The New York Life Building is the
headquarters of the
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
at 51
Madison Avenue 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 ...
. The building, designed by
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...
, abuts
Madison Square Park
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States ...
in the
Rose Hill and
NoMad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
neighborhoods 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 ...
. It occupies an entire
city block bounded by Madison Avenue,
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
South, and 26th and 27th Streets.
The New York Life Building was designed with
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 ...
details similar to Gilbert's previous commissions, including
90 West Street and the
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
. The tower is 40 stories tall, consisting of 34 office stories topped by a pyramidal, gilded six-story roof. At the time of the building's construction, many structures were being built in the
Art Deco
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 Unite ...
style, and so Gilbert's design incorporated Art Deco influences in its
massing
Massing is a term in architecture which refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as size of a building.
Massing in architectural theory
Massing refers to the structure in three dimensions (form), not just its outline from ...
while retaining the older-style Gothic Revival detailing. The New York Life Building is distinguished from the skyline by its
gilded roof.
The New York Life Building was constructed in 1927–1928 on the site of
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
. Upon completion, the New York Life Building was described as being run "like a small city". After World War II, New York Life became especially profitable, and built an annex to the north between 1960 and 1962. Additionally, New York Life completed a series of renovations to the original building during the late 20th century. The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1978 and was designated a city landmark by 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 ...
in 2000.
Architecture
Designed in 1926 by
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...
,
the New York Life Building was the last significant Gilbert skyscraper in Manhattan. The New York Life Building was also the last major insurance company "home office" to be built in New York City, and one of the few such structures remaining in the city.
Its design was inspired by
Salisbury Cathedral,
[''Event Horizon: Mad. Sq. Art.: Antony Gormley']
installation guide
, published by the Madison Square Park Conservancy
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States ...
(2010) although Gilbert also said that he took inspiration from some of his previous commissions, including
90 West Street and the
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
. The building was designed for the
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
for three main reasons: to provide expansion space, as an investment, and as an icon.
The building occupies the full block between 26th Street, 27th Street,
Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South.
The lot measures , with the longer axis running west–east.
The New York Life Building stands tall and contains 34
floors
A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...
, though is technically 40 stories high.
In addition to a ground-level retail area, there are five basement levels, a first-floor mezzanine, 33 above-ground office stories, and six mechanical stories in the roof.
The structure has been described as being one of the brightest in the city, with a total
wattage
Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...
of 30,000 watts.
Form
The New York Life Building combines streamlined
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 ...
details and a
massing
Massing is a term in architecture which refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as size of a building.
Massing in architectural theory
Massing refers to the structure in three dimensions (form), not just its outline from ...
that is distinctly
Moderne in design. The massing contains several
setbacks as mandated under the
1916 Zoning Resolution.
The setbacks are located at the 5th, 14th, 26th, 30th, 31st, 34th, and 35th floors, while the roof rises from the 35th-floor setback.
The massing does not fill the entire zoning envelope, but the slenderness of the upper floors allowed for fewer elevators to be used, thus opening up additional space on lower floors.
The lowest four stories, including the mezzanine, comprise the base, while the fifth through 13th floors comprise the building's nine-story "central section". The building's 21-story "tower" section rises from the 14th to 34th floors.
Between the 14th and 25th floors, the "tower" is flanked by wings to the west and east.
Facade
The
facade is made of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
at the base, while the other stories are faced with
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
.
The building contains 2,180 windows, most of them
plate glass
Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...
panes.
Most of the windows are one-over-one
sash windows with one of four
lintel types, though the 34th floor contains single-pane windows that replaced the
louver
A louver (American English) or louvre (British English; see spelling differences) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and direct sunshine. The angle of the sla ...
ed or empty openings on that level.
The windows originally all contained bronze frames.
There are several ventilation intake openings on the facade of the building; the artificial ventilation initially had its intake in the basement and was exhausted through the penthouse. Numerous signs are also affixed to the building, including bronze company nameplates at the corners, signs for the subway on the eastern facade, and awnings on the storefront.
Base
![New York Life Building Park Ave arch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/New_York_Life_Building_Park_Ave_arch.jpg)
At ground level, all four sides contain arched double-height
arcades that overlook the ground floor and the first-floor mezzanine. On the ground floor, there are storefronts with bronze
display window
A display window, also a shop window (British English) or store window (American English), is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the f ...
frames above granite bulkheads, optionally with a
transom; several of the storefronts have revolving doors with transoms. Some of the original storefronts have been modified.
The arcades on the Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South facades each have nine vertical
bays,
while the 26th and 27th Street facades have 19 bays.
Each bay corresponds to one arch of the arcade.
The main entrance archway is from Madison Avenue to the west, flanked by smaller arches on either side. There is also a smaller entrance from Park Avenue South. On the second through fourth floors, there are decorative
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 ...
panels between the windows on each floor.
