44 Union Square

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

44 Union Square is famous for serving as the headquarters of Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that dominated New York City politics from the 1850s through the 1930s. The building was designed by Thompson, Holmes & Converse and Charles B. Meyers.

With alterations designed by BKSK Architects for Reading International/Margaret Cotter, the redevelopment gutted the building's interior, including a 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 on the seemed to demolish the entire building down to a a thin line of brick which held up the exterior.

The new glowing 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/
www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/nyregion/tammany-halls-audit...
thevillagesun.com/tammany-halls-new-dome-glows-but-will...