The New York City Board of Aldermen refused to fund the $350,000 construction cost of this armory in 1875. The 7th New York Militia Regiment instead funded the project through donations and a bond issue. The building was completed in 1880 and has stood on the Upper East Side ever since.
Architect Charles Clinton designed the place in the Gothic Revival style, featuring a five-story administration building and a massive drill hall. The drill hall was one of New York City's largest column-free indoor spaces when completed, measuring 200 by 300 feet. The interior was decorated by designers including Louis Comfort Tiffany and Stanford White, featuring regimental rooms and twelve rooms for the 7th Regiment's companies.
Technically, the site was part of a planned public park called Hamilton Square, but the city leased the plots out to various institutions instead. Before the armory went up, the land was occupied by about 35 shanties. Today, it is a multi-use headquarters for the 53rd Digital Liaison Detachment of the National Guard, the Veterans of the 7th Regiment, the Knickerbocker Greys cadet corps, and the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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