Central section and tower
The central section of the building comprises the 5th through 13th floors. the windows on each floor are separated by decorative spandrels, while each bay is separated by protruding
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 ...
. There are other decorative elements such as
gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
s and a
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
on the 13th floor, and flagpoles on the 14th floor.
The central section consists of seven bays on Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South,
and seventeen bays on 26th and 27th Streets.
The square tower rises above the 14th floor and consists of five bays on either side. The wings to the west and east, which rise to the 25th floor, have three bays on either side. The west and east walls of the tower between the 14th and 25th floors, which are mostly hidden by the "wings", each have one window bay to the north and south, flanking the respective wings. There are minimal setbacks at the 30th and 31st floors. As with the central section, there are protruding piers separating each bay, as well as other decorative elements.
Roof
The octagonal pyramidal roof at the top is tall
and includes the 35th through 40th stories.
The 35th floor is slightly set back from the 34th floor; it contains arched window openings,
finial
A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature.
In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...
s between each window bay, and a parapet.
The roof itself consists of 25,000 gold-leaf dipped
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
tiles produced by Ludowici, with a
fineness
The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...
of 22 karats.
The roof was originally gold leaf on a copper base, but due to copper
corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engi ...
, the roof was subsequently renovated in 1967 and 1995.
At the top, a lantern rises another and serves as the ventilation outflow.
Interior
![28 Street 6 entrance 2 vc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/28_Street_6_entrance_2_vc.jpg)
Inside the New York Life Building is a large lobby running west–east for , the entire length of the building. The lobby is designed similar to the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
of a cathedral,
with
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
walls, a painted
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
ceiling with barrel vaults tall, as well as bronze ornamental grilles on doorways and elevators.
Perpendicular to the lobby are a pair of passages running north and south to 27th and 26th Streets respectively, providing six entrances from the surrounding streets.
There are five basement levels, extending below ground level.
The eastern side of the first basement level incorporates an entrance to the downtown platform of the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's
28th Street station, serving the .
Another basement contains a vault developed in conjunction with engineers from the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
. The vault contained features such as a
time lock
A time lock (also timelock) is a part of a locking mechanism commonly found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. The time lock is a timer designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until it reaches the preset time, eve ...
, an steel door, and some of wiring for the alarms. The other basements include service facilities, restaurants, and storage for the company's documents.
The rest of the interior is relatively unadorned, with a few exceptions. The executive offices contain wooden
paneling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...
and the premium deposit room contains a marble floor. In addition, the company's boardroom was moved over from the former
346 Broadway headquarters; this relocation had included all of the boardroom's furnishings, including the English brown oak paneling, tapestries, and windows.
The clerical department was located on the second through fifth floors and contained the largest pneumatic tube system in the United States at the building's completion. In the original design, the interior spaces were heavily soundproofed with thick glass panes, acoustic ceilings, and forced ventilation.
The original ornamentation in the other rooms was removed or scaled down in subsequent renovations.
History
Madison Square Park
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States ...
, a green space diagonally across from the building to the southwest, was opened in 1844.
The space was used extensively for cultural and military events, and Madison Avenue on the park's eastern border became an upscale residential row. The site of the New York Life Building was used between 1837 and 1871 as the Union Depot of the
New York & Harlem and the
New York & New Haven
The New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH) was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, along the shore of Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad to form the New ...
Railroads (now part of the
Park Avenue main line
The Park Avenue main line, which consists of the Park Avenue Tunnel and the Park Avenue Viaduct, is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running entirely along Park Avenue. The line carries four tracks of the Metro-North R ...
).
The location then hosted a concert garden named Gilmore's Garden, as well as
P.T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
's
Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
.
[ p. 75.] The
first Madison Square Garden (MSG) was built in 1879 on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street, and was replaced in 1890 by the
second Madison Square Garden.
The
New York Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
had been chartered in 1841 and was originally located 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. Its previous structures in New York City had been clustered around lower Manhattan, including
346 Broadway (erected 1870), though New York Life also built branches in other cities around the world. New York Life took up the
mortgage
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 ...
of MSG in 1912,
and bought the facility outright four years later, when the venue went bankrupt.
Planning and construction
Planning
New York Life first commissioned Cass Gilbert in 1919 to draw plans for a possible new skyscraper on the MSG site, having chosen Gilbert due to his reputation for creating designs that expressed discrete
corporate identities. Gilbert proposed two plans for a tall tower: one with a high base and light courts, and the other with a lower base; however, neither was pursued further at the time.
According to a New York Life archivist, there remained no copies of Gilbert's plans.
At the time, life insurance companies generally had their own buildings for their offices and branch locations. According to architectural writer Kenneth Gibbs, these buildings allowed each individual company to instill "not only its name but also a favorable impression of its operations" in the general public.
