London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

The New York Central Building

The New York Central building once presided majestically over an equally elegant Park Avenue, which is cleverly directed through the building from the south, emerging through the double arches on the north side. Sadly, while the tower (now known as the Helmsley Building) still stands, the view of it has been marred since 1963 when the Pan Am building was built between it and Grand Central Terminal. When it opened, the Pan Am building was the largest commercial office building in the world, and it was certainly one of the least graceful. The 1960s and 70s were not kind to Park Avenue on either side of Grand Central, and many of the traditional-style buildings have been demolished or re-clad in glass.

Many New Yorkers will recall the days during Advent when the lights in the offices were lit at night in the shape of a cross, viewable all the way up the Avenue. The tradition began during World War II to recall the sacrifice of our troops abroad but was discontinued in 2002 when complainants deemed it “offensive”.

Published at 8:42 pm on Wednesday 5 November 2008. Categories: Architecture New York Tags: , .
Comments

A splendid series of views of a splendid building and a splendid epoch.

— L Gaylord Clark 10 Nov 2008 5:23 am

At least the scene of the lights in the offices lit in the shape of a cross during Advent time is memoralized at the beginning of Stillman’s “Metropolitan”.

— Michiel V. 3 Dec 2008 6:22 pm

The New York Central Building is one of the most impressive buildings in the city . It is hidden on Park Av so therefore few see it or understand that it once housed the headquarters of one of the nations great railroads, The New York Central… the water level route.

— Ray Cosyn 27 Sep 2018 6:30 am
Leave a comment

NAME (required)

EMAIL (required)

WEBSITE (not required)

COMMENT

Home | About | Contact | Paginated Index | Twitter | Facebook | RSS/Atom Feed
andrewcusack.com | © Andrew Cusack 2004-present (Unless otherwise stated)