Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Building of
Rockefeller Center
Top 10 Statistics
1 Tallest building: 850 ft
(259 m), 70 floors
2 Elevators: 388
3 Passenger rides per day:
more than 400,000
4 Fastest elevator speed:
1,400 ft (427 m) per
minute (37 seconds
non-stop to 65th floor)
5 Number working in the
complex: 65,000
6 Telephones: 100,000
7 Office windows: 48,758
8 Restaurants: 45
9 Shops: 100
0 Daily visitors: 250,000
When the Depression
made John D. Rockefeller
Jr.'s original plan for a
new opera house
impractical, he instead
developed a large,
creative-commercial
complex. The innovative
Art Deco design, led by Raymond Hood, included a
mid-block street (Rockefeller Plaza) and an under-
ground concourse. The 14 buildings constructed in
1931-40 provided 225,000 jobs during the worst of
the Depression. Artworks were an essential element;
over 30 artists contributed work for foyers, façades,
and gardens as part of the "New Frontiers" program.
John D. Rockefeller driving
in final rivet
Early Radio
Broadcast
The young network-
broadcasting industry,
made up of RCA, RKO,
and NBC, became the
primary tenants of the
Rockefeller Center. The
entire complex was
originally named “the
Radio City.”
Rockefeller Center construction workers, 1932
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