Just Off Fifth: 30 Rockefeller Plaza
30 Rockefeller Plaza, also known as 30 Rock, The GE Building and more recently the Comcast Building, is the largest building in Rockefeller Center and one of the greatest Art Deco structures in the world. As of this writing still the 14th tallest building in New York City at 850 ft and 70 stories, it… Continue reading
Channel Gardens
Located between La Masion Francaise and The British Empire Building, the ironically named Channel Gardens are one of New York’s best small Privately Owned Public Spaces (or POPS). Consisting of a 200-ft promenade that terminates with the sunken Lower Plaza before 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Channel Gardens are themselves bisected by a cascade of six pools… Continue reading
Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue
A sophisticated essay in understatement by Starrett & van Vleck, Saks Fifth Avenue is one of the city’s most famous department stores and the one, for obvious reasons, most closely identified with the avenue itself. Founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks as Saks & Co., it was later merged with Gimbel Brothers and relaunched in… Continue reading
610 Fifth Avenue, La Maison Francaise
The first of three buildings named after European nations in a bid to attract tenants from those countries, La Masion Francaise at 610 Fifth Avenue features a magnificent relief created by the French artist Alfred Jannoit. Surmounted by a depiction of two goddesses representing the cities of Paris and New York linking hands, the work… Continue reading
Rockefeller Center
A spectacular collection of Art Deco buildings and the largest single construction project in the world when built, Rockefeller Center is one of the glories of American urbanism. Built between 1930 and 1939 with Raymond Hood as the chief architect, the complex was funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had originally planned to incorporate… Continue reading