This 27-story Federal courthouse is adjacent to Guy Lowell's Municipal Courthouse and across from Cass Gilbert's U.S. Courthouse tower. The building matches the height of Lowell Courthouse, houses two lobbies, a jury selection room, support space, cafeteria, auditorium, and a ceremonial court under a vaulted roof. The tower, which aligns with Gilbert's courthouse, contains 42 courtrooms and judge’s chambers. A public plaza was created adjacent to the Lowell Courthouse. The modern design takes cues from the rhythm of the surrounding, classically-styled civic structures and keeping the same datum lines, material palettes and points of reference for the new structure.

This park in the heart of New York City's civic center is named for patriot, author, humanitarian, and political visionary Thomas Paine (1737-1809). The land that is now Thomas Paine Park was once part of a freshwater swamp surrounded, ironically, by three former British prisons for revolutionaries. One of them was The Bridewell, the infamous detention center where many inmates died from wind and cold exposure while awaiting sentencing. After the war, the area went through more hard times. In the 19th century, it was part of one of the most notorious slums in the country: Five Points, a community of predominantly Irish immigrants. After calls for reform, the City acquired and condemned most of the unsafe buildings between 1887 and 1894.