set back slightly and surrounded by a balustrade. Above the roof are three 1- and 2-story mechanical towers. Booking room The first-floor booking room is long by wide, running parallel to Battery Place, and has a ceiling tall. Its floor was made of marble, later covered with linoleum. Inside, a compass rose was prominently depicted in the floor, and two enormous murals depicted shipping lanes. The former booking room was modeled on an 18th-century ballroom, with columns and elaborate railings at either end, along with four imposing chandeliers and marble walls. This space was later converted to a Citibank branch. To the north is the building's original lobby, which stretches across the width of the building, and also contains marble floors and walls. The lobby contains access to a bank of elevators as well as an emergency staircase. History Early site usage In the 17th century, two taverns operated at the site of what is now 1 Broadway. One of these was the "Knocks Tavern", built around 1649 by Dutch military officer Peter Knocks (alternatively Peter Cock). This was likely the first permanent building at 1 Broadway. Additionally, there was a "market stand" on the site in 1656. Dutch settler William Isaacsen Vredenburgh lived at the site until 1673, when the building was scheduled to be demolished because it interfered with Fort Amsterdam's defenses. From 1678 to 1685, the property was owned by David Ackerman, a Dutchman who was subsequently one of New Jersey's earliest settlers. The lot was sold in 1745 to Royal Navy captain Archibald Kennedy. Around 1760 or 1768, Kennedy's house was erected at the site, "fashioned [...] after the most approved English model". The house was a symmetrical two-story mansion with materials imported from the Netherlands; its features included two stone string courses and a slightly projecting center portion with a Palladian window. There was a parlor long and a connection to the adjacent house at 3 Broadway. Kennedy occupied the house until 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, when he fled to New Jersey. The Kennedy house then served briefly as headquarters for Continental Army generals Henry Lee III and Israel Putnam, and possibly served as headquarters for General George Washington, as well as by high-ranking generals of the British army.The Commander-in-Chief, America, Sir Henry Clinton, occupied Number One Broadway as his headquarters, and in 1782-3 Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) also occupied Number One.