17 State Street, Office skyscraper in Financial District, Manhattan, US
17 State Street is a 42-story office building with a curved glass facade oriented toward New York Harbor. Completed in 1988, the structure contains about 525,000 square feet (48,800 square meters) of commercial space designed for financial district tenants.
This building replaced the former Seamen's Church Institute that occupied the site until 1969, establishing a new chapter for the location. The 1988 completion transformed this corner of Lower Manhattan into a modern commercial tower.
The building once housed the New York Unearthed, an exhibition space run by the South Street Seaport Museum from 1990 to 2005, where visitors could see archaeological artifacts found in the area. This connection to the neighborhood's past made the site a gateway to understanding Manhattan's early history.
The building has excellent public transportation access with connections to multiple subway lines (1, 4, 5, N, and R trains nearby). Access to the interior is limited since it functions as a private office building, though the exterior and harbor views remain accessible from the waterfront area.
The quarter-round shape exists because of the unusual property lines at this corner, a quirk of Lower Manhattan's original street layout. The mirror-finish glass facade creates shifting light reflections throughout the day that are especially striking when viewed from the waterfront.
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