This had been a trend since 1870,
with the completion of the former
Equitable Life Building in Manhattan's Financial District.
Furthermore, life insurance companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries generally built massive buildings to fit their large clerical and records-keeping staff.
![New York Life Gold Top](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/New_York_Life_Gold_Top.JPG)
By the 1920s, New York Life was undergoing another period of rapid growth, and operations could no longer fit in the 346 Broadway building. The company formed a committee in 1923 to determine whether a new headquarters could feasibly be constructed on the MSG site, and by the end of that year, the committee concluded that such construction was possible.
Additional sites were considered and rejected.
In February 1924, Gilbert proposed a 28-story structure to the company's board of directors.
Two months later, the architect proposed a structure with a 21-story base and a 2-story, tower. The board submitted "tentative plans" to 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 ...
in May 1924.
The plans were slightly changed from Gilbert's original: the tower was expanded to seven stories, and the setbacks and light courts were minimized. The structure would also feature a north–south passageway and east–west lobby; five basement stories, including a subway entrance on the highest basement; and retail space at ground level, facing both inside and outside.
Gilbert and the board of directors also considered other designs throughout the rest of 1924.
Construction
All leases at MSG were set to expire in May 1925.
Demolition of MSG began at that time, and work on the foundation began in August 1925, after MSG had been demolished.
The directors had considered retaining some portions of the MSG structure, such as the ''
Diana'' sculpture at MSG,
but this was deemed infeasible.
The erection of the New York Life Building's steelwork began in January 1926.
Gunvald Aus
Gunvald Aus, also written Aas (May 30, 1851 – May 27, 1950) was a Norwegian-American engineer. He is most associated with the engineering of the Woolworth Building in New York City.
Background
He was born the son of Gabriel Godfrey Aas and So ...
was selected as the structural engineer and the
Starrett Brothers as general contractor.
Builder
Paul Starrett Paul Starrett (1866–1957) was an American builder. In 1883, he graduated from Lake Forest Academy, an elite boarding school for boys which was part of the Lake Forest, Illinois, educational experiment. His brothers also graduated from this institu ...
of the Starrett Brothers, whose opinion New York Life's board had asked, had seen Gilbert's tentative plan as an "unlighted, unrelieved box of a building".
In mid-1926, Starrett convinced New York Life to cancel an existing steel order for the project, and asked
Yasuo Matsui, an associate in his company, the
Starrett Brothers, to come up with a new plan. Within 48 hours, Matsui submitted his revised plans.
At the time, some $1 million had been spent and work was partially complete. The remaining cost of construction had been deemed too expensive; excessive ventilation and artificial lighting systems would have been needed due to the lack of light courts, making it difficult for the space to be profitable as originally planned.
Such concerns had been expressed by the state's
Insurance Department,
as well as by Starrett.
In August 1926, a new plan was released for a 34-story limestone structure with setbacks, a pyramidal roof, and a Gothic design inspired by French and Dutch architecture. The foundation excavation was completed that month.
By then, Gilbert had lost interest in the construction process, and his office was "simply approving or disapproving
..Starrett Brothers' decisions, largely without comment" by 1927.
The ceremonial
cornerstone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over tim ...
, laid in June 1927, was filled with documents such as a copy of ''The New York Times'' and various company-related reports. New York Life started to move into the 51 Madison Avenue building in November 1928. During that month New York Life transferred 75 million documents representing $6.85 billion in policies to the new building. An additional $675 million in securities was transported to the new structure, protected by 100
armored cars with
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
s. The New York Life Building at 51 Madison Avenue was officially opened on December 12, 1928,
when U.S. president
Calvin Coolidge, a board member of New York Life, pressed a button at the White House.
The structure had been completed at an ultimate cost of $23.35 million;
of this, the land cost $2.35 million and the actual construction was $21 million.
Use
![NY Life Park Av jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/NY_Life_Park_Av_jeh.JPG)
The New York Life Building was described as being run "like a small city": it had a security force of 25 security guards, which doubled as a fire brigade, as well as a cleaning team that cleaned the building's several miles of corridors. There was an employee clinic on the 14th floor, a system of 105 fire standpipes, a system of elevators carrying over 50,000 people a day, a mail system that handled 50,000 pieces of mail daily, and even an employee newspaper. New York Life initially only occupied about 65% of the space.
The remaining floor area was rented out to other commercial and office tenants, such as wool firms, a drug store, and
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. For several years, New York Life retained ownership of the ''Diana'' statue, finally shipping it to the
Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1932.
After World War II, New York Life became especially profitable, being involved in several New York City housing developments.
In 1959, New York Life acquired much of the block located immediately to the north, between 27th and 28th Streets, and submitted plans to the Department of Buildings for a 16-story building on the site, to be located at 63 Madison Avenue.
