112-608: The Beaux-Arts Apartments are a pair of apartment towers on 307 and 310 East 44th Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City . Designed by Raymond Hood and Kenneth Murchison , the Beaux-Arts Apartments were constructed between 1929 and 1930. The complex was originally designed with 640 apartments. The Beaux-Arts Apartments consist of two towers on East 44th Street; number 307
224-433: A college education or higher. The percentage of Midtown Manhattan students excelling in math rose from 61% in 2000 to 80% in 2011 and reading achievement increased from 66% to 68% during the same time period. Midtown Manhattan's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Midtown Manhattan, 19% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year , less than
336-423: A double-height entrance pavilion that protrudes to the street, with angled bays containing casement windows on either side. The glass entrance doors and the central second-story window are both flanked by stepped jambs . A carved geometric frieze is above the second-floor opening of each pavilion. A metal railing, with chevron -shaped balusters , surrounds the balcony on top of each entrance pavilion. On each of
448-570: A four-story building, for $ 125,000. The institute dedicated its new building exactly one year later. As the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was completing its new headquarters, it formed the Beaux-Arts Development Corporation to develop a residential studios near the institute's buildings. Hood and Murchison were selected as the development's architects. According to The New York Times , the architects envisioned buying all
560-566: A frontage of 175 feet (53 m) along 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (30.61 m). Number 310 is directly between Three United Nations Plaza to the east and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design building at 304 East 44th Street to the west. Directly east of number 307 are One and Two United Nations Plaza (which contain the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza hotel). The apartments are also near
672-507: A low population of residents who are uninsured . In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 11%, slightly less than the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter , the deadliest type of air pollutant , in Midtown Manhattan is 0.0113 milligrams per cubic metre (1.13 × 10 oz/cu ft), more than the city average. Eleven percent of Midtown Manhattan residents are smokers , which
784-419: A lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 81.2% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 8 murders, 23 rapes, 653 robberies, 502 felony assaults, 660 burglaries, 2,375 grand larcenies, and 68 grand larcenies auto in 2022. The main part of midtown Manhattan, between 34th and 59th Streets from Lexington Avenue to Eighth Avenue, is served by five fire stations of
896-587: A major force in Midtown Manhattan's economy, and indeed the city's, as the total value of all New York City property was estimated at US$ 914.8 billion for the 2015 fiscal year . Manhattan has perennially been home to some of the nation's, as well as one of the world's, most marketable real estate, including the Time Warner Center , which had the highest-listed market value in the city in 2006 at US$ 1.1 billion, to be subsequently surpassed in October 2014 by
1008-650: A new club house for the Union League Club of New York , a Queen Anne mansion for the site at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 39th Street , won over eight other designs, including those submitted by noted architects Richard Morris Hunt and Charles McKim and William Rutherford Mead . Fuller also designed the United Bank Building, a nine-story building at Wall Street and Broadway , although he left Peabody & Stearns shortly after construction began, having spent four years there. Fuller moved to Chicago,
1120-567: A number of private languages and music centers (e.g. Berlitz , American Language Communication Center, New York Language Center, Swan Music School, and the New York Youth Symphony ). The La Scuola d'Italia Guglielmo Marconi Italian international school moved to West Midtown in 2016. The New York Public Library (NYPL) operates the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (also the Main Branch),
1232-959: A program aimed at creating "a 24/7, live-work, mixed-use neighborhood" in Midtown South though the conversion of commercial and office space to residential, as part of an effort to create 20,000 new residences citywide in a decade. According to The Broadway League , shows on Broadway sold approximately US$ 1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each. Companies that used to have their headquarters in Midtown Manhattan include American Airlines , American Comics Group , American Overseas Airlines , Central Park Media , Eastern Air Lines , GoodTimes Entertainment , LJN , NewKidCo , Pan American World Airways , Philip Morris Companies (now Altria Group ), Trans Caribbean Airways , and Trans World Airlines . In 1997, Aer Lingus announced that it
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#17330848565851344-657: A reference branch at 476 Fifth Avenue. The four-story building, constructed in 1911, is known worldwide for its architecture and has several million items in its collections. There are also five circulating branches in Midtown: Two campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY)—the doctorate-granting CUNY Graduate Center and the Stella and Charles Guttman Community College —are located in Midtown, while Baruch College , also of
1456-584: A social gathering place. The cafe was also decorated with fabric walls, fluted wainscoting , and a ceiling with zigzagging grilles. A similar ground-floor space in number 307 was originally outfitted with a room-service kitchen but no restaurant. Single-room maisonettes , behind the lobbies and restaurant spaces in either building, extended to the rear of the respective building. The Beaux-Arts Apartments were arranged with 800 rooms between them, split into 640 residential units. The northern building (number 307) had 328 apartments and seven penthouse apartments , while
1568-467: Is 41% in Midtown Manhattan, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Midtown Manhattan is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying . Midtown Manhattan is patrolled by two precincts of the NYPD . Midtown North is patrolled by the 18th Precinct, located at 306 West 54th Street, while Midtown South
