63 Nassau Street - Structural Detail

Structural Detail

The 5-story, 3-bay Italianate style cast-iron front facade was originally composed (the ground story was first altered in 1919) of superimposed arcades, with a 2-story arcade capped by an intermediate modillioned foliate cornice, surmounted by a 3-story arcade. The arcades are formed by elongated fluted Corinthian columns (most of the capitals’ leaves are now missing); rope moldings, which also surround the spandrel panels; molded arches with faceted keystones and molded paneled reveals; and foliate spandrels. Between the second and third floors the building features a series of wreath-encircled portraits of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin cast, like the rest of the facade, in iron. The two portraits of Washington are missing from the facade as of 2008. Similar portraits once appeared on two other Bogardus buildings, the Baltimore Sun building in Baltimore, Maryland, and the New York building of Harper & Brothers. Both of those buildings have been torn down.

The facade is terminated by a widely-projecting, modillioned foliate cornice supported by a corbel table. Windows were originally two-over-two double-hung wood sash. These were replaced by wood casement windows with transoms prior to 1928 on the upper three stories, and by single-pane windows on the second story during the 1980s. The northern storefront consists of a deeply recessed entrance with glass door and transom,flanking show windows set above recessed bases, and a mosaic tile floor. A metallic signage band extends partially into the second story. The southern metal-and-glass storefront is non-historic, with a fixed awning.