a courtroom, he'd evade capture by claiming paranoid schizophrenia, but was finally convicted of conspiracy and racketeering near the end of his life.  So while it was one of the greatest acts of playing dumb in history by Vincent "The Oddfather" Gigante, it was still nothing compared to the one by Ronald "The Teflon President" Reagan.

 

Image: schizmatic.com/files/the_naked_revealed.jpg

Page: schizmatic.com/comics/67

 

Schizmatic - A Webcomic Of Intelligent Weirdness

Faced with rising crime and increased racketeering activity, intrepid newspaper editor Britt Reid becomes the crime fighter the Green Hornet. Donning a disguise, the Hornet and his brilliant Korean inventor/sidekick Kato fight an infamous racket that's menacing their city.

 

Written by Jeremy Lunt

 

www.imdb.com/title/tt0031394/plotsummary

CNN chief national correspondent John King moderated a panel discussion to discuss the new CNN Films documentary “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger.” The documentary probes the complex case against the one-time Boston mob boss, who remained a fugitive for 16 years before he was captured, tried and convicted in August 2013 of 31 counts, including racketeering and 11 murders. He was sentenced to two life terms, plus five years." (From left) CNN chief national correspondent John King, moderator

Bulger defense attorney J.W. Carney, JD ’78 Former federal prosecutor Brian T. Kelly

WGBH-FM reporter David Boeri

Boston College Law School Professor Robert Bloom ’76

Film producer Joe Berlinger (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)

Martin (Buggsy) Goldstein and his bodyguard Seymour Magoon arrested for labor racketeering. April 22, 1937. New York.

#FITN First In Nation Republican Leadership Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire

 

Crowne Plaza Nashua

Address: 2 Somerset Pkwy, Nashua, NH 03063

 

Every four years, the political world descends upon New Hampshire to take part in the “First-in-the-Nation” Presidential Primary. On April 17th and 18th that excitement will again percolate in the Granite State for the #FITN Republican Leadership Conference.

 

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was 15. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. Investigations of the affair by United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and the New Jersey Legislature are ongoing.

 

When you are facing a government investigation, the smartest strategy is to get an attorney involved as soon as possible. Whether you are facing charges of business fraud, a federal sex crime offense or are accused of racketeering, you need to protect your rights. Please contact business fraud lawyers at “Sanan Legal“, and know about the best approach to protect your rights, family, career and freedom.

Editorial Illustration based on the article www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21652222-offi... from The Economist

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard published by the American Art Publishing Co. on behalf of F.W. Woolworth.

 

On the divided back is printed:

 

'The Woolworth Building,

New York City.

Occupies a plot 152x197 feet

at Broadway and Barclay Street.

It is the tallest building in the

world, rising to a height of

750 feet, 55 stories above the

ground.

The foundation consists of

caissons 19 feet in diameter

sunk to bedrock, 110 to 130

feet below the ground.

Total cost is estimated at

$15,000,000.

H. Finkelstein & Son'.

 

The Woolworth Building

 

The Woolworth Building is a residential building and early skyscraper at 233 Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in NYC.

 

Designed by Cass Gilbert, it was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the U.S..

 

The Woolworth Building consists of a 30-story base topped by a 30-story tower. Its façade is mostly decorated with architectural terracotta, though the lower portions are limestone, and it features thousands of windows.

 

The ornate lobby contains various sculptures, mosaics, and architectural touches. The structure was designed with several amenities and attractions, including a now-closed observatory on the 57th. floor and a private swimming pool in the basement.

 

F. W. Woolworth, the founder of a brand of popular five-and-ten-cent stores, conceived the skyscraper as a headquarters for his company. Woolworth planned the skyscraper jointly with the Irving National Exchange Bank, which also agreed to use the structure as its headquarters.

 

The Woolworth Building had originally been planned as a 12- to 16-story commercial building, but it underwent several revisions during its planning process. Construction started in 1910, although the building's final height was not decided upon until January 1911. The building officially opened on the 24th. April 1913.

 

The Woolworth Building has undergone several changes throughout its history. The façade was cleaned in 1932, and the building received an extensive renovation between 1977 and 1981.

 

The Irving National Exchange Bank moved its headquarters to 1 Wall Street in 1931, but the Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the Woolworth Building for most of the 20th. century.

 

The structure was sold to the Witkoff Group in 1998. The top 30 floors were sold to a developer in 2012 and converted into residences.

 

Office and commercial tenants use the rest of the building.

 

-- Architecture of the Woolworth Building

 

Cass Gilbert designed the Woolworth Building in the neo-Gothic style. The building resembles European Gothic cathedrals; Reverend S. Parkes Cadman dubbed it "The Cathedral of Commerce" in a booklet published in 1916.

 

F. W. Woolworth, who had devised the idea for the Woolworth Building, had proposed using the Victoria Tower as a model for the building; he reportedly also admired the design of Palace of Westminster.

 

Gilbert, by contrast, disliked the comparison to religious imagery. The architect ultimately used 15th.- and 16th.-century Gothic ornament on the Woolworth Building, along with a complementary color scheme.

 

The Woolworth Building was designed to be 420 feet (130 m) high, but was eventually raised to 792 feet (241 m).

 

The Woolworth Building was 60 stories tall when completed in 1913, though this consisted of 53 usable floors topped by several mechanical floors.

 

The building's ceiling heights, ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m), make it the equivalent of an 80-story building. It remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building in 1930, both in New York City.

 

The building is assigned its own ZIP Code; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019.

 

-- The Form of the Woolworth Building

 

The building's tower, flush with the main frontage on Broadway, joins an office block base with a narrow interior court for light. The base occupies the entire lot between Park Place to the north, Broadway to the east, and Barclay Street to the south.

 

The site measures 155 feet (47 m) wide on Broadway and 200 feet (61 m) wide on both Park Place and Barclay Street. The base contains two "wings" extending westward, one each on the Park Place and Barclay Street frontages, which form a rough U-shape when combined with the Broadway frontage.

 

This ensured that all offices had outside views. The U-shaped base is approximately 30 stories tall. All four elevations of the base are decorated, since the building has frontage on all sides.

 

The tower rises an additional 30 stories above the eastern side of the base, abutting Broadway. Above the 30th. floor are setbacks on the north and south elevations. There are additional setbacks along the north, south, and west elevations on the 45th. and 50th. floors.

 

The 30th. through 45th. floors measure 84 by 86 feet (26 by 26 m); the 46th. through 50th. floors, 69 by 71 feet (21 by 22 m); and the 51st. through 53rd. floors, 69 by 61 feet (21 by 19 m).

 

The tower has a square plan below the 50th.-story setback and an octagonal plan above. Though the structure is physically 60 stories tall, the 53rd. floor is the top floor that can be occupied. Above the 53rd. floor, the tower tapers into a pyramidal roof.

 

-- The Façade of the Woolworth Building

 

The lowest four stories are clad in limestone. Above that, the exterior of the Woolworth Building was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terracotta panels.

 

F. W. Woolworth initially wanted to clad the skyscraper in granite, while Gilbert wanted to use limestone. The decision to use terracotta for the façade was based on both aesthetic and functional concerns.

 

Terracotta was not only fireproof but also, in Gilbert's mind, a purely ornamental addition clarifying the Woolworth Building's steel construction. Each panel was of a slightly different color, creating a polychrome effect.

