30 Rockefeller Plaza

30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Completed in 1933, the 66-story, Template:Cvt building was designed in the Art Deco style by Raymond Hood, Rockefeller Center's lead architect. 30 Rockefeller Plaza was known for its main tenant, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), from its opening in 1933 until 1988 and then for General Electric until 2015, when it was renamed for its owner Comcast. The building also houses the headquarters and New York studios of television network NBC; the headquarters is sometimes called 30 Rock, a nickname that inspired the NBC sitcom of the same name. The tallest structure in Rockefeller Center, the building is the 28th tallest in New York City and the 65th tallest in the United States, and was the third tallest building in the world when it opened.

30 Rockefeller Plaza's massing consists of three parts: the main 66-story tower to the east, a windowless section at the center, and a 16-story annex to the west. The building's design conforms with the 1916 Zoning Resolution; it is shaped mostly as a slab with setbacks primarily for aesthetic value. The facade is made of limestone, with granite at the base, as well as about 6,000 windows separated by aluminum spandrels. In addition to its offices and studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza contains the Rainbow Room restaurant and an observation deck called Top of the Rock. 30 Rockefeller Plaza also includes numerous artworks and formerly contained the mural Man at the Crossroads by Diego Rivera. The entire Rockefeller Center complex is a New York City designated landmark and a National Historic Landmark, and parts of 30 Rockefeller Plaza's interior are also New York City landmarks.

30 Rockefeller Plaza was developed as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center, and work on its superstructure started in March 1932. The first tenant moved into the building on April 22, 1933, but its official opening was delayed due to controversy over Man at the Crossroads. The Rainbow Room and the observation deck opened in the mid-1930s, and retail space was added to the ground floor in the 1950s. The building remained almost fully occupied through the 20th century and was renamed for GE in 1988. Since the late 1990s, NBC has owned most of the lower floors, while Tishman Speyer has operated the rest of the building. 30 Rockefeller Plaza was extensively renovated in 2014 and was renamed for Comcast in 2015.

Site

30 Rockefeller Plaza is part of the Rockefeller Center complex in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S.<ref name="ZoLa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="aia5">Template:Cite aia5</ref> It was intended as the central structure of Rockefeller Center, both physically and symbolically.Template:Sfn<ref name="Reynolds p. 301">Template:Harvnb</ref> The land lot is nearly rectangular and covers Template:Cvt, bounded by Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) to the west, 50th Street to the north, Rockefeller Plaza to the east, and 49th Street to the south. The site has a frontage of Template:Cvt on 49th and 50th Streets and a frontage of Template:Cvt on Sixth Avenue.<ref name="ZoLa" /> The main entrance is on Rockefeller Plaza, a private pedestrian street running through the complex, parallel to Fifth and Sixth Avenues.<ref name="nyt-1933-01-16">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza's main entrance, below ground level, is the Lower Plaza.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10112; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes Template:As of.<ref name="Brown 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Across Sixth Avenue, the building faces 1221 Avenue of the Americas to the southwest, 1251 Avenue of the Americas to the west, and 1271 Avenue of the Americas to the northwest. Radio City Music Hall, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, and 50 Rockefeller Plaza are directly to the north. Across Rockefeller Plaza are the International Building to the northeast, La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building to the east, and 1 Rockefeller Plaza and 608 Fifth Avenue to the southeast. In addition, 10 Rockefeller Plaza is to the south.<ref name="ZoLa" /> The site was previously part of the campus of Columbia University,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which retained ownership of most of the land well after the complex was built.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Holdout buildings

The northwest and southwest corners of 30 Rockefeller Plaza were built around two holdout structures on Sixth Avenue.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The owners of the parcel on Sixth Avenue and 49th Street, at the southwest corner of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, had demanded an exorbitant price for their property upon learning of the planned skyscraper.Template:Sfn The holdout building had contained Hurley's restaurant, which had opened around the 1890s and subsequently became a popular meeting place for NBC performers and executives. The restaurant was later connected by a direct passageway to 30 Rockefeller Plaza's studios.<ref name="nyt-2022-02-24">Template:Cite news</ref> Rockefeller Center acquired the building in the mid-20th century and ended the restaurant's lease in 1975,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the new lessees continued to run Hurley's until 1999.<ref name="nyt-2022-02-24" /> Template:As of, the holdout building contains Pebble Bar.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The other tenant, who occupied a plot on Sixth Avenue and 50th Street at 30 Rockefeller Plaza's northwest corner, never received a sale offer due to a misunderstanding.Template:Sfn The grocer John F. Maxwell would only sell his property at 50th Street if he received $1 million. Because of a miscommunication, the Rockefeller family was told that Maxwell would never sell, and Maxwell himself said that he had never been approached by the Rockefellers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Consequently, Maxwell kept his property until his death in 1962, upon which Columbia bought the building;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rockefeller Center purchased the Maxwell family's lease in 1970.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Architecture

30 Rockefeller Plaza was designed by the Associated Architects of Rockefeller Center, composed of the firms of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray; Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux; and Reinhard & Hofmeister. Raymond Hood was the complex's lead architect.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Associated Architects designed all of Rockefeller Center's buildings in the Art Deco style.Template:Sfn Developed as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center, 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened in 1933 as the RCA Building.<ref name="aia5" /> 30 Rockefeller Plaza is Template:Cvt tall and was built as a single structure occupying the entire block between Sixth Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza.Template:Sfn Template:As of, the building is the 31st tallest in New York City and the 65th tallest in the United States.<ref name="Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat – CTBUH 2015 d479">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The design was influenced by Rockefeller Center manager John Todd's desire for the building to use its air rights to their maximum potential.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 30 Rockefeller Plaza rises to a flat roof, unlike some of the other skyscrapers built in New York City around the same time. These included the Chrysler Building, 70 Pine Street, and 40 Wall Street, which used spires to reach their maximum heights.<ref name="p1529011229">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hartley Burr Alexander, a mythology and symbology professor who oversaw Rockefeller Center's art program, led the installation of artwork throughout the complex.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn The building's artwork was designed around the concept of "new frontiers", depicting modern society.<ref name="nyt-2009-07-26" />

Form

File:GE Building by David Shankbone.JPG

Seen in 2007

The massing of 30 Rockefeller Plaza is designed in three parts.<ref name="Reynolds p. 301" /><ref name="NRHP-87002591">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn The easternmost section contains a 66-story towerTemplate:Sfn with two stories of retail on the west and east.Template:Sfn The tower is surrounded by a shorter U-shaped section to the north, west, and south.<ref name="p1529011229" /> Some sources give 30 Rockefeller Plaza's height as 70 stories, but this arises from a hyperbolic press release by Merle Crowell, the complex's publicist during construction.Template:Sfn At the middle of the site was a windowless nine-story section, which housed NBC's studios.<ref name="NRHP-87002591" />Template:Sfn The western part of the site steps up again to a 16-story tower.<ref name="NRHP-87002591" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The western section at 1250 Avenue of the Americas, formerly also known as RCA Building West, is accessed mainly from Sixth Avenue.Template:Sfn The facade of the annex rises straight from the sidewalk, with notches at the corners, because the corner lots were private properties at the time of the building's construction in 1935.Template:Sfn

