6. The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower is one of the tallest four-sided clock towers in the world
The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, which is actually located in Fort Greene, is a skyscraper at 1 Hanson Place, which was the tallest building in Brooklyn until 2010. The 37-floor tower, built from 1927 to 1929, was designed by Halsey, McCormack and Helmer. The tower is located near Times Plaza at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Fourth Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue. It was constructed in the Byzantine-Romanesque style with a gilded copper dome and carved animals on the exterior. The ground floor features a marble hall with rich mosaics on ceiling vaults. Helmer wanted the building to be “regarded as a cathedral dedicated to the furtherance of thrift and prosperity.”
The tower is also one of the tallest four-sided clock towers in the world. The building contains clock faces 17 feet in diameter, which are located just under the dome. It is one of just a handful of clock towers in New York City, alongside the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower and Jefferson Market Library.