New York Life Insurance Building

New York Life Insurance Building
Basic data
Place:	51 Madison Avenue, New York City , USA
Construction time :	1926-1928
Architectural style :	Neo-Gothic
Architect :	Cass Gilbert
Use / legal
Usage :	office
Technical specifications
Height :	187.5 m
Height to the roof:	187.5 m
Floors :	40

The New York Life Insurance Building was built in New York City between 1926 and 1928 by architect Cass Gilbert . It's located between 26th Street, 27th Street, Madison Avenue, and Park Avenue South , taking up an entire block. The building was formerly the headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Company and is the second and last building built by Gilbert in the neo-Gothic style.

The building is 188 meters high and has 40 floors. In addition to 2180 windows, 72 gargoyles can also be found on the building. The characteristic gold-colored top of the building is six stories high and was originally a copper roof covered with gold leaf. This was replaced in 1967 by a roof with gold-colored ceramic tiles due to damage caused by environmental influences. The building is still a defining feature of the New York City skyline today.

The New York Life Insurance Building was granted National Historic Landmark status on June 2, 1978 and was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places .

history

At the beginning of the 19th century, a New York and Harlem Railroad depot stood on the block . When the Grand Central Terminal was completed in 1871, it was relocated and the old depot building was bought by PT Barnum , who converted it into a circus hall with the name “Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome”. In 1876 Barnum rented the building to Kapellmeister Patrick S. Gilmore , who renamed it "Gilmore's Garden". When the latter could no longer pay the rent, the building was used again by Barnum, who gave it the name "Madison Square Garden". Since the building, which had meanwhile been rebuilt several times, was now also used for sporting events and the space was soon no longer sufficient, it had to be demolished in order to build a larger one. From 1890 on, the second Madison Square Garden , designed by McKim, Mead, and White , stood on the block , whose tower was modeled on the Giralda . In 1925 a new Madison Square Garden was built again, but this time no longer on Madison Square Park , but on Eighth Avenue , between 49th and 50th Streets. The old, second Madison Square Garden was demolished to build the New York Life Insurance Building.