HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

70 Pine Street – formerly known as the 60 Wall Tower, Cities Service Building, and American International Building – is a 67-story, 952-foot (290 m) residential building in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Built from 1930 to 1932 by energy conglomerate
Cities Service Company Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...
(later
Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area ...
), the building was designed by the firm of Clinton & Russell, Holton & George in the
Art Deco style Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
. It was Lower Manhattan's tallest building and the world's third-tallest structure upon its completion. 70 Pine Street occupies a trapezoidal lot on Pearl Street between Pine and Cedar Streets. It features a brick, limestone, and gneiss facade with numerous setbacks. The building contains an extensive program of ornamentation, including the Cities Service Company's triangular logo and solar motifs. The interior features included escalators at the base and double-deck elevators linking the tower's floors. A three-story penthouse, intended for Cities Service's founder Henry Latham Doherty, was instead used as a public observatory. 70 Pine Street's construction was funded through a
public offering A public offering is the offering of securities of a company or a similar corporation to the public. Generally, the securities are to be listed on a stock exchange. In most jurisdictions, a public offering requires the issuing company to publish a ...
of
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...
, rather than a
mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...
. Despite having been built during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, the building was profitable enough that it broke even by 1936, and 90 percent of its space was occupied five years later. The
American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
(AIG) bought the building in 1976, and it was acquired by another firm in 2009 after AIG went into bankruptcy. The building and its first floor interior were designated as official
New York City landmarks These are lists of New York City landmarks designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission: * New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan: ** List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street ** List o ...
in June 2011. In 2016, the building became a luxury rental residential property.


Site

70 Pine Street is in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, on a plot bounded by Pine Street to the south, Pearl Street to the east, and Cedar Street to the north. The site covers , measuring on Pine and Cedar Streets by on Pearl Street. The terrain slopes downward to the east, toward Pearl Street, so that there is an upper lobby (accessed from Pine Street) and a lower lobby (accessed from Pearl Street). Neighboring buildings include
56 Pine Street 56 Pine Street – originally known as the Wallace Building after its developer, James Wallace – at 56-58 Pine Street between Pearl and William Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1893-94 and was ...
and the
Down Town Association The Down Town Association in the City of New York, usually referred to as the Down Town Association, is a private club in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. Located at 60 Pine Street, between William and Pearl Streets, it is ...
building to the northwest,
90–94 Maiden Lane 90–94 Maiden Lane is a cast-iron building on Gold Street between William and Pearl Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1870-71 in the French Second Empire style and is attributed to Charles Wright ...
across Cedar Street, and 60 Wall Street across Pine Street.


Architecture

70 Pine Street is a 67-story building rising 952 feet (290 m). The roof is tall while the top story is high. Like its contemporaries, 70 Pine Street has a
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
-like spire-topped appearance. Clinton & Russell, Holton & George designed 70 Pine Street in the
Art Deco style Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
, and was the last large commission by these architects. Of that firm's principals, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
states that Thomas J. George was likely the most involved with the design. The building was constructed as part of an ongoing
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
race in New York City, which resulted in the city having the world's tallest building from 1908 to 1974. When completed, 70 Pine Street was the third-tallest building in the world, after the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
and the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...
. The building exceeded
40 Wall Street 40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau Street (Manhattan), Nassau and William Street (Manhattan), William streets in the Financial District, Manh ...
, the
Manhattan Company The Manhattan Company was a New York bank and holding company established on September 1, 1799. The company merged with Chase National Bank in 1955 to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. It is the oldest of the predecessor institutions that eventually ...
's building, by to be Lower Manhattan's tallest building. It was the last skyscraper to be built in Lower Manhattan prior to World War II, and was the tallest building in Lower Manhattan until the 1970s, when the World Trade Center was completed. With the
collapse of the World Trade Center The collapse of the World Trade Center occurred during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after the Twin Towers were struck by two hijacked commercial airliners. One World Trade Center (WTC 1, or the North Tower) was hit at 8:46&nb ...
in the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, it regained the status of the tallest Lower Manhattan building until the completion of the new
One World Trade Center One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Mer ...
in 2014.


