Alright @YouTheReader, so for the ones who know me best, they’re probably already sick and tired of Motorcycle Drive By. For two months straight, every night after an evening of Pints of Guinness I would post a story on my personal Instagram of being out & about while in The City followed by another picture of Hoboken. It was probably extremely annoying but in fairness, now some people *may* hear this song and associate it with Week to Week Notes, so totally worth it in my book.
@Grandma an Instagram story is a picture that can have a 15-second clip of a song on in the background of it. The first 30 seconds of this song fit perfectly with the lead-up in the first 15 seconds and then end with “Walkin’ on such a tightrope with my damn high hopes.” I’ve never driven a motorcycle and most people don’t connect “drive-by” with taking a picture, I was just capturing things I saw while Stumblin’ Along. That’s enough about me, this song has a much deeper meaning for Zach Bryan so I did some research on the lyrics. @Grandma let me @MaggieDavisHair show you next time she does your hair!
In the middle of ‘22, Zach Bryan was involved in a motorcycle wreck and he wrote this song shortly afterward. Whether it be his diehard Eagles fandom, his drinking habits with his buddies, or not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle; Bryan lives a fast life where walks a tight rope with his hopes.
The internet assumes that this song was written in Richmond, Virginia. The Motorcycle Drive By accident allegedly took place near Ashland, Kentucky while he was on tour. Rather than make a big thing out of the accident, Bryan didn’t miss a night of his tour - wearing sunglasses at night to hide his shame. You can also see he has a bandage on his right hand, so while performing he was still fresh from the incident… very Johnny Cash-like if you ask me…
Union Square Savings Bank
@YouTheReader the first time I used this song Motorcycle Drive By I was just standing in front of Union Square Savings Bank and I just really liked the look of it with the architectural columns. I figured it had to have some importance to it with a bit of history. I could do a whole thing about Union Square today, but I’d rather save the park for my Back Pocket later on. I enjoy a good challenge so trying to make the history of a bank in New York City seem a bit more interesting will be fun. Luckily this isn’t your average bank…
The origins of Union Square Savings Bank don’t actually take place a block east of Union Square Park. Way back in 1848, prominent members of the New York Chamber of Commerce and Mercantile Library Association, William H. Macy and James G. King, wanted to "encourage the clerks of businessmen to take care of their earnings” and they named the banking establishment the Institution for Savings of Merchants Clerks. Unfortunately, there is very little information on the internet about this Mr. William H. Macy fella because all that shows up about his name is the actor from Shameless or Bill Macy from the CBS TV Show called Maude. William H. Macy is not either one of those guys. There is a bit of info on James G. King…
Jimmy G. King’s father served as the first US Senator of New York and was the U.S. Minister to the UK under George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams. Jimmy G. King was a Harvard grad, Class of 1810, and served in the NY Militia during the War of 1812. Afterward, he did a bunch of boring banking stuff from 1812 to the mid-30s where he went into politics to spice things up. He initially failed at running for Congress in New York City. That said, this failure’s reputation for banking gave him enough credibility to come up with the concept for the Institution for Savings of Merchants Clerks in 1848. As a member of the Whig Political Party, King would go on to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for one term from 1849 to 1851, representing New Jersey’s 5th congressional district otherwise known as Bergen County. (@YouTheReader this Stumblin’ Along is about a bank I had to find some interesting connection for some of you!)
Back to the bank, from 1848 to 1867, the Institution for Savings of Merchants Clerks (ISMCs I’m getting tired of typing this out) was located at 5 Beekman Street (across City Hall) and later at 516 Broadway. Then they purchased land and put up that building on the northeast comer of Union Square East & East 15th Street (that first black and white picture above). Eventually, the ISMCs got their act together and decided our name is a bit too boring so they decided to rebrand. I was not in the room for the conversations but I’m assuming it went something like “Hey we have property next to Union Square Park and we’re a savings bank. Where art thou we just change the name to that?” Well in reality it went a bit different, in 1904, the bank successfully petitioned the Supreme Court of the State of New York for permission to change its name to the Union Square Savings Bank, claiming the former name was no longer suitable to an institution that "draws its depositors from all classes in the community, and not alone from merchants' clerks.” Anyway, Henry Bacon was authentic behind the bold and monumental classic style designs.
