New York Law Institute

The New York Law Institute is the oldest circulating law library in New York City and is open to Institute members and to scholars of history and the law.

1. Today

The New York Law Institute library is located in the Equitable Building and has a circulating collection of over 250,000 print volumes, including Congressional documents, records on appeal, current and superseded U.S. and state laws, new and archival editions of legal treatises, and archival New York City and New York State materials. The library's collection also includes over 160,000 eBooks from Proquest and OverDrive, including legal, business, and engineering titles. Also available are numerous remote-access and on-site research databases such as CCH-Intelliconnect, Hein Online, LEXIS Advance, LLMC Digital, OED, ProQuest Congressional, and Westlaw Next.

1. History


1. = Origins (1828 – 1854) =

In 1876, The Report on Libraries of the United States described the New York Law Institute Library as "the best public law library in this country," and a success in the highest and broadest sense ...." The Institute and its library were the result of the efforts of two young lawyers, George Sullivan and James W. Gerard, to break up the so-called "barrister ring" of twelve to fifteen lawyers who with the connivance of the judiciary monopolized all the worthwhile legal business in the circuit and supreme court, and the court of chancery during the mid-1820s. They achieved one of their goals when the legislature established the Superior Court in 1828, but they believed that to break up the ring for good, the establishment of a "Law Association" was essential. This Law Association, renamed the Law Institute, was founded in February 1828. One of its main goals was the founding of a law library, a task that was considered essential since at that time the only significant collections of law books in New York were held privately by such notables as Chancellor James Kent and Chief Justice John Jay. Thus, listed in the charter granted by the legislature in 1830 was a provision for "providing a seminary of learning in the law and the formation of a Law Library." The founders also had the lofty aim of "guard[ing] the purity of the profession," but it became almost immediately apparent that this was beyond anyone's power, so the members' primary activity became the establishment of a law library that would contain "the law of the larger part of the civilized world."

1. = Library champions (1854 – 1863) =

The library received donations from various leading lawyers, including a copy of his Commentaries from Chancellor Kent, which is now designated as its "first book." However, the bulk of the collection appears to have been acquired through the purchase of the private library of attorney James Tillotson. The collection was first housed in New York's "Old City Hall," but by the early 1850s, the collection, now consisting of over 4,000 volumes, had outgrown its quarters. The Institute then petitioned the New York City Common Council for space in "New City Hall." This request was granted, but misfortune struck when the building, later described by a New York Times editorial as an "old rathole," was destroyed by fire in January 1854. Most of the library's books were removed after the first alarm, and only 82 were lost, but the blaze destroyed all the furniture and many valuable donated artifacts. For a time, the rescued books were stored in the courthouse basement, and were later moved to No. 45 Chambers St. and then to 41 Chambers St.

After the fire, the Library received major assistance from Charles O'Conor, a leading local attorney with pronounced pro-Southern, pro-slavery views, who after the Civil War volunteered to defend Jefferson Davis. Despite his reported lack of social skills, and curmudgeonly reputation, O'Conor was known for acts of generosity. He helped the library settle with insurers for $2,250, and loaned it a substantial amount of money. When he died in 1884, O'Conor left the library $21,000, and the multi-volume bound sets of "My Own Cases" and "My Own Opinions," relating to the most notable cases of his long career. Another leading legal figure who took an interest in the development of the library was Judge John W. Edmonds, who "manifested the greatest interest in its welfare, and has contributed most substantially to its development and success." It was Edmonds who prepared the manuscript on which the first library catalog was based. Edmonds also compiled the Statutes at Large of the State of New York (1863) (popularly known as Edmond's Statutes), which sought to disentangle the Revised Statutes from a mass of other legislation, and Edmond's Select Cases, a compilation of cases over which he presided between 1834–53. During his lifetime, the judge was also famous as a staunch believer in spiritualism, and once felt compelled to deny allegations that he consulted with the spirits before making decisions on the bench.

1. = Expansion and relocation (1872 - Present) =

In 1872, by which time the library had grown to over 25,000 volumes, it moved from its Chambers St. location to quarters in the new United States Post Office Building located at the southern end of City Hall Park. A large colonnaded mansard-roofed structure, the building was decidedly unpopular, and was dubbed "Mullet's Monstrosity," after its designer, United States supervising architect Alfred Bult Mullet. While located in the Post Office Building, the library paid no rent in exchange for free access for federal judges and United States district attorneys. Under the leadership of long-time director William H. Winters, an 1868 Harvard Law School graduate, the library continued to grow rapidly. By 1887, the collection had grown to 35,000 volumes, necessitating the expansion of the library from one floor to two. During this period, the library reportedly spent $7,000 annually on new books and was expanding at the rate of about 1,000 volumes per year. In the subsequent decade, the library continued its steady growth, its collection totaling over 48,000 volumes by 1897. That year, a chapter in the two-volume History of the Bench and Bar of New York included a lengthy list of its rare and valuable titles, and noted that a recent press report had stated: "There is probably no other law library in this country which has upon its shelves so rich and valuable a collection of rare works on legal topics." The library became a Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) member in 1909 and the collection retains materials from that time through the present. The collection not only has the basic core collection of the FDLP, but also contains items such as the Warren Commission reports on the Kennedy assassination, the SEC report on Investment trusts and Investment Companies from 1938, and the 1999 Report on Mass Tort Litigation. The much-maligned Post Office Building was torn down in 1938, but by then the Law Institute Library had moved again. In 1915, it relocated to its present home — another controversial structure — the 40-story Equitable Building at 120 Broadway, whose construction had prompted outrage and the promulgation of the Zoning Resolution of 1916 because of the seven-acre shadow it cast over its surroundings. At the time of its move to the Equitable Building, the library was said to hold over 99,000 volumes and it had grown to over 150,000 volumes by the late 1960s. NYLI added its first electronic resources during the 1990s and continues to expand its online offerings and databases.

