New York County Courthouse, County courthouse in Foley Square, Manhattan, US
The New York County Courthouse is a hexagonal granite building rising above Centre Street with sixteen Corinthian columns forming a colonnade at the top of a 32-step staircase. It houses the Civil and Appellate Terms of the New York State Supreme Court for the First Judicial District at 60 Centre Street.
Construction began in 1919 after architect Guy Lowell modified the initial circular design due to World War I constraints, and the building was completed in February 1927. Its design represented a shift toward more functional court architecture suited to modern judicial needs.
You can see the central rotunda's mural titled 'Law Through the Ages' by Attilio Pusterla, showing important legal figures beneath a soaring dome. The artwork reflects how the space celebrates the role of justice in society through visual storytelling.
The building sits at the corner of Centre Street and Foley Square, easily accessible by subway from multiple nearby stations. Keep in mind that the interior is a working courthouse with security screening, so some areas may not be open to visitors on certain days.
The building features a triangular pediment with thirteen granite figures representing Law, Truth, and Equity, along with an inscription from George Washington about justice. These sculptural details often go unnoticed by passersby, but they encode the foundational principles of the American legal system into the architecture itself.
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