The massing was influenced by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which restricted the height that the street-side exterior walls of New York City buildings could rise before they needed to incorporate setbacks that recessed the buildings' exterior walls away from the streets.Template:Sfn<ref name="p1529011229" />Template:Efn The base of the building could only rise to Template:Convert before it had to taper to a tower covering 25 percent of the site.Template:Sfn<ref name="p1529011229" /> The eastern tower appeared to violate this principle since it measured Template:Convert, but the base measured only Template:Convert. The base does not occupy its entire plot, which measures Template:Convert.<ref name="p1529011229" /> The tower section was recessed so far into the block that it could have risen without any setbacks. Hood decided to include setbacks anyway, as they represented "a sense of future, a sense of energy, a sense of purpose", according to architecture expert Alan Balfour.Template:Sfn Above the lowest stories, the north and south elevations rise straight up for 33 stories before setting back gradually.<ref name="NRHP-87002591" /> There are three setbacks each on the north, south, and east elevations.<ref name="Reynolds p. 302">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Hood also created a guideline that all of the office space in the complex would be no more than Template:Cvt from a window,<ref name="p1240053177">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p.">Template:Cite book</ref> which was the maximum distance that sunlight could permeate the windows of a building at New York City's latitude.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The setbacks on the northern and southern sides of 30 Rockefeller Plaza allow the building to comply with Hood's guideline.<ref name="p1529011229" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The setbacks correspond to the tops of the elevator banks inside; this arrangement is repeated on the facade of the International Building.<ref name="Reynolds p. 302" /> Similarly, 30 Rockefeller Plaza also contains notches at its corners.<ref name="Reynolds p. 302" /><ref name="p1529011229" /> The eastern elevation's setbacks were included exclusively for aesthetic purposes.Template:Sfn By contrast, the layout and massing of Rockefeller Center's other buildings were intended to maximize rental profit.Template:Sfn

Facade

30 Rockefeller Plaza's limestone facade includes spandrels with quadruple-leaf motifs in a Gothic-inspired style.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn influenced the design of the rest of the complex.Template:Sfn The first story is clad with Deer Island granite to a height of Template:Cvt.<ref name="Reynolds p. 303">Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Sfn The remainder of the facade contains Indiana Limestone and aluminum spandrel panels.Template:Sfn Some Template:Convert of limestone, Template:Convert of granite, and 6,000 spandrels were used in the construction. The limestone covered Template:Convert.<ref name="nyt-1932-12-08">Template:Cite news</ref> The limestone blocks are laid slightly irregularly and contain striations for visual effect.<ref name="Reynolds p. 303" /> In addition, 10.38 million bricks were integrated into the facade.<ref name="nyt-1933-01-01">Template:Cite news</ref>

30 Rockefeller Plaza also had 6,045 windows upon its completion, with 19,700 panes between them, covering Template:Convert in total. Thirty-six of the windows measured Template:Convert and were storefront windows. Those on the mezzanine level were composed of Template:Convert panels flanked by smaller sidelights. Another 165 were casement windows, which had panes measuring Template:Convert; most of these were above the 65th floor. The remaining 5,824 were casement windows measuring Template:Convert.<ref name="p1240053177" /> About 5,200 of these windows contained Venetian blinds, which were installed by the Mackin Venetian Blind Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Entrances

At street level, the stonework is relatively sparsely decorated.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The main entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza was designed as a loggia of three arches: one at the center, measuring Template:Convert high by Template:Convert wide, and two on the sides, measuring Template:Convert high by Template:Convert wide.<ref name="p1114513116">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1932-06-10">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Lee Lawrie designed the sculptural group Wisdom, A Voice from the Clouds, for the lintels of the three arches.Template:Sfn<ref name="p1114513116" /><ref name="nyt-1932-06-10" /> Lawrie's carved rendering of Wisdom is above the center arch, flanked by Sound on the left and Light on the right.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Wisdom frieze above the entrance is accompanied by an inscription reading "Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the stability of thy times", from Isaiah 33:6 (KJV).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The sculptural groups are accompanied by polychrome decorations created by Léon-Victor Solon.Template:Sfn Lawrie's three renderings are complemented by two limestone bas-reliefs by Leo Friedlander: one of Production on the north elevation and one of Radio on the south elevation.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Rockefeller Center Feb 2022 17.jpg

1230 Avenue of the Americas entrance

1230 Avenue of the Americas, the annex building to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, contains a marquee<ref name="nyt-2014-11-25" /> and two works of art on its exterior.Template:Sfn The recessed entrance portal is filled with a Template:Cvt mosaic mural, Intelligence Awakening Mankind by Barry Faulkner.<ref name="nyt-1932-07-13">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The portal is topped by four Template:Cvt limestone panels by Gaston Lachaise, each of which signifies an aspect of civilization as it related to the original Radio City complex.<ref name="nyt-1932-09-19">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The two panels on either side of the entrance are entitled The Conquest of Space and Gifts of Earth to Mankind; these respectively depict aspiration and life, two qualities that Lachaise believed were most important to humanity.<ref name="p1114731116">Template:Cite news</ref> The two panels in the center are known as Genius Seizing the Light of the Sun (also known as Invention Seizing the Light of the Sun<ref name="nyt-1932-09-19" />) and The Spirit of Progress.<ref name="p1114731116" /> The panels are placed at the third story because, at the time of the building's construction, they could be seen from the elevated rail line above Sixth Avenue.<ref name="nyt-2020-04-15">Template:Cite news</ref>

Interior

30 Rockefeller Plaza was designed with about Template:Convert of rentable space in total.<ref name="p1529011229" /> The eastern tower contains the Rainbow Room restaurant on the 65th floor,<ref name="aia5" /> while the Rockefeller family office occupied the tower's 54th through 56th floors until 2014.<ref name="nyt-2014-11-24">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The tower is the headquarters of NBC<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and houses NBC Studios, NBC News, MSNBC, and network flagship station WNBC and WNJU.<ref name="nyt-2014-11-24" /> 30 Rockefeller Plaza also contains offices for NBCUniversal CableTemplate:Sfn and, until 1988, the NBC Radio Network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Part of NBC's space also extends into the central part of the building.<ref name="Reynolds p. 303" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The superstructure uses Template:Convert of steel.<ref name="p1529011229" /><ref name="nyt-1933-01-01" /> To transport visitors to the top floors, Westinghouse installed eight express elevators in the RCA Building. They moved at an average speed of Template:Cvt and were so expensive that they constituted 13 percent of the building's entire construction cost.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1933-07-14" /> One elevator reached a top speed of Template:Cvt and was dubbed "the fastest passenger elevator ride on record".<ref name="nyt-1933-07-14">Template:Cite news</ref> These elevators cost about $17,000 a year to maintain by 1942.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The mechanical core also contains emergency-exit staircases, though there are fewer staircases on upper floors. For example, building plans indicate that the 12th story has three sets of emergency staircases, while the 60th story has two sets of staircases.Template:Sfn