Form

The building contains numerous setbacks on its exterior. Though setbacks in New York City skyscrapers were mandated by the
1916 Zoning Resolution The 1916 Zoning Resolution in New York City was the first citywide zoning code in the United States. The zoning resolution reflected both borough and local interests, and was proposed after the Equitable Building was erected in Lower Manhattan ...
in order to allow light and air to reach the streets below, they later became a defining feature of the Art Deco style. As a result of the several layers of setbacks, the top stories are one-fourth the size of the lowest stories. The first setback happens on the 32nd floor, followed by another large setback on the 56th floor. The intermediate levels also contained smaller setbacks, which were used as private patios for the offices on the respective floors. There were multiple setbacks on each side, so the upper floors contained up to 20 sides. Above the 67th-floor observation deck is the building's
spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
, composed of a glass lantern rising , topped by a
stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's r ...
pinnacle extending another . The spire rises and weighs . The author Dirk Stichweh characterized the spire as giving the impression of a mountain peak covered with snow. The spire had a beacon, which was described as being "visible for 200 miles at sea and inland", though in reality the beacon could only be seen from away. W. Parker Chase, writing in 1932, characterized the spire as being "almost sensational in its 'differentness'".


Facade

The entrance portals and lower-story windows are lavishly decorated. The lower stories of the facade are covered with
Indiana Limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
. The upper stories are clad with four shades of
brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
, which darken toward the building's peak. Red-and-black Morton gneiss wraps the ground floor. An extensive lighting system highlighted the building's features at night; its inclusion was influenced by Cities Service's role as an energy provider. An early publicist for 70 Pine Street said that Cities Service founder Henry Latham Doherty was personally involved in the structure's design, and that "he insisted on dignity with beauty, to the absolute avoidance of the garish, the flamboyant, and the over colorful." 70 Pine Street was one of the first buildings to use aluminum extensively on its facade. Cliff ParkhurstSometimes spelled "Clif" of the Parkhurst Organization designed the aluminum ornamentation of 70 Pine Street. These ornamental features include reliefs above each set of entrance doors;
spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
s with sharp
arris In architecture, an arris is the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the edge of a timber in timber framing; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent a ...
es above the lower-story windows; and a ventilation grille on Cedar Street. The reliefs above the doors are designed with motifs of butterflies and sunflowers, which appear as an abstract pattern from a distance. In addition, there were 6,000 windows, ten million bricks, of marble, and of steel used in 70 Pine Street's construction. The black and pink marble in the building was transported from Minnesota and Tennessee.


Entrances

The building has four primary entrances: two on Pine Street and two on Cedar Street, which all lead to the main lobby. Another entrance on Pearl Street, which was formerly located under the Third Avenue elevated line, is more simply designed and leads to a lobby in the lower level. All of these streets are narrower than the typical street in Manhattan: Pine Street is wide while Cedar Street is wide. Because of the slope of the terrain, the western entrances are at the same level at the street, and the eastern entrances are accessed by short flights of steps rising from the street. The eastern entrances on Pine and Cedar Streets are near the centers of these elevations; they consist of large four-story portals with stepped arches. Both arches are divided by a limestone pillar that contains a freestanding limestone relief of 70 Pine Street. These pillars, each , may have been designed by
Rene Paul Chambellan Rene Paul Chambellan (September 15, 1893 – November 29, 1955) was an American sculptor who specialized in architectural sculpture. He was also one of the foremost practitioners of what was then called the "French Modern Style" and has subseq ...
and were fairly accurate in their detailing. Architectural critic
Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known a ...
wrote that 70 Pine Street's reliefs "surveyed the crowds of workers as a carved Madonna would bless the pilgrims of a Gothic cathedral." There were three metal doors to either side of the pillars. Above the doors were four tiers of sash windows; the lowest such tier was originally composed of glass louvers, which reduced wind pressure when the doors were being opened, but these were later replaced with glass panes. Along the interior reveals of both portal arches are reliefs containing the triangular logo of Cities Service. Inside each entrance were staircases leading to the upper and lower lobbies. The western entrances on Pine and Cedar Streets are located near the western end of the building and are two stories tall. Each portal contains two sets of revolving doors.


