93 Fourth Avenue; 93-99 Fourth Avenue; 101 East 11th Street | Block : 556-2 | Lot #36

Description & Building Alterations

Built in 1936-37 by MIT-trained William Dewey Foster, the Cooper Station Post Office is an example of the Art Moderne style, a “stripped” version of the Art Deco style popular during the Great Depression. Foster was hired in 1934 by Louis A. Simon, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury during the execution of the depression’s public works projects. During his eight years working for Simon, Foster designed five New York City post offices including this one, the Weather Bureau in Washington D.C., and several State Department buildings in D.C.. Prior to the construction of this structure, eleven small tenement buildings were demolished.

The center of the facade has an elegant two-story colonnade with seven limestone Doric columns, adding to the elegance that makes this one of Foster’s most sophisticated commissions. Fluted piers rise without bases to simple capped tops that hold an entablature with a curving frieze that reads: “United States Post Office.” Above this, the building showcases a shallow cornice and a roofline balustrade. The interior of the building follows the curving design of the exterior. The Cooper Station Post Office is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, which notes the rarity of a corner building’s facade curving around the corner.