Lobby

File:USA-NYC-Rockefeller Center Interior.jpg

The lobby's main section along Rockefeller Plaza

The lobby's main entrance is from Rockefeller Plaza to the east, with revolving and double-leaf bronze-and-glass doors underneath a paneled bronze screen.Template:Sfn The doors are topped by a cast-glass wall designed by Lee Lawrie, which measures Template:Convert high by Template:Convert wide.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The wall is made of 240 glass blocks.Template:Sfn<ref name="NRHP-87002591" /> Each glass block measures Template:Convert deep and Template:Convert across.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Opposite the main entrance doors is an information desk made of Champlain gray marble. Four large ivory-marble piers with embedded light fixtures support the ceiling immediately above.Template:Sfn

The lobby continues north and south from the information desk. Stairways at either end lead up to the mezzanine, while stairs and escalators lead downstairs to the basement. Extending west from either end are two corridors, which flank five north–south elevator banks.Template:Sfn The elevator doors are made of bronze, and there are bronze and glass storefronts on the outer walls of these corridors.Template:Sfn The floor is made of brass-and-terrazzo mosaic.Template:Sfn The walls of these corridors are paneled in Champlain marble below the height of the storefronts and elevator doors.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A bronze molding runs above the storefronts and elevators, while the walls are made of plaster above that height. The outer walls of the west–east corridors (adjacent to the mezzanines) contain bronze service doors, while the inner walls and the elevator-bank walls contain murals. The ceilings of the corridors are carried by rows of piers.Template:Sfn

West of the elevator banks, two north–south corridors extend to side entrances on 49th and 50th Streets, which each contain two bronze sets of revolving doors.Template:Sfn The corridors continue west to the Sixth Avenue entrance.Template:Sfn Just west of the elevators, a staircase leads down to the basement and up to the NBC lobby.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The stair to the basement contains Champlain marble and ivory marble, while the stair to the mezzanine contains Champlain marble and bronze railings and moldings. Additional stairs to the basement and mezzanine are placed at the point where the corridors continue into 1250 Avenue of the Americas; they also contain Champlain marble and bronze railings and moldings.Template:Sfn

Lobby art

File:30RockefellerPlazaNorthMezzanineLookingWest.jpg

Lobby mezzanine

Josep Maria Sert was originally hired to paint four murals in the northern lobby corridor: Time; Spirit of Dance; Man's Triumph in Communication; Conquest of Disease; Abolition of Bondage; Fraternity of Men; and Contest-1940, depicting different aspects of the world and mankind.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Frank Brangwyn painted four murals on the southern corridor, all of which symbolize humans' relationship with spirituality; he complemented these murals with stencils of the themes that were represented.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Rockefeller Center's managers had asked Brangwyn to omit a depiction of Jesus Christ from one of the panels;<ref name="nyt-1933-09-15">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> the artist ultimately depicted Jesus with his back turned.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Brangwyn's and Sert's corridor murals measure Template:Convert each.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern described Brangwyn's murals as "insipid", a quality worsened by the fact that the themes were stenciled onto the murals. By contrast, Stern said: "Sert at least allowed the meaning of his paintings to fall into happy obscurity."Template:Sfn

After the building had opened, Sert was commissioned to paint the mural American Progress at the center of the lobby,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn measuring Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The mural was installed in 1937.<ref name="nyt-1937-12-21">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1223337099">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-2009-07-26">Template:Cite news</ref> It depicts a vast allegorical scene of men constructing modern America and contains figures of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The space occupied by American Progress was originally taken up by Diego Rivera's Man at the Crossroads mural,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn which was controversial because of its communist imagery and was destroyed in 1934.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1934-02-13">Template:Cite news</ref> Rockefeller officials commissioned a sixth mural from Sert, representing the past, present, and future, which they installed in the lobby in 1941.<ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The mural measures Template:Convert and is installed on the ceiling.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1941-01-17">Template:Cite news</ref>

Concourse and mezzanine

Below the lobby is the complex's shopping concourse,Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> connected to the lobby via escalators.Template:Sfn The building has a direct entrance to the New York City Subway's 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station via the concourse.<ref>Template:Cite NYC neighborhood map</ref> Until 1950, the building's concourse had also contained Rockefeller Center's post office.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The mezzanine contains balconies overlooking the lobby. The floors of the mezzanine are black terrazzo, while the walls are made of marble and plaster separated by a bronze molding. Offices from the outer walls open onto the mezzanine balconies. There are staircases from the lobby to both the concourse and mezzanine, west of the lobby's elevator banks.Template:Sfn When the building opened, it contained a rotunda at the mezzanine level, measuring Template:Convert across with a photomural surrounding it. The mural was taken apart in the 1950s and the rotunda itself was demolished in the 1970s.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-25">Template:Cite news</ref> A new rotunda was constructed from 2014 to 2015, accessed from the ground floor by a Template:Convert staircase; the rotunda contains two LED displays, each measuring Template:Convert wide and Template:Convert tall.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-25" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 1960 to October 1993, the building's mezzanine level housed the New York City weather forecast office of the National Weather Service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The mezzanine level also contained a control room, from which all of Rockefeller Center's mechanical systems could be monitored.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

NBC Studios and headquarters

File:Rainbow Room.jpg

A sign for the Rainbow Room tops the NBC Studios marquee

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

When the building was constructed, RCA's chief engineer O. B. Hanson was faced with designing an area of the building that was large enough to host 35 studios with as few structural columns as possible. As such, the studios were all placed in the windowless center section of the building, which would have otherwise been used as an unprofitable office space.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The central part of the building could also use fewer columns, which was suitable for large broadcast studios but not for the bases of skyscrapers.<ref name="Reynolds p. 303" /> Over Template:Cvt of utility wires stretched through this part of the building, which was powered by direct current.Template:Sfn Two floors were reserved for future TV studios, and five more stories were reserved for audience members and guests.Template:Sfn The floor, wall, and ceiling surfaces of the studios were suspended from the superstructure, insulating the studios.<ref name="NRHP-87002591" /> In addition, there were double- and triple-height spaces for exhibitions, plays, and other events.<ref name="Reynolds p. 303" />

NBC, ABC, and CBS (collectively the Big Three TV Networks) had offices on Sixth Avenue and studios in Midtown during the mid-20th century.<ref name="nyt-1986-08-02">Template:Cite news</ref> The first television shows at the NBC Studios were broadcast from studio 3H in 1935, and more TV studios were added after World War II as television gained popularity.Template:Sfn During the RCA Building's early years, NBC housed both the Red Network and the Blue Network (later ABC) there,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and WJZ-TV (later WABC-TV) and WJZ Radio (later WABC), as well as the headquarters of the ABC network, were also headquartered there for the first few years until ABC built their own facilities.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> When the building opened, it also hosted daily tours of the NBC Studios;<ref name="nyt-1977-08-29">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn the tours were canceled in 1977 due to declining attendance.<ref name="nyt-1977-08-29" /> NBC was the only one of the Big Three that retained studios in Midtown by the mid-1980s.<ref name="nyt-1986-08-02" />