Interior

At the time of 70 Pine Street's construction, developers had to consider skyscrapers' profitability in conjunction with height. 70 Pine Street was designed to accommodate between 7,000 and 8,000 employees, more than nearly every other skyscraper at the time. The interior spaces were thus designed with high capacity in mind. The building contains of interior space.The American International Building
Art Deco Era, part 3, New York Scrapers, greatgridlock.net.
When it opened, there was of gross floor area, of which was available for lease.


Lobby

The first-floor lobby is designed in the Art Deco style and are arranged into six hallways. Two of the hallways are long, traveling north to south between the pairs of entrances on Pine and Cedar Streets, while three other hallways are long and travel west to east; there is also a wide central hall. The passages are wide, with the widest section of the lobby near Pine Street, where there is an information booth. The lobby is oriented slightly west, away from the elevated lines that formerly overshadowed Pearl Street, so that the westerly entrances could be located at ground level and so that the sky bridge to 60 Wall Street would be possible. Inside each entrance were retail spaces that faced the first-floor lobby. Four storefronts were located on the southern portion of the lobby. Until the early 2000s, these retail spaces contained such stores as "a
drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...
, a
bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...
, a tobacconist and a
telegraph office Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
". There are stairs on the southern portion of the lobby near Pine Street, as well as at the eastern portion near Pearl Street; these stairs ascend to the second floor and descend to the basement lobby. There were also escalators between every level from the basement to the sixth floor, near the western entrance on Pine Street. The basement lobby is a simpler version of the first-floor lobby, serving mainly as a boarding area for the lower decks of 70 Pine Street's former double-deck elevators. The upper decks of these elevators were served from the main lobby. One critic said the use of separate elevator lobbies would "cut the possibility of elevator flirtations exactly in half". The lobby is decorated with marble walls, plaster ceilings, and aluminum metal grilles. Despite Doherty's desire for "dignity with beauty", the lobby is highly ornamented with multicolored marbles from Europe. Most of the wall area is composed of yellow marble, divided by vertical
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
of dark-red marble. The floors are composed of panels of white and pink marble, arranged as in a
checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...
. The ceiling is made of plaster and is supported by large jagged
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s. It is mostly painted white, except for colored bands of relief, which emanate from elements such as the lighting fixtures. Cliff Parkhurst furnished the elaborate metalwork in the lobby. A writer for ''The New York Times'' compared the building's lobby to "something
Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...
would have designed if he’d lived to see the Jazz Age".


Other interior spaces

The basement contained a bank vault with the most advanced security systems available during that era. There were also several features specifically for tenants. On the 29th floor, there was a library filled with law books and documents, which was made available only to tenants. Just below the observatory was a conference room with leather paneling. , the skyscraper has many amenities, including an Elite by New York Sports Club fitness center on the lower level, a food market, and several lounges. Since its 2015–2016 conversion, 70 Pine Street includes 612 residential apartments. The apartments are arranged as
studio apartment A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...
s or one- or two-bedroom units, and are generally outfitted with wooden floors. Another 132 units are run as hotel rooms by Lyric, a
startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend ...
funded by
Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( ), based in San Francisco, California, operates an online marketplace focused on short-term homestays and experiences. The company acts as a broker and charges a commission from each booking. The company was founded in 2008 b ...
. Retail tenants include a gourmet market and a high-end restaurant in the lobby. The building also contains a fitness and recreation center, including a screening room,
bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...
,
indoor golf Indoor golf is an umbrella term for all activities in golf which can be carried out indoors. Venues include indoor driving ranges, chipping areas, putting greens, machines and home golf simulators. Many of these indoor facilities are businesses ...
facility, and game room in the former bank vault in the basement.


