Wall Street

Wall Street is a 0.7-mile-long (1.1 km) street running eight blocks, roughly northwest to southeast, from Broadway to South Street on the East River in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial sector (even if financial firms are not physically located there), or signifying New York-based financial interests.

Anchored by Wall Street, New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world, and the city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Several other major exchanges have or had headquarters in the Wall Street area, including the New York Mercantile Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, and the former American Stock Exchange.

History

Early years

There are varying accounts about how the Dutch-named "de Waal Straat" got its name. A generally accepted version is that the name of the street was derived from an earthen wall on the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement, perhaps to protect against English colonial encroachment or incursions by Native Americans. A conflicting explanation is that Wall Street was named after Walloons— the Dutch name for a Walloon is Waal. Among the first settlers that embarked on the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" in 1624 were 30 Walloon families. The Dutch word "wal" can be translated as "rampart". However, even some English maps show the name as Waal Straat, and not as Wal Straat.

Wall Street (disambiguation)

Wall Street is a street in New York City which runs through the historical center of the Financial District.

Wall Street also refers to:

The Trump Building

The Trump Building is a 70-story skyscraper in New York City. Originally known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust building, and also known as the Manhattan Company Building, it was later known by its street address 40 Wall Street when its founding tenant merged to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. The building, between Nassau Street and William Street in Manhattan, New York City, was completed in 1930 after only 11 months of construction.

Architecture

The building was designed by H. Craig Severance, along with Yasuo Matsui (associate architect), and Shreve & Lamb (consulting architects). Edward F. Caldwell & Co. designed the lighting. Der Scutt of Der Scutt Architect designed the lobby and entrance renovation. Its pinnacle reaches 927 feet (283 m) and was very briefly the tallest building in the world, soon surpassed by a spire attached to the Chrysler Building a few months later.

Competition for "world's tallest building" title

Construction of the Bank of Manhattan Building at 40 Wall Street began in 1928, with a planned height of 840 feet (260 m), making it 135 feet (41 m) taller than the nearby Woolworth Building, completed in 1913. More importantly, the plans were designed to be two feet taller than the Chrysler Building, which was in an ostensible competition to be the world’s tallest building. In order to stay ahead in the race, the architects of 40 Wall Street changed their originally announced height of 840 feet (260 m), or 68 stories, to 927 feet (283 m), or 71 stories, making their building, upon completion in May 1930, the tallest in the world. However, this triumph turned out to be short-lived.

Wall Street reform

Wall Street Reform or Financial Reform refers to reform of the financial industry and the regulation of the financial industry in the United States. Wall Street is the home of the country's two largest stock exchanges, and "Wall Street" is a metonym for the American financial sector. Major Wall Street reform bills include the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the Truth in Lending Act of 1968, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The most recent Wall Street reform bill, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, was signed by President of the United States Barack Obama on July 22, 2010, following a global financial crisis.

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 placed a "wall of separation" between banks and brokerages, which was largely repealed by the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. The bill was enacted during the Great Depression, which began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999 repealed the "wall of separation," allowing companies to simultaneously act as commercial banks, investment banks, and insurance companies. Though some commentators regard the restoration of the 1933 bill as crucial, even calling it "the most vital element of Wall Street reform", House Democratic leaders refused to allow an amendment by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) to restore Glass-Steagall as part of the 2009 Frank bill. Hinchey introduced his proposal as a separate bill, the Glass-Steagall Restoration Act of 2009. Nonetheless, the "Volcker rule" proposed by the Obama administration has been described as a "new Glass-Steagall Act for the 21st century", as it establishes stringent rules against banks using their own money to make risky investments.

Wall Street (photograph)

Wall Street is a platinum palladium print photograph by the American photographer Paul Strand taken in 1915. There are currently only two vintage prints of this photograph with one at the Whitney Museum of American Art (printed posthumously) and the other, along with negatives, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This photograph was included in Paul Strand, circa 1916, an exhibition of photographs that exemplify his push toward modernism.

It depicts a scene of everyday life in Manhattan's Financial District. Workers are seen walking past the J.P. Morgan building in New York City on the famous Wall Street, of which the photograph takes its name. The photograph is famous for its reliance on the sharpness and contrast of the shapes and angles, created by the building and the workers, that lead to its abstraction. This photograph is considered to be one of Strand's most famous works and an example of his change from pictorialism to straight photography. Strand moved from the posed to portraying the purity of the subjects. It is one of several images that stand as marks of the turn to modernism in photography.

Erin Street & Wall Street

Erin Street and Wall Street are one-way streets in the West End of Winnipeg, Manitoba. They run from Route 57 (Notre Dame Avenue) to Route 85 (Portage Avenue).

Erin Street runs from the Pacific Industrial area (Notre Dame Avenue) in a southbound direction, while Wall Street runs from the Polo Park area (Portage Avenue) northbound. The speed limit is 60 km/h (35 mph) for both roads.

Coordinates: 49°53′46″N 97°10′59″W / 49.896°N 97.183°W / 49.896; -97.183

Wall Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

Wall Street is a station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street. It is served by the 4 train at all times and the 5 train at all times except late nights.

Station layout

Wall Street is an underground, two-tracked station, with two side platforms that are slightly offset from one another.

The standard IRT name tablet mosaics are original as well as the fancy ceiling accents and the iron pillars. On the southbound platform is a wooden token booth and ticket chopper, wooden restroom doors on each side. The walls on the platforms are clad in pink stone at the bottom, followed by white tiles, the name of the station in white letters and blue mosaics, and decorated tiles at the top. The top part is decorated with tiles depicting vines or artistic depictions of a New Amsterdam stapled colonial house with the palisade wall in front of it, which gave today's Wall Street its name.

There is a crossunder about midway along the length of the platforms, and a lesser-used one at the north end. At street level are faux kiosks on the southbound side. A complex underground passageway exists outside the fare control which connects to the Broad Street station on the BMT Nassau Street Line, and to the Wall Street station on the Brooklyn Branch of the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line. This passageway also leads to the Chase Manhattan Plaza and the old Equitable Building.