Boss Tweed Courthouse

This month’s selection, the Boss Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan, also known as the Old New York County Courthouse, are in a major metropolis.  

BOSS TWEED HISTORY: William M. “Boss” Tweed was a corrupt New York politician who led the Tammany Hall Democratic political machine.  He controlled New York City for decades and oversaw the construction of the courthouse beginning in 1861that is popularly called his name. In 1859 $250,000 was set aside for the courthouse, but its documented cost exceeded 32 times budget: $8 million in mid-19th century dollars. A day of cabinetry work alone on August 23, 1869 cost $125,839 and also a $350,000 bill for carpeting. David Dunlap, “Boss Tweed’s Courthouse: An Elegant Monument to Corruption” The New York Times (May 5, 1986). Tweed scholar Alexander Callow has called the courthouse corruption “a classic in the annals of American graft.” The Tweed Ring p. 202. Greenwood Press (1981). Tweed himself bought a marble quarry in Massachusetts to supply the New York courthouse’s marble. In 1871 Tweed was charged with corruption, and the Ring was disbanded in the wake of his arrest. He and his ring of allies reportedly embezzled $300 million, again in 19th century dollars, over the years. See Wikipedia “Tweed Courthouse” for much greater detail about the building and corruption.

ARCHITECTURE: The exterior is composed of a portico with four Corinthian columns and large Italianate wood doors. The courthouse’s most prominent feature is the octagonal rotunda which is now highlighted by a skylight. The building, which has a central section and four wings, has over 100 rooms. The former courtrooms had 28-foot ceilings and retain along with the stairs and hallways opulent features including elaborate steel lighting fixtures, marble tile floors and cast-iron baseboards.

Part of the building was used for scenes in the 1982 film “The Verdict,” starring Paul Newman.

CURRENT USE:  The Office of the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education is housed in the former courthouse. The building is not open to the public. Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos kindly arranged for my access to and tour of the building. The Department’s retention of the original architecture is an excellent and tasteful example of repurposing. A wrecker’s ball hung over the historic courthouse’s head through the 1970s.