 

The façade appeared to have a uniform tone, but the upper floors were actually darker and more dense. Behind the terracotta panels were brick walls; the terracotta pieces are attached to the brick walls by metal rods and hangers.

 

The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company provided the original terracotta cladding. The panels were manufactured in shades of blue, green, sienna, and rose. The terracotta panels were partially vitrified, allowing them to bear large loads.

 

Gilbert also asked that John Donnelly and Eliseo V. Ricci create full-size designs based on Atlantic Terra Cotta's models.

 

In 1932, Atlantic Terra Cotta carried out a comprehensive cleaning campaign of the Woolworth's façade in order to remove blackening caused by the city's soot and pollution.

 

The Ehrenkrantz Group restored the building's façade between 1977 and 1981. During the renovation, much of the terracotta was replaced with concrete and Gothic ornament was removed.

 

The building has several thousand windows: the exact number is disputed, but various sources state that the Woolworth Building has 2,843, 4,400, or 5,000 windows.

 

Windows were included for lighting and comfort; because the Woolworth Building was built before air conditioning became common, every office is within 10 feet (3.0 m) of a window.

 

Some of the Woolworth Building's windows are set within arch-shaped openings. Most of the building's spandrels, or triangles between the top corners of the window and the top of the arch, have golden Gothic tracery against a bright blue backdrop.

 

On the 25th., 39th., and 40th. stories, the spandrels consist of iconography found in the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

 

Gold-on-blue tracery is also found on the 26th., 27th., and 42nd. floors.

 

-- The Base of the Woolworth Building

 

The main entrance on Broadway is a three-story Tudor arch, surrounded on either side by two bays: one narrower than the main arch, the other wider. The five bays form a triumphal arch overhung by a balcony and stone motifs of Gothic design.

 

The intrados of the arch contains 23 niches. The topmost niche depicts an owl; the lowest niches on both sides depict tree trunks; and the other twenty niches depict animated figures.

 

The spandrel above the left side of the arch depicts Mercury, classical god of commerce, while that above the right side depicts Ceres, classical goddess of agriculture.

 

Above all of this is an ogee arch with more niches, as well as two carvings of owls hovering above a "W" monogram. There are salamanders within niches on either side of the main entrance.

 

Inside the triumphal arch, there is a smaller arch with a revolving door and a Tudor window; it is flanked by standard doors and framed with decorations. There is a pelican above this smaller arch.

 

-- The Tower Section of the Woolworth Building

 

At the 45th.- and 50th.-story setbacks, there are turrets at each corner of the tower. The northeast corner turret concealed a smokestack.

 

There is a pyramidal roof above the 53rd. floor, as well as four ornamental tourelles at the four corners of the tower. The roof was originally gilt but is now green. The pyramidal roof, as well as the smaller roofs below, used 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of gold leaf.

 

The main roof is interspersed with small dormers, which contain windows into the maintenance levels inside. The pyramidal roof is topped by another pyramid with an octagonal base and tall pointed-arch windows. In turn, the octagonal pyramid is capped by a spire.

 

The three layers of pyramids are about 62 feet (19 m), or five stories tall. An observation deck was located at the 55th. floor, about 730 feet (220 m) above ground level. The deck, which was octagonal in plan, measuring 65 feet (20 m) across, was accessed by a glass-walled elevator.

 

It was patronized by an estimated 300,000 visitors per year, but was closed as a security measure in 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack.

 

Strongly articulated piers, which carry right to the pyramidal cap without intermediate cornices, give the building its upward thrust. This was influenced by Aus's belief that:

 

"From an engineering point of view,

no structure is beautiful where the

lines of strength are not apparent."

 

The copper roof is connected to the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure, which serves to ground the roof electrically. The Gothic detailing concentrated at the highly visible crown is over-scaled, and the building's silhouette could be made out from several miles away.

 

Gilbert's choice of the Gothic style was described as "an expression of the verticality of the tower form", and as Gilbert himself later wrote, the style was "light, graceful, delicate and flame-like".

 

Gilbert considered several proposals for exterior lighting, including four powerful searchlights atop nearby buildings and a constantly rotating lamp at the apex of the Woolworth Building's roof.

 

Ultimately, the builders decided to erect nitrogen lamps and reflectors above the 31st. floor, and have the intensity of the lighting increase with height.

 

-- Structural Features of the Woolworth Building

 

-- The Substructure

 

In contrast to other parts of Manhattan, the bedrock beneath the site is relatively deep, descending to between 110 and 115 feet (34 and 35 m) on average. The site also has a high water table, which is as shallow as 15 feet (4.6 m) below ground level.

 

Due to the geology of the area, the building is supported on 69 massive caissons that descend to the bedrock. The caissons range in depth from 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m).

 

To give the structure a sturdy foundation, the builders used metal tubes 19 feet (5.8 m) in diameter filled with concrete. These tubes were driven into the ground with a pneumatic caisson process to anchor the foundations to the bedrock.

 

Because the slope of the bedrock was so sharp, steps had to be carved into the rock before the caissons could be sunk into the ground. The caissons were both round and rectangular, with the rectangular caissons located mainly on the southern and western lot lines.

 

The caissons are irregularly distributed across the site, being more densely concentrated at the northeastern corner. This is because the building was originally planned to occupy a smaller site at the corner of Broadway and Park Place; when the site was enlarged, the caissons that had already been installed were left in place.

 

The two basement levels, descending 55 feet (17 m), are constructed of reinforced concrete.

 

-- The Superstructure

 

Whereas many earlier buildings had been constructed with load-bearing walls, which by necessity were extremely thick, the Woolworth Building's steel superstructure was relatively thin, which enabled Gilbert to maximize the building's interior area.

 

Engineers Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle designed the steel frame. Each column carries a load of 24 tons per square foot, supporting the building's overall weight of 233,000 tons.

 

Where the columns of the superstructure did not match up with the caissons, they were cantilevered above on plate girders between two adjoining caissons. These girders are extremely large; one such girder measures 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, 6.75 feet (2 m) wide, and 23 feet (7.0 m) long.

 

For the wind bracing, the entire Woolworth Building was considered as a vertical cantilever, and correspondingly large girders and columns were used in the construction.

 

-- Interior

 

Upon completion, the Woolworth Building contained seven water systems — one each for the power plant, the hot-water plant, the fire-protection system, the communal restrooms, the offices with restrooms, the basement swimming pool, and the basement restaurant.

 

Although the water is obtained from the New York City water supply system, much of it is filtered and reused. A dedicated water system, separate from the city's, was proposed during construction, but workers abandoned the plan after unsuccessfully digging 1,500 feet (460 m) into Manhattan's bedrock.

 

The Woolworth Building was the first structure to have its own power plant, with four Corliss steam engine generators totaling a capacity of 1,500 kilowatt-hours; the plant could support 50,000 people.

 

The building also had a dedicated heating plant with six boilers producing 2,500 horsepower. The boilers were fed from subterranean coal bunkers capable of holding over 2,000 tons of anthracite coal.

 

-- Lobby

 

The ornate, cruciform lobby, known as the "arcade", was characterized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as:

 

"One of the most spectacular of

the early 20th. century in New

York City".

 

It consists of two perpendicular, double-height passageways with barrel-vaulted ceilings. Where the passageways intersect, there is a domed ceiling. The dome contains pendentives that may have been patterned after those of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

 

Veined marble from the island of Skyros in Greece covers the lobby. Patterned glass mosaics that contain blue, green, and gold tiling with red accents decorate the ceilings.

