General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen

 museum, society, interesting place, movie / film / TV location, trade association

7-story Beaux-Arts/Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1892 as the 5-story Berkeley School for Boys. Designed by Lamb & Rich, it was acquired by The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen in 1899. Member and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie generously provided the funds to significantly expand the building in 1903. The expansion, completed in 1905, was designed by Ralph S. Townsend and blends monumental Beaux Arts classicism with Renaissance elements.

The building has a 100-foot wide facade composed of Indiana limestone, yellow Roman brick, and terra-cotta. With a symmetrical facade of seven bays, the building has a rusticated 2-story base surmounted by double-height side pavilions with round-arches, flanking a slightly-recessed 3-bay central portion with double-height columns.

A wide frieze over the three central bays reproduces a portion of the Parthenon frieze from casts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The most impressive interior space is the armory (now the library) two stories in height and measuring 85x100 feet, with a span of glass 55-feet wide (now painted over) covering the central portion of the room. The exterior of the building is a study in the tension between unifying and stratifying elements. The two lowest floors, though both rusticated, are clearly separated by a stone sill upon which rests the window openings of the 2nd floor. The windows at the ground floor (originally a raised basement) are now single-pane show-windows with metal surrounds. The rusticated is slightly rougher on the ground floor, and the window openings are flat arches with voussoirs, while the 2nd floor has arches with voussoirs in the outer bays, and smaller square openings with stained glass framing a large 2-story arched entrance. This large arch united the two floors, and contains a stained glass transom. The deeply-recessed openings of these two floors provide a strong feeling of solidity. Immediately to the right of the entrance is the enframed plaque of the Society's coat of arms.

The upper floors are smooth-faced with elaborate decoration. Above the 2nd floor is a broad stone belt course interrupted by balustrades and column pedestals in the central three bays, which are slightly recessed. The 3rd & 4th floors are united by double-height round-arched windows in the outer two bays, divided horizontally by large stone panels. The arched windows contain eight panes framed in wood, while the windows underneath the panels are 1-over-1 wood sash below transoms. The three central bays are crowned by segmental-arches and are separated by engaged Ionic columns and pilasters. Raised roundels in the spandrels and the frieze from the Parthenon in place of a more academic Ionic entablature further enhance the facade.

The expansion by Townsend added two wings in the rear, removed the existing top floor, and replaced it with three new stories. The new floors are faced in brick. In addition, wrought-iron fire escapes were added at the outer bays of the facade. A more academically "correct" Corinthian order was installed in a half-columned central bay at the 6th floor directly over the Ionic on the 4th. The 1-over-1 window pattern of the 3rd & 4h floors is continued except for the use of transoms. Elaborate egg-and-dart or banded foliate moldings are liberally distributed, primarily as framing devices for openings in the facade. The outer bays of the 7th floor are framed in terra-cotta with an Ionic half-column dividing a pair of windows. The central bays are divided by pilasters. The windows have segmental-arches transoms, and are crowned with voussoirs and keystones. A dentiled cornice supports a balustraded roof parapet.

The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York was founded on November 17, 1785, by 22 men who gathered in Walter Heyer's public-house on Pine Street in Lower Manhattan. The aims of the General Society were to provide cultural, educational and social services to families of skilled craftsmen. The General Society during this early period celebrated the mutuality and centrality of the craft community. Besides its charitable activities, the society played a prominent part in the festivities that marked patriotic holidays, carrying banners emblazoned with its slogan 'By hammer and hand all arts do stand', echoing the motto of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths.

The interior stair and one of the rooms was used as a filming location for S2E3 of the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". The main library also a location for the USA series White Collar.

www.generalsociety.org/


www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2jJbeYjKME&ab_channel=Amaz...