Observation deck

The top three floors were originally slated to contain Doherty's private residence. The suite contained a gym and a squash court; in addition, Doherty's bed was designed on a motorized platform that could slide out onto the terrace. However, Doherty did not move into the space. In July 1932, the private suite opened to the public as an observation deck. The deck comprised an open-air platform with a enclosed glass solarium above it on the 66th floor. Decorations from France, Italy, and Spain were used in the observation deck. It was served by a five-passenger elevator that rose through the floor slab and then retracted. Until the 1973 construction of the World Trade Center, it was the highest observation deck of any building in Lower Manhattan. The deck charged 40 cents for admission in 1939; by comparison, the deck at the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
cost $1.10 to enter. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the attraction was closed to the public because it overlooked the nearby
Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...
, an active military installation. The deck was permanently closed to the public before 1975. Afterward, it was used as a private office for AIG's employees. In 2019, as part of the building's 2010s conversion into residential apartments, James Kent and Jeff Katz turned the top four stories into the fine-dining restaurant SAGA, and on the ground floor Crown Shy, a 120-seat eatery. Crown Shy is an
à la carte In restaurants, ''à la carte'' (; )) is the practice of ordering individual dishes from a menu in a restaurant, as opposed to '' table d'hôte'', where a set menu is offered. It is an early 19th century loan from French meaning "according ...
eatery, with dishes being ordered individually.


Mechanical features


Elevators

There are 24 elevators in total, with six banks of four elevators each in the first-floor lobby. There were eight
double-deck elevator A double-deck elevator or double-deck lift is an elevator where one cab is stacked on top of another. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capaci ...
s, which served alternating flors; six "express" elevators, which ran nonstop from the lobby to serve the upper floors; eight "local" elevators, which served the lower floors; and two freight elevators, which served all floors. All of the elevators were able to serve a combined 10,200 people every hour. In an emergency, it was estimated that the elevators, along with the escalators serving with the lower floors, would be able to clear the building in 35 minutes. The elevator doors in the main lobby are ornately designed, resembling those at the Fred F. French Building,
608 Fifth Avenue 608 Fifth Avenue, also known as the Goelet Building or Swiss Center Building, is an office building at Fifth Avenue and West 49th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, adjacent to Rockefeller Center. It was designed by ...
, and the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
. Each elevator door is a double-leaf door made of aluminum, with diamond and trefoil patterns, which were cast in one piece. The elevator doors in the lobbies contain octagonal relief panels sculpted by Chambellan. These reliefs alternately show a woman with an oil lamp and a man with an electric turbine. Because of 70 Pine Street's small lot size, and the setbacks that make the upper floors even smaller, it would have been unprofitable under normal building practices if it were taller than 48 stories. Engineers from
Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farmington, Connec ...
told Doherty that double-deck elevators could solve the problem. As such, the company manufactured eight double-deck elevators, marking the first installation of Otis double-deck elevators. The double-deck elevators traveled up to the 59th/60th floors, where another separate, single-deck elevator served the top six floors. The upper deck of each elevator served odd-numbered floors while the lower deck served even-numbered floors. The Cedar Street portion of the first-floor lobby contained elevator banks that only served the building's lower floors, while the Pine Street portion contained elevators that served higher floors. The ''Real Estate Record and Guide'' stated that the double-deck elevators, long anticipated by developers, were "permitted by special provision in the new elevator code". Compared to 11 or 14 standard elevators, the double-deck elevators saved $200,000 in construction costs and freed up to of space, at a time when office space could be rented at an average rate of per year. Columnist Sam Love disagreed, saying that "the odds and the evens in the Cities Service Building will never see each other although they are the nearest neighbors", referring to the floor numbers. The double-deck elevators were removed in 1972 and replaced with single-story cabs. The double-deck elevators had reportedly been unpopular because the lower lobby entrance was not completed, and a proposed
subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...
entrance was not opened. The
Citigroup Center The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is t ...
adopted the same idea in the 1970s, becoming possibly the first building in New York City after 70 Pine Street to have double-deck elevators.