Studio 8H, which hosts Saturday Night Live,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is the largest of the studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, with a capacity of 1,200<ref name="nyt-1980-01-08">Template:Cite news</ref> or 1,400 guests.Template:Sfn Studio 8H was once the largest radio studio in the world and was originally home to the NBC Symphony Orchestra<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> before being converted into a television studio in 1950.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1980-01-08" /> Another major studio at 30 Rockefeller Plaza is Studio 6B, which hosted Texaco Star Theater, the first popular comedy-variety show on television.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Tonight Show was also broadcast from Studio 6B until 1972, returning there in 2014 under the name The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> TonightTemplate:'s companion program, Late Night (branded Late Night with Seth Meyers Template:As of) is also taped in the building's Studio 8G.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Today Show was also broadcast from 30 Rockefeller Plaza until 1994, when it moved to 10 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Rockefeller family offices

The Rockefeller family's office, Room 5600, occupied the entire 56th floor.Template:Sfn The family's Rockefeller Foundation rented the entire floor below, and two other organizations supported by the Rockefellers also moved into the building.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Daniel Okrent, author of the book Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, said the Rockefellers' offices resembled an "18th-century English baronial mansion".<ref name="nyt-2020-04-15" /> The space was decorated with art by Paul Gauguin, Piet Mondrian, Paul Signac, and Joan Miró.<ref name="Makarechi 2014">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

By 1937, there were 392 employees of Room 5600. After World War II, Room 5600 comprised the entire 54th through 56th floors.Template:Sfn The family offices became a hub for the family's political activity, with ties to both the Democratic and Republican parties at the city, state, and national levels.Template:Sfn Visitors to Room 5600 have included Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Nelson Mandela, Richard Gere, and Bono.<ref name="nyt-2014-11-24" /> Even in the late 1980s, when Room 5600 had downsized to 175 people, it still managed $900 million of Rockefeller family wealth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The family moved out during 2014.<ref name="nyt-2014-11-24" /><ref name="Makarechi 2014" />

Rainbow Room

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

File:Rainbow room.jpg

Rainbow Room restaurant

The 65th floor of the building is an event room and restaurant named the Rainbow Room.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The space was designed by Wallace K. Harrison of Associated Architects.Template:Sfn Interior designer Elena Bachman Schmidt, a one-time apprentice of Elsie de Wolfe, contributed to the design of the interior decor, such as the furniture, curtains, and elevator doors. Vincente Minnelli was assigned to help Schmidt select the colors of the walls.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The restaurant opened in 1934,Template:Sfn<ref name="p1032058796">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and was the highest restaurant in the United States for decades, though it was closed during much of the 1940s.Template:Sfn The most recent version of the restaurant opened in 2014 after a restoration by Gabellini Sheppard Associates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Rainbow Room occupies the eastern part of 30 Rockefeller Plaza's 65th floor, which covers Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="rr201606">Template:Cite AV media</ref>Template:Sfn The central part of the floor has elevator banks, restrooms, a gallery, and a private dining room. The western part houses Bar SixtyFive and an outdoor terrace.<ref name="rr201606" /> The dining room itself is a Template:Convert space.<ref name="rr201606" />Template:Sfn The restaurant has a Template:Convert rotating dance floor.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The seats of the Rainbow Room are organized in tiers,Template:Sfn and there is also a platform for bands and a shallow balcony for entertainers.<ref name="rr201606" />Template:Sfn There are stairs and a dumbwaiter behind the platform,Template:Sfn as well as several banquet rooms on the 64th floor.Template:Sfn Above the dance floor hang several concentric "rings" that recess into the ceiling.Template:Sfn

Roofs

Garden of the Nations

The roof of the building's central section contained a Template:Cvt "Garden of the Nations" (alternatively "Gardens of the Nations"Template:Sfn), which opened in April 1935 on the 11th floor.<ref name="NYPost-Gardens-1935">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The garden used Template:Convert of soil; Template:Convert of rock from as far as England; 100,000 bricks; 2,000 trees and shrubs; 4,000 small plants; and 20,000 bulbs for flowers.<ref name="ATU-Hanging-Gardens-19342">Template:Cite news</ref> Originally, the garden included thirteen nation-specific gardens, whose layouts were inspired by gardens in the respective countries they represented. Each of the different gardens were separated by barriers.<ref name="NYPost-Gardens-1935" /> The "International Garden", a rock garden in the center of the themed gardens,<ref name="nyt-1934-09-02">Template:Cite news</ref> featured a meandering stream and 2,000 plant varieties.Template:Sfn The Garden of the Nations also contained a children's garden, a modern-style garden, and a shrub-and-vegetable patch.Template:Sfn The garden was staffed by hostesses who wore costumes, and the plantings lit up at night.<ref name=nyt-1982-12-16>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ralph Hancock and Raymond Hood designed the rooftop garden,Template:Sfn<ref name="ATU-Hanging-Gardens-19342" /><ref name="nyt-1934-09-02" /> one of several in the complex.<ref name="Reynolds pp. 301-302">Template:Harvnb</ref> Upon opening, the Garden of the Nations attracted many visitors because of its collection of exotic flora,Template:Sfn and it became the most popular garden in Rockefeller Center.Template:Sfn In its heyday, the Center charged admission fees for the Garden of the Nations.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, the nation-themed gardens were demolished by 1938,Template:Sfn<ref name=nyt-1982-12-16/> and the rock garden was left to dry up, supplanted by flower beds that were not open to the public.Template:Sfn In 1936, the central roof temporarily housed a prototype of an apartment, which was used to advertise the Rockefeller Apartments between 54th and 55th Streets.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Primary roof

File:TopOfTheRock2019ThirdObservationDeckRadome.jpg

Weather radar radome visible on the roof

From 1937 onward, the roof of the eastern tower contained neon letters spelling "RCA".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The letters each measured Template:Convert wide by Template:Convert tall;<ref name="nyt-1973-12-16">Template:Cite news</ref> at the time of the building's completion, the letters were the world's highest neon signs.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-13" /> These were replaced by "GE" letters in 1988.<ref name="wsj-1988-07-15" /><ref name="nyt-1988-07-14" /> The letters were replaced again with the new united Comcast/NBC logo, rendered in longer-lasting LED lighting.<ref name="nyt-2014-11-24" /> The new signs consist of a Template:Cvt tall Comcast wordmark and NBC logo on the northern and southern elevations, as well as a Template:Cvt NBC logo on the building's western elevation.<ref name="Curbed2014" />

