The Public Theater building

About

The Astor Library Building (also known as the Public Theater Building and Joseph Papp Public Theater) is a theater and former library building at 425 Lafayette Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, New York, US. It was built in three stages between 1854 and 1881 for the Astor Library and, since 1967, has housed the Public Theater. The building was one of the first properties designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The library was built by William B. Astor, son of the library's founder, John Jacob Astor. The original structure was constructed to designs by Alexander Saeltzer, while subsequent additions by Griffith Thomas (in 1856–1859) and Thomas Stent (in 1880–1881) followed Saeltzer's original design. The building is made of brick and stone and is mostly three stories high, except for the central section, which rises four stories. Inside were features such as a staircase leading to a double-height reading room. The modern-day building has six stages for the Public Theater, which reuse some of the original interiors, including the reading room and lobby.

Work on the building commenced in 1850. The original portion of the building opened for limited use on January 9, 1854, and was opened to general use on February 1, 1854. Partly due to the presence of the Astor Library, bookbinding and publishing firms such as The De Vinne Press and J.J. Little & Co. settled around Lafayette Place. The Astor Library later became part of the New York Public Library, which abandoned the building in 1911, when the books were moved to the newly constructed New York Public Library Main Branch by Bryant Park. In 1920, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society purchased it. By 1965 it was in disuse and faced demolition. The Public Theater (then known as the New York Shakespeare Festival) persuaded the city to purchase it for use as a theater, and it was converted for theater use by Giorgio Cavaglieri, reopening in October 1967. The building was renovated in the early 2010s.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.