Other features

At the 16th floor, a
sky bridge A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...
connected 70 Pine Street with 60 Wall Street. There was another connection, a tunnel, between the two buildings. The connections enabled 70 Pine Street to initially claim a Wall Street address, which was perceived as more distinguished than a regular address in the Financial District. The bridge was destroyed in 1975 when the original 60 Wall Street building was demolished to make way for the current, larger building. At the time, it was one of a few sky bridges in the city. In 1979, a replacement bridge was built, connecting the sixth and seventh floors of 70 Pine Street to the seventh and eighth floors of 72 Wall Street. When it opened, 70 Pine Street featured escalators between its first through sixth floors, as another space-saving measure. The escalators were reversible to accommodate peak flows, running upstairs in the morning and downstairs in the afternoon. The escalators could reportedly allow the basement through sixth floors to be emptied within 10 minutes. Since these floors housed Cities Service's clerical staff at the time of 70 Pine Street's completion, the floors were linked by escalators rather than elevators, because studies had shown that escalators saved more space. This was one of the first uses of escalators in a major office building. Though the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
had also included escalators between its lobby and mezzanine, 70 Pine Street was modeled on the layout of a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...
, the first office building in New York City to be designed in this manner. These escalators were hidden behind a false marble wall. 70 Pine Street also included a hot-water heating system, innovative for its time, which obviated the need for boiler facilities. The building had a "unit ventilating system" as well; this system utilized spaces over the radiators and inside the walls to provide ventilation without any dust or noise.


History


Context and planning

Henry Latham Doherty became successful by operating numerous companies in the manufactured-gas and
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosophe ...
sectors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He formed the Cities Service Company as a "light, heat, and power" firm in 1910, and Doherty's business interests grew extensively in subsequent years. At the time, his main offices were located at the 27-story 60 Wall Street (built 1905 and demolished 1975), which he had occupied since 1906, and was located just south of the present building site. Doherty, who already owned several Lower Manhattan properties, purchased 60 Wall Street in December 1924 with the aim of expanding the structure. Four years later, in January 1929, he formed the Pine Street Realty Company, having failed to develop "a great business centre" near
Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...
. The firm of Clinton & Russell were retained as architects and proposed two plans for the site: a simple slab rising from the ground and a
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
design rising 60 floors. The
New York City Department of Buildings The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction ...
rejected the proposed structure on Wall Street. The Pine Street Realty Company then started buying land across Pine Street. The site was in the core of the Financial District, near the Third Avenue elevated line, and was surrounded by shorter buildings. The company bought twelve buildings in January 1929, forming a plot with . Another five plots were acquired via lease in November 1929, and the Cities Service Company was in negotiations to acquire the Down Town Association building as well. At the time, the company planned to build between 25 and 50 stories. Two more lots were leased in July 1930. In total, the Pine Street Realty Company acquired 23 lots, which all contained low-rise three- to five-story masonry buildings, at a total cost of $2 million, relatively cheap for the time. The economist W. C. Clark investigated the planned Cities Service building's design and, in October 1929, spoke about his findings at the Engineers' Club. He found that taller buildings on small lots could be profitable, provided that these included double-deck elevators due to the lot's small size. As a result, the proposed Cities Service building was most economically viable as a 63-story building. Clinton & Russell, under the leadership of Thomas George, designed the new building in the Art Deco style. This contrasted with the firm's earlier works, which were largely designed in the classical style; the original partners had died before 70 Pine Street was constructed. Doherty submitted the building's architectural plans to the Department of Buildings in May 1930. The structure was slated to have 63 stories, including double-decker elevators due to the lot's small size, and it would cost $7 million. It was one of several buildings that Doherty planned to erect in Lower Manhattan, though none of the other projects were realized because of a lack of funding following the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. After the building plans were submitted, the height was increased to 66 stories, and a spire was added, increasing the total height to or . The Cities Service building thus beat the
40 Wall Street 40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau Street (Manhattan), Nassau and William Street (Manhattan), William streets in the Financial District, Manh ...
to become the tallest building in Manhattan south of 34th Street.