 

There are other Gothic-style decorations in the lobby, including on the cornice and the bronze fittings. Twelve plaster brackets, which carry grotesques depicting major figures in the building's construction, are placed where the arcade and the mezzanine intersect.

 

These ornaments include Gilbert with a model of the building, Aus taking a girder's measurements, and Woolworth holding nickels and dimes. Two ceiling murals by C. Paul Jennewein, titled Labor and Commerce, are located above the mezzanine where it crosses the south and north wings, respectively.

 

The staircase hall is a two-story room located to the west of the arcade. It consists of the ground level, which contains former storefronts, as well as a mezzanine level above it. The ground floor originally contained 18 storefronts.

 

A 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) marble staircase leads westward from the arcade to a mezzanine, where the entrance to the Irving National Exchange Bank office was formerly located. The mezzanine contains a stained-glass skylight surrounded by the names of several nations. The skylight contains the dates 1879 and 1913, which respectively signify the years of the Woolworth Company's founding and the building's opening.

 

The skylight is also surrounded by sculpted grotesques, which depict merchandising activities in the five-and-dime industry.

 

There is a smaller space west of the staircase hall with a one-story-high ceiling. This room contains a coffered ceiling with a blue-green background. The crossbeams contain Roman portrait heads, while the cornice contains generic sculpted grotesques.

 

-- Basement

 

The basement of the Woolworth Building contains an unused bank vault, restaurant, and barbershop. The bank vault was initially intended to be used for safe-deposit boxes, though it was used by the Irving National Exchange Bank in practice.

 

In 1931, Irving moved some $3 billion of deposits to a vault in its new headquarters at 1 Wall Street, and the Woolworth Building's vault was converted into a storage area for maintenance workers.

 

There is also a basement storage room, known as the "bone yard", which contains replacement terracotta decorations for the facade.

 

The basement also contains closed entrances to two New York City Subway stations. There was an entrance to the Park Place station directly adjacent to the building's north elevation, served by the 2 and ​3 trains. This entrance was closed after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

 

Another entrance led to the City Hall station one block north, now served by the R and ​W trains, but this was closed in 1982 because of concerns over crime.

 

A private pool, originally intended for F. W. Woolworth, exists in the basement. Proposed as early as 1910, the pool measured 15 by 55 feet (4.6 by 16.8 m) and had a marble perimeter.

 

The pool was later drained, but was restored in the mid-2010's as part of the conversion of the Woolworth Building's upper floors into residential units.

 

-- Offices

 

At the time of construction, the Woolworth Building had over 2,000 offices. Each office had ceilings ranging from 11 to 20 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m) high. Gilbert had designed the interior to maximize the amount of usable office space, and correspondingly, minimize the amount of space taken up by the elevator shafts.

 

The usable-space consideration affected the placement of the columns in the wings, as the columns in the main tower were positioned around the elevator shafts and facade piers.

 

Each of the lowest 30 stories had 31 offices, of which ten faced the light court, eight faced Park Place, eight faced Barclay Street, and five faced Broadway. Above the 30th.-story setback, each story had 14 offices.

 

For reasons that are unknown, floor numbers 42, 48, and 52 are skipped.

 

Woolworth's private office on the 24th. floor, revetted in green marble in the French Empire style, is preserved in its original condition. His office included a mahogany desk with a leather top measuring 7.5 by 3.75 feet (2.29 by 1.14 m).

 

That desk contained a hidden console with four buttons to request various members of his staff.

 

The marble columns in the office are capped by gilded Corinthian capitals. Woolworth's reception room contained objects that were inspired by a visit to the Château de Compiègne shortly after the building opened.

 

These included a bronze bust of Napoleon, a set of French Empire-style lamps with gold figures, and an inkwell with a depiction of Napoleon on horseback.

 

The walls of the office contained portraits of Napoleon, and gold-and-scarlet chairs were arranged around the room. At some point, Woolworth replaced the portrait of Napoleon with a portrait of himself.

 

-- Elevators

 

The Woolworth Building contains a system of high-speed elevators capable of traveling 650 feet (200 m) or 700 feet (210 m) per minute. The Otis Elevator Company supplied the units, which were innovative in that there were "express" elevators, stopping only at certain floors, and "local" elevators, stopping at every floor between a certain range.

 

There were 26 Otis electric elevators with gearless traction, as well as an electric-drum shuttle elevator within the tower once construction was complete. Of these, 24 were passenger elevators. Two freight elevators and two emergency staircases were placed at the rear of the building.

 

The elevator doors in the lobby were designed by Tiffany Studios. The patterns on the doors are arabesque tracery patterns in etched steel set off against a gold-plated background.

 

-- History of the Woolworth Building

 

-- Planning

 

F. W. Woolworth, an entrepreneur who had become successful because of his "Five-and-Dime" (5- and 10-cent stores), began planning a new headquarters for the F. W. Woolworth Company in 1910.

 

Around the same time, Woolworth's friend Lewis Pierson was having difficulty getting shareholder approval for the merger of his Irving National Bank and the rival New York Exchange Bank.

 

Woolworth offered to acquire shares in New York Exchange Bank and vote in favor of the merger if Pierson agreed to move the combined banks' headquarters to a new building he was planning as the F. W. Woolworth Company's headquarters.

 

Having received a commitment from the banks, Woolworth acquired a corner site on Broadway and Park Place in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall.

 

Woolworth and the Irving National Exchange Bank then set up the Broadway-Park Place Company to construct and finance the proposed structure. Initially, the bank was supposed to purchase the company's stock gradually until it owned the entire company, and thus, the Woolworth Building.

 

Irving would be able to manage the 18 floors of rentable space on a 25-year lease. While negotiations to create the Broadway-Park Place Company were ongoing, Woolworth and his real estate agent Edward J. Hogan purchased several parcels from the Trenor Luther Park estate and other owners.

 

The entire footprint of the current building, a rectangular lot, had been acquired by the 15th. April 1910, at a total cost of $1.65 million (about $37.7 million in 2022).

 

-- Original designs

 

Woolworth commissioned Cass Gilbert to design the new building. Gilbert later mentioned that he had received the commission for the Woolworth Building after getting a phone call from Woolworth one day.

 

Woolworth wanted his new structure to be of similar design to the Palace of Westminster in London, which was designed in the Gothic style. At the time, Gilbert was well known for constructing modern skyscrapers with historicizing design elements.

 

Gilbert was originally retained to design a standard 12- to 16-story commercial building for Woolworth, who later said:

 

"I have no desire to erect a monument

that would cause posterity to remember

me".

 

However, Woolworth then wanted to surpass the nearby New York World Building, which sat on the other side of City Hall Park and stood 20 stories and 350 feet (110 m).

 

A drawing by Thomas R. Johnson, dated April 22 1910, shows a 30-story building rising from the site. Because of the change in plans, the organization of the Broadway-Park Place Company was rearranged.

 

Woolworth would now be the major partner, contributing $1 million of the planned $1.5 million cost. The Irving Bank would pay the balance, and it would take up a 25-year lease for the ground floor, fourth floor, and basement.

 

By September 1910, Gilbert had designed an even taller structure, with a 40-story tower on Park Place adjacent to a shorter 25-story annex, yielding a 550-foot (170 m)-tall building.

