Editing Seagram Building (section)

==Site==
The Seagram Building is at 375&nbsp;[[Park Avenue]], on the east side of the avenue between [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd]] and [[53rd Street (Manhattan)|53rd]] streets, in the [[Midtown Manhattan]] neighborhood of New York City.<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><ref name="NPS p. 3">{{harvnb|Higgins & Quasebarth|2006|ps=.|p=3}}</ref> The building was never officially named for its original anchor tenant, Canadian conglomerate [[Seagram]], and is legally known only by its address.<ref name="p216487158">{{cite magazine |last=Ruhling |first=Nancy A. |date=Mar 2005 |title=What's in a Name? |volume=24 |issue=3 |page=35 |id={{ProQuest|216487158}}|magazine=Real Estate New York}}</ref> The building is assigned its own [[ZIP Code]], 10152; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes {{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> The [[land lot]] has a [[frontage]] of {{Convert|295|ft}} on 52nd Street to the south, {{Convert|200|ft}} on Park Avenue to the west, and {{Convert|302|ft}} on 53rd Street to the north.<ref name="NPS p. 3" /><ref name="nyt19541125">{{Cite news |last=Saarinen |first=Aline B. |date=November 25, 1954 |title=Pioneer to Design Skyscraper Here; Park Avenue Project Awarded to Van Der Rohe, Leader in Contemporary Architecture |page=31 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/11/25/96509602.pdf |access-date=March 14, 2021}}</ref> The site slopes down to the east.<ref name="NPS p. 3" /><ref name="Mumford p. 21" /><ref name="Mertins p. 352">{{harvnb|Mertins|2014|ps=.|p=352}}</ref>

The 53rd Street side contains an alley about {{Convert|7|ft}} wide, facing [[100 East 53rd Street]]; the alley allows the Seagram Building to remain symmetrical despite the site's irregular shape.<ref name="NPS pp. 4-5">{{harvnb|Higgins & Quasebarth|2006|ps=.|pp=4–5}}</ref> Other nearby buildings include [[345 Park Avenue]] across 52nd Street to the south; [[399 Park Avenue]] across 53rd Street to the north; [[Lever House]] diagonally across Park Avenue and 53rd Street; and the [[Racquet and Tennis Club Building]] and [[Park Avenue Plaza]] across Park Avenue to the west.<ref name="ZoLa" /> In addition, [[599 Lexington Avenue]] and the [[Citigroup Center]], as well as the [[New York City Subway]]'s [[Lexington Avenue/51st Street station]] (served by the {{NYCS trains|Lexington 51st header}}), are on [[Lexington Avenue]] less than one block to the east.<ref name="ZoLa" /><ref name="NeighborhoodMap">{{cite web|url=https://new.mta.info/document/2641|title=Lexington Avenue—53rd Street Neighborhood Map|date=April 2018|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=December 28, 2020|archive-date=December 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214184918/https://new.mta.info/document/2641|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the late 19th century, the Seagram Building's site had included the original [[Steinway & Sons]] piano factory, as well as [[Tenement#New York|tenements]] made of brick or [[brownstone]].<ref name="NYCL pp. 1-2">{{harvnb|Breiner|1989b|ps=.|pp=1–2}}</ref> The [[Park Avenue main line|Park Avenue railroad line]] had run in an [[Cut (earthworks)|open cut]] in the middle of Park Avenue until the 1900s. The [[construction of Grand Central Terminal]] in the early 20th century covered the line, spurring development in the surrounding area, known as [[Terminal City (Manhattan)|Terminal City]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 14, 1930 |title=Grand Central Zone Boasts Many Connected Buildings |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/14/archives/grand-central-zone-boasts-many-connected-buildings-pedestrians-may.html |access-date=June 14, 2020 |archive-date=April 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422193931/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/14/archives/grand-central-zone-boasts-many-connected-buildings-pedestrians-may.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite NY1900|pages=353–354}}</ref> The adjacent stretch of Park Avenue became a wealthy neighborhood with upscale apartments, including the Montana Apartments, on the site of the piano factory.<ref name="NYCL pp. 1-2" /> Largely commercial [[International Style (architecture)|International Style]] skyscrapers replaced many of the residential structures on Park Avenue during the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlichting |first=Kurt C. |title=Grand Central Terminal: Railroads, Architecture and Engineering in New York |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0801865107 |pages=180–181 |author-link=Kurt C. Schlichting |oclc=51480811}}</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? |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/realestate/is-it-time-to-redevelop-park-avenue-again.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 15, 2021 |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}}</ref> These skyscrapers included the Seagram Building, Lever House, the [[270 Park Avenue (1960–2021)|Union Carbide Building]], and the [[500 Park Avenue|Pepsi-Cola Building]].<ref name="p132975788">{{cite news |last=Penn |first=Stanley W. |date=February 16, 1964 |title=Glass Buildings: Is Fashion Over? |page=14 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|132975788}}}}</ref> When the Seagram site was assembled in the early 1950s, it contained the Montana Apartments and four smaller [[terraced house|row houses]] and apartment buildings.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 342">{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=342}}</ref><ref name="nyht19550330">{{cite news |date=March 30, 1955 |title=Seagram's Plans Glass Skyscraper: 38-Story Tower Set for Park Av. |page=6 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1335609184}} }}</ref><ref name="NYCL p. 5" />