The Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York City. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 57 stories, one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the twenty tallest buildings in New York City. Since 1966 it has been a National Historic Landmark,[4][5][6] and a New York City landmark since 1983.[7]

The Woolworth Building was constructed in neo-Gothic style by architect Cass Gilbert, who was commissioned by Frank Woolworth in 1910 to design the tallest building in the world[7] as the Woolworth Company’s new corporate headquarters on Broadway, between Park Place and Barclay Street in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall. Originally planned to be 625 feet (191 m) high, the building was eventually elevated to 792 feet (241 m).[citation needed] The construction cost was US$13.5 million and Woolworth paid all of it in cash. On completion, the Woolworth building overtook the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world’s tallest building; it opened on April 24, 1913.

With a resemblance to European Gothic cathedrals, the structure was labeled the Cathedral of Commerce by the Reverend S. Parkes Cadman during the opening ceremony,[citation needed], although it was maligned by others due to its eclecticism.[8] It remained the tallest building in the world until the construction of 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building in 1930; an observation deck on the 57th floor attracted visitors until 1945.

The building’s tower, flush with the main frontage on Broadway, is raised on a block base with a narrow interior court for light. The exterior decoration was cast in limestone-colored, glazed architectural terra-cotta panels. Strongly articulated piers, carried—without interrupting cornices—right to the pyramidal cap, give the building its upward thrust. The Gothic detailing concentrated at the highly visible top is massively scaled, able to be read from the street level several hundred feet below.[citation needed]

Engineers Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle designed the steel frame, supported on massive caissons that penetrate to the bedrock. The high-speed elevators were innovative, and the building’s high office-to-elevator ratio made the structure profitable.[citation needed]

The ornate, cruciform lobby, is “one of the most spectacular of the early 20th century in New York City”.[7] It is covered in Skyros veined marble,[8] has a vaulted ceiling, mosaics, a stained-glass skylight and bronze furnishings. On the balconies of the mezzanine are the murals Labor and Commerce overlooking sculpted plaster caricatures that include Gilbert with a model of the building, Aus taking a girder’s measurments, and Woolworth counting nickels.[8][7] Woolworth’s private office, revetted in marble in French Empire style, has been preserved.[citation needed]

The building’s facade was restored between 1977 and 1981 by the Ehrenkrantz Group,[8] in which much of the terra-cotta was replaced with cast stone.[7]
[edit] Tenants

At the completion of the building, the Woolworth Company occupied only one and a half floors of the building,[7] but, as the owner, profited from renting space out to others, including the Irving Trust bank and Columbia Records. Columbia Records had moved into the building in 1913 and housed a recording studio in it.[9] In 1917, Columbia made a recording of a dixieland band, the Original Dixieland Jass Band in this studio.[10][11]
[edit] Recent history

The building was owned by the Woolworth company for 85 years until 1998, when the Venator Group (formerly the F. W. Woolworth Company) sold it to the Witkoff Group for $155 million.[12] Until recently, that company kept a presence in the building through a Foot Locker store (Foot Locker is the successor to the Woolworth Company).

Prior to its 2001 destruction, the World Trade Center was often photographed in such a way that the Woolworth Building could be seen between 1 and 2 World Trade Center.[citation needed] After the September 11, 2001 attacks a few blocks away, the building was without electricity, water and telephone service for a few weeks and had broken windows and the top turret was damaged by falling rubble. Increased post-attack security restricted access to most of the ornate lobby, previously a tourist attraction.[13]

The structure has a long association with higher education, housing a number of Fordham University schools in the early 20th century. Today, the building houses, among other tenants, TTA Inc., Control Group Inc. and the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies’ Center for Global Affairs.[citation needed]
[edit] In popular culture

The Woolworth Building has made some notable appearances in film. In the Disney film Enchanted, Narissa the dragon carries Robert up to the top of it. After killing the dragon, Robert and Giselle slide down. It is also featured in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer, in which Billy asks his father (played by Dustin Hoffman) its name. In the film Cloverfield, it collapses after the monster critically damages it. The building is also mentioned near the beginning of 12 Angry Men,[citation needed] and appears as the headquarters of Mode magazine in Ugly Betty.[14]

In the novel Peak, the protagonist is arrested for climbing the Woolworth Building.

The Lincoln American Tower in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1924, is a small replica of the Woolworth Building, standing at one-third its height.

[edit] See also

Classic Woolworth’s Store in Wilmington, Delaware