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Civic Center in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Civic Center

Foley Square

— Exploring Downtown —

 
 
Civic Center/Foley Square Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, March 26, 2011
1. Civic Center/Foley Square Marker
Inscription.
Municipal government long ago spilled out of City Hall to create the surrounding Civic Center. Today, Chambers Street and Foley Square are lined with white granite and marble civic buildings. The sumptuous lobby of the Surrogate’s Court at 31 Chambers Street (1899-1907), with marble walls and vaulted mosaic-covered ceiling, is often used as a location for television and movie scenes. Down the street, the Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street (McKim, Mead & White, 1914) raises classic white granite to skyscraper heights, in a building that straddles what used to be a continuation of Chambers Street. To the north, Centre and Lafayette streets form the oddly shaped Foley Square, now synonymous with the courts. Side by side sit the United States Courthouse at 40 Centre Street (Cass Gilbert, 1936) and the New York State Supreme Court (originally the New York County Courthouse) at 60 Centre Street (Guy Lowell, 1912-1926). Foley Square replaced a large part of the once infamous Five Points district – a collection of squalid, rundown houses on streets known as “Murderers Alley” and “Den of Thieves.” Violent gangs like the Dead Rabbits and the Plug Uglies eventually grew into organized crime syndicates.
 
Erected by The Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.
 
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Location. 40° 42.822′ N, 74° 0.197′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in Civic Center. Marker is at the intersection of Centre Street and Reade Street, on the right when traveling north on Centre Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New York NY 10007, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Foley Square c. 1730 (within shouting distance of this marker); Judge Walter R. Mansfield Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Municipal Building (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Triumph of the Human Spirit (about 300 feet away); Patrick Cardinal Hayes (about 300 feet away); Changing Landscape Obscures the Past (about 300 feet away); Interment Site (about 300 feet away); Africans in Early New York (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.
 
More about this marker. The top of the marker features a photo of the Manhattan Municipal Building after a 1992 restoration. Below this is a picture of “The 25-foot-tall gilded female figure in flowing robes balancing on a sphere 40 stories up in the air atop the
Marker on Centre Street image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, March 26, 2011
2. Marker on Centre Street
Municipal Building in Civic Center (Adolph Merriman 1913-14; restored 1991). As the principal ornament of the Municipal Building, designed to hold the offices of the newly consolidated City of Greater New York, she holds a crown with turrets representing the city’s five counties, created in 1898.” An interior photo on the right of the marker has the caption “Inside the striking hexagonal Supreme Court, 60 Centre Street, the grand rotunda is lavishly adorned with a series of murals, ‘Law Through the Ages.’ By Attilio Pusteria (1936-38). Illustrating the history of law from ancient times to modern, they were brilliantly restored in 1992.”
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Take a tour of the markers in lower Manhattan erected by the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.
 
US Court House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, March 26, 2011
3. US Court House
Supreme Court Building image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, March 26, 2011
4. Supreme Court Building
Civic Center Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Larry Gertner, 1999
5. Civic Center Marker
The original "Heritage Trails" marker, 1999
Civic Center Marker, 2019 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Larry Gertner, February 5, 2019
6. Civic Center Marker, 2019
The current "Exploring Lower Manhattan" version.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 15, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 27, 2011, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 597 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 27, 2011, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.   5. submitted on February 9, 2019, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.   6. submitted on February 6, 2019, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.

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Mar. 19, 2024