In 1960, a Template:Convert, Template:Convert weather radar dish for the National Weather Service was installed atop the roof when the building became the NWS's headquarters.<ref name="nyt-1960-06-14">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> KWO35, the NOAA Weather Radio station serving the majority of the Tri-State area, transmitted from atop the building and remained there until 2014. Due to interference with a U.S. Coast Guard radio channel, the transmitter was eventually relocated atop the MetLife Building.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The weather radar station was used as Doppler 4000 during WNBC-TV's local newscasts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was operational until February 1, 2017, when StormTracker 4, an S-band weather radar at Rutgers University's Cook Campus, started operating.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Observation deck

Top of the Rock, the 70th-story observation deck atop the skyscraper, opened in 1933 and is Template:Convert above street level.<ref name="Reynolds pp. 301-302" /><ref name="nyt-1933-07-19" /><ref name="n97397273">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition to the deck, the attraction includes a triple-story observatory on the 67th to 69th floors.<ref name="n97397273" /> Top of the Rock competes with the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building 200 feet (61 m) higher, as well as a distant view of the Empire State Building.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Top of the Rock is accessed from its own entrance on 50th Street, where two elevators (converted from freight elevator shafts) ascend to the 67th floor.<ref name="nyt-2005-03-11" /> The shafts are illuminated, while the elevator cabs contain ceiling panels with historical photographs.<ref name="n97397273" /> There is a double-height indoor observatory on the 67th floor, where escalators lead to the 69th floor. A Template:Convert parapet of frameless safety glass runs around the perimeter of the deck; it dates to the 2005 renovation.<ref name="nyt-2005-03-11">Template:Cite news</ref>

The deck originally had dimensions of Template:Convert<ref name="nyt-1933-07-19" /> and was decorated in the style of an ocean liner, with furnishings such as slatted chairs.<ref name="n97397273" /> The observation deck was closed in 1986 because a renovation of the Rainbow Room had cut off the deck's only access point.<ref name="nyt-1986-06-18">Template:Cite news</ref> The observation deck has been known since 2005 as Top of the Rock, when it reopened after a renovation by Gabellini Sheppard Associates.<ref name="nyt-2005-03-11" /> The original limestone and cast aluminum architectural details were conserved.<ref name="Merkel 2006">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2011, the observation deck had 2.5 million visitors a year and grossed $25 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On the 69th story is the Beam, a ride themed to the photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.<ref name="Rahmanan 2023 o001" /><ref name="Team 2023 z402" /> The ride faces Billionaires' Row to the north; it can fit seven riders,<ref name="nyt-2024-07-26">Template:Cite news</ref> and it rotates Template:Convert above the 69th-story terrace.<ref name="Rahmanan 2023 o001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Team 2023 z402">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of, the 70th story includes a rotating "skylift" ride,<ref name="Rahmanan s650">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Ginsburg y046">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as spherical rooftop beacon and floor tiles with a celestial pattern.<ref name="The Architect's Newspaper 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="designboom architecture & design magazine 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Development

Planning

File:Rockefeller Center, December 1933.jpg

The construction of Rockefeller Center in December 1933, with the RCA Building at center

The construction of Rockefeller Center occurred between 1932 and 1940Template:Efn on land that John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased from Columbia University.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1976-03-21">Template:Cite news</ref> The Rockefeller Center site was originally supposed to be occupied by a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house.Template:Sfn However, the new building was too expensive for the opera to fund by itself, and it needed an endowment.Template:Sfn The project ultimately gained the support of John D. Rockefeller Jr.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The planned opera house was canceled in December 1929 due to various issues, with the new opera house eventually being built at Lincoln Center, opening in 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

With the lease still in effect, Rockefeller had to quickly devise new plans so that the three-block Columbia site could become profitable. Raymond Hood, Rockefeller Center's lead architect, came up with the idea to negotiate with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its subsidiaries, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), to build a mass media entertainment complex on the site.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn By May 1930, RCA and its affiliates had made an agreement with Rockefeller Center managers. RCA would lease Template:Cvt of studio space; get naming rights to the western part of the development; and develop four theaters, at a cost of $4.25 million per year.Template:Sfn A skyscraper at 30 Rockefeller Plaza's current site was first proposed in the March 1930 version of the complex's blueprint,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the current dimensions of the tower were finalized in March 1931.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The skyscraper would be named for RCA as part of the agreement;Template:Sfn the RCA name became official in May 1932.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Construction

The designs for Radio City Music Hall and the RCA Building were submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings in August 1931, by which time both buildings were to open in 1932.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Work on the steel structure of the RCA Building started in March 1932.<ref name="nyt-1932-03-08" /> Several artists were hired to design artwork for the RCA Building.Template:Sfn Lee Lawrie was hired to design the RCA Building's eastern entrance in June 1932, at which point the sunken plaza in front of the building was also announced.<ref name="p1114513116" /><ref name="nyt-1932-06-10" /> The next month, Barry Faulkner was commissioned to create a large glass mosaic on the western entrance facing Sixth Avenue.<ref name="nyt-1932-07-13" /> Gaston Lachaise received the commission for bas-reliefs on the Sixth Avenue entrance in September 1932.<ref name="nyt-1932-09-19" /> The same month, Hood and the complex's manager John Todd traveled to Europe to interview five artists for the lobby.Template:Sfn Frank Brangwyn, Josep Maria Sert, and Diego Rivera were hired the following month,Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> despite John Rockefeller Jr.'s hesitance to hire Rivera, a prominent communist.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Henri Matisse had been reluctant to commission a highly visible lobby mural, and Pablo Picasso had refused to even meet with Hood and Todd.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Lunch atop a Skyscraper - Charles Clyde Ebbets.jpg

Lunch atop a Skyscraper, a 1932 photo by Charles Clyde Ebbets

Installation of the exterior stonework began in July 1932 and proceeded at a rate of Template:Convert per day.<ref name="nyt-1932-09-27">Template:Cite news</ref> Window installation began the same month.<ref name="p1240053177" /> The building's structural steel was up to the 64th floor by September 16, 1932.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1114731116" /> The photograph Lunch atop a Skyscraper was taken on September 20, 1932, during the construction of the 69th floor;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it was part of a publicity stunt promoting the RCA Building.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The building was topped out on September 26, 1932, when an American flag was hoisted to the top of the primary 66-story tower on Rockefeller Plaza. The Indiana limestone cladding had been erected to the 15th floor on the Rockefeller Plaza wing, and the facade of the Sixth Avenue wing had been completed.<ref name="nyt-1932-09-27" /> The stone was fabricated at four factories in New York state and then shipped to New York City. Two traveling cranes lifted the stone from the ground to two hoists Template:Convert high, which then raised the stone to the upper floors.<ref name="nyt-1932-12-08" /> The stonework of the primary tower was completed on December 7, 1932, without fanfare.<ref name="nyt-1932-12-08" /><ref name="p1221345811">Template:Cite news</ref> Officials said at the time that they did not host a ceremony for the stonework's completion because the elevators only ran to the 55th floor.<ref name="p1221345811" /> It had taken only 102 workdays to install the Template:Convert of stonework.<ref name="nyt-1932-12-08" />