Henry Bacon was an American Architect who was known for his Greek Revival and Beaux-Arts Styles. He is the man responsible for the classic four giant Corinthian columns that I was seduced by enough to take a Motorcycle Drive By picture of so got to give Henry his Bacon on this. Mr. Bacon’s designs were put on a showcase at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, which was a world’s fair set in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival even though it was 401 years later. @YouTheReader Hey, they tried. Henry Bacon’s design of The Union Square Savings Bank is his largest and best-known bank commission and it was also an unusual work of Bacon’s as he specialized in the designs of public monuments. It should be Noted that Henry Bacon was responsible for the designs of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
The building cost $275,000 in 1905. Let me do my calculations on my trusty CPI Inflation Calculator - that comes out to $9,432,375 today. I could be typing out of my arse but a project like building a late Greek Revival with four giant Corinthian columns feels like it would be much more expensive than $10 million. Of course, it must have been built non-union as construction began in May 1906 and it was opened on March 7, 1907. In 1923, the State of New York passed the branch banking bill, permitting savings banks to open branches for the first time, and the Union Square Savings Bank began operating branches around the city, but it kept its headquarters in the Union Square building. (Source: NYC Gov)
During The Great War, as known as World War One, the Union Square Savings Bank was listed among the institutions where Liberty Bonds could be purchased. They were not alone, nearly every other Manhattan bank was selling Liberty Bonds to aid in the war effort. One of the clerks at Union Square Savings Bank wanted to do more than just sell bonds, his name was Halliday S. Smith. Halliday Smith initially tried to enlist but was “disqualified for military service on account of a dislocation of the shoulder.” Determined to fight in the Great War, Smith would enlist in the YMCA, which actually played a huge part in volunteering in these situations during WWI. I had no idea that the YMCA had anything to do with the military, but it actually predates the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln once wrote to YMCA leaders of his support of the club stating, “I sincerely hope your plan may be as successful, as it is just and generous in conception." (Source: WW1)
Sadly, Halliday Smith would not return from WWI to be a clerk at the Union Square Savings Bank once more. Smith was sent to France where he was working among the wounded in the trenches during a heavy bombardment on May 25, 1918. The Germans initiated a gas attack on the troops but Smith remained at his post “regardless of personal peril.” On Sunday, June 2, 1918, word arrived in New York that the Union Square Savings Bank clerk had died in the trenches, overcome by the lethal fumes. (Source: Dayton in Manhattan)
Honestly, when I originally took the photo that night, I was sort of interested to see if Union Square Savings Bank had a run on it during the Great Depression but that doesn’t seem to be the case. In the interior of the bank, it was renovated twice in 1937 and 1961 when new banking counters were installed, a penthouse addition was made, and a modernized new front entrance was created, however, everything on the exterior remained the same from the 1907 original opening. The Union Square Savings Bank acquitted Kings County Savings Bank in 1969 to form the United Mutual Savings Bank. 13 years after the acquisition and name change, United Mutual failed and American Savings Bank acquired Henry Bacon’s masterpiece located across from Union Square Park. In 1992, when American Savings Bank became insolvent, Union Square branch bank was closed for good.
The House of Blues, a concert-venue company bought the building in 1993. They had plans to make major changes to how the building was used (including making it a live music venue and 300-seat venue) which drew criticisms from preservationists who wanted it to remain a bank. On December 12, 1995, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Union Square Savings Bank and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site. The hearing was continued to January 30, 1996. Twenty-three witnesses spoke in favor of the designation and nobody opposed it so the Union Square Savings Bank building officially became a New York City Landmark. In 1996, the building was acquired by Daryl Roth who devised a plan to make the former bank an off-Broadway venue. The unique-looking theatre opened in 1998 and is still in use to this day. They currently are showing the Titanique and will be showing the Very Hungry Caterpillar Show up next. Purchase tickets here and use promo code “W2WN” to get an error message and a 0% discount.
@YouTheReader wouldn’t it be really funny if one day Zach Bryan was like “Why TF do people associate Motorcycle Drive By with the failed Union Square Savings Bank located across from Union Square Park?”
Only kidding. Great tune and hopefully you found this piece on one of New York City’s failed Banks to be a bit interesting. In fairness, I thought Union Square Savings Bank was interesting after a handful of pints. As for TD Bank, with all this bank talk, I will for sure need to have a Guinness or two on this fine Sunday afternoon…