Christmas Tree inside the Onassis Center, January…
Christmas Tree inside the Onassis Center, January…
Statue inside the Onassis Center, January 2008
Statue inside the Onassis Center, January 2008
Inscription inside the Onassis Center, January 200…
Cast of the Parthenon Frieze inside the Onassis Ce…
Cast of the Parthenon Frieze inside the Onassis Ce…
Detail of a Cast of the Parthenon Frieze inside th…
Metope Cast from the Parthenon inside the Onassis…
Metope Casts from the Parthenon inside the Onassis…
Metope Cast from the Parthenon inside the Onassis…
Metope Cast from the Parthenon inside the Onassis…
Giant Spiderman in Sony Plaza in Midtown, March 20…
Giant Spiderman in Sony Plaza in Midtown, March 20…
New York Future by Romero Britto in Sony Plaza, Ma…
A Day in the Big Apple by Billy in Sony Plaza, Mar…
Detail of A Day in the Big Apple by Billy in Sony…
Detail of Ghost Series by Andrew Leicester in the…
Detail of Ghost Series by Andrew Leicester in the…
Stained Glass Ceiling in John's Pizzeria, July 200…
Advertisement on the Window of the Diesel Store on…
The Lipstick Building on Third Avenue, August 2010
Architectural Decorative Relief on a Building on L…
Tiger on a Chinese Restaurant in Midtown, Septembe…
Botticelli Shoes in New York, October 2010
Losing my Marbles by Lisa Dinhofer in the 42nd Str…
Losing my Marbles by Lisa Dinhofer in the 42nd Str…
Detail of Losing my Marbles by Lisa Dinhofer in th…
Affinia 50 Hotel Logo, August 2009
Old Ford on the Sidewalk in front of the Kimberly…
Affinia 50 Hotel Logo, August 2009
Detail of Losing my Marbles by Lisa Dinhofer in th…
Eagle on the Roof of Grand Central Station, Septem…
Roundel with the Godiva Logo in Midtown, May 2011
Detail of the Roundel with the Godiva Logo in Midt…
Red Flying Group by Ann Gillen on Third Avenue and…
Red Flying Group by Ann Gillen on Third Avenue and…
Red Flying Group by Ann Gillen on Third Avenue and…
St. Thomas Church, August 2007
St. Thomas Church, August 2007
St. Thomas Church, August 2007
Detail of Jesus on St. Thomas Church, August 2007
Detail of Jesus on St. Thomas Church, August 2007
Portal Sculptures on St. Thomas Church, August 200…
St. Thomas Church Episcopal Church Portal Sculptur…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture of a Saint on St. Tho…
Detail of a Side Door on St. Thomas Church, August…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture of a Saint on St. Tho…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture of a Saint on St. Tho…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture on St. Thomas Church,…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture of a Saint on St. Tho…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture of a Saint on St. Tho…
Relief with a Wedding Scene on the Facade of St. T…
Relief on the Facade of St. Thomas Church on 5th A…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture on St. Thomas Church,…
Capital Sculptural Detail on St. Thomas Church, Au…
Detail of a Portal Sculpture on St. Thomas Church,…
Sculptural Detail on St. Thomas Church, August 200…
The Dome of St. Bartholomew's Church, 2006
Portal Sculpture on St. Bart's, May 2011
Portal Sculpture on St. Bart's, May 2011
Saint on St. Bart's, May 2011
Saint on St. Bart's, May 2011
Holiday Light Show at Saks Fifth Avenue, January 2…
Holiday Decorations at Rockefeller Center, January…
Holiday Decorations at Rockefeller Center, January…
Holiday Decorations at Rockefeller Center, January…
Holiday Decorations at Rockefeller Center, January…
Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations at Rockefel…
Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations at Rockefel…
Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations at Rockefel…
Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations at Rockefel…
Christmas Tree and Holiday Decorations at Rockefel…
Holiday Lights on the De Beers Store on 5th Avenue…
Holiday Lights on the De Beers Store on 5th Avenue…
Holiday "Belt" Lights on the Fendi Store on 5th Av…
Tiffany's Holiday Window with a Butterfly on top o…
Tiffany's Holiday Window with Carousel, December 2…
