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Wall Street Plaza

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Coordinates: 40°42′20″N 74°00′22″W / 40.70556°N 74.00611°W / 40.70556; -74.00611
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88 Pine Street
Wall Street Plaza (center) in 2025, with Continental Center to its left and 100 Wall Street to its right in the background
Map
General information
TypeOffice
LocationNew York City, New York, United States
Coordinates40°42′20″N 74°00′22″W / 40.70556°N 74.00611°W / 40.70556; -74.00611
Construction started1973
Completed1974
OwnerOrient Overseas (International) Limited
Height417 feet
Technical details
Floor count33
Floor area624,000 square feet (as of 2016)
Design and construction
Architect(s)

Wall Street Plaza, also known as 88 Pine Street, is an office building located between Pine Street, Water Street, Front Street, and Maiden Lane in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Despite its name, it does not adjoin Wall Street. A plaza owned by the building management but accessible to the public surrounds it and links the separated parts of Pine Street in a walkable fashion. Its lobby includes a plaque and memorabilia related to the RMS Queen Elizabeth, a former passenger liner that sank in 1972. During its early years, the building also hosted a variety of public art projects in otherwise unused space.

The building was built in 1973 for Orient Overseas (International) Limited, which has remained the owner since its construction.

History

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The building was constructed by the firm I. M. Pei and Partners in 1973 for the Orient Overseas Association, a Hong Kong-based shipping line. The architect was James Ingo Freed. It was themed as a "light" tower, with glass and white-painted beams and columns, eschewing gray. Architecture critic Paul Goldberger remarked that for the era, the cost in building it was higher than more conventional office buildings, but not an extravagantly high budget either.[1] Though the building is known as Wall Street Plaza, it does not adjoin Wall Street, instead being located at 88 Pine Street.[2] David W. Dunlap wrote of the building's name that "Wall Street Plaza sounds more like a financial landmark than 88 Pine Street."[3]

One early tenant of Wall Street Plaza was Banca Serfin.[4] After I. M. Pei & Partners rebranded as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the firm moved into 88 Pine Street as tenants themselves in 2000.[5] Another notable tenant – if for the wrong reasons – was telecommunications company Global Crossing, which was known to spend money rather loosely before their 2002 bankruptcy, and commissioned various changes to their rented floors at great expense.[6][7]

In 2017, Orient Overseas was bought out by the conglomerate COSCO Shipping, a state-owned enterprise with its leaders hand-picked by the government of the People's Republic of China. This became relevant in a controversy two years later, in 2019. Amnesty International had been looking to lease office space at Wall Street Plaza, but the holding company pulled out of the deal at the last second, saying only that Amnesty was "not the best [potential] tenant". As owners are generally happy to lease space, this triggered speculation that pressure from the Chinese government was involved, as Amnesty has criticized human rights in China, in particular the actions of the government toward Western China's Uighur population.[8]

Exhibits

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Bronze initials from the RMS Queen Elizabeth on display. The marker on the wall behind it says Mayor John Lindsay dedicated the building in December 1973.

The lobby features a plaque commemorating the ship RMS Queen Elizabeth, which sank in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour in 1972.[9] The bronze "Q" and "E" originally from the bow of the ship are displayed on it as a souvenir of the vessel.[10]

Outside at the plaza is a shiny stainless steel disc and square by Taiwanese artist Yuyu Yang, maintained by the building. C. Y. Tung, the founder of Orient Overseas, personally commissioned the sculpture, which cost around $120,000 (in 1975; equivalent to $700,000 in 2024).[11]

The nonprofit organization Creative Time ran four public art projects at 88 Pine Street during its early years, from 1974 to 1978. The exhibits used a street-level space intended to eventually be leased to a bank, while waiting for an interested party to move in. The most acclaimed and notable was the first, an exhibit created by the artist Red Grooms and his wife at the time Mimi Gross, "Ruckus Manhattan". It was a not-to-scale, participatory diorama of Manhattan, and spread over more than 10,000 square feet.[12][13][14][15]

Commentary

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After construction finished in 1974, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) gave the building an Honor Award.[16] The AIA Guide to New York City wrote that the building was "A white, crisp elegance of aluminum and glass" and "Water Street's classiest building".[17] Others have also praised the building; Terrence Riley called it among the most refined examples of modern design, and Robert B. Tierney, chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, nominated the building for an award in 2005 (although it did not win).[18][5]

[edit]
  • Front entrance, August 2018
    Front entrance, August 2018
  • Wall Street Plaza in the early evening, from the intersection of Water and Pine St, March 2025
    Wall Street Plaza in the early evening, from the intersection of Water and Pine St, March 2025
  • Side view of Wall Street Plaza ground floors from 88 Pine Street Plaza. Continental Center is in the far right background.
    Side view of Wall Street Plaza ground floors from 88 Pine Street Plaza. Continental Center is in the far right background.
  • The disc and square by Yang Yuyu in the plaza outside
    The disc and square by Yang Yuyu in the plaza outside

References

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  1. ^ Goldberger, Paul (February 21, 1974). "2 Towers Rise Above Mediocrity". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  2. ^ Haberman, Clyde (June 30, 1998). "NYC; Blow It Up? Just Try To Find It". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  3. ^ Dunlap, David W. (July 15, 1990). "Addresses in Times Square Signal Prestige, if Not Logic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  4. ^ "Reality News; Broadway". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Dunlap, David W. (September 1, 2005). "In City of Skyscrapers, Which Is the Mightiest of the High?". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  6. ^ "Global Crossing". Archello. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  7. ^ Romero, Simon; Fabrikant, Geraldine (March 3, 2002). "The Rise And Fall Of Global Dreams". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  8. ^ Forsythe, Michael; Haag, Matthew (May 13, 2019). "Amnesty International Is Denied Lease at New York Tower Owned by China, Group Says". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Fairplay: Weekly Shipping Journal. Vol. 250. Fairplay Publications Limited. 1974. p. 13.
  10. ^ Kayden, Jerold S. (March 30, 2016). "88 Pine Street". Privately Owned Public Space (APOPS). Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  11. ^ Reif, Rita (March 23, 1975). "Legacy of Art Remains After Surge in Building". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  12. ^ Phillips, Patricia C. (1989). "Temporality and Public Art". Art Journal. 48 (4): 331–335. doi:10.2307/777018. JSTOR 777018.
  13. ^
  14. ^ Miller, M.H. (September 6, 2018). "Art Is Fleeting, but Red Grooms Is Forever". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  15. ^ Cotter, Holland (September 1, 2006). "Remembrance of Downtown Past". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  16. ^ "Pei Wins Two A.I.A. Design Awards". The New York Times. April 27, 1975. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  17. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City. Three Rivers Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-8129-3107-6.
  18. ^ Dunlap, David W. (December 17, 2005). "James Ingo Freed, 75, Dies; Designed Holocaust Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wall Street Plaza (88 Pine Street).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 88 Pine Street Plaza.
  • Ruckus Manhattan on Judd Tully's website, with the text (if not the full images) of his 1977 book on the exhibit
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