Eighty-six years ago today, on August 16, 1938, The New York Times reported “Demolition Begun at Old Post Office.” What brought us to this seemingly benign newspaper story?
Old Post Office Building, North from Vesey Street and Broadway, June 23, 1937. Savastano Photographic Studio, Borough President Manhattan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Like many stories in twentieth-century New York City, Robert Moses, the legendary “Power Broker,” played a role. Among Moses’ notable attributes examined in several For the Record articles was his mastery of public relations. He issued press releases, contributed articles, and wrote “letters to the editor.” He especially liked to publish reports promoting his accomplishments. Literate, illustrated with striking graphics and ‘before-and-after' pictures and charts, commercially printed, and widely distributed, his numerous reports are well-represented in Municipal Archives and Library collections.
The 1941 report Construction and Restoration of Monuments, Memorials and Historic Buildings included an entry about the Grant National Memorial. Located in Manhattan’s Claremont Park on a high bluff overlooking the Hudson River, the Memorial, then called “Grant’s Tomb,” had been “the largest and most frequently visited monument in the United States with an attendance of approximately 1,000 people a day,” according to the report. Describing recent improvements to the Monument, the report concluded: “As a further embellishment of the approach to the building, two of the large granite eagles from the old Post Office building in City Hall Park were installed on new pedestals on the cheeks of the stairway.” That seemed like a fun fact too good to ignore.
Old Post Office from Spruce Street, June 20, 1937. Savastano Photographic Studio, Borough President Manhattan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The New York Post Office - Views of the New Building, from sketches by Theo. R. Davis, Harper's Weekly, September 25, 1875
The New York Post Office - Views of the New Building, from sketches by Theo. R. Davis, Harper's Weekly, September 25, 1875
Would Municipal Archives and Library collections tell us more about how and why two granite eagles wound up guarding General Grant’s monument? Well, maybe. But like many research expeditions, this journey went in an unanticipated direction.
“The Department of Parks of the City of New York Cordially Invites You to Attend the Ceremonies Incident to Commencement of Demolition of the Old Federal Post Office and Court Building in City Hall Park, 4 P.M. Monday, August 15th 1938.” Printed on heavy card stock, the invitation slipped out of a folder in Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's subject files—one of six labeled “Post Office, Removal of, 1927-1944.”
Invitation to Commencement of Demolition of the Old Federal Post Office, 1938. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
An invitation to a building demolition? What building rated a “ceremony” upon its demise? Walking around City Hall Park today it seems impossible to believe that an enormous building once stood at the southernmost point. Designed in the Second Empire style by Alfred Muller, and constructed ca.1869-1870, it loomed over the relatively diminutive City Hall. Its massive scale is startling, even in photographs.
Old Post Office Building South from City Hall, December 4, 1937. Savastano Photographic Studio, Borough President Manhattan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Long considered an ‘eyesore,’ calls for its removal dated back decades as evidenced by records in Mayor LaGuardia’s collection. Indeed, the first folder contained letters addressed to his predecessor, Mayor James J. Walker. They referenced a Congressional Resolution from 1922 authorizing a Commission to investigate exchanging the site occupied by the Post Office in City Hall Park for another site or sites suitable for a new Post Office and Federal Court. The letters questioned the five-year delay in acting on the “exchange.” Other documents point to 1919 when a Board of Estimate “Committee on Court House” entered into negotiations with the Federal government to remove the Post Office and return its site to the City.
Parks Department, Plan for the Development of City Hall Park, n.d. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The subsequent correspondence documents a saga spanning more than twenty years as the City and Federal governments conducted complex and protracted negotiations to replace the old Post Office. It even involved the intervention of President Roosevelt at several critical junctures.
Eventually, City and Federal officials worked out agreements for a new Federal Court building that opened in 1936 at Foley Square, and a new Post Office on Church Street that was completed in 1937.
When the Post Office moved to the new quarters in October 1937, negotiations regarding what to do with the old Post Office stalled. Among the issues to be worked-out was a $5 million payment the Federal government believed it was due for relinquishing the City Hall Park site.
