On the evening of November 18, some of the best-known financial policy makers of the last century gathered at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to mark its 100th anniversary.

The celebration attracted famous former New York Fed presidents, including Paul Volcker, who went on to become the inflation-slaying chairman of the central bank in Washington, Gerald Corrigan and Tim Geithner, who was in charge during the last financial crisis before moving to the US Treasury.

They assembled at a building that is a veritable fortress in Lower Manhattan: 22 storeys of sandstone, on top of vaults that contain 6,700 tons of gold, protected by iron bars and shotgun-wielding police officers. The event was held at an awkward time. At no point in its history has the New York Fed faced such existential threats — a reputational challenge that threatens to diminish its fearsome power.