3. Brooklyn Savings Bank
Brooklyn Savings Bank. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
This Neoclassical bank in Brooklyn Heights was demolished just one year before the New York City Landmarks law was passed and one year before Brooklyn Heights was named a National Historic Landmark District. The bank stood at the intersection of Clinton and Pierrepont Streets and was built by local Brooklyn architect, Frank Freeman, who was inspired by the Neoclassical style at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Journalist Norman Oder called its demolition one of “the great landmark losses in New York history.” Like Penn Station for New York City in general, the loss of the Brooklyn Savings Bank helped create community-up support for the landmarking of the Brooklyn Heights district.
The next two losses occurred after the passing of the New York City Landmarks Law:
