Shaping Modern New York: How Alexander Hamilton's BNY helped build NYC

How Alexander Hamilton's BNY helped build NYC.

Below is an excerpt from The New Yorker's Brand Studio July 22nd, 2024 article "Shaping Modern New York: How Alexander Hamilton's BNY helped build NYC," marking the 240th Anniversary of BNY's founding. It is published here with permission.

Illustration by Sofia Warren

When was the modern city of New York born? Some might say that it was in the 1820s, when the Erie Canal was completed, connecting the port city to the Great Lakes and transforming it into the commercial center of the nation. Others might say that it was in the 1900s, when the subway system opened, forever altering the way that New Yorkers would move throughout the city. Still others would point to its cultural milestones-from the emergence of Broadway to the opening of Lincoln Center. In many ways, the story of New York is the story of these accumulating accomplishments-of the layers of transportation, commerce, and culture that came together to create something greater than the sum of its parts: the diverse tapestry of the city that never sleeps.

Yet underneath it all is a foundation that made these gradual developments possible-a base upon which such a city could be built. For New York, we need to go back 240 years to reach this bedrock. At the time, the city was still recovering from the Revolutionary War, and stable ground was direly needed to help the city overcome the devastation of war, fire, and disease. It was this necessity that drew a small number of professionals to a coffee house in Lower Manhattan to discuss how they might help New York not only recover, but become an even greater city than before. These congregants, which included Alexander Hamilton, saw all that New York might become-but they understood that for this potential to be actualized, they needed the financial means to translate ideas into reality. They resolved to establish Bank of New York (now BNY), and in doing so, took the first steps towards realizing the city that we know today.

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