Construction

Demolition of existing buildings and site excavation began almost immediately after the building plans were submitted. The western portion of the site was the first to be cleared; some was excavated to as deep as . The foundation took 245,000 worker-hours to complete. Work was complicated by the presence of a holdout: building lessee Nik Coutroulas, a cafeteria operator who also operated a
Lindy's Lindy's was two different deli and restaurant chains in Manhattan, New York City. The first chain, founded by Leo "Lindy" Lindemann, operated from 1921 to 1969.("Opening date was Aug. 20, 1921.") In 1979, the Riese Organization determined that ...
franchise. Doherty's company could not reach a lease agreement with Coutroulas prior to the start of work. Coutrolas's building was demolished anyway and he sued Doherty for damages, eventually receiving a $5,000 compensation. Construction was funded using a then-unconventional method of
public offering A public offering is the offering of securities of a company or a similar corporation to the public. Generally, the securities are to be listed on a stock exchange. In most jurisdictions, a public offering requires the issuing company to publish a ...
. Henry L. Doherty & Co. sold $15.7 million of
interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...
-free
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...
s, described at the time as "financially unique among large New York office buildings". This avoided the need for the building's owners to take out a
mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...
. James Stewart & Company was hired as the general contractor, Taylor Fichter Steel Construction was the structural engineer, and John M. Parrish was the project's general superintendent. The steel structure was built at an average rate of three floors per week. ''The New York Times'' reported in April 1931 that the steel had been erected to the 27th floor. By mid-1931, steel frame construction had reached the 59th floor, while the facade had been built up to the 50th floor. At the time, 70 Pine Street's construction employed 600 workers, and the structure had no official name. To date, workers had been on the project for 119,000 hours without any major accidents. The spire was installed in October 1931. The sky bridge between 70 Pine Street and 60 Wall Street was completed in February 1932, at which point the building at 70 Pine Street became known as the 60 Wall Tower.


Cities Service usage

By early 1932, the 60 Wall Tower was completed. The city's Department of Buildings gave the building a temporary occupancy certification in March 1932, followed by a permanent certification that August. The building was dedicated on May 13, Doherty's 62nd birthday. The event celebrated Doherty's reinstatement as executive of Cities Service after he had taken a six-year hiatus from the position due to health problems. It included a luncheon attended by 200 businessmen; the dedication of Doherty's bronze
bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...
; the spire's floodlighting; and a radio announcement that Doherty made from the spire using then-new "moonbeam" technology. Tenants had started moving into 70 Pine Street prior to its official dedication. Upon opening, the second through seventeenth floors were occupied by about 3,000 employees of Cities Service. The remaining floors were leased to a large range of tenants, including manufacturers, lawyers, accountants, and the
Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
Telegraph Company. However, most tenants on the upper floors were lawyers, who took advantage of the 29th-floor law library. The second and third floors were also occupied by the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee. The building was reportedly two-thirds rented by 1933, but it did not reach 90 percent occupancy until 1941. Later tenants included the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the State of New York, the 12 northern counties of Ne ...
, which took space in 70 Pine Street in 1941. One tenant, boxer
Artie McGovern Arthur McGovern (died 1942, at age 54) was a personal trainer to the titans of Broadway and Wall Street at his Madison Avenue gym. A former flyweight boxer, he shot to fame by reconditioning Babe Ruth, who came out of a slump to hit 47 home runs n ...
, operated an athletic club on the seventh floor, which was reportedly visited by over a thousand men daily and included a gymnasium, handball and squash courts, ping-pong tables, and golf facilities. The radio station
WGYN WGYN was a radio station that last broadcast at 97.9 MHz FM in New York City. It operated from December 1941 to May 1950. Studios and transmitter were located at the Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street. History The Muzak Corporation b ...
also established its studios and transmitter at 70 Pine Street when it was founded in December 1941, though WGYN stopped broadcasting in May 1950. One portion of 70 Pine Street was separately owned from the rest of the building, so that the two sections could be separated if it became necessary. This section, covering , was owned by the estate of aviator Cortlandt F. Bishop and leased to a wholly owned
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...
of the Cities Service Company, Sixty Wall Tower Inc. In June 1950, the land under the building was placed for auction by the
New York Trust Company The New York Trust Company was a large trust and wholesale-banking business that specialized in servicing large industrial accounts. It merged with the Chemical Corn Exchange Bank and eventually the merged entity became Chemical Bank. History On ...
on behalf of Bishop's estate. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Cities Service downsized its Manhattan staff and leased out several lower floors.
Merrill Merrill may refer to: Places in the United States * Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska * Merrill, Iowa *Merrill, Maine * Merrill, Michigan *Merrill, Mississippi, an unincorporated community near Lucedale in George County *Merrill, Oregon *Merrill, W ...
was one such tenant, leasing ten floors in a 1957 transaction, and ultimately moving 3,400 of its 8,600 employees to 70 Pine Street by 1965. Though Cities Service became known as Citgo in 1965, the building retained the "Cities Service Building" name.


