FINANCIAL
DISTRICT ROOFTOPS III
JUNE 9, 1938. ABBOTT FILE L-11
FINANCIAL DISTRICT
ROOFTOPS II
JUNE 9, 1938. ABBOTT FILE L-14
CITY ARABESQUE
From 60 Wall Tower at 70 Pine Street
JUNE 9, 1938. ABBOTT FILE L-15
Connected by a bridge to a low building at 60 Wall Street, the Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street acquired the faux Wall Street address "60 Wall Tower." A month after photographing from the roof of One Wall Street, Abbott took her hand-held camera to the top of 60 Wall Tower, which, at 67 stories, was the tallest building in lower Manhattan. Although there was an enclosed public observation room, Abbott obtained permission to work from the room's balconies. Each of the three views from 60 Wall Tower were taken from a different balcony--under, over, or through the wrought iron Art Deco railing.
For Financial District Rooftops III, Abbott placed the camera under the balcony railing and faced northwest, toward Broadway and the Hudson River piers. On Cedar Street, below, were Chase National Bank (1931) and the Equitable Building (1915). On Liberty Street was the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (1924), filling an entire trapezoid-shaped block; at 149 Broadway was Ernest Flagg's Singer Tower (1908), with its famous domed top; and at 140 West Street was the massive York Telephone Building (1928; upper right; see Lower East Side Plate 6). Later, Chase Manhattan Tower and Plaza (1960) dominated the view, with the World Trade Center's twin towers (1970s) in the background. The 47-story Singer Tower was the tallest building ever demolished, to make way for 1 Liberty Plaza (1974).
For Financial District Rooftops II, Abbott aimed over the balcony railing, southwest toward the Battery. The squat, ziggarat-topped building (center) is the Equitable Trust Company (1928) at 15 Broad Street; the smaller pyramid top (top left) belongs to the Standard Oil Company Building (1922) at 26 Broadway; and the imposing structure at 17 Battery Place (top center) is the Whitehall Building (1910). The office towers in this photograph still stand, but the view is blocked by the bulky Morgan Bank Headquarters (1988) at 60 Wall Street. With the removal of the bridge connecting 60 Wall Street to 70 Pine Street, the name "60 Wall Tower" was discarded.
Looking northwest (City Arabesque), Abbott saw in the distance (from left to right) City Hall Park, the back of the Municipal Building (1914), and the approach ramp of the Brooklyn Bridge. Directly below (lower right), the Third Avenue El moved north on Pearl Street from the financial district to the low-roofed tenements of the Lower East Side. Less dynamic than the southerly views, City Arabesque was enlivened by the Art Deco balcony of 60 Wall Tower. Abbott's photograph, which imposes the balcony's rhythmic contours against the urban checkerboard below, distills 60 Wall Tower's "jazz Gothic" style.Today, the skyscrapers in this view remain, but the tenements have been replaced by the Southbridge Towers housing project (1969), Pace University (1970), and new bridge approaches (1983).