Rockefeller Plaza was added to the city's official street map in January 1933, and the RCA Building gained the address 30 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref name="nyt-1933-01-16" /> The next month, John D. Rockefeller III honored 27 mechanics for their work on the RCA Building.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, The New York Times reported that 1,600 workers were busy completing the interior work. According to the main contractors, the laborers, plasterers, and metal lathers involved in the project would need to be compensated the equivalent of 25,000 eight-hour workdays. The building would require Template:Convert of plasterwork, covering about Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By April 6, 1933, there were 1,400 mechanics working to complete the RCA Building, which was 90 percent complete; the upper floors were mostly finished, but the base was still incomplete.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As late as April 24, more than 1,000 workers were still fitting out the RCA Building.<ref name="nyt-1933-04-23">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1240067338">Template:Cite news</ref> As a result of the Depression, building costs were cheaper than projected. The final cost of the first ten buildings, including the RCA Building, came to $102 million (equivalent to $Template:Inflation billion in Template:Inflation-year dollarsTemplate:Inflation-fn).Template:Sfn

Opening and early years

File:30 Rockefeller Plaza New York City RCA GE Building.jpg

View of the top floors with RCA wordmark in 1943

Todd, Robertson, Todd Engineering Corporation, which was constructing Rockefeller Center, relocated to the RCA Building on April 22, 1933, becoming the first tenants.<ref name="nyt-1933-04-23" /><ref name="p1240067338" /> The RCA Building was slated to officially open on May 1, 1933.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its opening was delayed until mid-May because of a controversy over Rivera's Man at the Crossroads,Template:Sfn which in large part stemmed from the communist motifs of the mural.<ref name="PBS2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On May 10, 1933, Rivera was ordered to stop all work on the mural,<ref name="NYTimes-Rockefellers-Ban-Lenin-1933">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was covered in stretched canvas and left incomplete.<ref name="NYTimes-Rockefellers-Ban-Lenin-1933" /><ref name="PBS2" />Template:Sfn Brangwyn's murals were also incomplete at the time of the building's opening.<ref name="nyt-1933-09-15" /> Rivera's mural remained covered until February 1934, when workmen peeled the mural off the wall.<ref name="nyt-1934-02-13" /> Columbia University originally owned most of Rockefeller Center's land as well as the complex's buildings, including the RCA Building. However, Columbia received no rental income; Rockefeller Center's managers collected the rent and owned the land under the western part of the complex, including a section of the RCA Building West.<ref name="nyt-1976-03-21" />

The RCA offices moved to the RCA Building's 52nd and 53rd floors in June 1933.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rockefeller family took up space throughout the building to give potential tenants the impression of occupancy.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1933-03-27">Template:Cite news</ref> Their Rockefeller Foundation, as well as the General Education Board and the Spelman Fund of New York, had leased space,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1933-03-27" /> and the Rockefeller family's Standard Oil Company moved into the RCA Building in 1934.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> NBC was one of the first tenants in the new RCA Building and, with 35 studios packed into the base, it was also one of the largest tenants.Template:Sfn Westinghouse moved into the 14th through 17th floors of the RCA Building,Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> receiving the contract for the building's elevators as a result.<ref name="p219175149">Template:Cite magazine</ref> American Cyanamid took four floors and part of another.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other space was taken by the Greek consulate,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Chinese consulate,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the National Health Council,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a branch of the Chase National Bank.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A double-height space at the center of the ground story, which had been difficult to rent, opened as the Municipal Art Exhibition in February 1934.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The space, referred to as the Forum,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> had contained a large stairway leading up to a second-story balcony with exhibition rooms.Template:Sfn Despite the large number of tenants, Rockefeller Center was only 59 percent rented by the end of 1933.<ref name="p219175149" />

Shortly after the RCA Building's opening, there were plans to use the building above the 64th floor as a public "amusement center". That section of the building had several terraces, which could be used as a dance floor, observation deck and landscaped terrace gardens.<ref name="nyt-1933-05-24">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1114796868">Template:Cite news</ref> On the 65th floor, there was also a two-story space for a dining room with a high ceiling.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Frank W. Darling quit his job as head of Rye's Playland<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to direct the programming for the proposed amusement space.<ref name="nyt-1933-05-24" /><ref name="p1114796868" /> In July 1933, the managers opened an observation deck atop the RCA Building, which consisted of Template:Cvt terraces on the 67th, 69th, and 70th floors.<ref name="nyt-1933-07-19">Template:Cite news</ref> The 40-cents-per-head observation deck saw 1,300 daily visitors by late 1935.Template:Sfn Meanwhile, the floors below the observation deck were planned as a restaurant, solarium, game room, and ballroom, which would later become the Rainbow Room.<ref name="nyt-1933-07-19" /> The Rainbow Room opened on October 3, 1934.Template:Sfn<ref name="p1032058796" />

A revolving beacon was installed atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1935, the first such beacon to be installed in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That September, the ground-floor retail space was fully leased.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Museum of Science and Industry leased the Municipal Art Exhibition space shortly afterward after Nelson Rockefeller became a trustee of the museum.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, Edward Durell Stone removed the partitions on the second floor of the exhibition space,Template:Sfn and the museum opened there in February 1936.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The central wall of the main lobby remained empty until 1937, when Jose Maria Sert's American Progress was installed.<ref name="nyt-1937-12-21" /><ref name="p1223337099" /> At the time, the RCA Building was 84 percent leased.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1938, the NBC studios at the RCA Building received 700,000 annual visitors, while the observation deck had 430,000 annual visitors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1940s to 1970s