Later ownership

Citgo announced in 1973 that it would move its executive headquarters to
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
, and sell off 70 Pine Street and several other buildings in Manhattan. The move would affect about 250 personnel at 70 Pine Street. Citgo subsequently moved to Tulsa in 1975. The following year, the building was purchased for $15 million by the
American International Group American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
(AIG), which wanted to double the amount of space available for its 500 New York City employees. 70 Pine Street was renamed the American International Building, and AIG workers moved into the structure over the next two years. Under AIG's ownership, the lobby was renovated, and the sky bridge to Wall Street was demolished and rebuilt. AIG bought the nearby 175 Water Street in 1995, but kept its headquarters at 70 Pine Street. 70 Pine Street served as AIG's world headquarters until the
financial crisis of 2007–08 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
, when the company went bankrupt. Consequently, AIG decided to sell several assets in order to raise money, so 70 Pine Street was sold to developer Youngwoo & Associates in 2009. 70 Pine Street's exterior and its first-floor interior were designated
New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
s in June 2011. The building was purchased by MetroLoft in January 2012, which planned to turn 70 Pine Street into an apartment building or a combined hotel/apartment complex with about 1,000 total units. MetroLoft sold 70 Pine Street to Rose Associates later that year. Rose and DTH Capital transformed 70 Pine Street into a mixed-use building featuring luxury rental apartments and a variety of retail and restaurants starting in 2015. Leasing of the residential units started in December 2015, and the renovation was completed the next year. Unlike the top floors of other converted residential buildings, which were generally turned into
penthouse apartment A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, an ...
s, Rose decided to add amenities to the top floors of 70 Pine Street. Space in 70 Pine Street's lobby and upper floors was originally set to contain restaurants by
April Bloomfield April Bloomfield (born 1974) is a British chef who has opened two New York restaurants: The Spotted Pig (closed January 26, 2020) and The Breslin Bar & Dining Room. Bloomfield had previously worked at several restaurants in the United Kingdom, ...
and Ken Friedman, who withdrew from the project in July 2016. Ultimately, the upper-floor restaurant spaces hosted James Kent and Jeff Katz's restaurant Crown Shy, which opened in 2019. Mint House opened a 132-unit hotel for business travelers inside the building in November 2020. The Overstory bar opened on the 64th floor in August 2021, and the Saga restaurant opened atop the building later that year.


Incidents

In 1976, two thousand tenants were evacuated after a fire broke out on the eighth floor, causing several minor injuries. In November 2016,
Justin Casquejo Justin Casquejo is an American free solo climber and stunt performer who has scaled several skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York City, as well as a water tower in his hometown, Weehawken, New Jersey. He has been arrested, charged, and convicted fo ...
, a thrill-seeking teenage free solo climber and
stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
, hung from 70 Pine Street. He was charged with misdemeanor base jumping and
trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...
for climbing on the tower.


See also

*
List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, cla ...
*
List of tallest buildings in New York City New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is home to over 7,000 completed high-rise buildings of at least , of which at least 95 are taller than . The tallest building in New York is One World Trade Center, which ris ...
*
List of tallest buildings in the United States The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since then, the United States has been home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the cou ...
*
List of tallest buildings in the world This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Nonbuilding structure, Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * *


External links


70 Pine Street
on
CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...
Skyscraper Center
Gallery of photographs

American International Building
at Emporis.com {{Authority control 1930s architecture in the United States Art Deco architecture in Manhattan Art Deco skyscrapers Financial District, Manhattan Insurance company headquarters in the United States New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan New York City interior landmarks Office buildings completed in 1932 Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan Citgo