1680-643: Is also growing in Midtown Manhattan based upon the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than US$ 30 million from investors , including Eli Lilly and Company , Pfizer , and Johnson & Johnson , for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m ) on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at
1792-690: Is commonly defined to be 59th Street ; its southern boundary is less clear, and variously taken to be 34th Street , 23rd Street , or even 14th Street . Midtown spans the entire island of Manhattan along an east–west axis, bounded by the East River on its east and the Hudson River to its west. The Encyclopedia of New York City defines Midtown as extending from 34th Street to 59th Street and from 3rd Avenue to 8th Avenue. In addition to its central business district , Midtown Manhattan encompasses many neighborhoods, including Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea on
1904-546: Is considered to be the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere , servicing around 650,000 people per day. The Port Authority Bus Terminal , located at Eighth Avenue and 41st Street at the western edge of Midtown, is the city's main intercity bus terminal and the world's busiest bus station, serving 250,000 passengers on 7,000 buses each workday. The building opened in 1950 and had been designed to accommodate 60,000 daily passengers. A 2021 plan announced by
2016-701: Is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 86% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", more than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Midtown Manhattan, there are 11 bodegas . The nearest major hospitals are Mount Sinai West in Hell's Kitchen ; Beth Israel Medical Center in Stuyvesant Town ; the Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Medical Center in Kips Bay ; and NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in
2128-496: Is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are adults: a plurality (45%) are between the ages of 25 and 44, while 22% are between 45 and 64, and 13% are 65 or older. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 7% and 12% respectively. As of 2017, the median household income in Community Districts 4 and 5 (including Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen )
2240-425: Is influenced by the presence of the exterior setbacks. The studios are arranged so two of the larger studios' bedrooms, one on top of the other, span three stories. In the lower duplex units, the studios and bedrooms are both on the 14th floor, but in the upper duplex units, the studio is seven steps below the 16th-floor bedroom and seven steps above the 15th-floor bedroom. Some single-bedroom studios were placed between
2352-470: Is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 297 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 18th Precinct has a lower crime rate than it did in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 82.1% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 1 murder, 22 rapes, 154 robberies, 185 felony assaults, 205 burglaries, 2,065 grand larcenies, and 116 grand larcenies auto in 2022. The 14th Precinct also has
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#17330848565852464-407: Is less than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Midtown Manhattan, 10% of residents are obese , 5% are diabetic , and 18% have high blood pressure —compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 9% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Ninety-one percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which
2576-496: Is located at 421 8th Avenue. The post office stopped 24-hour service in 2009 due to decreasing mail traffic. Midtown Manhattan generally has a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018 . A majority of residents age 25 and older (78%) have a college education or higher, while 6% have less than a high school education and 17% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have
2688-918: Is located in Midtown Manhattan. Haier operates its United States offices in the Haier Building at 1356 Broadway, formerly the headquarters of the Greenwich Savings Bank . Haier held the opening ceremony on March 4, 2002. Sumitomo Corporation operates its New York Office, the headquarters of the corporation's United States operations, at 600 Third Avenue, 10016 in the Murray Hill neighborhood. El Al 's North American headquarters are in Midtown. The Air France USA regional headquarters are in 125 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Hachette Book Group USA has its headquarters in 237 Park Avenue . In 1994 Alitalia considered moving its USA headquarters from Midtown to Lower Manhattan , but decided to keep
2800-481: Is on the north sidewalk while number 310 is on the south sidewalk. The two towers are 16 stories and are faced with limestone at the base, dark brick between windows on the upper stories, and light brick between each story. The top four stories of both buildings contain numerous setbacks , which form terraces for the upper-story units. The interiors largely consist of studio apartments measuring 22 by 13 feet (6.7 by 4.0 m) on average; they are lit by large windows on
2912-540: Is one of the largest in the cemetery. Following the death of Fuller, Harry S. Black, Fuller's son-in-law, took over as president of the Fuller Company and aggressively expanded its capitalization and operations, merging it with smaller companies, and bringing on to the company's board of directors such men as Henry Morgenthau, Sr. , former New York City mayor – and Tammany Hall man – Hugh J. Grant , and banker James Stillman and creating what became known as
3024-1273: Is one of the world's leading financial centers. Midtown Manhattan is the one of the world's largest central business district , with 400 million square feet (37.2 million m ) of office space in 2018. Midtown contains the headquarters of major companies, including 4Kids Entertainment (formerly), Barnes & Noble , Bloomberg L.P. , Ernst & Young , Calvin Klein , Cantor Fitzgerald , CBS Corporation , Citigroup , Colgate-Palmolive , Cushman & Wakefield , DC Comics , Deloitte , Duane Reade , Estée Lauder Companies , Foot Locker , Frederator Studios , JPMorgan Chase , Hess Corporation , Kroll Inc. , L-3 Communications , Marsh & McLennan Companies , Marvel Entertainment , MetLife , MidOcean Partners , Morgan Stanley , Nasdaq, Inc. , NBCUniversal , The New York Times Company , NexCen Brands , Paramount Global , Pfizer , Polo Ralph Lauren , Saks Incorporated ( Saks Fifth Avenue ), The Sharper Image , Simon & Schuster , Six Flags , TBWA Worldwide , Thomson Reuters , Warner Bros. Discovery , Time Warner Cable , The Travelers Companies , and Univision Communications . The New York Institute of Finance
