Great Architects of New York: Henry J. Hardenbergh
The New Jersey Zinc Co. Building
Address
160 Front Street
New York, N.Y. 10038
Location
West side of Front Street from Maiden Lane to Fletcher Street.
Neighborhood
Financial District
Built
1917-1918
Use
Rental apartments; originally offices for the New Jersey Zinc Company, now part of the Horsehead Corp.
AIA Guide
N/A
Landmark Status
Not landmarked
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This is almost certainly the last building Henry J. Hardenbergh designed. The New York Times obituary published the day after he died in March 1918 said, "He had just completed the plans for an office building on Maiden Lane for the New Jersey Zinc Company." City records indicate that that there were demolition and new building permits issued for this site in 1917, and that the present building, built for the New Jersey Zinc Company at the corner of Maiden Lane and Front Street, received its first certificate of occupancy in February 1919.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, a 1919 architectural review of the building notes that it was innovative for its use of a new building material all throughout the interior and exterior — zinc!

A livlier building designed by Hardenbergh once stood two blocks south at 136-140 Front Street, from Pine Street to the now-obliterated Depeyster Street. That site is now occupied by a 32-story office tower completed in 1973 known as Wall Street Plaza or 88 Pine Street.

Articles

  • "Building for the New Jersey Zinc Company." Architecture and Building, 1919, vol. 51, pp. 14-15.
  • Oser, Alan S. "A Wave of Rehabilitation Activity in the Financial District." The New York Times, July 14, 1978; p. A13.
  • Raab, Selwyn. "Downtown: The Original Place to Live." The New York Times, Jan. 2, 1983; Sec. 8, p. 1.
  • Rozhon, Tracie. "Habitats: 45 Wall Street; 2 Careers, 1 Window." The New York Times, June 15, 1997, Sec. 9, p. 2.



    		•
    This 1918 building was Hardenbergh's last. Built as offices for the New Jersey Zinc Company, it was converted to rental apartments in 1978.


    The east and north facades face Front and Fletcher Streets, respectively. Note that the cornice is reduced for narrow Fletcher Street.


    The horse head below the pediment (left) was adopted as the trademark of to the New Jersey Zinc Company in 1855, from the corresponding symbol used on the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey. A modified logo has been used by the Horsehead Corporation since it purchased the New Jersey Zinc Company in 1981.


    This building, designed by Hardenbergh and built in 1893-1894, once stood a block away on the west side of Front Street between Pine and Depeyster Streets.