File:30 Rockefeller Plaza.jpg

The building at night as seen from Channel Gardens

Two 24-ton cooling machines were installed in the basement of the RCA Building in 1940. The air-conditioning units supplemented the RCA Building's existing units and also served 1230 Sixth Avenue, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, and 1 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lobby was then renovated in 1941. As part of the project, an overpass at mezzanine level was removed, the lighting was brightened, and another mural by Jose Maria Sert was installed.<ref name="nyt-1941-01-17" /> An air-raid siren was installed atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1942 during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rainbow Room and Grill atop the RCA Building was closed at the end of that December because of staffing shortages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn In 1943, Rockefeller Center's managers purchased the lots at 1242–1248 Sixth Avenue and 73 West 49th Street, part of RCA Building West; these lots had previously been held under a long-term lease.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the next year, the RCA Building was almost fully rented.<ref name="p219175149" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During the war, the RCA Building's Room 3603 became the primary location of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence's British Security Co-ordination, organized by William Stephenson. It also served as the office of Allen Dulles, who later headed the Central Intelligence Agency.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The revolving beacon, which had been darkened during the war, was reactivated in 1945 after the air-raid siren was dismantled,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the Rainbow Room restaurant remained closed until 1950.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Museum of Science and Industry moved out of the RCA Building's lower floors in 1950. Rockefeller Center's managers hired Carson and Lundin to design two new levels of retail space with about Template:Convert of new floor area.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The retail space was twice as profitable as the museum; the remaining street-level space was transformed into a studio for the Today Show.Template:Sfn In mid-1953, Columbia bought all of Rockefeller Center's land along Sixth Avenue, including the western part of RCA Building West, for $5.5 million. Rockefeller Center then leased the land back from Columbia.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The building's largest tenants, RCA and NBC, renewed their leases in 1958 for 24 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The National Weather Service's radar was placed on the roof in June 1960, adjacent to RCA's and NBC's antennas,<ref name="nyt-1960-06-14" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the NWS offices relocated to the building that December.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Singer Manufacturing Company became another major tenant, leasing six floors in 1961;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> this required the installation of a dedicated air-conditioning system on the 58th floor for that company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the Rainbow Room atop the building was refurbished in 1965.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An anti-Vietnam War bombing occurred on the 19th floor in 1969, causing substantial damage, though no one was hurt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 1969, the RCA sign atop the building was updated with RCA's new logo in neon lights.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-13">Template:Cite news</ref> The RCA Building maintained high occupancy through this time. Even at its lowest point during the 1973–1975 recession, the building was 88 percent occupied and Rockefeller Center's managers were able to lease space at the building above market rate.<ref name="p219175149" />

In 1973, the RCA sign atop the building was turned off to conserve energy, the first time it had not lit up since World War II.<ref name="nyt-1973-12-16" /> The next January, RCA renewed its lease for 20 years, having previously considered relocating from New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p555973270">Template:Cite news</ref> RCA's chief executive Robert Sarnoff also announced that the company would construct a "management and conference center" atop the central section of the building.<ref name="p555973270" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The conference center would have been designed by Ford & Earl Design Associates and Justin Lamb and would have been powered by solar heat.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn RCA applied for permission to build the conference center in September 1975,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but the project was canceled after Sarnoff resigned that December.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The RCA Building's central location and consistent upkeep meant that it was 93 percent occupied by 1975, despite a relatively high vacancy rate in New York City office buildings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Several law firms had moved into the building during this time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Singer moved out of the RCA Building in 1978, freeing up a large block of office space,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but RCA and NBC renewed their leases on a combined Template:Convert two years later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1980s and 1990s

File:GE Building New York August 2012 001.jpg

View of the building's facade from the east, above Rockefeller Plaza

Columbia University was not making enough money from Rockefeller Center leases by the 1970s,Template:Sfn and the university started looking to sell the land beneath Rockefeller Center, including the RCA Building, in 1983.<ref name="nyt-1985-02-06">Template:Cite news</ref> That year, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held hearings to determine how much of Rockefeller Center should be protected as a landmark.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rockefeller family and Columbia University acknowledged that the buildings were already symbolically landmarks, but their spokesman John E. Zuccotti recommended that only the block between 49th and 50th Streets be protected, including the RCA Building and RCA Building West.Template:Efn By contrast, almost everyone else who supported Rockefeller Center's landmark status recommended that the entire complex be landmarked.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn The LPC granted landmark status to the exteriors of all of the original complex's buildings, as well as the interiors of the International Building's and 30 Rockefeller Plaza's lobbies, on April 23, 1985.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn Rockefeller Center's original buildings also became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.Template:Sfn

Columbia had agreed to sell the land to the Rockefeller Group, an investment company owned by the Rockefeller family,<ref name=p135025391/> for $400 million in February 1985.<ref name="nyt-1985-02-06" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rockefeller Group formed Rockefeller Center Inc. that July to manage the RCA Building and other properties.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=p135025391>Template:Cite news</ref> By late 1985, NBC began planning to relocate, leaving half the RCA Building's space vacant.<ref name="nyt-1985-11-16">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The network needed Template:Convert of space and the RCA Building's facilities required hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations.<ref name="nyt-1985-11-16" /> The same year, General Electric acquired RCA/NBC and began looking to save money.<ref name="p219096212">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The developers of Harmon Meadow and Television City had both made offers to NBC, but demand for office space in New York City was starting to decrease, which led the building's owners to focus on keeping NBC at the RCA Building.<ref name="p219096212" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> NBC agreed to stay at 30 Rockefeller Plaza at the end of 1987 after city and state officials offered $72 million in tax exemptions, $800 million in industrial bonds, and sales-tax deferments on $1.1 billion worth of purchases.<ref name="nyt-1987-12-08">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p219177782">Template:Cite magazine</ref> These incentives would not need to be repaid as long as NBC stayed at the building until 2002, or for 15 years.<ref name="nyt-1987-12-08" /> NBC extended its lease by 35 years so that it would last into 2022 and secured an option to buy the western and central sections of the skyscraper.<ref name="p219177782" />

Meanwhile, the Rockefeller Group had begun expanding the Rainbow Room. The observation deck closed in 1986 because the expansion cut off the only access between the observation deck and its elevators.<ref name="nyt-1986-06-18" /> The Rainbow Room also reopened in December 1987 after the Rockefeller Group conducted an extensive renovation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The RCA Building was renamed the GE Building in July 1988, and the signage atop the building was changed accordingly, despite concerns that it could be confused with the General Electric Building on 570 Lexington Avenue.<ref name="wsj-1988-07-15">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1988-07-14">Template:Cite news</ref> Mitsubishi Estate, a real estate subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Group, purchased a majority stake in the Rockefeller Group in 1988, including the GE Building and Rockefeller Center's other structures.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite the renaming, 30 Rockefeller Plaza continued to be popularly known as the RCA Building.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-13" /> Subsequently, Rockefeller Center transferred some of the unused air rights above the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise to the Rockefeller Plaza West skyscraper on Seventh Avenue.Template:Sfn<ref name="nyt-1990-09-09">Template:Cite news</ref> In exchange, the Rockefeller Group had to preserve the original buildings between 49th and 50th StreetsTemplate:Efn under a more stringent set of regulations than the rest of the complex. While the GE Building's air rights were unaffected, the structure fell under the new regulations.Template:Sfn

File:GE Building Oct 2005.jpg

View with GE wordmark, 2005

The Rockefeller Group filed for bankruptcy protection in May 1995 after missing several mortgage payments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That November, John Rockefeller Jr.'s son David and a consortium led by Goldman Sachs agreed to buy Rockefeller Center's buildings for $1.1 billion,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> beating out Sam Zell and other bidders.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The transaction included $306 million for the mortgage and $845 million for other expenses.<ref name="nyt-2000-12-22">Template:Cite news</ref> As that sale progressed, GE and Goldman Sachs discussed selling part of the GE Building to its namesake, allowing GE to lower its occupancy costs on the Template:Cvt that it occupied.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 1996, GE bought the space for $440 million, as well as an option to renew the lease on the Today Show studios at 10 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Before either transaction was finalized, GE subleased Template:Convert of that space.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Goldman Sachs made numerous upgrades to the building and allowed brokers to finalize leases more quickly.<ref name="p219175149" /> In addition to GE, other large tenants at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in the late 1990s included law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine and Chadbourne & Parke.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cipriani S.A. took over the Rainbow Room in 1998.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2000s to present

