The NYSSCPA officially unveiled its new headquarters at 14 Wall Street with an open house event on Dec. 18.

Though the Society has been operating in the new space since the summer, the event, titled “Return to Wall Street,” served as a formal welcome for members and a celebration of the organization’s move back to Manhattan’s Financial District, where it was founded in 1897 and remained until 1939. The NYSSCPA had its first office at 11 Wall Street, next to the New York Stock Exchange; its new offices sit just across the street, in what was originally known as the Bankers Trust Company Building. Constructed in 1912, the building served as the early headquarters of JP Morgan & Co. Its top floor was used as a personal apartment by  J. Pierpont Morgan himself.

The evening began with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by NYSSCPA President J. Michael Kirkland. Noting that a portrait of the NYSSCPA’s founding president, Charles Waldo Haskins, hangs in the business lounge, Kirkland said that the Society’s early leader was an advocate of fellowship among CPAs, and pushed for CPAs to educate themselves and the public—principles that hold true more than a century later. “[It] is more important today than it was years ago,” Kirkland said. “[It] is our duty. It is our responsibility.”

Attendees—including senior representatives from several accounting firms and New York state Controller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office—also participated in the dedication of the Society’s Wall of Appreciation. The crystal-engraved wall recognizes members and friends who have contributed to the Society’s Build-a-Better-Profession campaign, which supports ongoing technology upgrades for members’ educational needs.

In homage to the NYSSCPA’s turn-of-the–20th century roots, the open house evoked the music, food and imagery of the time, with a ragtime band, period-accurate fare and black-and-white Thomas Edison film reels of historic New York. Manhattan borough historian Michael Miscione gave a special presentation about the financial district in the late 19th century, while “Teddy Roosevelt,” played by  Jim Foote, an impersonator from Long Island, offered a monologue on both the formation of the State Society and New York state’s creation of the CPA designation. Roosevelt, New York City police commissioner in 1897, became governor of New York state two years later.

Still, even with history a decided theme of the night, Society leaders turned the focus to the road ahead. “Our goal was to create an ambiance that fused the history of the profession with the progressive orientation we’re taking into the future,” Executive Director
Joanne S. Barry said.

The NYSSCPA’s new base of operations boasts state-of-the-art technology that Barry said would better serve members. Its two classrooms come equipped with extra-large monitors and dedicated laptops for presentations; its four committee rooms can stream out video to scores of participants and have a two-way video conferencing system that works with up to seven locations. What’s more, the NYSSCPA now has its own broadcast studio that will be used to produce CPE content, allowing its Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE) to lower price points for courses and make courses more accessible to members throughout the state.

The new office was selected after a task force that included Kirkland, President-elect Scott M. Adair, and Joseph M. Falbo Jr. reviewed more than 40 properties throughout the city.

Kirkland recalled his initial impression of the space. “We saw a few locations before we stumbled onto this one,” he explained. “When we walked in and looked at it, we said ‘this could work.’ There was nothing but bare walls and brick floors and columns, so you really had to have a great imagination to say ‘what could we build here?’”

Despite its improved technological capabilities, the new location is actually less expensive than the old one, which, according to Kirkland, was a key reason for its selection. The building’s lease also provided for an extensive landlord build-out, saving the Society more than $1 million in gross capital expenditures.

For Barry, the member reaction has made the years of planning well worth the effort. 

“The best day we had after we moved was when one of our members walked into our lobby and said ‘this is what my professional organization should look like. I’m proud of it,’” she said.

Indeed, many members expressed enthusiasm about the change during the open house. “I love it. The new state-of-the art lecture rooms are bigger and better—no one [will have] a problem seeing what’s going on,” said Harold L. Deiters, a past president of the NYSSCPA’s Suffolk chapter. “They did a great job.”

“The new location is wonderful,” added Beth van Bladel, a Northeast Chapter past president. “The Society has come such a long way and the full circle layout of the office really speaks to the collaboration of the entire team [at the NYSSCPA].”