BEECH WOODEN FLOORS

Civic Center, Manhattan

The home office of the New York Life Insurance Company organized in 1841 and one of the oldest life insurance companies in America. was constructed between 1894 and 1898. A monumental freestanding skyscraper in
the neo-Italian Renaissance style, it was designed by Stephen D. Hatch and McKim. Mead & White. The design history is extremely interesting. and somewhat complicated. In a sense, the building was constructed backwards. The eastern rear section designed by Hatch was originally intended to harmonize with the old New York Life building of 1868-70, then located at the western end of the block. When Hatch suddenly died. the commission was turned over to McKim, Mead & White and under their supervision the project took on new dimensions; the old building was demolished and the new building, now culminating in a palazzo-like tower on Broadway, was carried to completion. Thus two separate campaigns resulted in the unified and impressive structure we see today.


By early 1893, New York Life had decided to expand its headquarters. The old building by Thomas occupied approximately half of the trapezoidal block bounded by Broadway, Leonard, Elm (now Lafayette) streets, and Catharine Lane.

The company, having gradually amassed all the property of the block, proceeded to organize a limited competition, inviting five prominent architectural firms to participate. The extension was to be twelve stories tall, and
was to harmonize with the existing marble building, although the facade on Catharine Lane was to be of cheaper light brick.

The invited architects, Stephen D. Hatch, McKim, Mead & White, George B. Post, and Babb, Cook & Willard, all New York firms, and Daniel H. Burnham of Chicago, were each to be awarded $ 500 and their plans returned in the event they were not chosen. There was some debate concerning commission rates for the winner. By the 1890s a 5% commission was considered standard, but New York Life was reluctant to include this stipulation in its competition specifications. In an inter-office memo, William Mead advised his partner Stanford White:
Dear Stanny,
If Mr. Brown [of New York Life] comes to see us about a lower commission than 5%, don't agree to it under any conditions. We have a written agreement between all the competing architects except Hatch not to accept less than

5%.... Mr. Brown is a new man in the company and probably would like to be smart. Don't let him get ahead of us. We must stand by our record.

Mead

Hatch, a less successful and more conservative architect than Mead or White, may have held out either from conviction or from eagerness to be awarded the work; whether the building committee genuinely preferred his design

or were swayed luL-l:!is fees--he apparently agreed to a 3 1/2% commission 15, Hatch was selected in August 1893. Building commenced in May of the following year, but only three months later Hatch died suddenly at the age of fifty-five.

At that point, with plans and specifications completed, contracts awarded, and construction underway, New York Life apparently had two options, Work could continue under the supervision of Hatch's office, now directed by

the unknown William McCabe (who was to head the successor firm of McCabe & Wilke), or the project could be handed over to another firm. New York Life reached a compromise so Dution. McCabe was to be retained as General

Superintendent, while McKim, Mead & White, known to New York Life from the earlier western commissions, was engaged to complete the building. Hatch's drawings were sent by McCabe to McKim, Mead & White's offices and

construction was completed in late May 1896. 16 McKim, Mead & White had agreed to supervise the work as planned but certain modifications, especially to the interior of the building were incorporated.

Since Hatch's contribution to the building has been virtually overlooked, it seems worthwhile to consider the sites appearance in tile Spring of 1896: The original, mansard-roofed Italianate structure, with which the Hatch extension had been planned to harmonize, still stood. The massive extension, like its progenitor, was constructed in white marble, cornice heights had been adjusted to conform with those of the older building, and the fenestration with paired arched windows also echoed the older design. The scaling of Hatch's skyscraper--most significantly on the side elevations--seem to have been dictated by the smaller building. resulting in the rather staccato effect of the window bays (this was also to effect McKim, Mead & White's treatment of the side elevations). Hatch had also been forced to design a truncated western elevation rising midblock above the older building.
Even while the extension was under construction, New York Life apparently became convinced that the result would not be an aesthetic success, The company decided on a drastic change of course, and it was decided to

dem

Granite countertops and tile floors are availble in all bathrooms and kitchens in every unit.