Results tagged “municipalbuilding”

While the Manhattan Marriage Bureau occupies space in that glorious wedding cake of a building--the Municipal Building designed by McKim, Mead & White--the bureau itself is pretty dingy, and is getting ready to move to a new space, one with marble floors and columns, chandeliers and even a seating area! The NY Times visited the bureau recently, observing 51 weddings (shortest: 48 seconds; longest: 2 minutes, 32 seconds) and speaking with one city employee who has performed thousands of weddings:

Walter Curtis can find a wealth of vivid memories: The bride who showed up in a princess costume one Halloween. The 126 couples who came before him over the course of a single Valentine’s Day. The former Balkans freedom fighter who, when instructed to kiss the bride, turned and planted a smooch on Mr. Curtis’s cheek.

Continue reading "Manhattan Marriage Bureau Gets Ready to Move"

Later today, the city will discuss whether the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers should be landmarked. The Observer reported that NYU announced its support today, a reversal from an earlier position over three years ago.

Well, candy is in the mouth of the beholder, but here are the actual renderings. As noted yesterday, the proposals for the new residential and retail complex at the Domino Refinery will be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission at a public hearing today at 2pm at the Municipal Building (1 Centre Street), 9th Floor North. Brownstoner posted snapshots of the renderings taken last week at a community board meeting, as well as floor plans for the modified refinery, which would feature five floors of residential units on the roof.

More detailed images of the proposed development at the landmarked Domino Refinery in south Williamsburg have emerged; the biggest news is that developers plan to build a five-story glass addition on top of the Filter House (above), the tallest structure at the refinery, which has been closed since 2004. According to plans revealed by architects Beyer Blinder Belle, the modified refinery would have 1,550 underground parking spaces, 30,000 square feet of retail space, an interior courtyard and “community facilities” on several floors.

Last year WNBC got up close and personal with the Civic Fame statue atop the Municipal Building, and this week The NY Times looks at the woman who modeled for that statue, and many others -- Audrey Munson, "a long-forgotten New York celebrity whose face and figure continue to grace the contours of statues all around Manhattan."It was Ms. Munson’s eyes that stared stoically from the marble forms of the Firemen’s Memorial on Riverside Drive,...

So if you remember correctly, Grand Theft Auto IV, the New York City crime simulator, was supposed to be in stores by now. But between production delays and the million other great games this season to compete with, they decided to just push it back till next Spring and get it right. But just in case you've you've still got an itch for some Eastern European organized crime this holiday season, here's a brand...

Yesterday, the NY Post revealed that the dingy Manhattan Marriage Bureau would be getting a deluxe makeover. First of all, the City Clerk's Office will move from 1 Centre Street at the Municipal Building to 80 Centre Street. Second, Mayor Bloomberg's personal decorator, Jamie Drake, will be overseeing the redesign - at a discount (we doubt the new bureau will have the touches that Mayor B's swank townhouses do), but the budget is still $13 million.

From 1910 until 1963, when New York actually had a Pennsylvania Station instead of a dingy 1960s subterranean rat warren beneath a hockey rink and office towers, twenty-two stone eagles stood guard over the McKim, Mead, and White masterpiece. The eagles themselves, along with almost all the other stone artwork on the station were the work of artist Adolph A. Weinman, who among other things created Civic Fame atop the Municipal Building and the Walking Liberty half dollar coin.

There is an incredible feature about British author Will Self visiting NYC in the NY Times Arts section. Why a feature and why so incredible? Well, Self decided to walk from JFK Airport to Manhattan - all 20 miles - and Times writer at large Charles McGrath and Times photographer Casey Kelbaugh went along for the journey, too. So it's incredibly brilliant and incredibly nuts at the same time.

Via The Daily Politics, the City of New York has created its own Google-type map with all sorts of information overlaid to show you the nearest services.

Augh! The NY Sun reports:

Speculation is heating up that the Municipal Building, the soaring limestone landmark that overlooks City Hall, could be among the government real estate assets to be sold off and converted to residential buildings as municipal employees prepare to move into a new, privately managed office building planned for ground zero.

