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October 4, 2006

Architecture 101: Cadman Plaza GPO

house
Completed in 1892, General Post Office in Downtown Brooklyn is a prime example of the Romanesque Revival style. The original portion in the foreground was designed by Mifflin Bell who was the Supervising Architect of the Treasury at the time. Of particular note are the corner tower, the dormers and the turrets, photos of which are on the link below. The 1933 addition in the rear, incorporating terra cotta and granite, was designed by James Wetmore and gets little love from critics. The AIA Guide to New York City, for example, calls is "a humorless tail trying to wag its lusty dog." The entire building was landmarked by the city in 1966 and made it into the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. We've never actually had a reason to go inside. What's it like?
United States Post Office [Trix Rosen Photography] GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:06 AM | Comments (14)
Categories: Architecture

Comments

Inside? It's depressing. And it might be the worst-run post office in the galaxy. But outside, yes, it's pretty fantastic.

Posted by: BklynJace at October 4, 2006 11:27 AM

There is now bankruptcy court next door to the post office which seems to be built in a way that preserves much of the original grandeur of the building. I've peered in the windows but I've never been inside.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 4, 2006 12:03 PM

The rennovated PO inside could be any suburban mall -- nothing left. And it is terrribly run. That said, if you look up as you walk down Court Street early on a Sta or Sun morning, you maight think you are somewhere in Europe...

Posted by: Anonymous at October 4, 2006 12:08 PM

as bad as the GPO can be at times, it is hardy the worst-run post office in Brooklyn, let alone in the galaxy. but that is more a comment on how bad other stations are. as far as design goes, a smattering of original detail was preserved but for the most part, the renovation is not unlike when a bank renovates one of its older branches and most of the 19th century features are standardized to look like every other branch. always a sad day. the single most disappointing feature is that the lobby doors are often broken, a year or so after a multi-million dollar renovation. the federal bankruptcy court next door in the same building is gorgeous. nice mix (IMHO) of original and contemporary features/fixtures. paint colors may or may not be correct for the period but it is quite an eye-ful.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 4, 2006 12:16 PM

nothing special inside - lobby flooring and a few accoutrements are likely to be original, but once in the main space, it's a depressing drop-ceiling, flourescent lighting, plastic laminate & bulletproof glass extravaganza. it's dark and clostrophobic and houses what seems like twice as many clerks' stations than they ever actually use. it's the closest post office to my office, so i'm here a lot. at least the hours are decent.

Posted by: janelle at October 4, 2006 1:03 PM

Has always been my favorite building in Bklyn from the outside. The inside doesn't reflect the outside, just another Post Office. I disagree with it being the worst run. My mail carrrier has always done a good job with holding mail, dealing with mail from people who have moved etc. They also climb all the brownstone steps to deliver the mail without complaints.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 4, 2006 1:10 PM

I've always said I can't wait until this is turned into condos, I'd love to buy one. It's definitely not the worst run PO because I used to live there and got my mail like clockwork. Now I live in FG and have the worst service imaginable.

Posted by: Anon at October 4, 2006 3:35 PM

That's a fair point -- the mail carriers are great.

As for the office itself, my comment was no doubt influenced by the fact that the other PO I frequent is on Church Street (the one damaged on 9/11) and it's as close to a pleasure as going to the PO can be. Very well-organized, machines work, and folks are actually helpful.

Besides, there's more to the galaxy than Brooklyn? Perish the thought!

Posted by: BklynJace at October 4, 2006 3:48 PM

as long as we're talking about postal service -- and why not? humankind does not live by real estate alone -- the mail service in fort greene and clinton hill is a horror. but everybody has tales to tell. i used to live in park slope and once had to wake up my letter carrier, catching a quick nap on a stoop, to make sure he knew that i had put in a forwarding order. then i moved to williamsburg where some of the clerks sold drugs out of the windows. i think both 11215 and 11211 have improved from then but i often have to offer up the stoicism, 'you don't get much for 39 cents.'

Posted by: Anonymous at October 4, 2006 4:15 PM

Depressing on the inside? You don't know how depressing it was. This is where the Brooklyn Selective Service (a/k/a draft boards) was located during the Viet Nam War. I remember signing up at 18 across from Nathan's in Coney Island; however, it was moved to federal property for reasons of national security.
It had an interesting atrium as I remember. Similar the LA building shown at the end of DOA and in Blade Runner. Added to its charm.

Posted by: tom at October 4, 2006 5:03 PM

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has office space that was just completed and they are moving into the space within about one month. Typically the federal government spares no expense when building courts or US Attorney's offices. The renovation is supposed to be beautiful. Post office not withstanding.

Posted by: Andy at October 4, 2006 9:24 PM

The bankruptcy court renovation is magnificent; huge atrium ringed by nicely redone court rooms. FYI this was the federal court house where Col. Rudolph Abel, a Soviet spy, was tried and convicted in October, 1957...the famous "hollow nickel" spy case, that started with the accidental purchase of a copy of the Brooklyn Eagle with a nickel hollowed out to contain microfilm. Col. Abel lived at Fulton and Clark Streets, posing as a photographer. It took four years to track him down.
After his conviction and sentenced, he was exchanged with the Soviets for U-2 pilot Gary Powers....

Posted by: Ed Newman at October 4, 2006 10:47 PM

That's not Romanesque Revival, dude -- that's totally Second Empire

Posted by: caleb at October 6, 2006 3:23 PM

UPDATE - The day I posted I came home to discover my mailcarrier didn't feel like delivering mail that day. The steps are being rebrownstoned although no one was working on them that day and they were perfectly dry. She had written 'Men working on Steps' and handed it off to someone else to put in the mailbox.

Can someone please tell me where I can be this lazy at a job and be able to keep it? Why don't the higher ups at the Postal Service care about the service of their employees? The level of laziness is really mind boggling.

Posted by: Anon (10/04 3:35pm) at October 6, 2006 5:21 PM

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