3136-482: Is part of 10001. Other areas between 14th and 34th Streets are covered by ZIP Codes 10003, 10009, 10010, and 10011, though these are generally not considered to be part of Midtown proper. There are also thirty-three ZIP Codes assigned to individual buildings or building complexes. The United States Postal Service operates six post offices in Midtown: The James A. Farley Station , the city's main post office,
3248-430: Is patrolled by the 14th Precinct, located at 357 West 35th Street. The precincts ranked 69th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The high per-capita crime rate can be attributed to the low population of the area, as well as the high number of crimes committed against tourists. As of 2018 , with a non-fatal assault rate of 25 per 100,000 people, Midtown Manhattan's rate of violent crimes per capita
3360-409: Is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere . Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the world, and has been ranked as the densest central business district in the world in terms of employees, at 606,108 per square mile (234,020/km ). Midtown also ranks among the world's most expensive locations for real estate; Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan has commanded
3472-789: Is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan , serving as the city's primary central business district . Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building , the Chrysler Building , the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project , the headquarters of the United Nations , Grand Central Terminal , and Rockefeller Center , as well as several prominent tourist destinations, including Broadway , Times Square , and Koreatown . Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan
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3584-591: The New York Herald Tribune termed it "perhaps the shortest bus route in the country", it carried 50,000 passengers in its first six months, and another route to Rockefeller Center was created that October. The buildings' rear apartments were more difficult to rent in part because they faced commercial concerns that operated at night, making noise. To solve this problem, in 1938, glass-block walls and air conditioning units were installed in some rear units. The same year, Leon and Lionel Levy filed plans to convert
3696-575: The Daily News Building , which Hood had also designed. These stripes were placed between windows on the same floor, in a manner more akin to the International Style , rather than between windows in the same bay on different floors, as was typical of the Art Deco style. The spandrels between the windows on different stories are continuous horizontal bands of light-colored buff brick. Hood said
3808-456: The East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City . 307 East 44th Street is on the north side of the street, while 310 East 44th Street is on the south side. Number 307's rectangular land lot covers 15,865 square feet (1,473.9 m), with a frontage of 158 feet (48 m) along 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (30.61 m). Number 310's rectangular land lot covers 17,572 square feet (1,632.5 m), with
3920-631: The Ford Foundation Building to the south, as well as the Church Center for the United Nations to the east. In the early 20th century, a large portion of Turtle Bay's population was involved in the arts or architecture. Structures such as the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the residential Turtle Bay Gardens , Tudor City , and Beekman Tower were constructed for this community. William Lescaze 's renovation of an existing brownstone townhouse on 48th Street, and its subsequent conversion into
4032-672: The Great Depression . The Beaux-Arts Apartments avoided foreclosure due to their financing arrangement and were initially popular among businesswomen. The buildings were sold to the Brodsky Organization in 1973 and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the complex as a city landmark in 1988. The Beaux-Arts Apartments are a pair of apartment towers on 307 and 310 East 44th Street, between Second Avenue and First Avenue , in
4144-629: The Ladies' Mile , along Fifth Avenue from 14th to 23rd Street; and the Tenderloin , from 23rd to 42nd Street and from Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue . Important streets and thoroughfares The border of Midtown Manhattan is nebulous and further confused by the fact that the term "Midtown Manhattan" can be used to refer either to a district or a group of neighborhoods and districts in Manhattan: Midtown Manhattan, along with Lower Manhattan ,
4256-482: The Lescaze House , inspired similar renovations to other structures in the neighborhood, such as 219 East 49th Street . Both apartment blocks were designed by Raymond Hood and Kenneth Murchison as 17-story towers, though only 16 stories are visible from the street. The George A. Fuller Company was the general contractor for both structures. Both buildings contain steel-framed superstructures . The interiors of
4368-563: The New York City Fire Department (FDNY): The greater Midtown area between 14th Street and 59th Street contains seven additional fire stations. As of 2018 , preterm births and births to teenage mothers in Midtown Manhattan are lower than the city average. In Midtown Manhattan, there were 67 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 4 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Midtown Manhattan has
4480-412: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the buildings as city landmarks. The upper floors were refurbished in 1997 as part of a $ 120,000 project. The buildings continue to be operated by the Brodsky Organization as of 2021. When the buildings were completed in 1930, the New York Herald Tribune called the apartments "a type of building distinctly different and yet lacking none of
