United States Post Office–Bronx Central Annex

The Bronx Central Annex of the United States Postal Service is a historic post office building located at 558 Grand Concourse in Concourse, the Bronx, New York, United States. The four-story structure was built from 1935 to 1937. The building was sold in 2014 and is being transformed into retail, postal service, office and restaurant space.

Bronx Central Annex-U.S. Post Office
NYC Landmark No. 0837, 2552
Bronx Post Office, March 2010
Location558 Grand Concourse
Bronx, New York 10451
Coordinates40°49′8″N 73°55′37″W
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1935
ArchitectEllett, Thomas Harlan; Shahn, Ben
NRHP reference No.80002584[1]
NYCL No.0837, 2552
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 6, 1980
Designated NYCLNovember 25, 1975 (exterior)
December 17, 2013 (interior)

The building was listed as a New York City Landmark in 1975 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1] Additional city landmark status was granted in 2013 to the interior, which includes a notable series of New Deal-era murals in fresco created in 1939 by Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn for the Treasury Department Art Project's Section of Fine Arts.

Building

Located at 558 Grand Concourse, Bronx General Post Office was built from 1935 to 1937, and designed by consulting architect Thomas Harlan Ellett for the Office of the Supervising Architect. Constructed of smooth gray brick and is surrounded by a granite terrace, the building features graceful window openings set within marble arches.

On the terrace are two sculptures dating to 1936: The Letter by Henry Kreis and Noah by Charles Rudy.[2]

Murals

The interior features Resources of America, a set of 13 mural panels in fresco[3][4] inspired by the words of Walt Whitman.[5][6] They were executed by Ben Shahn and his wife Bernarda Bryson Shahn and completed in August 1939.[7] The government hired Shahn through an anonymous competition after he became renown for his artwork.[8] The murals celebrate American industry and the dignity of labor.

  • Celebrating the American textile industry
  • Woman working on a large loom
  • Walt Whitman addressing American workers and their families

Sale

In January 2013 the U.S. Postal Service announced that it was considering selling the Bronx General Post Office as part of its national reevaluation of facilities. Noting that the building comprises 175,000 square feet (16,300 m2), the Postal Service stated that most of the operations once performed there had been relocated.[9] The sale of some 200 buildings was being considered in light of declining mail volume and the growth of online services. "There are lots of quite significant post office buildings that are threatened because the Postal Service itself is threatened", said National Building Museum curator G. Martin Moeller Jr.[10] The property was one of those most architecturally distinguished, and its interior was granted landmark status December 17, 2013,[11] to preserve Shahn's mural series, Resources of America.[12] Despite protests from preservationists and the community, plans for the sale went forward.[13]

The building was purchased by Manhattan marketplace developer YoungWoo & Associates in September 2014 for $19 million.[14]In February 2015 the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the redevelopment of the property with retail space and postal services on the ground and main floors, office space on the upper two floors, and a restaurant on the roof. The plan included restoration of the exterior, the 13 murals, and the lobby which had been remodeled over the years.[15] In 2019, the first rooftop restaurant in the Bronx, Zona de Cuba, opened on the property.[16]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Lehman College Art Gallery: Architecture/General Post Office,The Bronx". www.lehman.edu. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  3. Kihlstedt, Folke Tyko (January 18, 2014). "Whitman, Work & Democracy: Ben Shahn’s Bronx Post Office Murals". tykokihlstedt.com. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  4. "Ben Shahn Papers: Project Files: Bronx Central Annex Post Office Murals, NY 1938 (Box 25, Folders 47-48)". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  5. Linden, Diana L. (2015). Ben Shahn's New Deal Murals: Jewish Identity in the American Scene. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814339848. Chapter 3: Whitman, Workers, and Censorship: Ben Shahns' Murals for the Bronx Central Post Office, pp. 65-94; here: 72 ff.
  6. "Ben Shahn Papers: Project Files: Bronx Central Annex Post Office Murals, NY 1939–1940 (Box 25, Folder 49)". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  7. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)" (Searchable database). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 1, 2016. Note: This includes Donald J. Framberger; Joan R. Olshansky & Elizabeth Spencer-Ralph (September 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Bronx Central Annex-U.S. Post Office" (PDF). Retrieved April 1, 2016. and Accompanying seven photographs
  8. Ziskin, Priscilla (October 7, 2019). "Art Historian Dr. Diana Linden Gives Insight on Ben Shahn's Works". wpubeacon.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  9. Chirichello, Connie (January 18, 2013). "Public Announcement – USPS Considering selling the Bronx General Post Office". United States Postal Service. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  10. Pogrebin, Robin (March 7, 2013). "Post Office Buildings With Character, and Maybe a Sale Price". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  11. "Shahn Murals in Bronx Post Office to be Saved". New York Landmarks Conservancy. December 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  12. Dunlap, David W. (August 21, 2013). "High on Landmark Panel's List: A Post Office Lobby". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  13. Hu, Winnie (February 5, 2014). "Protest Aside, Postal Service Is Taking Next Step to Sell Grand Property in the Bronx". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  14. Slattery, Denis (September 3, 2014). "Developer Youngwoo & Associates buys historic Bronx General Post Office building". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  15. Bindelglass, Evan (February 11, 2015). "Landmarks Approves Bronx Post Office's Transformation". Curbed NY. Vox Media. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  16. "A taste of Havana in the South Bronx at 'Zona de Cuba'". FOX 5 New York. June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.

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