Bush Tower
The Bush Tower's design combined narrowness, height, and Neo-Gothic architecture, and the massing contains several setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution.As of 2015[update], China Vanke has a controlling ownership stake in the Bush Tower, while Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners hold a lease on the land.[2][13] Because the zoning ordinance greatly restricted the massing of buildings, it was characterized by contemporary writers as possibly the last skyscraper to ever be built in New York City.[21][23] The 41st Street wing is ten stories tall and contains a light court on its eastern lot line, adjacent to the shaft.[22] For the top stories, Corbett wrote that he wanted "an appropriate finish [...] which would give the entire building the appearance of a soaring cathedral tower".[12][17] According to Corbett, the placement of mechanical equipment in the roof was a new idea for the time; he recalled a conversation with an unnamed client (likely Bush) who was surprised at the feature.[9] The architects stated that they wanted to make the Bush Tower "a model for the tall, narrow building in the center of a city block".[5][7][18] During the design process, the lot's small frontage presented an issue of whether the building would be seen as an "infill" structure in the center of the block or as a distinct tower.The Bush Tower's frontage and function as an office building precluded the need for conventional skyscraper fenestration, or window arrangement.[13][18][31] With the exception of the light court, the east and west walls of the shaft are left largely blank, as Helmle & Corbett had assumed the adjacent lots would be developed in the future.[27] The Bush Terminal Company was intended as a central marketplace[36] where merchants or their buyers could examine and select samples of goods without having to go to the warehouse.[37] A promotional document by the company promised a wide variety of merchandise, including various clothes, furnishings, furniture, household appliances, machinery, groceries, toys, musical instruments, and travel and sporting goods.[29] The first story had an information bureau, magazine and cigar counter, ticket office, and lounges and "retiring rooms" for both ladies and gentlemen.[46] The library contained media from "commercial topics" such as advertising, banking, industrial administration, labor disputes, retail selling, and scientific management.[8] The third story had offices and conference rooms, as well as an auditorium that could host lectures, concerts, the viewing of manufacturers' own promotional motion pictures, or "fashion parades" for "displaying gowns".[29] These lowest floors featured extensive oak paneling, oriental carpets, and antique furniture, similar to those in an old English manor house.[48] The displays were protected by fireproof construction, efficient ventilation, and ample lighting, according to a Bush Terminal Company promotional brochure.[54] Furthermore, the proximity of Times Square's Theater District allowed tenants and visitors of the Exhibition Building and Buyers' Club to partake in leisurely activity.The brick, stonework, and terracotta were manufactured off-site before the foundation was completed; the materials were delivered at night to minimize traffic disruption.[13] The Bush Tower experienced a large fire in December 1919, one year after its opening, but the fireproofing measures prevented the structure from burning down entirely.[22][74] A 14-foot-wide (4.3 m) pedestrian arcade at the center of the Bush Tower was also announced in 1927, running between the Cameo Theater to the west and the office shaft to the east.The arcade provided a connection between 41st and 42nd Streets and included small storefronts, a rear stairway to the basement, and an elevator to the second through fifth stories of the theater.However, American Properties president Nicholas B. Ghattas recommended that the structure instead be overhauled, in anticipation that Times Square and West 42nd Street would rebound from its economic decline.[93] The owners unsuccessfully tried to evict a porn shop at 136 West 42nd Street,[95] which they believed to be driving down rental rates at the Bush Tower.[34] In 2013, Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners purchased a leasehold for the land underneath the tower for $65 million[105] from the Dalloul family's American Properties.[34] Subsequently, Tribeca Associates and Meadow Partners announced a $25 million renovation by Fogarty Finger Architects which would restore the ground-level arches on 42nd Street and add a double-height lobby.[12] The Bush Terminal Company, in a promotional material published shortly after the building's completion, described it as "the most imposing structure in the neighborhood [...] design, construction and finish immediately stamp it".[11] Upon the Bush Tower's completion, The New York Herald called it a "world's fair in a skyscraper",[49] and Literary Digest magazine dubbed it "a watch-tower of industry".[13] Vanity Fair magazine wrote in 1917 that the Bush Tower's "simple, graceful and satisfying" design "marks a further step in the artistic development of the tall building.[7] An early scheme for Ralph Thomas Walker's Barclay-Vesey Building, further downtown, also used some of the "virile Gothic" themes used in the Bush Tower, according to architectural historian Robert A. M.
42nd StreetManhattanCoordinatesChina VankeHarvey Wiley CorbettIrving T. BushThompson-Starrett CompanyNew York City LandmarkMidtown ManhattanNew York CityTimes SquareBroadwaySixth AvenueBush TerminalSunset Park, Brooklyn41st StreetNeo-Gothicmassingsetbacks1916 Zoning Resolutiontrompe-l'œilMetropolitan Life Insurance CompanyNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commissionland lotfrontagethe Knickerbocker Hotel1095 Avenue of the Americas4 Times SquareBank of America TowerWoolworth Buildinglight courtmansard roofelevationscornicecorbelsspandrelsarticulatefinialsNewsRadiocornicesIndustry Cityfoundationsuperstructurelive loaddead loadprivate clublibrarianscapitalsMercurypanelingoriental carpetstavernMetropolitan Museum of Art18 East 50th StreetTheater DistrictBush HouseStrand, LondonOld London RestaurantAmerican Red CrossJoseph DurstWurlitzerIstithmar WorldWeWorkFuture plcLiterary DigestDavid W. DunlapWorld Trade CenterVanity FairArchitectureSheldon CheneyRaymond HoodAmerican Radiator BuildingRalph Thomas WalkerBarclay-Vesey BuildingRobert A. M. SternEncyclopædia BritannicaList of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th StreetsGeorge Washington Masonic National MemorialNew York City Department of City PlanningWhite, NorvalAIA Guide to New York Citycolumbia.eduProQuestThe Real Dealpublic domainMidtown (30th–42nd Sts)Midtown SouthOne Penn Plaza5 Times Sq11 Times Sq15 Penn Plaza130 W 30th St350 5th Av452 5th Av (HSBC Tower)1065 6th Av1095 6th AvThe BryantBryant Park StudiosCandler BuildingThe Continental NYCEmpire State BuildingEngineering Societies' BuildingEngineers' Club BuildingThe EpicGreenwich Savings Bank BuildingJames A. Farley BuildingLord & Taylor BuildingMacy's Herald SquareManhattan MallMarbridge BuildingMillion Dollar CornerMusic BldgNelson TowerNew York Times BldgPennsylvania PlazaSprings Mills BuildingTimes Square TowerMurray HillOne Grand Central Place2 Park Av3 Park Av4 Park Av10 E 40th St29 E 32nd St (Grolier Club)101 Park Av110 E 42nd St