Rockefeller Center

[Jeannette Latoria]

Lobby of 30 Rockefeller Center (GE Building)

[Jeannette Latoria]

Buildings and tenants

The landmark buildings comprise over 8,000,000 square feet (743,000 m2) on 22 acres in Midtown, bounded by Fifth and Sixth avenues, and running from 48th Street to 51st Street. Rockefeller Center is also a private property, co-owned by Tishman-Speyer, and open to the public.

One Rockefeller Plaza (608,000 sq ft)—originally the Time–Life Building; an original tenant was General Dynamics, for whom the building was briefly named.
10 Rockefeller Plaza (288,000 sq ft)—Formerly the Eastern Air Lines Building.
The Today Show studios[citation needed] and the New York City-area offices of Aeroflot (Suite 1015)[18] are located there.
30 Rockefeller Plaza (30 Rock): GE Building (2.9 million square ft)—Formerly the RCA & RCA West Buildings
1240 Avenue of the Americas: One of the orginal building on the site not torn down. It has been adapted as an annex building to 30 Rock.
50 Rockefeller Plaza: Bank of America Building (481,000 sq ft)—Formerly the Associated Press Building
1230 Avenue of the Americas: Simon & Schuster Building (706,000 sq ft)—Formerly U.S. Rubber/Uniroyal
1260 Avenue of the Americas: Radio City Music Hall
1270 Avenue of the Americas (528,000 sq ft)—Originally the RKO Building, later the American Metal Climax (AMAX) Building
600 Fifth Avenue (409,000 sq ft)—Formerly the Sinclair Oil Building
610 Fifth Avenue: La Maison Francaise (130,000 sq ft)
620 Fifth Avenue: British Empire Building (130,600 sq ft)
626 Fifth Avenue: Palazzo d'Italia (120,000 sq ft)
630 Fifth Avenue: International Building (1.2 million square ft)
636 Fifth Avenue: International Building North (120,000 sq ft)
The above buildings, which are east of Sixth Avenue, are managed by Tishman-Speyer, which co-owns Rockefeller Center. The buildings to the west of Sixth Avenue are managed and/or co-owned by the Japanese-owned Rockefeller Group:

1271 Avenue of the Americas (Time-Life Building)
1251 Avenue of the Americas (Originally the Standard Oil [NJ] Building, later Exxon Building)
1221 Avenue of the Americas (McGraw-Hill Building)
1211 Avenue of the Americas (Originally the Celanese Building, sometimes know as the News Corp. Building)
745 Seventh Avenue (Barclays Capital, formerly Lehman Brothers Building): Building now owned by Barclays Capital, the land by the Rockefeller Group.
1251 & 1211 are independently owned and are only managed by the Rockefeller Group.

[Jeannette Latoria]

Former buildings

The Center Theatre (formerly the RKO Roxy Theatre; the only structure in the original Rockefeller Center to be demolished)
75 Rockefeller Plaza (originally the Esso Building, later the Time Warner Building)
AXA Equitable Building (formerly the Sperry Rand Building), 1290 Avenue of Americas
Hilton New York Hotel & Towers (formerly The New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center)
For a short time in the late 1950s, the Center also owned the original Roxy Theatre. The Roxy was purchased to obtain the air-rights to build the Time & Life Building. Once that building went up, the theater was sold and replaced by an office building. This building, while not part of the Center, is now connected to the Time & Life Building.

[Jeannette Latoria]

75 Rockefeller Plaza

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The underground Concourse

One of the little known but fascinating parts of Rockefeller Center is the underground Concourse. This interconnected series of pedestrian passages stretches from 47th Street to 51st Street, and from 5th Avenue to 7th Avenue. Around the skating rink, access is usually through stairways from the lobbies in the cluster of six landmark buildings. Access can also be gained through the restaurants at the skating rink, via the elevators to the north and south of the rink. The rink itself is on the concourse level.

[Jeannette Latoria]

Shopping in the Concourse

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Flags

At street level, the plaza has about 200 flagpoles. At varying intervals, the flags of United Nations member countries, the flags of United States states and territories, or various decorative and seasonal flags are flown; during U.S. holidays, every flagpole carries the Flag of the United States.

[Jeannette Latoria]

The Flags on Memorial Day weekend

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Small parks

Two small parks are also part of western Rockefeller Center. Garden Park is located mid-block between 50th Street and 49th Street, behind 1251 Avenue of the Americas. McGraw-Hill Park is located mid-block between 49th and 48th Streets, behind the McGraw Hill building. They form the northern end of a string of mid-block parks that continue further downtown beyond Rockefeller Center. A not-to-be-missed sight is the walk-through fountain in McGraw-Hill park, which flows down a wall mid-park and is pierced by a circular pedestrian pass-through.

[Jeannette Latoria]

View of New York City from the Rooftop of Rockefeller Center

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Lower Plaza of Rockefeller Center in March 2006.

[Jeannette Latoria]

The GE Building at night

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View from Rockefeller to Central Park

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Christmas tree at Rockafeller Plaza, New York, 2006.

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Prometheus Statue at Rockefeller Centre, NY