View of South Street Seaport
shows the extent of the
proposed restoration. Large
building at lower left picks
up some of the air rights
transferred from the
historic blocks. Master
Planner is Jonathan Barnett;
architect, Edward L. Barnes.

38

Photo, George P. Hall

[PLATE 34]
**Broadway, c. 1890**

In this sweeping late nineteenth-century scene along lower Broadway is a review of more than a century of architecture. At the left is St. Paul's Chapel and churchyard of 1766 (the oldest Manhattan church extant), Isaiah Rogers' Astor House of 1834-1837, and the high Victorian style of the Old Post Office of 1875. Looking straight down Vesey Street one can barely see a patch of the Hudson River at the end. The photographer was from the firm of George P. Hall and Son. The photo is

probably a composite of two or more shots carefully registered and rephotographed. The nineteenth-century photographer was skilled in retouching his prints to strengthen detail and architectural elements. This kind of work is visible in the retouching at the entrance and second floor window cornices of the Astor House and in the street directly in front of the old Post Office.

case study

The Exchange

New York, New York

## Land use information

<table><tr><td>Site Area:</td><td>0.57 acre</td></tr><tr><td>Total Dwelling Units:</td><td>345</td></tr><tr><td>Gross Project Density:</td><td>605 units per acre</td></tr><tr><td>Housing Type:</td><td>Rental apartments</td></tr><tr><td>Parking, Total:</td><td>none</td></tr><tr><td>Project Completion Date:</td><td>January 1998</td></tr></table>

## Unit information

<table><thead><tr><td>Unit Type</td><td>Floor Area (Square Feet)</td><td>Number of Units</td><td>Current Rents</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Studio</td><td>735-922</td><td>2</td><td>$2,000-$3,100</td></tr><tr><td>1-bdrm</td><td>683-1,042</td><td>177</td><td>$2,000-$4,200</td></tr><tr><td>2-bdrm</td><td>927-1,533</td><td>145</td><td>$2,500-$4,500</td></tr><tr><td>3-bdrm</td><td>2,554-2,931</td><td>21</td><td>$4,800-$10,000</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td></td><td>345</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

## contact information

Developer
Crescent Heights Development
555 Northeast 15th Street
Miami, Florida 33132
305-374-5700

Architect
Costas Kondylis & Associates, PC
3 West 18th Street
New York, New York 10011
212-727-8688

1855

**LOWER MANHATTAN IN 1855** was more than a village, less than a metropolis. The spire of Trinity Church, then just nine years old, is visible in the lower center of this drawing; City Hall, built in 1811, is in the upper center. When City Hall was built, its rear was covered in inexpensive brownstone rather than lavish marble, for it was never expected that the city would move far enough north for City Hall's backside to be frequently seen.

1906

**LOWER MANHATTAN IN 1906**, was beginning to take on its classic, Mont St. Michel-like profile. The greatest of its skyscrapers would not be constructed for several more years, but the center of the neighborhood was firmly established as the city's dense, high-rise business district, surrounded by the piers that brought the life of an active harbor to within a block or two of bankers' desks. This photograph was taken by J. H. Hare and is reputed to be the first aerial ever made of New York City.

**LOWER MANHATTAN BY 1922**, was denser still. It had acquired the Woolworth Building by Cass Gilbert at the upper right, the Gothic skyscraper finished in 1913 that was then the world's tallest; it lost that title to the Chrysler Building in 1930, but it remains among the most beautiful tall buildings ever constructed. Gilbert also designed the arch-topped tower at the far left.

1922

**LOWER MANHATTAN** (opposite) today shows how totally the scale has been transformed – where there was once a mix of small and medium-sized buildings, now all the towers of lower Manhattan seem gargantuan, and their boxy forms go all the way to the water's edge, crowding out the small-scale buildings that had served as a welcome counterpoint to the towers of an earlier generation. At the left are the biggest boxes of all, the twin towers of the World Trade Center, that are Manhattan's tallest buildings; to their left are the far livelier towers of the new World Financial Center, whose sculpted tops are an attempt to bring some romance back to the skyscraper form.