 

The next month, Gilbert's latest design had evolved into a 45-story tower roughly the height of the nearby Singer Building. After the latest design, Woolworth wrote to Gilbert in November 1910 and asked for the building's height to be increased to 620 feet (190 m), which was 8 feet (2.4 m) taller than the Singer Building, Lower Manhattan's tallest building.

 

Woolworth was inspired by his travels in Europe, where he would constantly be asked about the Singer Building. He decided that housing his company in an even taller building would provide invaluable advertising for the F. W. Woolworth Company and make it renowned worldwide.

 

This design, unveiled to the public the same month, was a 45-story tower rising 625 feet (191 m), sitting on a lot by 105 by 197 feet (32 by 60 m). Referring to the revised plans, Woolworth said:

 

"I do not want a mere building.

I want something that will be an

ornament to the city."

 

He later said that he wanted visitors to brag that they had visited the world's tallest building.

 

Louis J. Horowitz, president of the building's main contractor Thompson-Starrett Company, said of Woolworth:

 

"Beyond a doubt his ego was a thing

of extraordinary size; whoever tried to

find a reason for his tall building and

did not take that fact into account would

reach a false conclusion."

 

Even after the revised height was unveiled, Woolworth still yearned to make the building even taller, as it was now close to the 700-foot (210 m) height of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, then the tallest building in New York City and the world.

 

On the 20th. December 1910, Woolworth sent a team of surveyors to measure the Metropolitan Life Tower's height and come up with a precise measurement, so that he could make his skyscraper 50 feet (15 m) taller.

 

He then ordered Gilbert to revise the building's design to reach 710 or 712 feet (216 or 217 m), despite ongoing worries over whether the additional height would be worth the increased cost.

 

In order to fit the larger base that a taller tower necessitated, Woolworth bought the remainder of the frontage on Broadway between Park Place and Barclay Street. He also purchased two lots to the west, one on Park Place and one on Barclay Street; these lots would not be developed, but would retain their low-rise buildings and preserve the proposed tower's views.

 

Such a tall building would produce the largest income of any building globally.

 

On the 1st. January 1911, the New York Times reported that Woolworth was planning a 625 feet (191 m) building at a cost of $5 million.

 

By the 18th. January 1911, Woolworth and Hogan had acquired the final site for the project at a total cost of $4.5 million; (about $103 million in 2022) the lot measured 152 feet (46 m) on Broadway, 192.5 feet (58.7 m) on Barclay Street, and 197.8 feet (60 m) on Park Place.

 

In a New York Times article two days later, Woolworth said that his building would rise 750 feet (230 m) to its tip. In order to fit the correct architectural proportions, Gilbert redesigned the building to its current 792-foot (241 m) height.

 

Renderings by the illustrator Hughson Hawley, completed in April 1911, are the first official materials that reflect this final height.

 

Gilbert had to reconcile both Woolworth's and Pierson's strict requirements for the design of the structure. The architect's notes describe late-night conversations that he had with both men. The current design of the lobby, with its arcade, reflected these conflicting pressures.

 

Sometimes Gilbert also faced practical conundrums, such as Woolworth's requirement that:

 

There must be many windows so divided

that all of the offices should be well lighted,

and so that tenants could erect partitions to

fit their needs."

 

Gilbert wrote that:

 

"This requirement naturally

prevented any broad wall

space".

 

Woolworth and Gilbert sometimes clashed during the design process, especially because of the constantly changing designs and the architect's fees. Nevertheless, Gilbert commended Woolworth's devotion to the details and beauty of the building's design, as well as the entrepreneur's enthusiasm for the project.

 

Such was the scale of the building that Gilbert noted:

 

"For several years my sense of scale was

destroyed because of the unprecedented

attuning of detail to, for these days, such

an excessive height".

 

-- Construction of the Woolworth Building

 

In September 1910, wrecking crews demolished the five and six-story structures which previously occupied the site. Construction officially began on the 4th. November 1910, with excavation by The Foundation Company, using a contract negotiated personally by Frank Woolworth.

 

The start of construction instantly raised the site's value from $2.25 million to $3.2 million. The contract of over $1 million was described as the largest contract for foundation construction ever awarded in the world.

 

It took months for Woolworth to decide upon the general construction company. George A. Fuller's Fuller Company was well experienced and had practically invented skyscraper construction.

 

However Louis Horowitz's Thompson-Starrett Company was local to New York, and despite being newer, Horowitz had worked for Fuller before, and thus had a similar knowledge base.

 

On the 20th. April 1911, Thompson-Starrett won the contract with a guaranteed construction price of $4,308,500 for the building's frame and structural elements.

 

The company was paid $300,000 for their oversight and management work, despite Woolworth's attempts to get the company to do the job for free due to the prestige of the project.

 

On the 12th. June 1911, the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company received a $250,000 contract to manufacture the terracotta.

 

The next month, Donnelly and Ricci received the $11,500 contract for the terracotta work and some of the interior design work. Gilbert requested Atlantic Terra Cotta use an office next to his while they drew several hundred designs.

 

The construction process involved hundreds of workers, and daily wages ranged from $1.50 for laborers (equivalent to $44 in 2022) to $4.50 for skilled workers (equivalent to $133 in 2022).

 

By August 1911, the building's foundations were completed ahead of the target date of the 15th. September; construction of the skyscraper's steel frame began on the 15th. August.

 

The steel beams and girders used in the framework weighed so much that, to prevent the streets from caving in, a group of surveyors examined them on the route along which the beams would be transported.

 

The American Bridge Company provided steel for the building from their foundries in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; manufacturing took over 45 weeks.

 

The first above-ground steel had been erected by October 1911, and installation of the building's terracotta began on the 1st. February 1912.

 

The building rose at the rate of 1½ stories a week, and the steelworkers set a speed record for assembling 1,153 tons of steel in six consecutive eight-hour days.

 

By the 18th. February 1912, work on the steel frame had reached the building's 18th. floor. By the 6th. April 1912, the steel frame had reached the top of the base at the 30th. floor, and work then began on constructing the tower of the Woolworth Building.

 

Steel reached the 47th. floor by the 30th. May, and the official topping out ceremony took place two weeks ahead of schedule on the 1st. July 1912, as the last rivet was driven into the summit of the tower.

 

The skyscraper was substantially completed by the end of that year. The final estimated construction cost was US$13.5 million (equivalent to $400,000,000 in 2022), up from the initial estimates of US$5 million for the shorter versions of the skyscraper (equivalent to $148,000,000 in 2022).

 

Woolworth provided $5 million, while investors provided the remainder, and financing was completed by August 1911.

 

-- Opening and the 1910's

 

The building opened on the 24th. April 1913. Woolworth held a grand dinner on the building's 27th. floor for over 900 guests, and at exactly 7:30 p.m. EST, President Woodrow Wilson pushed a button in Washington, D.C., to turn on the building's lights. Additional congratulations were sent via letter from former President William Howard Taft, Governor of New Jersey James Fairman Fielder and United States Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.

 

The building was declared ready for occupancy on the 1st. May 1913, and Woolworth began advertising the offices for rent beginning at $4.00 per square foot.

 

To attract tenants, Woolworth hired architecture critic Montgomery Schuyler to write a 56-page brochure outlining the building's features. Schuyler later described the Woolworth Building as the "noblest offspring" of buildings erected with steel skeletons.