1. References


1. External links

The New York Law Institute website

Nearby Places View Menu

American Surety Building

The American Surety Building (also known as the Bank of Tokyo Building or 100 Broadway) is an office building and early skyscraper at Pine Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, across from Trinity Church. The building was designed in a Neo-Renaissance style by Bruce Price with a later expansion by Herman Lee Meader. It is 388 feet (118 m) tall, with either 23 or 26 stories. It was one of Manhattan's first buildings with steel framing and curtain wall construction. The American Surety Building contains a facade of Maine granite. Its articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, shaft, and capital, making the American Surety Building one of the earliest New York City skyscrapers to feature such a layout. The facade contains several ornamental features, including sculptural elements designed by J. Massey Rhind. In addition, the American Surety Building uses an interior skeleton of structural steel, as well as a cantilevered steel structure for its foundations. The building was erected between 1894 and 1896 as a 21-story structure, which was the second tallest building in New York City when completed. Between 1920 and 1922, an annex was built to designs by Meader, increasing the floor area and adding two stories to the building. A later tenant, the Bank of Tokyo, hired Kajima International to restore the lower 13 stories between 1973 and 1975. The American Surety Building was made a New York City designated landmark in 1995.

Bank Landmark

Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)

The Equitable Life Assurance Building, also known as the Equitable Life Building, was the headquarters of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, at 120 Broadway in Manhattan, New York. Arthur Gilman and Edward H. Kendall designed the building, with George B. Post as a consulting engineer. The Equitable Life Building was made of brick, granite, and iron, and was originally built with seven above-ground stories and two basement levels, with a height of at least 130 feet (40 m). An expansion in 1885 brought the total height to 155 feet (47 m) and nine stories. Construction began in 1868 and was completed in 1870 under the leadership of Equitable's president Henry Baldwin Hyde. It was the world's first office building to feature passenger elevators and consequently became successful attracting tenants. The Equitable Life Building was expanded numerous times; after the construction of annexes during the late 1880s, the building occupied its entire block, bounded by Broadway and Cedar, Pine and Nassau streets. Although it was advertised as fireproof, the Equitable Life Building was destroyed in a 1912 fire that killed six people. The 40-story Equitable Building was completed on the site in 1915.

Landmark

Trinity Church Cemetery

The parish of Trinity Church has three separate burial grounds associated with it in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in Lower Manhattan at 74 Trinity Place, near Wall Street and Broadway. Alexander Hamilton and his wife Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Albert Gallatin, and Robert Fulton are buried in the downtown Trinity Churchyard. The second Trinity parish burial ground is the St. Paul's Chapel Churchyard, which is also located in lower Manhattan, six blocks (roughly 440 yards (400 m)) north of Trinity Church. It was established in 1766. Both of these churchyards are closed to new burials. Trinity's third place of burial, Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, located in Hamilton Heights in Upper Manhattan, is one of the few active burial sites in Manhattan. Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the burial place of notable people including John James Audubon, John Jacob Astor IV, Mayor Edward I. Koch, Governor John Adams Dix, Ralph Ellison, and Eliza Jumel. In 1823, all burials south of Canal Street became forbidden by New York City due to city crowding, yellow fever, and other public health fears. After considering locations in the Bronx and portions of the then-new Green-Wood Cemetery, in 1842 Trinity Parish purchased the plot of land now bordered by 153rd Street, 155th Street, Amsterdam Avenue, and Riverside Drive to establish the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum. The cemetery is located beside the Chapel of the Intercession that Audubon co-founded in 1846, but this chapel is no longer part of Trinity parish. James Renwick, Jr., is the architect of Trinity Church Cemetery and further updates were made by Calvert Vaux. The uptown cemetery is also the center of the Heritage Rose District of New York City. A no-longer-extant Trinity Parish burial ground was the Old Saint John's Burying Ground for St. John's Chapel. This location is bounded by Hudson, Leroy and Clarkson streets near Hudson Square. It was in use from 1806 to 1852 with over 10,000 burials, mostly poor and young. In 1897, it was turned into St. John's Park, with most of the burials left in place. The park was later renamed Hudson Park, and is now James J. Walker Park. (This park is different from a separate St. John's Park, a former private park and residential block approximately one mile to the south that now serves as part of the Holland Tunnel access.)

Cemetery Church

Trinity and United States Realty Buildings

The Trinity Building, designed by Francis H. Kimball and built in 1905, with an addition of 1907, and Kimball's United States Realty Building of 1907, located respectively at 111 and 115 Broadway in Manhattan's Financial District, are among the first Gothic-inspired skyscrapers in New York, and both are New York City designated landmarks. The Trinity Building, adjacent to the churchyard of Richard Upjohn's neo-Gothic Trinity Church, replaced an 1853 Upjohn structure of the same name. Earlier, the Van Cortlandt sugar house stood on the west end of the plot – a notorious British prison where American soldiers were held during the Revolutionary War.

Historic Site Landmark