By December 1937, Mayor LaGuardia, having made no progress in negotiating with the Treasury Department, sent a telegram to President Roosevelt. “I am certain matter can be promptly settled rather than involving long tedious and unnecessary litigation. Stop. I will call any time to meet your convenience. December 14, 1937.”
Aerial View, City Hall Park, n.d. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The next day, Roosevelt replied in a letter marked ‘Personal.’ “Dear Fiorello: I have your telegram of December 14th before me. I gather from the same that the Secretary of the Treasury is out-trading you. If you insist on seeing “teacher” I wish to warn that “teacher” can be tougher than the Secretary of the Treasury.” Sincerely Yours, FDR.” He added a handwritten postscript: “Bring the $5,000,000 with you.”
It is not clear whether the meeting ever happened. But by mid-1938, with negotiations still proceeding apparently without conclusion, a compromise was proposed. LaGuardia described it at a special meeting of the Board of Estimate on May 20, where he requested approval of a “stipulation” between the City of New York and the United States government. The stipulation said the Federal government will dispose of the old Post Office building by sale; that the City may bid upon it; condition of sale being that the “purchaser will demolish the building.” LaGuardia added that this would not cancel impending litigation over the $5 million payment.
It took several months for the Federal authorities to conduct the sale; it happened on August 3, 1938. The City “won” the sale with a bid of one dollar. Then, finally, “Demolition Begun at Old Post Office” read The New York Times story on August 16, 1938, describing the event on the previous day.
According to the article, Allyn R. Jennings, Superintendent of Parks, presided at the demolition ceremonies attended by 1,000 people. The news story quoted him as saying the city should have received change from the dollar paid for the building because the Federal Government “backed up a truck recently and took away every doorknob in the building.” One, retrieved, was mounted as a paperweight and presented to the Mayor.
Old Post Office Building North from South of Vesey Street, December 12, 1937. Savastano Photographic Studio, Borough President Manhattan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
Not surprisingly, Robert Moses inserted himself into the proceedings at various times, eager to demolish the old Post Office in order to restore City Hall Park in time for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Once the building was gone, he wasted no time in advocating for the demolition of the old ‘Tweed’ courthouse, located on the north side of the Park.
Request to serve as "honorary pallbearer," H. L Brant to Mayor LaGuardia, August 12, 1938. Mayor LaGuardia collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
An unexpected find in the files was a letter from George J. Miller, Director of the Historical Records Survey in N.Y.C. Dated October 1, 1937, and written on Works Progress Administration stationery, Mr. Miller informed the Mayor: “In our survey of the records of New York City, the conclusion is becoming more and more apparent that there is very little care or order taken with a large mass of New York records. We find them scattered in garages with broken windows through which the rain gives them a washing. In the Municipal Building we found a gallon can of turpentine upon its side gently gripping on records of Wills in 1686.”
Miller’s letter continues with a proposition: “A thought came to our attention that perhaps the Post Office Building could be utilized as an Archives Building to store all records. If the intention to raze the building is carried out, I feel that the problem of a City Archives Building will have to be solved some time in the future by erecting a new building.” Edmund L. Palmieri, Law Secretary, politely responded on behalf of the Mayor, explaining that “the pressure of budgetary matters and the necessity of carrying on a heavy assignment of routine duties” prevented LaGuardia from answering personally. Palmieri promised he would bring the Archives building idea to his attention. Perhaps it is for the best that LaGuardia did not act on this suggestion.
United States Attorney General to Mayor LaGuardia, May 12, 1943. Mayor LaGuardia collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
The story continued even after the old Post Office came down. As noted by Mayor LaGuardia when explaining the ‘stipulation,’ demolition of the Post Office would not cancel litigation between the City and the Federal government. Based on documents in LaGuardia’s files, the dispute continued until at least 1943. On May 21, 1943, LaGuardia sent a check in the amount of $4,288,856.66 to the Office of the United State Attorney General as “payment on account of the judgment entered against the City of New York.” Further research will determine the ultimate conclusion of the matter.
And our two eagles now glaring at visitors to General Grant’s memorial? Will we ever know anything more about their flight from City Hall Park to Claremont Park? Stay tuned for the answer in a future For the Record post.
