Old New York Evening Post Building
A rare American Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by Robert D. Kohn, this fourteen-story limestone and cast-iron edifice housed the offices and printing plant of one of the nation’s most influential newspapers.
At a glance
Built between 1906 and 1907 at 20 Vesey Street in Manhattan’s Financial District, this landmark building stands as one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture in the United States. The newspaper that commissioned it, the New York Evening Post, operated from these offices for two decades before relocating in 1926.
History
Oswald Garrison Villard, owner of the New York Evening Post, commissioned architect Robert D. Kohn to design a new purpose-built headquarters that would reflect the newspaper’s prominence. The building’s construction in 1906–07 coincided with the height of Art Nouveau’s influence in architectural design. The Post remained in the building until 1926, when it moved to a new facility. Later called the Garrison Building, the structure was designated a New York City landmark in 1965 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. From 1980 to 1987, it served as headquarters for the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.
What you see
The fourteen-story facade evokes the elegance of Paris boulevards through its sophisticated limestone piers and three tall bays of cast-iron framed bow windows. An elaborate copper-covered mansard roof, extending two stories, crowns the composition and features four sculpted figures representing the Four Periods of Publicity. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum—famous for carving Mount Rushmore—created two of these figures, while architect Kohn’s wife, Estelle Rumbold Kohn, executed the other pair. The building was not derived from existing prototypes but conceived as an original composition.
Cultural significance
This building represents a watershed moment for American architectural modernism. Its designation as one of the few outstanding Art Nouveau structures ever built in the United States underscores its rarity and importance. The collaboration between Kohn and the Borglum workshop elevated it beyond a functional newspaper plant into a work of civic art.
Key facts
- Location: 20 Vesey Street, Financial District, Manhattan
- Country: United States
- Coordinates: 40.71194444, −74.01
- Designed by: Robert D. Kohn
- Built: 1906–07
- Stories: 14
- NYC Landmark designation: 1965
- National Register of Historic Places: 1977
Practical information & getting there
The building is located at 20 Vesey Street between Church Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan. It remains a working office building; exterior views are accessible from the street. The surrounding Financial District offers extensive public transit connections and nearby heritage sites including City Hall and the Woolworth Building.
Sources & resources
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