Tishman Speyer, led by David Rockefeller's close friend Jerry Speyer and the Lester Crown family of Chicago, bought the original 14 buildings and land in December 2000 for $1.85 billion, including the GE Building.<ref name="nyt-2000-12-22" />Template:Sfn The next year, Tishman Speyer began planning a renovation of the rooftop observation deck, which would be rebranded Top of the Rock.<ref name="nyt-2005-03-11" /> Kostow Greenwood Architects also started designing a renovation for NBC Studios.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The observation deck plans were announced publicly in November 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two existing elevator shafts were lengthened so that the observation deck could be accessed without going through the Rainbow Room to get to the "shuttle" elevators. In addition, a ground-floor entrance was created on 50th Street and a three-level storefront was converted into an observation deck entrance.<ref name="nyt-2005-03-11" /> The deck reopened in November 2005 after a renovation by Gabellini Sheppard Associates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Merkel 2006" />

During the late 2000s, the building retained an 85 percent occupancy rate.<ref name="p219175149" /> The WNBC-TV newsroom was renovated during 2008,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> after NBC had announced earlier the same year that it would start a 24-hour news channel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, Tishman Speyer hired EverGreene Architectural Arts to restore the lobby, and a two-year restoration commenced in 2009.<ref name="nyt-2009-07-26" /> The Rainbow Room closed that year after Rockefeller Center Inc. ended Cipriani's lease,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the LPC designated the Rainbow Room as an interior landmark in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Comcast, which had bought a 51 percent ownership stake in NBCUniversal in 2009,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> bought the remaining 49 percent from GE in 2013.<ref name="nyt-2013-02-25">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The sale included NBC's portion of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the building's naming rights;<ref name="nyt-2013-02-25" /> by then, GE occupied only two stories in the building.<ref name="wsj-2014-09-30">Template:Cite news</ref> The Rainbow Room reopened in October 2014 under new management,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the rotunda above the lobby was restored starting in 2014.<ref name="nyt-2014-06-25" />

In June 2014, the LPC granted Comcast permission to modify 30 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref name="Curbed2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Comcast planned to rename the building and replace the signage on the roof.<ref name="Curbed2014" /><ref name="nyt-2014-06-13" /> Additionally, a new marquee was added to the Sixth Avenue entrance, advertising it as the home of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.<ref name="Curbed2014" /><ref name="nyt-2014-11-25">Template:Cite news</ref> The GE signage was dismantled starting in September 2014,<ref name="wsj-2014-09-30" /> and 30 Rockefeller Plaza was officially renamed the Comcast Building on July 1, 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Toy store FAO Schwarz opened a store at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in November 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CBS News 2018 c774">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2022, the LPC approved Tishman Speyer's proposal to install additional visitor attractions at Top of the Rock.<ref name="The Architect's Newspaper 2022" /><ref name="designboom architecture & design magazine 2022" /> One of the attractions, the Beam, opened in December 2023,<ref name="Rahmanan 2023 o001" /><ref name="Team 2023 z402" /> while the Skylift ride opened in October 2024.<ref name="Rahmanan s650" /><ref name="Ginsburg y046" /> That December, Tishman Speyer requested the LPC's permission to replace the neon signage at the building's 49th and 50th Street entrances with LED signage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Impact

Template:See also As Rockefeller Center was being developed, Variety magazine wrote: "The main building of the Rockefeller Center group is a notable structure and forms a fitting climax to half a decade of super-skyscraper construction, which, with this one exception, was abruptly brought to an end" by the 1929 crash.<ref name="p1529011229" /> A Hearst's International magazine article described the RCA Building as "soaring to an incredible petrous peak", with the sunken plaza "shimmering in brilliant floodlight" at its base.<ref name="p1973996442">Template:Cite magazine</ref> After 30 Rockefeller Plaza was completed, the Federal Writers' Project observed in 1939: "Its huge, broad, flat north and south facades, its almost unbroken mass, and its thinness are the features that impelled observers to nickname it the 'Slab'."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the RCA Building's massing "marked the emergence of a new form of the skyscraper", namely the slab-like form.<ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." />

Architectural critic Paul Goldberger said, "Nothing is more attuned to romantic fantasies of New York than the RCA Building's black granite lobby, the Rainbow Room's ornamental framing of a 70-story view...".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Goldberger wrote that the RCA Building's form was "made sumptuous by its mounting setbacks", contrasting with the "smaller and bulkier" International Building and other structures in the complex.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2009, a Crain's New York reporter wrote: "NBC, which owns its space, lends the building a certain panache. So do the art, Christmas tree, gardens and immaculate condition of the center."<ref name="p219175149" />

As the central building of Rockefeller Center, 30 Rockefeller Plaza is widely known.<ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." /> The building was commonly nicknamed 30 Rock,<ref name="p219175149" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which inspired the title of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, numerous movies and TV series that feature Rockefeller Center in their establishing shots have used imagery of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.Template:Sfn Such films have included Nothing Sacred in 1937, How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953, and Manhattan in 1979.Template:Sfn Two films have also discussed the destruction of Rivera's Man at the Crossroads in the lobby: The Cradle Will Rock in 1999 and Frida in 2002.Template:Sfn Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, an attraction at the Universal Studios Florida amusement park, is also based on 30 Rockefeller Plaza's design.<ref name="Levine Today 2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Several later buildings were inspired by 30 Rockefeller Plaza and its design features, including 525 William Penn Place in Pittsburgh (also designed by Harrison & Abramovitz),<ref name="Newhouse 1989 p. ">Template:Cite book, cited in Template:Cite report</ref> the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis,<ref name="Lileks 2015 j206">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=nyt-1989-01-15>Template:Cite news</ref> and the NBC Tower in Chicago.<ref name="Gapp Architecture critic 1989 c416">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=nyt-1989-10-29>Template:Cite news</ref> In particular, the critics Paul Goldberger and Rick Kogan wrote that the NBC Tower's buttresses, setbacks, and vertical stripes were similar to those at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.<ref name=nyt-1989-10-29/><ref name="Kogan 1989 n836">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Goldberger also said that the architect John Portman may have used the RCA Building as an inspiration for San Francisco's Embarcadero Center and Atlanta's Peachtree Center but that, in both cases, Portman's towers "look more like sliding planes than the sumptuous, carved-out mountain that the RCA Building's form evokes".<ref name=nyt-1989-01-15/>

{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

See also

• Architecture of New York City
  • Art Deco architecture of New York City
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets

References

Sources

• Template:Cite report
• Template:Cite report
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite fednyc
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite report
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite New York 1930
• Template:Cite New York 2000

External links

• Rockefeller Center website
• Top of the Rock website