The New York Federal Reserve Bank main building at 33 Liberty Street (just north of Federal Hall) was modeled after an Italian Renaissance palace. The fortress-like structure, that symbolizes security and stability, was built by York and Sawyer in 1924. After Alexander Hamilton advocated the creation of a central bank, the First Bank of the United States was established in 1791. Its charter expired in 1811. There was a 100-year gap. In 1913, the Federal Reserve Act allowed the creation of a regional Federal Reserve System. The Fed was mandated to furnish an elastic currency, to provide for the rediscounting of commercial paper and to establish effective supervision of the banking system. There were to be between eight and 12 district Federal Reserve banks. (There are 12 today: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco. New York, the financial capital, is the most important branch. In answer to an eternal question: There is $90 billion in gold and currency stored inside the bank's underground vaults. The Fed holds 40 percent of the world's gold for 80 different countries.
Alexander Hamilton
(b. 1755 or 57 Nevis, British West Indies d. Weehawken, NJ 1804)
was a journalist, attorney, soldier, politician and statesman. He was the child of a Scottish businessman and Rachel Fawcett Lavien, who was married to another man. When his mother was imprisoned for adultery, Hamilton was abandoned by his father. His mother died when he was a teenager, which left him illegitimate, abandoned and orphaned.Despite his tragic family life, he demonstrated ability at journalism and public speaking. He lived on St. Croix, working as a newspaper clerk. When he wrote an article for the local newspaper about the devastation of a hurricane in the West Indies, the residents and clergy were so moved that they collected money to buy him passage to America so he could study. He settled in New York in 1772. First he attended grammar school, and later enrolled in King's College (now Columbia University), intending to become a doctor. He trained as a lawyer with James Madison and John Jay. Within five years, he was an aide-de-camp to George Washington. Washington was an artillery captain in the Revolutionary Army at the time, and used Hamilton to publish pamphlets in New York to spread news of the emerging republic. In 1780, Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler. They had eight children. As an aide, Hamilton wrote some of General George Washington's correspondence and likely influenced Washington's farewell address. As a Federalist, Hamilton supported a powerful central government for the new United States. He wrote the 'Federalist Papers.' Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed his views. Hamilton helped draft the Constitution, and he was the only New York delegate to sign the document. In the first American government, Hamilton was appointed secretary of the treasury. He was pro-business, pro-Great Britain, critical of the excesses of the French Revolution and an abolitionist. He created the Coast Guard to stem the flow of contraband goods by sea. Hamilton proposed to pay off foreign debt and to assume the states' debts in order to consolidate power within the federal government. He was against any permanent government debt. Hamilton helped set up the First Bank of the United States to regulate commerce and issue currency. In 1794, because of a love-affair between Hamilton and a married woman, he was forced (largely by Thomas Jefferson) to admit the affair. He resigned as secretary of the treasury and returned to practicing law. Senator Aaron Burr was an attorney in New York. In 1791, as New York State attorney general, Burr ran against Hamilton's father-in-law, General Schuyler, for the U.S. Senate seat, and Burr won. Historians have traced the animosity between the two men to this event. Burr had, however, been Hamilton's ally when Hamilton's infidelity was revealed. As the 1800 Presidential election approached, Hamilton supported Jefferson against Burr. That was an insult to Burr. Later, when Burr ran for governor of New York, he attributed critical newspaper article remarks about him to Hamilton. Burr demanded an apology, but Hamilton demurred and claimed that he had no recollection of having made such remarks. Burr then challenged Hamilton to a duel. On July 11, 1804, they met on a rocky ledge in Weehawken, NJ (across the Hudson River from Manhattan), with pistols. Burr fired and he struck Hamilton below the chest. Hamilton died the following day and was buried in Trinity Church graveyard in lower Manhattan. Governor Morris delivered Hamilton's eulogy, but said beforehand that 'The first Point of his Biography is that he was a Stranger of illegitimate Birth. Some mode must be contrived to pass over this handsomely.'
York and Sawyer
(Early 20th century)
The architect Edward York (b. 1863 Wellville, NY d. NY 1928) studied architecture at Cornell. He was a life-member of the NY Historical Society and had a summer residence in Stonington, Ct. He was a member of the Century, St. Nicholas Society and Union League clubs.Philip Sawyer (b. New London, CT 1868 d. New York 1949) began as an engineer with the US Geological Survey and helped plan irrigation for Yellowstone Park. He then studied architecture at Columbia and the Ιcole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Late in his life, Sawyer opposed Roosevelt's plans for low-income housing, and proposed rehabilitation of old tenements instead. York and Sawyer met when they trained in the offices of McKim, Mead, & White. They established their own firm in 1898. At the height of the Gilded-Age, they designed palatial homes, classical-style bank buildings, and hospitals including the Brooklyn Trust Company (1913-16; Brooklyn Heights); the Byzantine-inspired Bowery Savings Bank (1921-23; E. 42nd Street NYC); the Classical revival Greenwich Savings Bank (1922-24; Broadway and 36th Street NYC); and the Central Savings Bank (1926-28; Broadway and 73rd Street NYC). For the federal government, they designed the large fortress-like New York Federal Reserve Bank (1919-24) on Maiden Lane in NYC. The firm also designed the Beaux-Arts New York Historical Society building (1908), New York Academy of Medicine building (1926), the Transportation Building (1927), and the Renaissance-style New York Athletic Club (1929-1930).
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1) Federal Hall Map [23]
