A return to the glorious photos of the past, in which we try to provide some context by isolating certain subjects. The above picture was made on June 2, 1949. Let's take a closer look.
Looking south from 47th Street, the newly named Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive offers two lanes each way. Off in the distance are the beams from the Con Edison power plant.
View of the construction site. At top left, the skeleton of The Secretariat building.
Another view, this time featuring some people walking.
The new construction could not hide the one irritant, the row of smokestacks just south 0f the United Nations, the Con Edison plant. They would remain in place until it closed in 2005; in the meantime, they spewed soot.
And finally, the big three. In this photo, No. 25 and No. 45 take a beating with buildings along First Avenue torn down and replaced with stonework, the modernization of the 42nd Street Tunnel and 43rd Street staircase, and the construction of a tunnel beneath First Avenue.
The good news is that all of these changes take place on the buildings' rear ends.
Fascinating photos!
ReplyDeleteCost at the time:
ReplyDeleteConstruction of headquarters complex $67 million
Purchase of 18-acre site $8.5 million
Combined land and construction cost $75.5 million
Compare that to the time required and cost of building anything today...
This is mind-boggling!
DeleteMy Great Aunt moved into 45 Tudor City around 1940 and lived there until 1987. I would hear stories about this construction as I believe she said it was a slaughterhouse before. I think it's why the windows were made smaller facing the East river.
ReplyDelete