44 Union Square (New York City, New York)

 office building, interesting place, historic landmark, 1929_construction, Colonial Revival (architecture)

6-story Neo-Georgian office building originally completed in 1929 as the 3.5-story headquarters of Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that dominated New York City politics from the 1850s through the 1930s. Designed by Thompson, Holmes & Converse and Charles B. Meyers, it includes Flemish bond brickwork; rectangular windows with stone keystones, set in arched openings; and wrought-iron balconies.

The western half of the building contained various offices. The Tammany Society had exclusive use of the 3rd floor, which included a central lounge, a club room, office and meeting rooms, and various waiting rooms. The Democratic County Committee was located on the 2nd floor. The eastern half of the building was occupied by the 1,200-seat auditorium, which took up the 1st-3rd floors. However, after Tammany Hall lost its influence in the 1930s, the building was sold to an affiliate of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in 1943. By the 1980s, it was used by the Union Square Theatre, while the New York Film Academy took space in 1994.

The building was converted into an office and retail structure during a renovation that took place between 2016 and 2020. With alterations designed by BKSK Architects for Reading International/Margaret Cotter, the redevelopment gutted the building's interior, including the theater where New York politicians including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Al Smith once spoke. Cotter evicted Union Square Theater, New York Film Academy, and the four retail tenants to allow for the new office space. Construction workers seemed to demolish the entire building down to a thin line of brick which held up the exterior, and the rebuilt structure was topped by a turtle-shaped glass dome that added three floors of space. Tammany Hall was renamed 44 Union Square. A Petco pet-supply store opened in the building in 2023.

The facade is clad in limestone at the ground floor and is clad with specially-molded over-sized clinker brick laid in Flemish bond and stone trim on the upper floors. The new glass dome is partially screened from view by a brick and stone balustrade.

Facing Union Square, the west facade seven bays, with a keystone on a lintel above the former main entrance at center of façade, now a commercial entrance. A pair of stone console brackets support a balcony above with wrought-iron railings. There are show-windows in the other ground-floor bays. At the 2nd-3rd floors Doric limestone columns, pilasters, and an entablature extend across the façade. There are corner quoins, and a molded arched surround at the center entrance to the balcony; the entry retains original paired multi-light wood-and-glass doors and a Gothic arched wood-and-glass transom. The other windows have splayed brick lintels with keystones. Topping the 3rd floor is a pediment decorated with garlands and a central roundel with a polychrome terracotta plaque depicting a Liberty cap. Extending to either side is a brick and limestone balustrade.

The longer north facade on 17th Street has five central bays that slightly project; set off by round-arched openings at the ground floor, with pilasters, quoining, and an arched gable with a fanlight window on the upper floors. An inscription over the center bays reads “1786 The Society of Tammany or Columbian Order 1928". The 2nd floor has flat-arched windows inscribed within blind arches the middle five bays and center of end bays. There are decorative stone console brackets beneath stone balconies with wrought-iron railings at the two outer bays of the 5-bay center section. At the 3rd floor are sculptural relief tablets between the three eastern bays. In place of windows at the 3rd floor the center section has a framed sculptural tablet flanked by roundels with profile heads of Columbus and Chief Tammany. Topping the 3rd floor is a brick and stone parapet; center gable flanked by scrolled stone volutes; and a semi-circular window opening with bracketed molded frame and original fanlight window.

The new glowing glass dome is in the shape of a turtle, a religious symbol of the Lenape Indian nation whose long-ago Chief Tamanend inspired the name for Tammany Hall in the 18th century. As of 2024, none of the office space has been occupied.

44unionsquare.com/
hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000065812433?urlappend=%3Bseq=3...
bkskarch.com/work/tammany-hall/
architizer.com/projects/tammany-hall/
thevillagesun.com/tammany-halls-new-dome-glows-but-will...