Reply With QuoteWhat is that prewar building to the right of it with the pointy things on top? I just noticed it recently.
The Lincoln Building
The Lincoln Building - the view from Top of the Rock - observation deck atop GE building in Rockefeller Center.
What is that prewar building to the right of it with the pointy things on top? I just noticed it recently.
The way that other building is pressed up against the lincoln building creates a very dramatic view if your standing alongside the metlife building and makes it look taller and really gotham
I believe that that's the Lefcourt Colonial Building.Originally Posted by stache
Here's its profile on Emporis:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=115590
I believe the Lefcourt is the home to "The Library" Hotel: http://www.libraryhotel.com/index.shtml
Both can be seen in this old photo:
Nice photo, NY! I would love to have a virtual reality tour of Manhattan circa 1947. So beautiful.
You should get "On the Town" (1949), which includes a musical number shot on the 'Top of the Rock' (and all sorts of other great NYC locations) !!
ON THE TOWN was one of the first movies filmed on location in New York--a wild extravagance in those days--and the extra effort taken shows in every shot of the film.
Funny but I don't think I notice The Lincoln Building as much as I should. It is a wonderful old gem. Now I really like the Lefcourt Colonial Building aswell. Cool spikes!
Thanks Edward!
Lower Grand Central area has many bronze plaques in the sidewalks. They are beautiful and look quite interesting but it seems that whenever I'm in that area, I'm dashing from place to place and I have not stopped to examine them more fully. Plus I would look like a tourist (horrors!). ;]
One Grand Central Place
What happens here, do we change the name of this thread?
Lincoln Loses a Tower, but He Still Has the Tunnel
By SAM ROBERTS
Published: February 12, 2010
Think “Lincoln” and “New York,” and the juxtaposition would most likely conjure up the tunnel or the performing arts center. Until this year, it might have also evoked the majestic Lincoln Building at 60 East 42nd Street.
Joshua Bright for The New York Times
The Lincoln statue that once graced the lobby of the former Lincoln Building on 42nd Street.
No longer.
With barely a nod to the former president, the owners of the 53-story tower, which opened 80 years ago, changed the name to One Grand Central Place, removed the bronze plaques on which the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address were immortalized, and evicted Daniel Chester French’s sculpture of the “seated Lincoln,” the model for the Lincoln Memorial, from the lobby.
The makeover occurred last year, the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, and after much talk that elevated President Obama to the former president’s soul mate. (Mr. Obama hardly discouraged the connection: he recited the presidential oath of office a year ago with his hand on the same Bible that Lincoln used at his inauguration in 1861.)
“First they replaced Lincoln’s Birthday with Presidents’ Day, and now this,” said Harold Holzer, a Lincoln scholar. “If this landlord took over the Lincoln Memorial, would he rename it the Temple on the Mall? The trend to the generic is not only an insult to our intelligence, it also threatens to erase national memory when perhaps we need it most.
“Lincoln talked at Gettysburg about ensuring that heroes did not die in vain. Apparently he spoke too soon.”
If the name change means Lincoln has been supplanted as a marketing tool, the good news is that neighbors now want to share in Grand Central Terminal’s revival as not only a transit hub, but also a destination.
Fred C. Posniak, senior vice president of W & H Properties, announced the change, saying, “It confirms the building’s reputation as the premier prewar trophy property within the Grand Central district, as well as its unsurpassed location directly across from Grand Central Terminal.”
The Lincoln statue was apparently purchased by Lawrence A. Wein, who bought the building in the early 1950s. He was the father-in-law of Peter L. Malkin, the chairman of W & H Properties, which now owns it.
Anthony E. Malkin, president of W & H, said the statue was moved to improve traffic flow and installed in the building’s law library off the lobby “in respect of a president who was himself a lawyer, and as a more befitting spot in our building for a noted work of art.”
Mr. Malkin also pointed out that “when it was completed in 1930, the building was not actually named after Mr. Lincoln; it was named after the Lincoln Storage Company.”
Sort of.
The site was occupied by the Lincoln Storage Company and the Lincoln National Bank, which never shied away from its association with the former president. When the bank opened in 1882, a portrait of Lincoln, presented by his son Robert, hung in the bank president’s private office.
In 1909, the building was festooned with bunting for the celebration of the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. As recently as 1992, his birthday was celebrated in the lobby with a cake, a concert and even a Lincoln impersonator.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/ny...l?ref=nyregion
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Honestly when I saw this thread bumped from obscurity I was expecting the worst, a reclad. When it comes to the stupidity of landlords I'd much rather have a name change than a reclad. The Lincoln Building with its gigantic arched windows and procession of setbacks at the base is a real gem. BTW it'll always be the Lincoln Building in my book. If the landlord had any creativity and sense he would emphasize the quirkiness of having Lincoln homages, this building isn't bringing in higher rents not because it doesn't have a generic name, but because it needs some sprucing up.
Isn't the building landmarked? It would be a catastrophe if this building was reclad.
According to info at DOB it isn't Landmarked.
Another amazing oversight by LPC.
However, it should be noted that the One Grand Central Place website includes this comment:
And this from the Malkin Securities website:60 East 42nd Street's majestic landmark lobby, recently hand-restored by Italian artisans, distinguishes the site as one of New York City's most important business addresses. Considered by many as the most prestigious building in the Grand Central area, 60 East 42nd Street is a seamless blend of state of the art amenities with traditional elegance and responsive management.
The tradition of elegance continues in 60 East 42nd Street's many fine architectural details with curved archways, exquisite moldings and bronze lighting fixtures.
In 2007, the property, long recognized for its stately and beautiful lobby, won the BOMA/NY Pinnacle Historical Building Award, conferred upon a property that demonstrates "strong commitment to the preservation of [its] historical integrity while modernizing to accommodate the latest advances in real estate technology."
We were so stylish back then. Our cars, buildings, street lights, even the one-way signs.
gog607
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