 

On completion, the Woolworth Building topped the record set by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world's tallest building, a distinction it held until 1930.

 

Woolworth had purchased all of the Broadway-Park Place Company's shares from the Irving National Exchange Bank by May 1914; his company held no ownership stake in the building.

 

The building contained offices for as many as 14,000 employees. By the end of 1914, the building was 70% occupied and generating over $1.3 million a year in rents for the F. W. Woolworth Company.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the 1920's to 1960's

 

During the Great War, only one of the Woolworth Building's then-14 elevators was turned on, and many lighting fixtures in hallways and offices were turned off. This resulted in about a 70% energy reduction compared to peacetime requirements.

 

The building had more than a thousand tenants by the 1920's, who generally occupied suites of one or two rooms. These tenants reportedly collectively employed over 12,000 people in the building.

 

In 1920, after F. W. Woolworth died, his heirs obtained a $3 million mortgage loan on the Woolworth Building from Prudential Life Insurance Company in order to pay off $8 million in inheritance tax.

 

By this point, the building was worth $10 million and grossed $1.55 million per year in rental income. The Broadway-Park Place Corporation agreed to sell the building to Woolco Realty Co., a subsidiary of the F. W. Woolworth Company, in January 1924 at an assessed valuation of $11.25 million (about $153 million in 2022).

 

The company paid $4 million in cash and obtained a five-year, $11 million mortgage from Prudential Life Insurance Company at an annual interest rate of 5.5%. The sale was finalized in April 1924, after which F. W. Woolworth's heirs no longer had any stake in the building.

 

In 1927, the building's pinnacle was painted green, and the observation tower was re-gilded for over $25,000 (about $340,647 in 2022). The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company cleaned the Woolworth Building's façade in 1932.

 

Prudential extended its $3.7 million mortgage on the building by ten years in 1939, and the observation deck was closed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

 

Ten of the building's 24 elevators were temporarily disabled in 1944 because of a shortage of coal. The next year, the building's owners replaced the elevators and closed off the building above the 54th. story.

 

By 1953, a new chilled water air conditioning system had been installed, bringing individual room temperature control to a third of the building.

 

The old car-switch-control elevators had been replaced with a new automatic dispatching systems and new elevator cars. The structure was still profitable by then, although it was now only the sixth-tallest building, and tourists no longer frequented the Woolworth Building.

 

The building's terracotta façade deteriorated easily, and, by 1962, repairs to the terracotta tiles were occurring year-round.

 

The Woolworth Company had considered selling the building as early as the 1960's, though the planned sale never happened.

 

-- Restoration and Landmark Status

 

The National Park Service designated the Woolworth Building as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) considered giving the Woolworth Building official city-landmark status in 1970. The F. W. Woolworth Company called the landmark law "onerous" since it would restrict the company from making modifications to many aspects of the building.

 

The commission ultimately declined to give the Woolworth Building a designated-landmark status because of the company's opposition to such a measure, as well as the increased costs and scrutiny.

 

The lobby was cleaned in 1974.

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company commissioned an appraisal of the building's façade in 1975 and found serious deterioration in the building's terracotta. Many of the blocks of terracotta had loosened or cracked from the constant thermal expansion and contraction caused by New York's climate.

 

The cracks in the façade had let rain in, which had caused the steel superstructure to rust. By 1976, the Woolworth Company had placed metal netting around the façade in order to prevent terracotta pieces from dislodging and hitting pedestrians.

 

The issues with the façade were exacerbated by the fact that very few terracotta manufacturers remained in business, making it difficult for the company to procure replacements.

 

The New York City Industrial and Commercial Incentives Board approved a $8.5 million tax abatement in September 1977, which was to fund a proposed renovation of the Woolworth Building.

 

The Woolworth Company still occupied half the building; its vice president for construction said:

 

"We think the building merits

the investment, in part because

F. W. Woolworth had used his

own wealth to fund the building's

construction."

 

Much of the remaining space was occupied by lawyers who paid rentals of between $7 to $12 per square foot ($75 to $129/m2).

 

The F. W. Woolworth Company began a five-year restoration of the building's terracotta and limestone façade, as well as replacement of all the building's windows, in 1977.

 

Initially, the company had considered replacing the entire terracotta façade with concrete; however this was canceled due to its high cost and potential backlash from preservationists.

 

The renovation, carried out by Turner Construction to plans by the New York architectural firm Ehrenkrantz Group, involved the replacement of roughly one-fifth of the building's terracotta.

 

Since there were so few remaining terracotta manufacturers, Woolworth's replaced 26,000 of the tiles with concrete lookalikes; many of those tiles had to be custom-cut. The concrete was coated with a surface that was meant to be replaced every five years, like the glazing on the terracotta blocks.

 

Similarly, the original copper windows were replaced with aluminum frames which allowed them to be opened, whereas the originals were sealed in place.

 

The company also removed some decorative flying buttresses near the tower's crown and refaced four tourelles in aluminum because of damage.

 

The building's renovation was completed without fanfare in 1982. The estimated cost of the project had risen from $8 million to over $22 million. Much of the renovation was financed through the city government's tax break, which had increased to $11.4 million.

 

The LPC again considered the Woolworth Building for landmark designation in early 1982, shortly after the renovation was completed. However upon the request of the building's lawyers, the LPC postponed a public hearing for the proposed landmark designation to April 1982.

 

That year, the building's entrance to the City Hall subway station was closed because of fears over crime. The LPC granted landmark protection to the building's façade and the interior of its lobby in April 1983.

 

The Woolworth Company (later Venator Group) continued to own the building for a decade and a half. After struggling financially for years, and with no need for a trophy office building, Venator Group began discussing a sale of the building in 1996.

 

To raise capital for its other operations, Venator formally placed the Woolworth Building for sale in April 1998.

 

-- Witkoff Group Ownership

 

Venator Group agreed to sell the building in June 1998 to Steve Witkoff's Witkoff Group and Lehman Brothers for $155 million (about $261 million in 2022). However before the sale was finalized in December 1998, Witkoff renegotiated the purchase price to $137.5 million (about $231 million in 2022), citing a declining debt market.

 

Venator shrunk its space in the building from eight floors to four; this was a sharp contrast to the 25 floors the company had occupied just before the sale.

 

Witkoff also agreed to license the Woolworth name and invest $30 million in renovating the exterior and interior of the building.

 

After purchasing the building, the Witkoff Group rebranded it in an attempt to attract entertainment and technology companies. In April 2000, the Venator Group officially moved their headquarters to 112 West 34th. Street, and Witkoff indicated that he would sell the upper half of the building as residential condominiums.

 

That October, the company proposed a two-story addition to the 29th.-floor setbacks on the north and south elevations of the tower, to be designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who were also leading the renovation of the building. The LPC denied the proposal.

 

The company unveiled an ambitious plan in November 2000 that would have converted the top 27 floors of the building into 75 condominiums, including a five-story penthouse. The plan would have included a new residential lobby on Park Place, a 100-space garage, a 75-seat underground screening room, and a spa in the basement.

 

The developers planned to spend $60 to $70 million on the conversion which would be ready for occupancy by August 2002. However the LPC opposed the plan because it would have required exterior changes to the roof.

 

The commission eventually approved a modified version of the plan. Following the September 11 attacks and the subsequent collapse of the nearby World Trade Center, the proposal was later canceled.

