City Hall Park
Old Post Office, Broadway and Park Row, Manhattan (1938). Built between 1869 and 1880, the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse was a Second Empire style building that occupied the southern tip of City Hall Park, across the street from the Woolworth Building. Never much loved—it was dubbed “Mullet’s Monstrosity,” in reference to the lead architect—there had been calls for its demolition as early as 1912. It was finally torn down as part of the renovation of City Hall Park during the lead-up to the 1939 World’s Fair. Abbott took this photograph just a few weeks before demolition started.
Old Post Office with Trolley (1938). The Old Post Office was a major streetcar terminus, with a turning loop and stub end tracks. The photograph shows a streetcar of the Third Avenue Railway System (TARS). Fort George, the sign on the streetcar, is a neighborhood at the northern end of Washington Heights.
City Hall Park
Hizzoner, wondering what I may be up to