a picture blog about a landmark Manhattan enclave
January 18, 2017
INTRODUCING the Manhattan Ventilation Building
Today, the answer to an often-asked neighborhood question -- what's that little building parked between No. 25 and the river? It photobombs many a picture of Tudor City. . .
Say hello to the Manhattan Ventilation Building, built in 1940 as part of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel project. Like its sister across the river, the Queens Ventilation Building, it's equipped with 23 mammoth fans that provide a complete air change in the tunnel every 90 seconds.
An octagonal structure with a vague art deco look, the Ventilation Building shares its lot with a playground. Both were constructed by Robert Moses, the city planner behind the Queens-Midtown Tunnel (as well as the FDR Drive, the First Ave. Underpass, and the Tudor City Bridge). The playground was named in Moses's honor in 1982.
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Hello - A question relating to next to last photo above...
ReplyDeleteMy understanding has been that the French Company chose not to provide windows in apartments facing the East River because of the unattractiveness of the East River cityscape at the time of construction and that the only windows were aligned with stairwells on the river side. that would seem to fit the tower on right.
However, the one at left seems fully endowed with window views.
Could that possibly indicate later construction, possibly consistent with plans to clean up that waterfront? Perhaps a resident or TC historian can shed some light on this?
Thanks, from t a longstanding admirer of Tudor City, from the time I first explored and photographed in the early '60s.