Federal Post Office Building

 landmark, post office, high-rise, Neoclassical (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1935_construction

256-foot, 16-story post office and federal building completed in 1935. Designed by Cross & Cross, and Louis A. Simon, who also supervised the construction of the treasury, the architectural style of the Church Street post office is a mixture of Neo-Classical and Art-Deco of the New Deal era. It takes up a whole block and has a 6-story base. The upper tower portion is set back on all four sides, with the center portion of the two longer sides more deeply recessed, forming a dumbbell shape. The facade is clad in limestone. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Floor 2-5 are divided into bays of paired windows by broad piers, with narrow single windows at the corners. The top floor of the base has deeply recessed single windows set between piers with vertical groove; large stone circles decorative every other pier. On the Church Street and West Broadway sides, very large letters carved into the stone above the entrances spell out "FEDERAL OFFICE BUILDING", and the ends of the Church Street side are ornamented by round carvings of winged figures.

The upper floors have paired bays of recessed windows with black stone spandrels, alternating with single bays of windows. Above the double bays are decorative star-shapes, and the roof parapet has pointed finials at the corners. Atop the roof are several mechanical penthouses, as well as a flagpole and small communications mast.

The building suffered moderate damage during the September 11 attacks. A remnant of one of the planes and other debris landed on top of the building during the attack. Following the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers, damage happened to its facade, broken windows, and major water damage. Contamination was found with asbestos, lead dust, fungi, fiberglass dust, mercury and bacteria. The extensive loss necessitated fitting out a new interior by Swanke Hayden Connell.

In August 2004, the Church Street Station Post Office reopened, and mail is once again being processed there. All of the mail for the World Trade Center complex was delivered here and still is. Church Street Station also serves the 10007 zip code, covering portions of Battery Park City, TriBeCa, and the area surrounding New York City Hall.

The Church Street Station Post Office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to housing the Postal Service, the 90 Church Street building contains offices of the New York State Public Service Commission, New York State Health Department, New York City Housing Authority, and the Legal Aid Society.

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