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Gotham is a vertical city. We go up, and up, and up. So many of our buildings go up so high that we've learned to just not see them. It's gotten to the point where our buildings are so tall that many New Yorkers, especially the transplants (yeah, you heard me), think it's not "cool" to look up! Which is patently retarded since there is some crazy ass shit hidden up in them there buildings.
So, with that fear of looking up in mind, might we point you over to a post at the Deadprogrammer's Cafe, hopefully the first in a series, that just looks at the tops of buildings? Seriously, it's worth the few minutes to go "Damn, I wish I had a telescope lens to photograph the tops of buildings with!"
Photograph of crown of that Art Deco masterpiece the RCA Victor Building from Deadprogrammer's Cafe.
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Some transplants:
Andy Warhol = Not from NYC.
Frank Sinatra = Not from NYC.
James Gandolfini = Not from NYC.
Chill out Alec Quebec.
It should be noted that Frand Sinatra was from Hoboken, which is right across the North River.
I grew up in Cincinnati, though I did fall under the influence of Ada Louise Huxtable at an impressionable age.
In any event, I am all for celebrating our best architecture, which certainly includes the first RCA-turned-GE building (the second one, on Rockefeller Plaza, is also a gem). Most remarkable, the skyscraper is part of an exceptional grouping, including Saint Bartholemew's Church and a seventies-era commercial tower at 51st and Lex.
Though built decades apart and reflecting widely varying architectural tastes, they make a harmonious composition, with the same materials (orange brick most prominently), complemetary scale (the taller buildings turn a discreetly plain face to the extravagantly decorated church), and a shared devotion of flashy crowns. In fact, I would say that this particular block shows New York architecture at its best.
Yes, it's the original RCA Victor/GE building. Predates by a couple years the Rockefeller Center version. Just the brick work in the original is superior, but the building's crown is what makes it spectaular - especially when it is lit at night.
GE was an original investor in the Radio Corporation of America (RCA Victor, NBC) from the late 1910's until the mid-30's, then bought out the entire RCA Corp. in 1986.
GE used the building as headquarters until the company moved its HQ to Fairfield CT in the '70's. It was used as GE office space until the late 1980's, in fact the building was the site of a hilarious Letterman skit when GE took over NBC back in 1986.