4592-854: The Pontiac Building (1891, Holabird & Roche) and the Monadnock Building (1891, Burnham & Root; 1893, Holabird & Roche) in Chicago, and the New York Times Building (1889, George B. Post ) in New York City. The Fuller Company was also intensely involved in the building of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, the Columbian Exposition , in which a temporary "White City on the Lake"
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4704-577: The Tacoma Building in Chicago designed by Holabird & Roche and completed in 1889, which was the first skyscraper with non load bearing curtain walls . By using Bessemer steel beams, Fuller created steel cages that supported all the building's weight. Fuller's firm also built the Rookery Building (1888, Burnham and Root ), the Rand McNally Building (1890, Burnham & Root),
4816-602: The United States Realty and Construction Company announced that they would finance the buildings' construction with the sale of stocks in Beaux-Arts Apartments Inc., a syndicate of architects representing the buildings' developer. The financing was the first of its type, as typical buildings were financed with mortgage loans . The financing consisted of common stock , issued on a one-to-one basis with either of two issues of preferred stock , which would raise
4928-553: The Upper East Side . Midtown Manhattan is located within six primary ZIP Codes . West of Fifth Avenue, Midtown is located in 10018 between 34th and 41st Streets, 10036 between 41st and 48th Streets, and 10019 between 48th and 59th Streets. East of Fifth Avenue, Midtown is located in 10016 between 34th and 40th Streets, 10017 between 40th and 49th Streets, and 10022 between 49th and 59th Streets. The area southwest of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, sometimes considered to be in Midtown,
5040-687: The Waldorf Astoria New York , which became the most expensive hotel ever sold after being purchased by the Anbang Insurance Group, based in China, for US$ 1.95 billion . In the same year, six of the top ten most expensive zip codes in the United States by median housing price were located in Manhattan, underscoring the borough's dominant position in the real estate market. When 450 Park Avenue
5152-593: The far east Asia . Among the many buildings constructed by the Fuller Company under Black were the Lincoln Memorial (1914–22), Arlington Memorial Amphitheater (1915–20), Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington) (1921), Freer Gallery of Art (1916–23), Pennsylvania Station (1910), Hotel Pennsylvania (1919), the Flatiron Building (1902), Macy's Herald Square on Broadway and 34th Street (1902),
5264-571: The "skyscraper trust". In 1902, he took the company public, listing it on the New York Stock Exchange , and then put together a merger with Alliance and New York Realty to create a new $ 66 million company, the United States Realty and Construction Company ; the Fuller Company – which by then had offices in New York, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia , Washington DC, and Pittsburgh – would remain an independent company under
5376-505: The $ 5.25 million construction cost. A total of 93,750 shares were issued. Among the investors in the corporation were Hood and Murchison, as well as architects and designers Chester Holmes Aldrich , John W. Cross, William Adams Delano , William H. Gompert , Charles Klauder , Benjamin Wistar Morris , James W. O'Connor, and Whitney Warren . Work began on the site in March 1929; the next month,
5488-477: The 13th through 16th stories, similar to the Art Deco skyscrapers of New York City . The design of the neighboring 3 United Nations Plaza's facade was inspired by the Beaux-Arts Apartments. On both apartment blocks, the 44th Street facade of the first two stories is clad with limestone, interspersed with horizontal bands of chrome. The use of horizontal bands gave the facade an industrial appearance. The western ends of
5600-444: The 16th story, and the other four bays have setbacks on each of the 14th through 16th stories. Mechanical brick penthouses are on the roofs of both buildings. The rear of the north building contains terraces with gradual setbacks, but the rear of the south building is not visible from the street. Murchison wrote that the setbacks were included to "add to the desirability of many apartments". Architectural writer Christopher Gray compared
5712-490: The Beaux-Arts Apartments typically measure only 22 by 13 feet (6.7 by 4.0 m). These studios were accessed by small foyers with a bathroom, coat closet, pantry, and clothing closet leading off of each foyer. The original furniture in the studio apartments had simple furnishings such as kitchenettes and twin-size folding beds . Though the kitchenettes were not meant for cooking, they were designed to uniform dimensions of 1.58 by 5.5 feet (0.48 by 1.68 m). The upper part of
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#17330848565855824-664: The City University of New York, is located in Midtown South. Mercy College is situated at Herald Square . Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal are the two major railroad stations located in Midtown Manhattan. Penn Station serves Amtrak , NJ Transit , and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), while Grand Central serves the Metro-North Railroad and also serves the LIRR at Grand Central Madison . Penn Station
5936-539: The George A. Fuller Company ordered 4,000 short tons (3,600 long tons; 3,600 t) of structural steel from McClintic-Marshall for the two buildings. A resident manager was appointed in November 1929. The Beaux-Arts Apartments were both completed by January 1930. At the time, Douglas Elliman & Co. said many leases for small studios had been signed. In total, 23 people owned all of the buildings' preferred stock. Though most of
6048-534: The Kuwaiti and Nigerian missions to the United Nations were built on the north side of the street, on both sides of 307 East 44th Street, while the UNICEF headquarters and UN Church Center were built on the south side, adjacent to 310 East 44th Street. The residents of the Beaux-Arts Apartments could not have large gatherings on 44th Street for over a decade, since the street had to be closed for construction. On July 11, 1989,
