90 Church Street

90 Church Street
(U.S. Post Office-Church Street Station)
(2009)
Location 90 Church Street
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates: 40°42′44.95″N 74°0′40.44″W / 40.7124861°N 74.0112333°W
Built 1934–35
Architect Cross and Cross
Pennington, Lewis & Mills
Lewis A. Simon (Superv. Arch. of the Treasury)
Architectural style Classical Revival and Art Deco
Governing body United States Postal Service
MPS US Post Offices in New York State, 1858-1943, TR
NRHP Reference # 88002359 [1]
Added to NRHP May 11, 1989
Entrance hall

The Federal Office Building[2] at 90 Church Street includes the United States Postal Service's Church Street Station, which is responsible for the 10048 ZIP code in New York City. The building takes up the full block between Church Street and West Broadway and between Vesey and Barclay Streets in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan.

The AIA Guide to New York City says about the building: "A boring limestone monolith that has trouble deciding between a heritage of stripped down neo-Classical and a new breath of Art Deco."[2]

History

90 Church Street was designed by Cross & Cross, Pennington, Lewis & Mills and Louis A. Simon, who was Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury at the time.[2] The architectural style of the building is a mixture of Neo-classicism and Art Deco. It has two towers and the facade is clad in limestone.[2]

The building was completed in 1935, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3][4]

The Church Street Station Post Office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to housing the Postal Service, the 90 Church Street building contains offices of the New York State Public Service Commission, the New York State Health Department, and the New York City Housing Authority.[4]

September 11 attacks

The building suffered moderate damage during the September 11 attacks due to a remnant of one of the planes and other debris landing on top of the building. Following the collapse of the World Trade Centers twin towers, the building's facade was damaged, windows were broken, and major water damage occurred. It was also extensively contaminated with asbestos, lead dust, fungi, fiberglass dust, mercury, and bacteria.[4] There was no major structural damage.[5] During recovery efforts at Ground Zero, the United States Postal Service worked to return individual pieces of mail found by rescue workers to the addressees.[6] In August 2004, the Church Street Station Post Office reopened, and mail was once again being processed there.[7] Church Street Station also serves the 10007 zip code, covering portions of Battery Park City, TriBeCa, and the area surrounding New York City Hall.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2006-03-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot with Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195383867., p. 72-72
  3. ↑ Larry E. Gobrecht (November 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Church Street Station Post Office". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-10-01. See also: "Accompanying nine photos".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dunlap, David W. (2004-08-19). "Post Office, Polluted on Sept. 11, Is Back in Business". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ FEMA (May 2002). "Chapter 7, Peripheral Buildings". World Trade Center Building Performance Study.
  6. ↑ "Letter to customers explaining recovered 9/11 mail". National Postal Museum.
  7. ↑ Barr, Meghan (2006-12-04). "Mail Still Being Sent to Trade Center". Associated Press.

External links

Media related to 90 Church Street at Wikimedia Commons