 

-- Security Increases and New Plan

 

Prior to the September 11 attacks, the World Trade Center was often photographed in such a way that the Woolworth Building could be seen between the complex's twin towers.

 

After the attacks occurred only a few blocks away, the Woolworth Building was without electricity, water and a telephone service for a few weeks; its windows were broken, and falling rubble damaged a top turret.

 

Increased post-attack security restricted access to most of the ornate lobby, previously a tourist attraction. New York Times reporter David W. Dunlap wrote in 2006 that a security guard had asked him to leave within twelve seconds of entering the Woolworth Building.

 

However, there was renewed interest in restoring public access to the Woolworth Building during planning for its centennial celebrations. The lobby reopened to public tours in 2014, when Woolworth Tours started accommodating groups for 30- to 90-minute tours.

 

The tours were part of a partnership between Cass Gilbert's great-granddaughter, Helen Post Curry, and Witkoff's vice president for development, Roy A. Suskin.

 

By 2007, the concrete blocks on the Woolworth Building's façade had deteriorated because of neglect. A lack of regular re-surfacing had led to water and dirt absorption, which had stained the concrete blocks.

 

Though terracotta's popularity had increased since the 1970's, Suskin had declined to say whether the façade would be modified, if at all.

 

Around the same time, Witkoff planned to partner with Rubin Schron to create an "office club" on the top 25 floors building to attract high-end tenants like hedge funds and private equity firms. The plan would have restored the 58th. floor observatory as a private amenity for "office club" tenants, in addition to amenities like a private dining room, meeting rooms, and a new dedicated lobby.

 

The partners planned to complete the project by the end of 2008, but the financial crisis of 2007–2008 derailed the plans, leaving the top floors gutted and vacant.

 

-- Residential Conversion

 

On the 31st. July 2012, an investment group led by New York developer Alchemy Properties which included Adam Neumann and Joel Schreiber, bought the top 30 floors of the skyscraper for $68 million (about $86.1 million in 2022) from the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International.

 

The firm planned to renovate the space into 33 luxury apartments and convert the penthouse into a five-level living space. The lower 28 floors are still owned by the Witkoff Group and Cammeby's International, who planned to maintain them as office space.

 

The project was expected to cost approximately $150 million including the $68 million purchase price. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the changes to the building in October 2013.

 

When the sale was first announced in 2012, the developers expected the building's conversion to be complete by 2015. However, construction took longer than expected.

 

Workers could not attach a construction hoist to the building's façade without damaging it, and they were prohibited from using the elevators because of the active office tenants on the lower floors and the regular public tours of the landmarked lobby.

 

The renovation included many restorations and changes to the building's interior. Two of the elevator shafts only went to the 29th. floor, allowing extra floor space for the residents above.

 

A new private lobby was also built for residents, and the coffered ceiling from F. W. Woolworth's personal 40th. floor office was relocated to the entryway. Each unit received space in a wine cellar, along with access to the restored private pool in the basement.

 

The 29th. floor was converted to an amenity floor named the "Gilbert Lounge" after the structure's architect, while the 30th. floor hosts a fitness facility.

 

In August 2014, the New York Attorney General's office approved Alchemy's plan to sell 34 condos at the newly branded Woolworth Tower Residences for a combined total of $443.7 million. After a soft launch in late 2014, units at the building were officially listed for sale in mid-2015.

 

Alchemy initially intended to leverage an in-house sales staff, and hired a director from Corcoran Sunshine to lead the effort. However, the new sales director left at the end of 2015 amid rumors of slow sales. Following his departure, the company hired Sotheby's International Realty to market the units.

 

The building's penthouse unit, dubbed "The Pinnacle", was listed at $110 million, the highest asking price ever for an apartment in downtown Manhattan. If it had sold at that price, the unit would have surpassed the record $50.9 million penthouse at Ralph Thomas Walker's Walker Tower, and even the $100.5 million record price for a Manhattan penthouse set by Michael Dell at Extell's One57 in 2014.

 

Due to delays, the conversion was expected to be completed by February or March 2019, about six and a half years after Alchemy bought the property. However by February 2019, only three of the building's 31 condos had been sold, since the developers had refused to discount prices, despite a glut of new luxury apartments in NYC.

 

The still-vacant penthouse's asking price was reduced to $79 million. By 2021, Alchemy had sold 22 condominiums to tenants such as the entrepreneur Rudra Pandey.

 

-- Corporate Tenants

 

On the building's original completion, the F. W. Woolworth Company occupied only one and a half floors. However, as the owner, the Woolworth Company profited from renting space out to others.

 

The Woolworth Building was almost always fully occupied because of its central location in Lower Manhattan, as well as its direct connections to two subway stations.

 

The Irving Trust Company occupied the first four floors when the building opened. It had a large banking room on the second floor accessible directly from a grand staircase in the lobby, vaults in the basement, offices on the third-floor mezzanine, and a boardroom on the fourth floor.

 

In 1931, the company relocated their general, out-of-town, and foreign offices from the Woolworth Building after building their own headquarters at 1 Wall Street.

 

Columbia Records was one of the Woolworth Building's tenants on opening day and housed a recording studio in the skyscraper. In 1917, Columbia made what are considered the first jazz recordings, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in this studio.

 

Shortly after the building opened, several railroad companies rented space. The Union Pacific Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad occupied the ground floor retail space with ticket offices.

 

The inventor Nikola Tesla also occupied an office in the Woolworth Building beginning in 1914; he was evicted after a year because he could not pay his rent.

 

Scientific American moved into the building in 1915 before departing for Midtown Manhattan in 1926. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America was present at the building's opening, occupying the southern half of the 18th. floor.

 

By the 1920's, the building also hosted Newport News Shipbuilding and Nestlé.

 

In the 1930's, prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey maintained his offices in the building while investigating racketeering and organized crime in Manhattan. His office took up the entire fourteenth floor, and was heavily guarded.

 

During World War II, the Kellex Corporation, part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, was based here.

 

During the early 1960's, public relations expert Howard J. Rubenstein opened an office in the building. In 1975, the city signed a lease for state judge Jacob D. Fuchsberg's offices in the Woolworth Building.

 

-- Educational Tenants

 

The structure has a long association with higher education, housing a number of Fordham University schools in the early 20th. century. In 1916, Fordham created "Fordham Downtown" at the Woolworth Building by moving the School of Sociology and Social Service and the School of Law to the building.

 

The Fordham University Graduate School was founded on the building's 28th. floor in the same year, and a new Teachers' College quickly followed on the seventh floor.

 

In September 1920, the Business School was also established on the seventh floor, originally as the School of Accounting. By 1929, the school's combined programs at the Woolworth Building had over 3,000 enrolled students.

 

Between 1916 and 1943 the building was also home at various times to the Fordham College (Manhattan Division), a summer school, and the short-lived School of Irish Studies.

 

In 1943, the Graduate School relocated to Keating Hall at Fordham's Rose Hill campus in Fordham, Bronx, and the rest of the schools moved to nearby 302 Broadway because of reduced attendance due to World War II.

 

The New York University School of Professional Studies' Center for Global Affairs leased 94,000 square feet (8,700 m2) on the second, third, and fourth floors in 2002 from defunct dot-com startup FrontLine Capital Group.

 

The American Institute of Graphic Arts also moved its headquarters to the Woolworth Building.