6160-611: The Port Authority would spend $ 10 billion to expand capacity and modernize the facility. The New York City Subway and MTA Regional Bus Operations each operate several routes that go through Midtown. Additionally, the PATH train to New Jersey terminates at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Midtown. Traffic congestion is common, especially for crosstown traffic. In 2011, a new system of traffic light control, known as "Midtown in Motion"
6272-548: The United Nations, and consulates-general accredited to the United States, in Midtown Manhattan. In addition, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) is in Midtown Manhattan. George A. Fuller Company George A. Fuller (October 21, 1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system . Fuller
6384-433: The United States achieved completion in Midtown Manhattan, at a selling price of US$ 238 million, for a 24,000 square feet (2,200 m ) penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park at 220 Central Park South . The COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid work models have prompted consideration of commercial-to-residential conversion within the neighborhood's real estate sector. In August 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced
6496-643: The West Side, and Murray Hill , Kips Bay , Turtle Bay , and Gramercy Park on the East Side. It is sometimes broken into "Midtown East" and "Midtown West", or north and south as in the New York City Police Department 's Midtown North and Midtown South precincts. Neighborhoods in the Midtown area include the following: Midtown is the original district in the United States to bear the name and included historical but now defunct neighborhoods such as
6608-453: The apartment buildings. While the UN proposal was slightly modified in late 1969, the plans still called for demolishing the apartments. The UN ultimately decided instead to build a skyscraper on a smaller lot rather than raze the site. Beaux-Arts Properties sold the Beaux-Arts Apartments to the Brodsky Organization for $ 8.1 million in 1973. Brodsky said at the time that it would continue to maintain
6720-408: The apartment towers themselves are arranged symmetrically in a similar manner to Beaux-Arts structures. The main sections are recessed 8 feet (2.4 m) behind their respective sidewalks, with plantings in front. On either end of both buildings are pavilions, which protrude to the sidewalk at their first thirteen stories. To comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution , both buildings contain setbacks on
6832-413: The apartment units were designed by multiple architects. The arrangement of the towers across each other was intended to make 44th Street appear as a courtyard. The facades of the buildings are nearly identical. The north building at 307 East 44th Street is eleven bays wide, while the south building at 310 East 44th Street is twelve bays wide. The massings of both buildings are designed similarly, and
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#17330848565856944-500: The architectural community, which was wary of using steel and unsure of its long-term properties. Very little is really known today of the properties of steel ... and though events point strongly to [it] becoming the metal of the future, there exists among many reasonable conservative men, a wide and well-grounded distrust of its use in the higher engineer or architectural structures, on account of its mysterious behavior, and frequent erratic and inexplicable failures. Fuller's firm built
7056-496: The brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District , is a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Sixth Avenue also has the headquarters of three of the four major U.S. television networks . Midtown is part of Manhattan Community District 5 . It is patrolled by the 14th and 18th precincts of the New York City Police Department . Geographically, the northern boundary of Midtown Manhattan
7168-470: The building. Under Brodsky, the southern apartment block at 310 East 44th Street was converted from a hotel to residential apartments; this was one of several residential conversions Brodsky performed during that time. With the expansion of the UN headquarters in the 1970s and 1980s, all of the neighboring buildings to the east were demolished, and new structures were erected, blocking the Beaux-Arts Apartments' eastern facades. One and Two United Nations Plaza and
7280-412: The buildings as the "most interesting side street apartments" of the period between the two world wars. In 1997, Christopher Gray wrote an article headlined "A Matched Pair of 1930 Monuments to Art Deco" for The New York Times , in which he said of the ongoing restoration: "the original jazz-age optimism of this unusual project is more idea than reality". Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan
7392-407: The buildings for the workweek. By 1931, sixty suites in the south building were being operated like a short-term hotel. Most early tenants lived alone or with a partner. Among the first residents were sculptor Jo Davidson and architect Talbot Hamlin , as well as Kenneth Murchison. In March 1933, a shuttle bus route started running between the Beaux-Arts Apartments and Grand Central Terminal. Though
7504-408: The buildings' ground stories are slightly beneath the sidewalk, and there are small planted areas behind iron railings. The planting beds in front of each building are 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. Ground-story studio apartments had their own private entrances directly to the street. At both buildings, ground-story doors and windows are covered by iron grilles, which are designed as grids of rhombuses, while
7616-528: The buildings' upper stories, there are wide steel casement windows . The buildings have a variety of window styles such as single, double, and triple two-part casements as well as corner windows. On both buildings, the triple casement windows are the most common. The end pavilions contain windows that wrap around the corners of the facade. These corner windows, which were included to show that the exterior walls are non-structural, were built with minimal vertical mullions to avoid obstructing views. According to Hood,
7728-401: The center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions. The New York City Economic Development Corporation 's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene , General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed a minimum of US$ 100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology. Real estate is
7840-411: The citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 92% of high school students in Midtown Manhattan graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%. There are no public elementary or middle schools in Midtown. The New York City Department of Education operates the following public high schools in Midtown, serving grades 9–12: Private schools include The Beekman School , Rebecca School , and
7952-486: The company as vice president, despite the fact that Black was neither an architect nor an engineer. In 1892, New York City altered its building regulations to allow skeleton construction and curtain walls , in which the load created by the building was carried by the internal skeleton and not by the exterior wall, a construction method which had been allowed under the Chicago building code for years. This change prompted Fuller to open an office in New York in 1896, and soon
8064-515: The company had contracts in Boston , Pittsburgh , St. Louis and Baltimore , as well as in Chicago and New York. Future skyscraper builder William A. Starrett joined the company in 1897 as an office boy. Fuller died on December 14, 1900, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , leaving an estate valued at $ 3 million (equivalent to $ 109.9 million in 2023). His tomb at Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago, designed by New York architect Bruce Price ,
8176-412: The company's president, but the board passed over him and selected Bradish Johnson, president of New York Realty, one of the firms folded into the new conglomerate. U.S. Realty's stock never performed as expected, although the members of the board did receive substantial salaries and large dividends on the stock they owned, even as the company was underperforming. When the Fuller Company was implicated in
8288-482: The conveniences expected and demanded in modern apartments". Upon Hood's death in 1934, a few years after the buildings' completion, the New York Daily News called the buildings "among the finest modern achievements in architecture", along with Hood's American Radiator Building , Daily News Building , and McGraw Hill Building . In the book New York 1930 , architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern characterized
8400-428: The corridors were finished with a rough texture. Cork floors were installed in the studios and communal corridors to provide soundproofing; they were attached directly to the concrete slabs and 2 inches (51 mm) thinner than wooden floors. The cork tiles were 5 to 16 inches (130 to 410 mm) thick and were laid in a random pattern. The corridors are also outfitted with garbage chutes. The small studio apartments in
8512-480: The corruption of the building trades union leader, Samuel Parks, its stock fell. Board members dumped their stock and left the company, but Black was buying up stock at the same time. He took control of the company, naming a new board which made him president. In 1920, together with Mitsubishi , he founded the George A.Fuller Company of The Orient Ltd. in Tokyo and built several private and government office buildings in
8624-428: The courtyard of the south building opened that June. The Beaux-Arts Apartments were initially especially popular among businesswomen, who comprised more than half of the residents by July 1930. At that point, the buildings had 270 tenants, with an average of fifteen tenants signing leases every week. According to Douglas Elliman's informal survey of residents, one in five female tenants were married but had leased suites in
8736-498: The design of the building, which would come from outside architects. In this way, Fuller created the modern concept of the general contractor . One of the new firm's first jobs was the Chicago Opera House , designed by Henry Ives Cobb and Charles S. Frost . In this building, Fuller, who was a proponent of using steel in building construction, utilized it for the floor beams, a decision which subjected him to criticism from
8848-475: The design of the windows "takes away from the waffle-like character of the usual factory design". There was 60 percent more glass than in comparable buildings, according to both architects. Chevron-shaped Art Deco -style railings, similar in design to those above the entrance pavilions, are used on some of the upper stories. The windows on each story are separated vertically by panels of alternating red and black brick. This created "stripes" similar to those used on
8960-481: The institute on the north side of the street, as well as a site at 307–317 East 44th Street, right next to the institute on the south side. Douglas Elliman & Co. were hired as the agents for the new buildings to be built on those sites. Plans for the north building, to be designed by Frederick A. Godley and J. André Fouilhoux , were filed the same month. In February 1929, the National City Company and
9072-520: The investors were architects or otherwise associated with the arts, they also included realtors Douglas L. and Roland Elliman; attorneys Huber B. Lewis, William B. Symmes, and George G. Schreiber; businessmen William Walter Phelps and John Kilpatrick ; and the Fuller Construction Company. In spite of the fact that the buildings were completed at the start of the Great Depression and, therefore, had fewer tenants, their financing arrangement
9184-526: The land on the surrounding section of 44th Street, "making of the street a sort of uptown artistic centre" close to Grand Central Terminal . The Times claimed that "this is probably the first time that such a group of artists and allied professions has ever gotten together to develop for their own account real estate in New York". Hood and Murchison had initially contemplated constructing the entire development as artists' studios, but they abandoned that plan in favor of more traditional apartment construction. At
9296-485: The locus of much of the skyscraper construction in the United States at the time, where he formed a partnership with C. Everett Clark, another architect from Massachusetts, which lasted only two years. He then raised $ 50,000 and set up the George A. Fuller Company in 1882. Fuller's new firm was different from the many architecture firms of the time, in that it intended to handle all aspects of building construction except for
9408-458: The massing of the upper stories to a jigsaw puzzle. Initially, the lobbies of both buildings were decorated in a modern style, with side walls made of brown glass, interspersed with aluminum and brass trim. The lobbies were also decorated with strips of chrome, and the ceilings were adorned with silver leaf motifs. The modernist style was continued in the elevator cabs, which had glass-rod ceilings and lacquered aluminum walls. According to Murchison,
9520-472: The metal-paneled walls of the elevators were designed without mirrors "just to hide from yourself your own appearance when you come in at 4 A.M." The ground story of number 310 had a small restaurant named Cafe Bonaparte, operated in part because most units did not have full-service kitchens. Winold Reiss designed the cafe's rooms with yellow, green, and blue decorations. Cafe Bonaparte was intended to not only provide room service for residents but also serve as
9632-510: The neighborhood was 64.1% (18,351) White , 4.6% (1,310) African American , 0.1% (34) Native American , 20.8% (5,942) Asian , 0% (8) Pacific Islander , 0.3% (92) from other races , and 2% (569) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 8.1% (2,324) of the population. The entirety of Community District 5, which comprises Midtown Manhattan, had 53,120 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.8 years. This
9744-484: The new company's board of directors with an eye for its need for steel and rail transport. It included Charles Schwab of U.S. Steel , Cornelius Vanderbilt , Charles Tweed of Southern Pacific , Charles Francis Adams , former head of Union Pacific , and representatives from J.P. Morgan and the Mutual Life Insurance Company . Since Black had put together U.S. Realty, he naturally expected to be named
9856-402: The north building and six in the south building) are set back in a different pattern. In each building, these consist of the center (one bay in the north, two in the south); the second-bay on either side of the center; and the outermost bays. The center and outermost bays of each building contain square profiles, while the second-from-center bays are angled. The center bay(s) have a setback only at
9968-701: The offices where they were at the last minute. Global Infrastructure Partners has an office in Midtown Manhattan. Silicon Alley , the common metonym for New York City's high tech sector, is based in Midtown South , specifically the Flatiron District . Prominent Silicon Alley companies in Midtown include AppNexus , Blue Apron , Gilt , Betterment , Oscar , SoFi , Rent the Runway , Warby Parker , and WeWork . The technology sector has been expanding across Midtown Manhattan since 2010. The biotechnology sector
10080-403: The one-and-a-half story duplexes. Some of the rooms had galleries with wrought-iron railings, which, according to the original renting agent, gave the impression of a spacious house. The 17th floor of each building contains single-height studios and bedrooms, and the penthouse contains suites with one, two, and three rooms. The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design had been founded to train architects in
10192-481: The original lobby decorations were removed entirely. In 1968, the United Nations proposed building a set of twin towers on the entire block bounded by 43rd Street, First Avenue, 45th Street, and Second Avenue, serving as an expansion of its headquarters one block east. This would have entailed destroying the Beaux-Arts Apartments, whose owners expressed surprise at the proposal and said they would continue to operate
10304-508: The outside. The ground floor of the south building, number 310, contains a cafe. The apartment complex was built just east of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design , which had moved to the area in 1928. Plans for the apartment complex were announced in February 1929, with the buildings being financed by stock issues rather than mortgage loans . The buildings opened to residents in January 1930 during
10416-423: The pantries had a sink and kitchen cabinet, while the lower section had mini-fridges designed by General Electric . There were either one or two folding Murphy beds in the walls of each studio apartment, which were installed on movable tracks in the walls. Single studio apartments also have up to five closets. Bathrooms are arranged so they did not open into living rooms; a small foyer in each studio unit leads to
10528-502: The rich in Newport, Rhode Island – where he soon developed a strong interest in the details of erecting a building, and was particularly interested in "skyscrapers", the name recently given to the tall buildings that had been made possible by Elisha Otis ' invention of the safety elevator . At the age of twenty-five he was made a partner and placed in charge of Peabody & Stearns's New York office. In New York, Fuller's design for
10640-402: The south building's eastern side have a stucco wall rather than brick cladding; the stucco indicates the silhouette of a former four-story building to the east. On the 13th through 16th stories of both buildings, there are setbacks facing 44th Street, which form terraces on each story. In either building, six of the bays contain setbacks of uniform depth on each story. The remaining bays (five in
10752-490: The southern apartment block, 310 East 44th Street, into a hotel. The Beaux-Arts Apartments' private bus services to Grand Central and Rockefeller Center were discontinued in 1943 by order of the Office of Defense Transportation; at the time, the buses carried 200 passengers daily. By the late 1960s, both of the Beaux-Arts Apartments were converted to standard residential apartments. The entrances of both structures were overhauled and
10864-492: The southern building (number 310) had 345 apartments and six penthouses. All units from the first to thirteenth stories of each building were arranged as single-room studio apartments . One- to three- bedroom apartments were arranged on and above the fourteenth floor of each building. In both buildings, the walls of even-numbered stories were plastered in white, while the walls of odd-numbered stories were plastered in rough brown. The pantries and bathrooms were plastered in white and
10976-498: The spandrels were intended to give the structures a horizontal emphasis, which fit the shapes of each building. The end pavilions are clad with light-colored brick similar to that used on the spandrels between different stories. The designs of the main facades are continued on the western and eastern sides of both buildings. The buildings' western and eastern sides are exposed to varying extents, but all have dark brick stripes at their centers, behind which are stairwells. Some portions of
