Editing MetLife Building (section)

== Site ==
The MetLife Building is at 200 [[Park Avenue]], between the two roadways of the [[Park Avenue Viaduct]] to the west and east, in the [[Midtown Manhattan]] neighborhood of [[New York City]], New York, U.S. The building faces the [[Helmsley Building]] across 45th Street to the north and [[Grand Central Terminal]] to the south. Other nearby buildings include [[One Vanderbilt]] and [[335 Madison Avenue]] to the southwest; the [[Yale Club of New York City]] clubhouse to the west; [[The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)|The Roosevelt Hotel]] to the northwest; [[450 Lexington Avenue]] to the east; and the [[Graybar Building]] to the southeast.<ref name="ZoLa">{{Cite web |title=375 Park Avenue, 10022 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1307/1#17.95/40.758457/-73.971507 |access-date=September 7, 2020 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127231656/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1307/1#17.95/40.758457/-73.971507 |url-status=live}}</ref> The building is assigned its own [[ZIP Code]]—10166—and is one of 41 such buildings in Manhattan, {{as of|2019|lc=y}}.<ref name="Brown 2019">{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Nicole |title=Why do some buildings have their own ZIP codes? NYCurious |website=amNewYork |date=March 18, 2019 |url=https://www.amny.com/news/nyc-zip-codes-1-28558957/ |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708215731/https://www.amny.com/news/nyc-zip-codes-1-28558957/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1871, the [[New York Central Railroad]] built the [[Grand Central Depot]], a ground-level depot at the intersection of Park Avenue and [[42nd Street (Manhattan)|42nd Street]]; it was succeeded in 1900 by [[Grand Central Station (1900–1910)|Grand Central Station]], also at ground level.<ref>{{cite aia5|page=313}}</ref> The completion of Grand Central Terminal in 1913 resulted in the rapid development of the areas around Grand Central, which became known as [[Terminal City (Manhattan)|Terminal City]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fitch |first1=James Marston |url=https://archive.org/stream/grandcentralterm00fitc |title=Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center: A Historic-critical Estimate of Their Significance |last2=Waite |first2=Diana S. |date=1974 |publisher=The Division |location=Albany, New York |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref> The Grand Central Terminal complex included a six-story building for baggage handling just north of the main station building, on what is now the site of the MetLife Building.<ref>{{harvnb|Schlichting|2001|ps=.|pp=62–63}}</ref> The baggage handling building was converted to an office building late in its history.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Belle |first1=John |url=https://archive.org/details/grandcentralgate0000bell |title=Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives |last2=Leighton |first2=Maxinne Rhea |publisher=Norton |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-393-04765-3 |page=6}}</ref> The surrounding stretch of Park Avenue was developed with [[International Style (architecture)|International Style]] skyscrapers during the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>{{harvnb|Schlichting|2001|ps=.|pp=180–181}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Gray (architectural historian) |date=May 14, 1989 |title=Is It Time to Redevelop Park Avenue Again? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/realestate/is-it-time-to-redevelop-park-avenue-again.html |access-date=March 15, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420002305/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/realestate/is-it-time-to-redevelop-park-avenue-again.html |url-status=live}}</ref>