PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS
Page 69 – THE NEW YORK BUILDING
THE NEW YORK BUILDING.—Ranking nearly with that of Illinois, the New York Building was probably first in point of originality of light design and unique attractiveness of interior. It occupied a space two hundred and fourteen feet in length by one hundred and forty-two in depth, and was not quite one hundred feet in height to the apex of its towers. Its cost was $77,000. It was designed simply as an elaborately decorated and richly finished summer palace. A flight of fourteen steps, forty-six feet wide, led to the entrance, where were casts of the famous Barberini lions, and where the four pedestal lamps were reproductions of the best examples in the museum of Naples. Busts of the first and latest governor occupied niches on either side of the entrance, and in other larger niches in the exterior were heroic figures of Hendrick Hudson and Christopher Columbus. Above the entrance the great seal of New York was illuminated by hosts of tiny electric lights set close together. The mural decorations of the great entrance hall were from Pompeiian designs. On one side were the women’s state apartments and on the other those of the men. The grand reception hall on the second floor was eighty-four by forty six feet in dimensions, a magnificent room decorated in white and gold. On this floor were various offices and rooms devoted to the exhibition of historical relics. An elevator carried visitors to a charming roof garden above. There were many notable gatherings in the charming structure.