55 Water Street is a 687 ft (209m) tall skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, on the East River. It was completed in 1972 and has 53 floors. Emery Roth & Sons designed the building, which is tied with 277 Park Avenue as the 40th tallest building in New York City. When it was completed it was the largest office building in the world, and is still the largest in New York by floor area. In an arrangement with the Office of Lower Manhattan Development, it was built on a superblock created from four adjoining city blocks, suppressing the western part of Front Street.
On the north side of the tower is a 15-story wing with a sloping facade and terraces facing the river. In front of the wing is an elevated plaza, known as the "Elevated Acre", which is reachable by a high escalator ride and available as a rental venue for special events and weddings. The 4,800 square metres (52,000 sq ft) plaza was designed by M. Paul Friedberg & Associates, and has same red brick tiles as his Jeannette Park to the south of the tower. The building, its plazas and Jeannette Park have been renovated and redesigned by Lee S. Jablin of Harman Jablin Architects. It was originally planned as a series of high-level public spaces along East River, to be connected with walkways running above the street level.
On October 29, 2012, the building was among many along the Lower Manhattan waterfront that sustained damage related to Hurricane Sandy when 32+ million gallons flooded three underground levels and causing water to rise waist high in the lobby. On November 23, 2012, while repairs were being conducted a fire caused injuries to 27 people -- mostly those working on the lower levels.
55 Water Street was the last major building built by Uris Brothers.
Read more about 55 Water Street: Tenants
Famous quotes containing the words water and/or street:
“The water for which we may have to look
In summertime with a witching wand,
In every wheelrut’s now a brook,
In every print of a hoof a pond.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The sturdy Irish arms that do the work are of more worth than oak or maple. Methinks I could look with equanimity upon a long street of Irish cabins, and pigs and children reveling in the genial Concord dirt; and I should still find my Walden Wood and Fair Haven in their tanned and happy faces.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)