City hall is the city hall of new York, the oldest in the United States. The building looks tiny compared to the surrounding skyscrapers, but it is elegant, ornate and quite worthy of the great city.

Compared to other town halls of the largest cities in the world city hall – new building: the building is only two centuries. Of course, even before its appearance, the city government did not live on the street. In the XVII century the first town hall on the present pearl street was built by the Dutch. In 1700, the city hall moved to wall street, but the building, now known as Federal hall, was transferred to the Federal government after the war for independence. Then the city Council chose the site for the construction of a new office building on the Northern border of the city. In a design competition won by architect John McComb and engineer Joseph Francois Mangin – they received the first prize of $ 350.

Completed in 1812, the city hall building in the French Renaissance style was beautiful and at that time quite spacious: it has housed the offices of the mayor and municipal officers, rooms for official receptions and meetings of the city Council. In the sad moments of American history, the Grand building played a ritual role: in 1865, it hosted the farewell of Americans killed President Abraham Lincoln, here in the rotunda, in 1877, stood the tomb of the great General Ulysses Grant.

Over the two centuries of its existence, the building was rebuilt several times, but his form is Central pavilion, two wings, domed tower in the centre has remained unchanged. The interior front of city hall with marble staircases and magnificent Corinthian columns. The town hall has a decent collection of 108 paintings of the late XVIII – XX centuries, including several masterpieces (for example, painted by John Trumbull).

Official receptions are held in the Office of the Governor, visited by many celebrities, including hero of the American revolution Marquis de Lafayette and albert Einstein. However, municipal officials, many of whom now hold in city hall no longer able. For them in 1914 was built near Manhattan municipal building, one of the largest administrative buildings in the world.

At the beginning of the XXI century the city hall was surrounded by a security perimeter. The reason for this was the shooting on the balcony of the building – it made two municipal Deputy, going into city hall to bypass metal detectors. It was then that mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered to tighten security policy.

However, this policy does not apply to the surrounding area. City hall Park framed, on lawns which clerks eat your lunch, and citizens simply have a rest. Twice a week there is a market: farmers bring vegetables and fruits, milk, honey, freshly baked bread.