Carson and Lundin Carson & Lundin (and later Carson, Lundin & Shaw) was an architectural firm in New York City formed initially by the 1941 partnership between Robert Irose Carson with Earl H. Lundin.
Principals
*Robert Carson (July 19, 1906 – 1960) was born in Ma ...
designed the annex
while
Turner Construction
Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...
was the contractor.
Construction began in August 1960, and despite a major fire in early 1962, was completed later that year. Upon the annex's completion, it became known as the "North Building", while the older 51 Madison Avenue building was called the "South Building".
New York Life also completed a series of renovations during the late 20th century. In 1956, part of the roof was repaired as an interim measure.
The entire roof of the building's tower section was replaced in 1966–1967,
and most of the stonework on the 35th-floor stone facade was removed. As part of the renovation,
Carson, Lundin & Shaw replaced the gilded copper roof with gilded ceramic tiles, rearranged the structural steel holding up the roof, and extended the roof's slope downward.
Several other projects involved adding
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
and
fluorescent lighting
A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, which produces short-wave ultraviolet ligh ...
to the interior, upgrading the elevators, and using
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
rather than
direct current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...
for electricity. Some of the original interior decor was stripped in the process.
In 1985, to celebrate New York Life's 140th anniversary, a artificial candle was lit at the top of the pyramid. Other upgrades during the 1980s and 1990s included mechanical equipment on the setback of the 14th floor; new roofs above the setbacks on the 26th, 34th, and 35th floors; and cooling equipment on the western setback of the 26th floor.
For New York Life's 150th anniversary, in 1994–1995 the pyramid was restored with new tiles and lit at a cost of $4.1 million.
The New York Life Insurance Company continued to maintain its headquarters in the building, but started leasing extra office space through
Cushman and Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield plc is a global commercial real estate services firm. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois.
Cushman & Wakefield is among the world's largest commercial real estate services firms, with revenues ...
in 2004.
Impact
Critical reception
At opening, New York Life president Darwin P. Kingsley described the structure as "a majestic cathedral of insurance".
Miriam Berman, a historian, described the gold-plated roof as one "that catches and reflects the sunlight by day and by night is one of the more easily recognized shapes on the city's illuminated skyline".
In February 1929, the Fifth Avenue Association dubbed the structure as the "finest commercial building" erected around
Fifth Avenue in 1928.
Claude Fayette Bragdon
Claude Fayette Bragdon (August 1, 1866 – 1946) was an American architect, writer, and stage designer based in Rochester, New York, up to World War I, then in New York City.
The designer of Rochester’s New York Central Railroad terminal ...
said in 1931 that the design "attempted to reconcile the original Gothic ideals of the skyscraper
..and the newer ideal which relies less upon surface and finial ornament and more upon the arrangement of cubic masses."
George Shepard Chappell
George Shepard Chappell, AIA (January 2, 1877 – November 25, 1946) was an American architect, parodist, journalist (with the magazine '' Vanity Fair'') and author. He is known as the author of numerous books, including a travel series parody p ...
, writing in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' under the pseudonym "T-Square", said that Gilbert had been "allowed the luxury of a definite 'style'" and considered the sparing ornamentation to be "decidedly refreshing".
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 ...
, in his book ''New York 1930'', said that even as the building "was remarkably simplified by comparison with Gilbert's previous works, it was also more stolid".
The
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
said that 51 Madison Avenue was "an excellently maintained example of Cass Gilbert's work" whose plans "best represents the large, well-structured organization of the New York Life Insurance Company" in its heyday. This was contrasted with the former Broadway headquarters, which were described as not being among the best work of its respective designer,
McKim, Mead & White.
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 ...
called the structure "a powerful symbol" of New York Life's "public spiritedness, lasting stability, and financial success."
After the 1995 renovation, the building received a Merit Citation Award from the
New York Landmarks Conservancy
The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing" historic structures in New York state. It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owne ...
.
Not all critics appraised the building positively. The ''WPA Guide to New York City'' compared the New York Life Building to the Woolworth Building: "Although the Gothic ornament
f the New York Life Buildingis similar to that of the Woolworth Building, it lacks the powerful upward movement embodied in the latter."
Charles Phelps Cushing wrote that the gilded roof resembled an "inverted ice cream cone, of golden brown pastry, stamped in the Nabisco pattern".
Landmark designations
The building was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1972.
The New York Life Building was designated an official
New York City landmark by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2000.
At the time, ''The New York Times'' said that the building had never been proposed to the commission for designation, despite being "one of New York's most familiar landmarks".
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
*
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 rises ...
*
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
NYC-Architecture.comNew York Life website
{{portal bar, Architecture, National Register of Historic Places, New York City
1928 establishments in New York City
Cass Gilbert buildings
Flatiron District
Insurance company headquarters in the United States
Madison Avenue
National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York Life Insurance Company
Office buildings completed in 1928
Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Park Avenue
Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan