General Electric Building

This article is about the 1931 building at 570 Lexington Avenue. For the 1933 building formerly named the GE Building, see 30 Rockefeller Plaza. For other uses, see General Electric Building (disambiguation).
General Electric Building

General Electric Building
Location 570 Lexington Ave., New York, New York
Coordinates 40°45′26″N 73°58′20″W / 40.75722°N 73.97222°W / 40.75722; -73.97222Coordinates: 40°45′26″N 73°58′20″W / 40.75722°N 73.97222°W / 40.75722; -73.97222
Area less than one acre
Built 1931
Architect Cross & Cross (Cross, John Walter; Cross, Eliot)
Architectural style Art Deco
NRHP Reference # 03001515[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP January 28, 2004
Designated NYCL July 9, 1985

The General Electric Building, also known as 570 Lexington Avenue, is a historic 50-floor, 640-foot (200 m)-tall, skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, at the southwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street).[2] Originally known as the RCA Victor Building when designed in 1931 by John W. Cross of Cross & Cross, it is sometimes known by its address to avoid confusion with the much later renaming, in 1988, of the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as the 'GE Building', itself later renamed 'Comcast Building'.

The building backs up to the low Byzantine dome of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue and shares the same brick color. It is a 50-floor stylized Gothic tower, with elaborate Art Deco decoration of lightning bolts showing the power of electricity. The base contains elaboratem masonry, architectural figural sculpture, and on the corner above the main entrance, a corner clock with the cursive GE logo and a pair of silver disembodied forearms. The crown of the building is an example of Gothic tracery, which is intended to represent electricity and radio waves, and is lit from within at night.

See also

References

  1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. "570 Lexington Avenue". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2008-07-12.

Further reading

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