New York Central Building (Now Helmsley Building)

History and architecture

The New York Central Building is the skyscraping counterpart of Grand Central Terminal. It was designed by the same architects in the same materials and Beaux-Arts style, simultaneously developing some of the depot's most innovative circulation systems swallowing Park Avenue traffic and thereby relieving congestion around the terminal, the building functions as an open gate to the "Gateway to a Continent." With a distinction all but unique in grid patterned Manhattan, it has a double focus, as powerful by day as it is dramatic by night.

Unobstructed by surrounding buildings, the New York Central's honeycombed base and slender tower dominate the street corridor while its glowing and wonderfully ornate roof, visible for miles, enriches New York's constellation of illuminated peaks. For its superb engineering, innovative circulation systems and the consequent relief of traffic, the structure is exceptional. As a conspicuous and experiential urban monument it is unsurpassed. Identified by railroad officials as the "crowning achievement" of their urban redevelopment program, the New York Central Building, now the Helmsley Building, ranks easily among the finest and best known office towers in New York.