One of Tiffany's Holiday Windows, December 2007
Tiffany's Sign & Holiday Lights, December 2007
The UNICEF Snowflake Above 5th Ave. and 57th St. i…
The UNICEF Snowflake Above 5th Ave. and 57th St. i…
Berlin Wall Fragment in Midtown Manhattan, August…
Detail of the Berlin Wall Fragment in Midtown Manh…
The Hearst Tower at Night, August 2007
Detail of the Penguins from the "Urban Oasis" mosa…
Detail of Ultrazoomazipzamapopdeluxa by Kenny Scha…
Ultrazoomazipzamapopdeluxa by Kenny Scharf in the…
Andy Warhol in the Lobby of the IBM Building, July…
Love Wall Hanging in the Lobby of the IBM Building…
"Saurien" by Alexander Calder in front of the IBM…
"Saurien" by Alexander Calder in front of the IBM…
"Saurien" by Alexander Calder in front of the IBM…
Giant Iguana on the Facade of "Iguana" Restaurant…
8th Avenue and the Hearst Tower in Manhattan, May…
Iguana Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, May 2007
Ziegfeld Theatre Sign, May 2007
Old Castle Bar in Midtown Manhattan, May 2007
Japanese Boy Statue Outside of a Restaurant in Mid…
Jim Dine's Venus on 6th Avenue on Christmas Eve, D…
Radio City Music Hall on Christmas Eve, Dec. 2006
Jim Dine's Venus on 6th Avenue on Christmas Eve, D…
Giant Christmas Ornaments on 6th Avenue on Christm…
Christmas Decorations at the AOL-Time Warner Build…
Christmas Decorations at the AOL-Time Warner Build…
Christmas Decorations at the AOL-Time Warner Build…
Christmas Decorations at the AOL-Time Warner Build…
Jim Dine's Venus on 6th Avenue, Oct. 2006
Jim Dine's Venus on 6th Avenue, Oct. 2006
Mannequin in the Window of an Ann Taylor Store in…
PowerPoint Colors Projected on the Wall of MoMa's…
PowerPoint colors Projected on the Wall of MoMa's…
Radio City Music Hall, Sept. 2006
Radio City Music Hall, Sept. 2006
Mannequin in the Window of an Ann Taylor Store in…
"Ordinary" Mobile Sculpture by Alexander Calder on…
"Ordinary" Mobile Sculpture by Alexander Calder on…
"Ordinary" Mobile Sculpture by Alexander Calder on…
Locksmith's Neon Sign in Manhattan, Aug. 2006
Blurred Version of the Light in Grand Central Stat…
Fountain on Park Avenue, Aug. 2006
Bloomingdales, Aug. 2006
Park Avenue & 53rd Street, Aug. 2006
Park Avenue & 53rd Street, Aug. 2006
Light in Grand Central Station, June 2007
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Holiday Light Show at Saks Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center, January 2008
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st Streets in New York City. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. It is the largest privately held complex of its kind in the world, and an international symbol of modernist architectural style blended with capitalism.
Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it from 1930. Rockefeller initially planned a syndicate to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929 and the withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Rockefeller stated "It was clear that there were only two courses open to me. One was to abandon the entire development. The other to go forward with it in the definite knowledge that I myself would have to build it and finance it alone." He took on the enormous project as the sole financier, on a 24-year lease (with the option for three 21-year renewals for a total of 87 years) for the site from Columbia; negotiating a line of credit with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and covering ongoing expenses through the sale of oil company stock.
It was the largest private building project ever undertaken in modern times. Construction of the 14 buildings in the Art Deco style (without the original opera house proposal) began on May 17, 1930 and was completed on November 1, 1939 when he drove in the final (silver) rivet into 10 Rockefeller Plaza. Principal builder, and "managing agent", for the massive project was John R. Todd and principal architect was Raymond Hood, working with and leading three architectural firms, on a team that included a young Wallace Harrison, later to become the family's principal architect and adviser to Nelson Rockefeller.
