Alliance for Downtown New York Downtown
Third Thursdays lecture series

Space is limited and registration is required in advance for each lecture.  Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information or reservations, please visit www.downtownny.com/thirdthursdays

The Alliance for Downtown New York recently announced the schedule for its fourth annual Downtown Third Thursdays lecture series. The series celebrates Lower Manhattan’s architectural treasures and history by presenting discussions with best-selling authors and world-renowned experts in thematically connected settings.

The series will kick off on Jan. 17 with journalist and author Pete Hamill. His lecture, titled “Downtown: My Manhattan,” will be held at the Broad Street Ballroom at 41 Broad Street. The Classical Revival style building designed by Cross and Cross Architects was completed in 1929 as the headquarters of the Lee-Higginson Bank. The original grand banking hall with its marble mosaic columns now houses the Broad Street Ballroom.

“Downtown Third Thursdays invites prominent authors, architects and historians to help impart a greater understanding of Lower Manhattan’s architectural and historical significance,” said Liz Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance. “The lecture series offers the public a rare opportunity to discuss important issues impacting Downtown.”

Downtown Third Thursdays’ topics will range from Hamill’s personal retrospective on Lower Manhattan to the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s first exploration of the New York area to designing a memorial at the World Trade Center to a detailed discussion of Manhattan’s famous landmarks.

The lectures, sponsored by the National Architectural Trust, will take place at: Broad Street Ballroom; the Museum of American Finance, the landmarked former headquarters of the Bank of New York that was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Benjamin Morris and completed in 1928; 7 World Trade Center, with state-of-the-art security, energy and sanitation systems that make it one of the most technologically advanced buildings in the world; the New York Stock Exchange, a Greek Revival structure that was designed by architect George Post to mirror Federal Hall across the street and completed in 1903; and Federal Hall National Memorial, which just re-opened after a 16-month, $16 million restoration project.