Home to federal agencies such as the NYC branch of the FBI and GSA, this granite and glass checkerboard was once the backdrop to the highly controversial Richard Serra sculpture Tilted Arc and now boasts a new plaza redesign by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The original Landscape Architect was Martha Schwartz.

Home to thirteen of NYC’s municipal agencies, the Municipal Building is one of the city’s most imposing presences, with an influence on civic architecture that reached as far as Stalinist Russia. Its tower is topped by Adolph Weinman’s statue “Civic Fame” and its grandly proportioned arch frames a tunnel once traversed by Chambers Street traffic.

McKim, Meade & White took over the design of this building after architect Stephen Hatch died a month after construction began. Extending an entire avenue block, the Broadway side of this monumental neo-Italian Renaissance skyscraper boasts a palazzo-style façade and clock tower.

Originally the New York County Court, which moved from the Tweed Courthouse in 1927, this classical Roman hexagonal courthouse is fronted by a massive Corinthian colonnade supporting an elaborately decorated pediment.

Exemplifying the ideals of the “City Beautiful” movement, this opulent Parisian courthouse was originally built as a storage facility for the city’s records. Statues on the exterior, by Philip Martiny and Henry Kirk Bush-Brown, depict various allegorical figures such as Law and Philosophy, as well as prominent features of New York history.

One of the last buildings by the elder Cass Gilbert, this courthouse combines a monumental portico with a tower topped by terra cotta and gold leaf, recalling the designs of Gilbert’s nearby Woolworth and New York Life buildings.

The Old New York County Courthouse, better known as Tweed Courthouse, is the legacy of Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, who controlled the initial construction. Built over a period of twenty years, between 1861 and 1881, it is the product of two of New York’s most prominent nineteenth-century architects, John Kellum and Leopold Eidlitz. Grandly scaled and richly decorated, the courthouse retains its original spatial arrangement, including thirty monumental courtrooms and a five-story central rotunda. Under an accelerated time schedule, John G. Waite Associates, Architects (JGWA) restored a neglected, deteriorated 177,500 square foot courthouse for use by the New York City Department of Education. Recognizing the significance of the historic Tweed Courthouse, JGWA lobbied for its restoration and the responsible use of its interior spaces. JGWA worked with multiple civic entities throughout the restoration process to insure the project ran smoothly. An on-site office was created to expedite the design and construction process. As the first step in the restoration process, JGWA prepared a comprehensive feasibility study for the exterior and interior spaces, documenting existing conditions and recommending procedures for restoration. Utilizing recommendations from the study, the firm applied their profound knowledge of materials conservation and restoration and of nineteenth-century mechanical and structural systems, installing new lighting, security, HVAC, and fire system with only minimal intrusions on the historic spaces.