It was the public relations pioneer Ivy Lee, the prominent adviser to the family, who first suggested the name "Rockefeller Center" for the complex, in 1931. Junior initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants.
What could have become a major controversy in the mid-1930s concerned the last of the four European buildings that remained unnamed. Attempts were made by Ivy Lee and others to rent out the space to German commercial concerns and name it the Deutsches Haus. Junior ruled this out after being advised of Hitler's Nazi march towards World War II, and thus the empty office site became the International Building North.
This subsequently became the primary location of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence, British Security Coordination (BSC) during the War, with Room 3603 becoming the principal operations center for Allied intelligence, organized by William Stephenson, as well as the office of the future head of what was later to become the Central Intelligence Agency, Allen Welsh Dulles.
The Center is a combination of two building complexes: the older and original 14 Art Deco office buildings from the 1930s, and a set of four International-style towers built along the west side of Avenue of the Americas during the 1960s and 1970s (plus the Lehman Brothers Building). (The Time-Life Building, McGraw-Hill and News Corporation/Fox News Channel headquarters are part of these "newer" Rockefeller Center buildings, which are now owned/managed by the major private real estate firm, Rockefeller Group.)
In 1985, Columbia University sold the land beneath Rockefeller Center to the Rockefeller Group for 400 million dollars. The entire Rockefeller Center complex was purchased by Mitsubishi Estate, a real estate company of the Mitsubishi Group, in 1989, which fully bought out Rockefeller Group. In 2000, the current owner Jerry Speyer (a close friend of David Rockefeller), of Tishman Speyer Properties,
Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it from 1930. Rockefeller initially planned a syndicate to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929 and the withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Rockefeller stated "It was clear that there were only two courses open to me. One was to abandon the entire development. The other to go forward with it in the definite knowledge that I myself would have to build it and finance it alone." He took on the enormous project as the sole financier, on a 24-year lease (with the option for three 21-year renewals for a total of 87 years) for the site from Columbia; negotiating a line of credit with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and covering ongoing expenses through the sale of oil company stock.
It was the largest private building project ever undertaken in modern times. Construction of the 14 buildings in the Art Deco style (without the original opera house proposal) began on May 17, 1930 and was completed on November 1, 1939 when he drove in the final (silver) rivet into 10 Rockefeller Plaza. Principal builder, and "managing agent", for the massive project was John R. Todd and principal architect was Raymond Hood, working with and leading three architectural firms, on a team that included a young Wallace Harrison, later to become the family's principal architect and adviser to Nelson Rockefeller.
It was the public relations pioneer Ivy Lee, the prominent adviser to the family, who first suggested the name "Rockefeller Center" for the complex, in 1931. Junior initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants.
What could have become a major controversy in the mid-1930s concerned the last of the four European buildings that remained unnamed. Attempts were made by Ivy Lee and others to rent out the space to German commercial concerns and name it the Deutsches Haus. Junior ruled this out after being advised of Hitler's Nazi march towards World War II, and thus the empty office site became the International Building North.
This subsequently became the primary location of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence, British Security Coordination (BSC) during the War, with Room 3603 becoming the principal operations center for Allied intelligence, organized by William Stephenson, as well as the office of the future head of what was later to become the Central Intelligence Agency, Allen Welsh Dulles.
The Center is a combination of two building complexes: the older and original 14 Art Deco office buildings from the 1930s, and a set of four International-style towers built along the west side of Avenue of the Americas during the 1960s and 1970s (plus the Lehman Brothers Building). (The Time-Life Building, McGraw-Hill and News Corporation/Fox News Channel headquarters are part of these "newer" Rockefeller Center buildings, which are now owned/managed by the major private real estate firm, Rockefeller Group.)
In 1985, Columbia University sold the land beneath Rockefeller Center to the Rockefeller Group for 400 million dollars. The entire Rockefeller Center complex was purchased by Mitsubishi Estate, a real estate company of the Mitsubishi Group, in 1989, which fully bought out Rockefeller Group. In 2000, the current owner Jerry Speyer (a close friend of David Rockefeller), of Tishman Speyer Properties,
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