Surrogate's Courthouse | Gail Cornell

Published: Sept. 24, 2020, 11 a.m.

Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the Surrogate's Courthouse on Chambers Street. Exemplifying the ideals of the “City Beautiful” movement, this opulent Parisian courthouse was originally built as a storage facility for the city’s records. Statues on the exterior, by Philip Martiny and Henry Kirk Bush-Brown, depict various allegorical figures such as Law and Philosophy, as well as prominent features of New York history.