The Ted Weiss Federal Building, also known as the Foley Square Federal Building, is a 34-story United States Federal Building at 290 Broadway in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1994, the building was developed by Linpro New York Realty and designed by Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), with Raquel Ramati Associates as the design consultant and Tishman Construction as the general contractor. The building is named for Ted Weiss (1927–1992), a U.S. representative from New York.
The building is divided into two parts: an office tower and a three-story special function facility. The base of the Weiss Federal Building contains a colonnade facing north toward Duane Street, as well as several works of art that relate to the adjacent African Burial Ground National Monument. The facade of the structure is enclosed with Deer Isle granite. The 3rd through 29th floors are typical office floors, which contain offices for the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and the General Accounting Office. Additionally, the National Park Service manages a visitor center for the African Burial Ground National Monument at the base of the building.
In December 1987, the General Services Administration (GSA) was authorized to construct the Moynihan U.S. Courthouse and the Weiss Federal Building on two sites owned by the government of New York City. The GSA and the New York City government signed an agreement in March 1988, but the plans were delayed for several years. The GSA finally awarded $700 million in contracts for the two projects in March 1991, and construction began shortly afterward. After human remains were found at the site during an excavation in October 1991, the building's construction was temporarily halted, and a proposed four-story pavilion was eliminated from the plans. The building opened in 1994 as the Federal Office Building and was renamed for Weiss in 2003.
Site
The Ted Weiss Federal Building is at 290 Broadway in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the western section of block 154, a city block bounded by Broadway to the west, Duane Street to the north, Elk Street to the east, and Reade Street to the south. The land lot is "L"-shaped, running along Broadway and Duane Street. Covering a total area of , the lot measures along Broadway and along Duane Street. The city block was formerly bisected by Manhattan and Republican Alleys.
The sidewalks along the perimeter of the building are made of colored admixture concrete that aligns with the building module. Exterior landscaping consists of tree plantings along the curb line on Duane and Reade Streets, with custom-designed tree grates.
Nearby buildings and locations include the Broadway–Chambers Building and 287 Broadway to the southwest; the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building to the north; the African Burial Ground National Monument to the east; the Surrogate's Courthouse to the southeast; and 49 Chambers and 280 Broadway to the south. The building is also located within two historic districts. It is part of the African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District, which the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated as a city landmark district in 1993. The building is also part of the African Burial Ground Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Previous uses
Prior to the settlement of New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the 17th century, the site was largely a ravine that drained into Collect Pond in the northeast. The surrounding area contains evidence of the interments of individuals, mostly of African descent. Interments may have begun as early as the 17th century. These corpses were part of a cemetery called the Negros Burial Ground, which operated until the 1790s. During the next two centuries, historians were aware of the burial ground's existence but had believed that the corpses were destroyed. The section of the Negros Burial Ground between Duane and Reade Streets, east of Broadway, was initially lower than the surrounding ground. The land was raised by up to , and subsequent buildings' foundations were relatively shallow, thus preserving this section of the cemetery.