11088-546: The style of the French École des Beaux-Arts . During the late 1920s, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was housed at 126 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The institute hired Hood and Murchison to find a site that was "somewhere nearer the architects' and draftsmen's zone of activity", which was in Turtle Bay. In November 1927, the institute bought a site at 304 and 306 East 44th Street, on which it planned to build
11200-557: The time of the Beaux-Arts Apartments' construction, artists' studio buildings such as the Gainsborough Studios and Bryant Park Studios generally had high ceilings, but the word "studio" was increasingly being used to refer to small apartments with few rooms. The Beaux-Arts Development Corporation acquired two plots in December 1928, totaling 33,000 feet (10,000 m). These consisted of a site at 308–320 East 44th Street, across from
11312-521: The umbrella of the new entity. Black announced: The new company will undoubtedly enter foreign fields, with the view of introducing steel construction in cities like London, Paris and Berlin. Its relations will be very close to the United States Steel Corporation, and naturally, as we will be the largest consumers of structural steel in the world, our terms as to price and delivery will be most favorable. Indeed, Black had constructed
11424-428: The unit's bathroom. Bathrooms throughout the building are built to a uniform size of 5 by 6.75 feet (1.52 by 2.06 m), with a recessed tub, a small toilet, a sink, and black tiling. There are also one-and-a-half-story duplex studios on the top floors of each building. The duplex studios' rooms could be as much as 36 by 14 feet (11.0 by 4.3 m) across and 13 feet (4.0 m) high. The arrangement of these duplexes
11536-419: The walls have triangular lighting fixtures. The only difference at ground level is that, in the south building, the ground story east of the entrance has a glass-and-aluminum wall enclosing a restaurant, rather than plantings. Directly east of the south building is a colonnade , which leads to an open-air courtyard separating the south building from Three United Nations Plaza. The centers of either building have
11648-509: The world's highest retail rents and is the most expensive shopping street in the world. Midtown Manhattan is the country's largest commercial, entertainment , and media center, and is also a growing financial and fintech center. Many of New York City's skyscrapers , including its tallest hotels and apartment towers , are located in Midtown Manhattan. The neighborhood hosts commuters and residents working in its offices, hotels, and retail establishments, tourists and students. Times Square,
11760-403: Was $ 101,981, though the median income in Midtown individually was $ 120,854. In 2018, an estimated 11% of Midtown Manhattan residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twenty residents (5%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent,
11872-503: Was announced, with the aim of reducing traffic congestion. Approximately 750,000 vehicles enter Midtown Manhattan on a fall business day. According to the 2011 Traffic Data Report for New York State, 777,527 vehicles a day went through select toll facilities into Manhattan. The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division , First Department, is located at the Appellate Division Courthouse at 25th Street and Madison Avenue
11984-525: Was born in Templeton, Massachusetts , near Worcester . After graduating from Andover College , he took a course in architecture at the newly founded MIT (known informally at the time as Boston Tech), and then started in the office of his uncle, J.E. Fuller, an architect in Worcester, Massachusetts. Fuller soon entered the office of Peabody & Stearns – a firm which specialized in building mansions for
12096-602: Was completed in 1900 by architect James Brown Lord , who used a third of the construction budget to decorate the building with statues and murals. The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration operates its New York office on the 22nd floor at 135 West 50th Street . Several countries, including Algeria , Argentina , The Bahamas , China , Costa Rica , Germany , Ireland , Israel , Jamaica , Japan , Luxembourg , Mexico , Morocco , Saudi Arabia , Singapore , South Africa , South Korea , United Kingdom , and Ukraine , have Permanent Missions accredited to
12208-469: Was constructed under the supervision of Daniel Burnham . With the success of his firm, Fuller became a multimillionaire, and his wife and daughters entered Chicago society. He commissioned Charles P. Post to design a home on Drexel Boulevard on the South Side of Chicago, and Post created a Queen Anne style mansion. His daughter, Allon, married Harry St. Francis Black in 1894, and Fuller took him into
12320-516: Was moving its North American headquarters from Midtown to Melville , New York , in Suffolk County on Long Island . Based on data from the 2010 United States Census , the population of Midtown Manhattan was 28,630, a change of 2,823 (9.9%) from the 25,807 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 692.81 acres (280.37 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 41.3 inhabitants per acre (26,400/sq mi; 10,200/km ). The racial makeup of
12432-531: Was one factor in why neither building went into foreclosure. According to a Douglas Elliman spokesman, the buildings' furnished apartments would help attract tenants faster than non-furnished apartments would. Eight suites in the apartments were furnished for potential tenants to view, including two units designed by Pierre Dutel in contrasting modernist and traditional styles. The newly completed buildings received an award of "construction merit" from Building Investment Magazine in February 1930. An open-air cafe in
12544-408: Was sold on July 2, 2007, for US$ 510 million, about US$ 1,589 per square foot (US$ 17,104/m ), it broke the barely month-old record for an American office building of US$ 1,476 per square foot (US$ 15,887/m ) based on the sale of 660 Madison Avenue . In 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten zip codes in the United States by median housing price. In 2019, the most expensive home sale ever in
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