Talk:Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower

Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on February 5, 2024.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
August 7, 2022	Good article nominee	Listed
December 25, 2023	Featured article candidate	Promoted

A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on April 21, 2022.

The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that the dome atop the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower was once called "New York's most exuberant phallic symbol"?

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Exterior sculpture

These guys[1] list Chambellan as doing the exterior sculpture, as well as the interior stuff. Should we add that to the article, or . . . . .......... can we trust them? Carptrash (talk) 03:07, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'd trust them. The architectural sculpture inside and out seems consistent, though the "Lombard" friezes inside are more historicizing.--Wetman (talk) 15:24, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanx for the pix; now I needn't feel I am missing an opportunity when doing other places instead of this one. From news reports I understand that the 14h Regiment Armory a mile south recently opened on weekends. For now, it is only represented by my own File:Park Slope Armory jeh.JPG, snapped hastily when I was trying to get to Brooklyn Bridge before dark. Incidentally I hope future good pictures go to Wikimedia Commons, where they can be better catalogued, geotagged, and used by other Wikipedias than just English. Jim.henderson (talk) 01:01, 22 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Theleekycauldron (talk) 23:58, 15 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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Article history

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Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower

... that in the 1990s, a dentist's office in the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower was the highest point someone could access in Brooklyn? Source: Yarrow, Andrew L. (May 9, 1991). "Downtown Brooklyn Journal; Lean Back, Open Wide And Say, 'Holy Cow!'". The New York Times
- ALT1: ... that the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, once the tallest building in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, was dubbed "the mecca of dentistry"? Source: Son, Hugh (May 18, 2005). "Bank on Condos NBA Great in $71m Tower Deal". New York Daily News.
- ALT2: ... that hundreds of windows at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower were illegally altered over six years, but it went unnoticed until the building was mentioned in the news? Source: Gray, Christopher (November 12, 1989). "Streetscapes: Williamsburgh Savings Bank; Resolving the Case of Missing Muntins". The New York Times. "At about the same time, however, a commission staff member noticed news accounts of the restoration work. Lillian Ayala, spokeswoman for the commission, said the staff member called the bank to make sure the work described did not affect the exterior. Bank representatives confirmed that all the work was on the interior, except for the new windows - 906 new windows. ... it had taken the bank six years to replace 906 of the 935 windows"
- ALT3: ... that it took six years for anyone to notice that hundreds of windows at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower had been illegally altered? Source: Gray, Christopher (November 12, 1989). "Streetscapes: Williamsburgh Savings Bank; Resolving the Case of Missing Muntins". The New York Times.
- ALT4: ... that the dome atop the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower was once called "New York's most exuberant phallic symbol"? Source: White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot & Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 637
- ALT5: ... that at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, over a hundred dentists once worked above a "cathedral dedicated to the furtherance of thrift and prosperity"? Source: Yarrow 1991; Newman, Andy (September 20, 2002). "My Brooklyn; A Tower of Dentists Wears a Golden Crown".
- ALT6: ... that at the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, over a hundred dentists once worked above a banking room that one of its architects compared to a cathedral? Source: Yarrow 1991; Newman 2002
- ALT7: ... that the banking room of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, which one of its architects compared to a cathedral, later housed an event venue and a flea market? Source: Newman 2002; Brown, Stephen (December 23, 2009). "Flea of the lords!". Brooklyn Paper.
- ALT8: ... that the dome of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building inspired that above the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, despite objections from the tower's architects? Source: [2]. See also Template:Did you know nominations/Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building (175 Broadway); if this hook is chosen, it has to be approved in both nominations.
- Reviewed: Ruby Dee

5x expanded by Epicgenius (talk). Self-nominated at 01:13, 26 March 2022 (UTC).[reply]

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Good to go as far as I can see. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 19:10, 4 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewed top matches using Earwig's Copyvio Detector and had no concerns. I prefer the original proposed hook to any of the ALTs. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 00:06, 4 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hook has "at one time.." - can this be more specific? (e.g. "in the 1990s.." or whatever the sources support.) I couldn't access the link in the DYK nomination as I don't want to subscribe to NYT but am very happy to AGF as I've reviewed work by the nominator previously. I checked s couple of other references and all was good.
The fix sources script suggests amending "newspaper=New York Daily News" to "newspaper=Daily News" and "location=New York". Looking at New York Daily News, I think this change might be correct, but it's not a blocker for the DYK nomination.
Thanks for the work on the article, Epicgenius. What do you think about amending the start of the hook? Regards, BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 09:08, 4 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]
- @BennyOnTheLoose: Thanks. I have fixed ALT0 accordingly. As for source verification, I think WP:TWL offers access to the New York Times via ProQuest. The link is here or I can send the relevant article to you privately. Epicgenius (talk) 14:33, 4 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

ALT4 to T:DYK/P5 without image

GOCE copy edit notes

@Epicgenius – a few notes:

I see you've already addressed the clarify tag.
Four continents are also represented in the windows' carved frames. The source says metal grilles, and doesn't mention windows. Any source say which four continents?
I'm not sure this sentence should be included, especially in the architecture section of the article: Despite the building's prominence, bank officials in 1989 could not recall anyone having ever jumped to their death from the observatory.

voorts (talk/contributions) 01:45, 18 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the copy edit @voorts. I will address these two issues later.

The factoid about no one jumping to their death is relatively minor, but I do think it can be included, because an observatory atop a major skyscraper in NYC without any deaths may be noteworthy. At most of the other NYC skyscrapers with observatories that I'm aware of, people have tried to jump off at least once. Epicgenius (talk) 17:23, 18 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]