 

-- 21st-Century Tenants

 

By the early 2000's, the Woolworth Building was home to numerous technology tenants. Digital advertising firm Xceed occupied 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) across four floors as its headquarters. Organic, Inc. took 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2), and advertising agency Fallon Worldwide used two floors.

 

Xceed terminated its lease in April 2001 during the midst of the Dot-com bubble collapse in order to move to smaller offices in the Starrett–Lehigh Building.

 

One month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Northeast Regional Office at 7 World Trade Center was destroyed in the September 11 attacks, the commission's 334 employees moved into 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) across five floors of the Woolworth Building. The SEC left for a larger space in Brookfield Place in early 2005.

 

The General Services Administration took over the commission's space on the 1st. November 2005 and used it as offices for approximately 200 staff of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System.

 

The New York City Police Department pension fund signed a lease for 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) on the 19th. and 25th. floors in April 2002.

 

Starbucks opened a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) location on the ground floor in the spring of 2003. In 2006, Levitz Furniture moved its headquarters to the 23rd. floor from Woodbury, Long Island, after declaring bankruptcy a second time.

 

In May 2013, SHoP Architects moved the company's headquarters to the entire 11th. floor, occupying 30,500 square feet (2,830 m2) of space. In February 2016, the New York City Law Department leased the entire 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2) fifth floor for the Department's tort office.

 

Joseph Altuzarra's namesake fashion brand, Altuzarra, signed on to occupy the 14th. floor in June 2016. In 2017, the New York Shipping Exchange moved into the 21st floor. In May 2018, architecture and design firm CallisonRTKL signed a lease for the entire 28,100 square feet (2,610 m2) 16th. floor.

 

-- Impact of the Woolworth Building

 

Before construction, Woolworth hired New York photographer Irving Underhill to document the building's construction. These photographs were distributed to Woolworth's stores nationwide to generate enthusiasm for the project.

 

During construction, Underhill, Wurts Brothers, and Tebbs-Hymans each took photographs to document the structure's progression. These photos were often taken from close-up views, or from far away to provide contrast against the surrounding structures.

 

They were part of a media promotion for the Woolworth Building. Both contemporary and modern figures criticized the photos as:

 

"Standard solutions at best and

architectural eye candy at worst".

 

Later critics praised the building. Amei Wallach of Newsday wrote in 1978 that the building resembled:

 

"A giant cathedral absurdly

stretched in a gigantic fun

mirror. The lobby certainly

looks like a farmboy's dream

of glory".

 

A writer for The Baltimore Sun wrote in 1984 that:

 

"The lobby's lighting, ceiling mosaic,

and gold-leaf decorations combine

for a church-like atmosphere, yet the

grotesques provide a touch of

irreverence".

 

Richard Berenholtz wrote in his 1988 book Manhattan Architecture that:

 

"At the Woolworth Building, Gilbert

succeeded in uniting the respected

traditions of architecture and

decoration with modern technology".

 

In a 2001 book about Cass Gilbert, Mary N. Woods wrote that:

 

"The rich and varied afterlife of

the Woolworth Building enhances

Gilbert's accomplishment".

 

Dirk Stichweh described the building in 2005 as being:

 

"The Mozart of skyscrapers".

 

In 2007, the building ranked 44th. among 150 buildings in the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.

 

In recognition of Gilbert's role as the building's architect, the Society of Arts and Sciences gave Gilbert its gold medal in 1930, calling it:

 

"An epochal landmark in the

history of architecture".

 

On the 40th. anniversary of the building's opening in 1953, one news source called the building:

 

"A substantial middle-aged lady, with

a good income, unconcern over years—

and lots of friends".

 

A one-third-scale replica of the Woolworth Building, the Lincoln American Tower in Memphis, Tennessee, was also built in 1924.

 

-- The Woolworth Building in the Media

 

The Woolworth Building has had a large impact in architectural spheres, and has been featured in many works of popular culture, including photographs, prints, films, and literature.

 

One of the earliest films to feature the skyscraper was Manhatta (1921), a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.

 

Since then, the building has made cameo appearances in several films, such as the 1929 film Applause. It was also the setting of several film climaxes, such as in Enchanted (2007), as well as the setting of major organizations, such as in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).

 

The television show Ugly Betty used the Woolworth Building as the 'Meade Publications' building, a major location in the series, while one of the vacant condominiums was used in filming the TV series Succession in 2021.

 

The building has also appeared in literature, such as Langston Hughes's 1926 poem "Negro" and the 2007 novel Peak.

#FITN First In Nation Republican Leadership Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire

 

Crowne Plaza Nashua

Address: 2 Somerset Pkwy, Nashua, NH 03063

 

Every four years, the political world descends upon New Hampshire to take part in the “First-in-the-Nation” Presidential Primary. On April 17th and 18th that excitement will again percolate in the Granite State for the #FITN Republican Leadership Conference.

 

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the 55th Governor of New Jersey since January 2010.

 

Born in Newark in 1962, Christie volunteered for the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Thomas Kean when he was 15. A 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Christie earned a J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. Christie joined a Cranford, New Jersey, law firm in 1987, rose to become a partner in 1993, and continued practicing until 2002. He was elected county legislator in Morris County, serving from 1995 to 1998, during which time he generally pushed for lower taxes and lower spending. By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption and also obtained convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, racketeering by gangs, and other federal crimes.

 

In January 2009, Christie declared his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey. He won the Republican primary, and defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in the election that November. In 2013, he won re-election as Governor, defeating Democrat Barbara Buono by a margin of over 22%. He was sworn in to a second term as governor on January 21, 2014. On November 21, 2013, Christie was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

 

Christie was seen as a potential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, and though not running, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Republican National Convention. He is viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. Following the controversial closure of toll plaza access lanes in Fort Lee in 2013, an internal investigation commissioned by the Governor's Office found no evidence of Christie having prior knowledge of or having directed the closure. Investigations of the affair by United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and the New Jersey Legislature are ongoing.

 

CNN chief national correspondent John King moderated a panel discussion to discuss the new CNN Films documentary “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger.” The documentary probes the complex case against the one-time Boston mob boss, who remained a fugitive for 16 years before he was captured, tried and convicted in August 2013 of 31 counts, including racketeering and 11 murders. He was sentenced to two life terms, plus five years." (From left) CNN chief national correspondent John King, moderator

Bulger defense attorney J.W. Carney, JD ’78 Former federal prosecutor Brian T. Kelly

WGBH-FM reporter David Boeri

Boston College Law School Professor Robert Bloom ’76

Film producer Joe Berlinger (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)

Activists and free speech supporters show their support outside US District Courthouse in San Francisco May 31, 2018. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California holds a hearing to decide whether or not to dismiss Resolute Forest Products’ baseless racketeering lawsuit against three Greenpeace entities, Stand.earth, and five individual staff members of these independent organizations after the hearing on an amended complaint.

CNN chief national correspondent John King will moderate a panel discussion to discuss the new CNN Films documentary “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger.” The documentary probes the complex case against the one-time Boston mob boss, who remained a fugitive for 16 years before he was captured, tried and convicted in August 2013 of 31 counts, including racketeering and 11 murders. He was sentenced to two life terms, plus five years."

(From left): CNN chief national correspondent John King, moderator

Bulger defense attorney J.W. Carney, JD ’78

Former federal prosecutor Brian T. Kelly

WGBH-FM reporter David Boeri

Boston College Law School Professor Robert Bloom ’76

Film producer Joe Berlinger (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)

www.arqueologiadelperu.com/prosecutors-indict-three-la-st...

