Gould Memorial Library

The library is named after railroad magnate Jay Gould, whose daughter Helen Miller Shepard funded the project in his memory.Gould's facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Gould is arranged in the shape of a Greek cross and is surrounded by the Hall of Fame for Great Americans to its west.Inside the entrance vestibule, a barrel-vaulted stair hall leads up to offices and a circular reading room.The ornately designed reading room contains two colonnades flanking two balcony levels; multiple Tiffany glass windows; a balustrade with sixteen statues; and a coffered ceiling.The modern site overlooks the Major Deegan Expressway, the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line, and the Harlem River to the west.Since 1973, Gould has been part of Bronx Community College (BCC), operated by the City University of New York (CUNY).[11][14] The Hall of Fame, composed of a 630 ft-long (190 m) stone colonnade as well as a brick walkway,[14][15] contains bronze portrait busts of prominent Americans.The vestibule is decorated with stained-glass windows; a mosaic floor with red, yellow, white and black tiles; and a domed ceiling.This stairway contained six marble panels with the inscription "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom" in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, English, and German.The tops of the columns have metal Corinthian capitals, painted by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co. in a gold color.[34][41] The entablature contains a frieze with an inscription in all capital letters,[c] which is derived from book 1 of John Milton's poem Paradise Lost.[31] The library's holdings included a collection of 8,000 German-language books from an anonymous donor, as well as 3,000 Italian volumes from former NYU philosophy professor Vincenzo Botta.[18] NYU's administrative offices, just outside the upper landing of the main stairway, contained fireplaces and wood-paneled walls.[6][47] The formerly residential area surrounding Washington Square Park had evolved into a commercial neighborhood by the late 19th century,[47][48] and MacCracken believed the growth of commerce would stymie undergraduate education.[54][55] The campus was to contain science, language, and philosophy halls; a library; a chapel; and dormitories, all arranged around a quadrangle.[59] Norcross Brothers began constructing the campus that April, and White was finalizing his plans for the library by the end of 1894.[21] In May 1895, NYU received a $250,000 gift for the construction of the central building, which was to contain the library, museum, commencement hall, and administrative offices.[64][65] The library donation was part of $1.39 million in capital gifts that Shepard gave to NYU throughout her lifetime.[71][72] The first event hosted at the library was a conference for the American Philological Association,[18] which convened at Gould in July 1899.[73] By the end of the year, the Gould Library was nearly complete; its construction had been delayed due to difficulties in securing the Connemara marble columns.[85][87] That December, NYU officials dedicated a new set of front doors for the library, which had been manufactured in memory of Stanford White.[43] The number of students at the Bronx campus decreased by 40 percent from 1968 to 1973,[111] creating a large financial deficit for NYU.[112] The New York state government recommended in February 1972 that NYU sell its Bronx campus,[113] and governor Nelson Rockefeller authorized the sale three months later.[44] The basement auditorium was restored to its original appearance in 2000 after Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer allocated funding for the project.[118] The J. Paul Getty Trust granted $228,000 for the restoration of the Gould Library and other buildings on the BCC campus in 2004.[117][116] By then, dirt had accumulated throughout the library; the bookshelves were dangling from the walls; and the skylight atop the reading room was covered by a sheet.[116] Conservators used the funds to research the library's history, examine the building's condition, and create a preservation plan.[125] The library has been shown in films such as Sophie's Choice (1982), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), and A Beautiful Mind (2001).[117] Additionally, the United States Postal Service issued postage stamps depicting notable works by American architects in 1981.