Cipriani 42nd street, formerly known as the bowery savings bank, is a national landmark conveniently located adjacent to Grand Central Station.
Built in 1921 in the spirit of the italian renaissance, Louis Ayres, of the distinguished architectural firm York & Sawyer, created "easily the most sumptuous of its kind in the country, departing sharply from the old architectural idea of a modified greek temple as the proper model for a savings bank."

York and Sawyer are best known for their bank buildings and have an impressive resume of bank buildings ranging from Baltimore to Rochester.
York and Sawyer are reputable for designing banks that put trust in the bank through elegance, security, and subtle mythical and religious intonations.
By walking through a low ceiling vestibule that opens into a grand banking room, the banker becomes more confident in the scaredness of their act, indeed saving becomes ritual like.
Ayres sought after the Romanesque style because of the heavy religious flavor, and though not a church, the banking room conveys a feeling of holy ground.

Cipriani 42nd street features a four-story banquet room with exquisite marble columns extending to ceiling heights reaching 65 feet.
In fact the most impressive feature of the room is the marble that infiltrates every element in the room. Columns line the east and west walls in marble brought from various quarries in France, Italy, Belgium, the Greek island of Tinos, and the Appenines giving the columns a multitude of rich, swirling colors. The walls are of various stones, all polished to give the impression of "mellow age."

The arcade bays on the east and west walls are finished with marble and are arranged in three patterns, interlocking circles flanking interlocking squares that flank tangential circles.
The random use of marbles of many colors inhabits nearly every architectural element and detail of the room and its furnishings. The entire banking room floor is of polychrome marble cosmato work laid in geometric patterns with broad borders of "traneville" cream marble. Three patterns - hexagon, lozenge/star, and lozenge/square - alternate in the marble floor within the five arched bays that compose the banking room's east and west walls.

The ceilings are comprised of several large and small wooden beams suspending six chandaliers with three tiers and three crested rings. To stay true to the theme of the Rennaisance styles many of the surfaces within the room have religious figures etched or painted onto them. The figures come from mythological or middle-aged Catholicism all allegorically hinting at the virtue of investing. Figures on the columns, vast arches, and ceiling beams symmetrically suggest the powers of the divine. These figures also add to the Romanesque character of the room, concretizing the prominence and sanctity of the ballroom.

Although originally a banking room, the purpose of this room suggests fine dining. The ballroom will awe even the most architectually critical and has been recognized as one of the most innovative and opulent rooms of its kind. Ideal for large banquets, parties, or ceremonies, the breathtaking room is accompanied by the unparallel service and food of the Cipriani name.

Cipriani 42nd street is the perfect setting in which to reproduce the glamour of Harry's Bar in Venice.
The founder, Giuseppe Cipriani, opened the doors for the first time on may 13th, 1931.
He believed in luxury with simplicity and followed this philosophy of elegance in creating Harry's Bar. The simple 350 square foot room has been patronized and loved by poets, writers, stars and an enormous number of faithful followers for 68 years.

Arrigo, his son, took over in 1958 when Giuseppe opened the hotel cipriani in Venice. Arrigo's son, Giuseppe, at the age of 20, crossed the atlantic and found that New York was waiting for a replica of the bar and restaurant in Venice.
Arrigo and Giuseppe founded Harry Cipriani on Fifth avenue, Downtown Cipriani in Soho, Cipriani Wall Street and, most recently, Rainbow by Cipriani.
Combined with perfect service, the breathtaking beauty of Cipriani 42nd Street and our famous true italian cuisine, the ingredients for a memorable experience are yours.
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