2 Broadway


2 Broadway is an office building at the south end of Broadway, near Bowling Green Park in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. 2 Broadway was built on the site of the New York Produce Exchange, and now houses the headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Description and history

The New York Produce Exchange building, which was designed by George B. Post, and built from 1881 to 1884, was demolished in 1957 and replaced by 2 Broadway, a 32-story tower constructed in 1958–1959. The developer, Uris Buildings Corporation, first preferred a design by William Lescaze with Kahn & Jacobs, which featured a tower slab set at right angles to Broadway. However, ultimately Emery Roth & Sons was given the contract, which saw a radically different design which would fill most of the lot, with the building rising in triple setbacks. The facade is now covered in blue-green tinted glass.
In the 1990s, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was vacating its headquarters at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The MTA rented space in 2 Broadway where it moved some of its operations. In 1995, Tamir Sapir, a Russian immigrant and cab driver turned real-estate investor, bought 2 Broadway for $20 million, with the MTA as the only tenant in the building. The MTA signed a 49-year lease in July 1998, shortly after selling its New York Coliseum. Shortly after, Sapir and the MTA agreed to conduct $39 million worth of renovations to 2 Broadway. However, the renovations had become delayed and over budget, and Sapir and the MTA became involved in numerous lawsuits and countersuits. By 2000, the renovations were expected to cost $135 million. By 2003, the cost of the renovations had risen to $435 million. Part of the budget increase was attributed to corruption by contractors who were renovating the buildings. One such contractor was later ordered to pay restitution to the MTA for corruption.
The renovation and reskinning of the building was undertaken by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

In popular culture