There is a competition to name the new seven wonders of the world, and the Statue of Liberty is the only NYC mention out of the 21 finalists. Run by New 7 Wonders and with experts like Cesar Pelli and Zaha Hadid on its panel, the finalists are quite a bunch: Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, the Sydney Opera House, Easter Island statues, the Kremlin, the Eiffel Tower, and the Colosseum are just some. Which makes us wonder if the Statue of Liberty will make it to the final seven.

On Friday night, there was a smoke condition at City Hall. Apparently an "electrical panel overheated," filling the basement with smoke around 7:45PM, forcing a building evacuation. According to the NY Times, only a few building workers were in the building (Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn weren't around) and though the fire department brought a hose into the building, no water was sprayed. We're glad that City Hall wasn't damaged, as it's a truly beautiful building. We've noticed that many people mistake the Municipal Building, which is much much taller and cuts a more impressive figure than City Hall. We love City Hall's many windows, which make it seem open and add a bit of grace to its granite exterior. However, much of the mayor's staff and other city offices are in the Municipal Building.

WNBC's Chopper reporter Dan Rice has been doing a Friday feature of certain buildings and landmarks. Last week, he focused is the largest statue in the city after the Statue of Liberty: Civic Fame, which is perched on top of the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street. Rice wrote a post about the statue on the Today in New York blog and marveled at the detail he's able to see from the WNBC 4 chopper:

When we took a closer look at the statue from the helicopter, many of the details became very visible. In her left hand she cradles a crown with five peaks. Each peak represents each of the boroughs. What I did not mention on the air this morning was that each peak looks like a city wall. Below the peaks, around the rim, are dolphins. They acknowledge New York City as a seaport. On her right arm is a shield. Zooming in on the shield reveals the seal of New York City. In her right hand she holds a laurel branch and wears a crown of laurel on her head while she is draped in a robe, standing barefoot.

Has anyone played Project Gotham Racing 3 yet? We were watching TV and saw a commercial, with a car zipping past the Municipal Building. We then went to IGN, where they had screen captures like this one at the Manhattan Bridge! Project Gotham Racing seems like pure fantasy, no one is their right mind should be driving that fast in NYC. In fact, Gothamist can barely remember how drive. Hey, game developers, please create "Project Gotham Mass Transit," where we'd be able to make sure the trains run on time... or we have to get to work on time - have obstacles like an expired Metrocard, sick passenger, and signal problems in it. Something.

So, Boston native Matt Damon got married to his fiance, Miami resident Luciana Bozan, on Friday morning at City Hall - and Mayor Bloomberg was present. Damon and Bozan were able to bypass the Municipal Building wedding. We thought, "Why would Mayor Bloomberg attend the wedding?" Is it because Damon is filming a movie in NYC? Or because Damon is from Boston, the Mayor's original haunt? Or, perhaps, it's a returned favor, after Damon attended one of Bloomberg's "2012 Olympic Committee, pick us!" dinners at his townhouse this summer. Then the Post confirmed that the Olympic connection was why Hizzoner was there. But he didn't perform the marriage - a city clerk did - and the couple was married BEFORE the press corps arrived. Nice work, Bloomberg, to further distance yourself from your press corps - they would have loved a little celebrity.

Over the weekend, the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street had a fire break out on its 20th floor. Luckily, firefighters were able to control the fire (seven had minor injuries), and the FDNY is still investigating its cause - only maintenance workers were around on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We're glad that the Municipal Building is okay, because it is easily one of the most awesome buildings in the city. Designed by McKim, Mead and White (the firm's first skyscraper), the 34 floor building was completed in 1914 and now houses various city offices. For instance, the Marriage Bureau is there, so that's where the marriages are performed; the Borough President and Public Advocate also work out of there, along with 30,000 city employees. And at the top is the Adolph A. Weinman-designed Civic Fame, which is the tallest statue in the city after the Statue of Liberty. Gothamist's favorite view is from the west, when we walk on Chambers Street and see the building at end. The City Store, which is located in the Municipal Building, has a cool Municipal Building ornament.

- Three hundred sets of seats will be auctioned later this year