Appellate Division

Story

The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, First Department is a historic court house located at 35 East 25th Street at the corner of Madison Avenue, across from Madison Square Park, in Manhattan, New York City. The building is three stories, with a basement; the central entrance faces 25th Street.HistoryBefore the courthouse was built, the Appellate Division, First Department, of New York State Supreme Court had occupied rented quarters on Fifth Avenue and 19th Street. Plans for the new building were first filed in 1896. The building plans were jointly approved in June 1896 by the city sinking fund commissioners and the Appellate Division justices.The Appellate Division, First Department formally took possession of the new courthouse on January 2, 1900. The budget for the building was $700,000, but only $633,768 was spent.ExteriorThe limestone Beaux-Arts courthouse, in the style of an 18th-century English country house, was designed by James Brown Lord and built in 1896−1899. It is considered to be an "outstanding" example of the City Beautiful movement. Some 25 percent of the cost was spent on sculpture, a huge sum at the time. At the time of its construction, the American Architect and Building News predicted that "the rest of the country will envy New York the possession of this building." In 1900, Charles DeKay wrote in The Independent that the courthouse "shines like an ivory casket among boxes of ordinary maple."