The Pink Post Office

In downtown Manhattan, at the corner of Church and Canal Streets, sits the pale pink Post Office known as the Canal Street Station.

Designed by Alan Balch Mills, completed in 1939 and restored in the early 1990s, most of the exterior is covered in glazed terracotta tiles in a shade called “rosy buff.” At the entrance, the tiles of the facade are colored oxblood, green and black with silver metallic lusters. If you pass through the small, shabby vestibule, you’ll see an enormous gilded terra-cotta bas-relief credited to Wheeler William.

While this certainly isn’t the only pink post office in the world (Sarajevo has long boasted a beautiful, ornate pink and white wedding cake of a post office), it is — without question — the finest pink post office in New York City.

On The Corner of Church & Canal Streets
Originally uploaded by annulla.

Doorway to Post Office
Originally uploaded by annulla.

Close Up of Pink Vestibule
Originally uploaded by annulla.

Bas-Relief by Wheeler William (1938)
Originally uploaded by annulla.

NYCJPG: Canal Street Station
Canal Street Station Post Office Under Restoration
About the Sarajevo Post Office
BBC: Photo of Saravjevo Post Office during restoration