American Stock Exchange Building

American Stock Exchange Building
Formerly New York Curb Exchange Building
Location 86 Trinity Place, Lower Manhattan, New York City[1]
Coordinates 40°42′31″N 74°00′45″W / 40.70861°N 74.01250°W / 40.70861; -74.01250Coordinates: 40°42′31″N 74°00′45″W / 40.70861°N 74.01250°W / 40.70861; -74.01250
Built 1921, expanded in 1931[2]
Architectural style Art Deco[2]
NRHP reference # 78001867
Significant dates
Added to NRHP June 2, 1978[1]
Designated NHL June 2, 1978[2]

The American Stock Exchange Building, formerly known as the New York Curb Exchange Building, is the former headquarters of the American Stock Exchange. It is located on Trinity Place in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1921 and enlarged in 1929–1931, the building represents a link to the historical practices of stock trading outside the strictures of the New York Stock Exchange, which took place outside ("on the curb") prior to the construction of this building. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978.[2] The building presently stands vacant, the stock exchange having moved out after merging with the NYSE in 2008.

Description

The American Stock Exchange Building stands in Lower Manhattan's Wall Street area, occupying a parcel that extends from Trinity Place to Greenwich Street, just south of Thames Street. It is a fourteen-story steel-framed structure, with its formal facade, finished in limestone, facing Trinity Place. Both the original 1921 structure and its later enlargement were designed by the New York firm Starrett and Van Vleck. The facade facing Greenwich Street is of gray brick, with five large round-arch windows overlooking the trading floor. The trading floor was trimmed in a Renaissance Revival style, but the main structure is distinctly Art Deco, a product of the 1929-31 addition.[3]

History

New York's stock trading activity historically took place in outdoor spaces until 1792, when a predecessor to the New York Stock Exchange was founded, and some trading moved indoors. Trading continued to take place "on the curb" outside the NYSE. The outside traders benefited from the NYSE's refusal to allow trade in some types of securities, and became a leading marketplace for non-listed securities. This market had no fixed location, moving around as traffic and other conditions dictated.[3]

Greenwich Street building

In 1908, the New York Curb Market Agency was established, to codify trading practices. In 1911, the curbstone brokers came to be known as the New York Curb Market, with a formal constitution and brokerage and listing standards. After several years of outdoor trading, the curbstone brokers moved indoors in 1921 to a building on Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan. In 1929, the New York Curb Market changed its name to the New York Curb Exchange. The Curb Exchange soon became the leading international stock market, listing more foreign issues than all other U.S. securities markets combined. In 1953, the Curb Exchange was renamed the American Stock Exchange. The building currently has a building area of 181,725 sq. ft.[4]

On December 1, 2008, the Curb Exchange building at 86 Trinity Place was closed, and both the Amex Equities and Amex Options trading floors were moved to the NYSE Trading floor at 11 Wall Street.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "American Stock Exchange". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 14, 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11.
  3. 1 2 "NHL nomination for American Stock Exchange Building". National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
  4. ↑ "NEW YORK CURB EXCHANGE". CrediFi. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "NYSE Amex Equities Information". New York Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 2011-03-19.

Further reading

  • Sobel, Robert (1970). The Curbstone Brokers: The Origins of the American Stock Exchange. Washington, D.C.: BeardBooks. ISBN 1-893122-65-4.
  • Sobel, Robert (1972). AMEX: A History of the American Stock Exchange. Washington, D.C.: BeardBooks. ISBN 1-893122-48-4.
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