The Public Theater

 theatre, Romanesque (architecture), interesting place, 1850s construction, movie / film / TV location, historic landmark

4-story early Romanesque-revival building completed in several sections: the south wing was built 1849-53 (designed by Alexander Saeltzer), the center section in 1856-59 (designed by Griffith Thomas), and the north wing in 1879-81 (designed by Thomas Stent). It was built as a public library owned by John Jacob Astor.

The facade stretches 15 bays, arranged in three similar horizontal sections. The 1-story, rusticated brownstone base has round-arched windows with compound columns and architrave moldings. The upper facade is clad in red brick and cusped brownstone panels, and also has round-arched windows with compound columns. At the 3rd floor is a brown bracketed roof cornice and parapet with surmounting urns. The 4th floor, rising above the central section, has round-arched windows as well. It is topped by a wrap-around bracketed cornice, and open parapet topped by finials. A modern metal and glass canopy has been installed over the entrance's wide, shallow steps. The north and south walls are clad in red brick with simple windows.

The Astor Library was New York's first public library. Later, the building served for many years as the headquarters of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, but was left vacant for several decades of abandonment and was considered endangered in 1965 when theatrical producer Joseph Papp persuaded the city the acquire it.

In 1966, architect Giorgio Cavaglieri converted the building for adaptive reuse as Joseph Papp's Public Theater. Joseph Papp also founded the New York Shakespeare Festival, aka Shakespeare In The Park. The building underwent more recent renovations by Ennead Architects/Polshek Partnership.

The interior was used as a location for the HBO reboot of "Gossip Girl". The exterior was also used for S1E1 of the HBO original series "Love Life".

publictheater.org/