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Three rival Los Angeles gangs united in a rare alliance to conspire to control drug trafficking and carried out crimes that included murder and extortion, federal prosecutors said in announcing a racketeering indictment against 22 gang members.

 

Gangs that trace their roots back as far as the 1950s along a gritty stretch of the Los Angeles River were brought together by a convicted murderer who ordered the truce from his state prison cell near the Oregon border.

 

Arnold Gonzales, 55, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in unifying the Frogtown, Toonerville and Rascals gangs to divvy up drug profits and control crime in northeast Los Angeles.

 

Gonzales, an alleged member of the Mexican Mafia that directs gang crime from prisons by sending coded messages to disciples outside, allegedly took control of the gangs in 2010 after other incarcerated gang leaders were convicted of racketeering and sent to federal prison.

 

One member of the alleged conspiracy referred to the brokered peace as the "United Nations."

 

Former U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien, who focused on gang crime as a prosecutor, said the unification of the three gangs was a "unique and dangerous turn" of events.

 

"Historically, the Mexican Mafia exercised control over numerous individual street gangs in Southern California," O'Brien said. "To actually take this a step further and unite rival street gangs as one is troubling. They don't normally work that way."

 

Jorge Grey was appointed to direct the so-called Arnold Gonzales Organization on the street, according to the 88-page indictment, which was released Thursday. Grey said he was the mouthpiece for Gonzales.

 

Grey, 38, was not among the 15 defendants arrested Thursday morning. He and two others remained at large. Four other defendants were previously in custody.

 

No attorney was listed for Grey to contact for comment.

 

Grey and others conducted drug and gun deals at Homeboy Industries, a well-known organization that finds work for ex-gang members and removes tattoos, authorities said.

 

Grey was a former client of the organization. CEO Thomas Vozzo said he was saddened to learn that alleged crimes occurred at "the safe haven we have created."

 

"Each year, more than 9,000 men and women receive services at Homeboy Industries headquarters," Vozzo said. "We operate with a zero-tolerance policy for illegal activity and believe that people should be held accountable for their actions."

 

Grey allegedly ordered others to carry out drug sales and collect "taxes" from dealers to be used to fuel business and funnel money to Gonzales

 

A woman charged in the racketeering conspiracy allegedly deposited $133,000 in Gonzales' prison bank account, which is supposed to be used to pay for phone calls, snacks and other good such as socks and deodorant.

 

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The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• founded 1908, most exclusive social club in Panama City • building designed by architect James C. Wright (1889-1958), graduate of Pratt Institute, Brooklyn • Wright brought to Panama, 1911, by President Belisario Porras (1856-1942) to assist in establishing a public works program

 

• as surrounding Casco Viejo district aged, affluent residents moved to newer neighborhoods • club abandoned, in 1980s, became recreation center for military • renamed Club de Clases y Tropas (Classes & Troops Club) • created and frequented by Panama’s military dictator, General Manuel Noreiga (1934-2017) • during his regime (1983 to 1989), club often used to throw VIP parties

 

• building damaged in 1989 US invasion • Noriega captured, detained as POW, flown to US • tried on 8 counts of drug trafficking, racketeering & money laundering • incarcerated in Panama

 

• plans for $40MM 5 star hotel on club site abandoned, allegedly due to regulations associated with Casco Viejo's status as UNESCO World Heritage Site” • building used as location for James Bond films Tailor of Panama (2001) and Quantum of Solace (2008)

 

• Casco Viejo historic district aka Old Town, Casco Antiguo, San Felipe • about 28 sq. blocks • built after Welch privateer Henry Morgan sacked earlier settlement Panama Viejo, 1671 • center of Panamanian life until decline in 1930s • significant renovation since late 1990s -Every Trail

 

• Panama City est. 1519, pop. 1.5MM • Panama Facts • UNESCO World Heritage Site

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In this compelling story of lies, greed and tarnished idealism, two Wall Street Journal reporters investigate a man who Bill Gates, Western governments, and other investors entrusted with billions of dollars to make profits and end poverty, but who now stands accused of masterminding one of the biggest, most brazen financial frauds ever.

 

Arif Naqvi was charismatic, inspiring, and self-made—all the qualities of a successful business leader. The founder of Abraaj, a Dubai-based private-equity firm, Naqvi was the Key Man to the global elite searching for impact investments to make money and do good. He persuaded politicians he could help stabilize the Middle East after 9/11 by providing jobs and guided executives to opportunities in cities they struggled to find on the map. Bill Gates helped him start a $1 billion fund to improve healthcare in poor countries and the UN and Interpol appointed him to boards. As Pope Francis blessed a move to harness capitalism for the good of the poor, Naqvi won the support of Obama’s administration and investors, who compared him to Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible.

 

In 2018, Simon Clark and Will Louch were contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who said Naqvi had swindled investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and offered bribes to sustain his billionaire lifestyle. Digging into the claims, Clark and Louch uncovered hundreds of documents and exposed the wrongdoing. In April 2019—months after their exposé broke—Naqvi was arrested on charges of fraud and racketeering, and faces up to 291 years in jail.

 

Populated by a cast of larger-than-life characters and moving across Asia, Africa, Europe and America, The Key Man is the story of how the global elite was duped by a capitalist fairytale. Clark and Louch shine a light on efforts to clean up global capital flows even as opaque private equity firms amass trillions of dollars and offshore tax havens cast a veil of secrecy which prevents regulators, investors and citizens from understanding what’s really going on in the finance industry.

  

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• founded 1908, most exclusive social club in Panama City • building designed by architect James C. Wright (1889-1958), graduate of Pratt Institute, Brooklyn • Wright brought to Panama, 1911, by President Belisario Porras (1856-1942) to assist in establishing a public works program

 

• as surrounding Casco Viejo district aged, affluent residents moved to newer neighborhoods • club abandoned, in 1980s, became recreation center for military • renamed Club de Clases y Tropas (Classes & Troops Club) • created and frequented by Panama’s military dictator, General Manuel Noreiga (1934-2017) • during his regime (1983 to 1989), club often used to throw VIP parties

 

• building damaged in 1989 US invasion • Noriega captured, detained as POW, flown to US • tried on 8 counts of drug trafficking, racketeering & money laundering • incarcerated in Panama

 

• plans for $40MM 5 star hotel on club site abandoned, allegedly due to regulations associated with Casco Viejo's status as UNESCO World Heritage Site” UNESCO World Heritage Site • building used as location for James Bond films Tailor of Panama (2001) and Quantum of Solace (2008)

 

• Casco Viejo historic district aka Old Town, Casco Antiguo, San Felipe • about 28 sq. blocks • built after Welch privateer Henry Morgan sacked earlier settlement Panama Viejo, 1671 • center of Panamanian life until decline in 1930s • significant renovation since late 1990s -Every Trail

 

• Panama City est. 1519, pop. 1.5MM • Panama Facts • UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Activists and free speech supporters show their support outside US District Courthouse in San Francisco May 31, 2018. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California holds a hearing to decide whether or not to dismiss Resolute Forest Products’ baseless racketeering lawsuit against three Greenpeace entities, Stand.earth, and five individual staff members of these independent organizations after the hearing on an amended complaint.

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps.

 

Its history is brought to life through historical re-enactors.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.