Rockefeller Center

In the center of mid-town Manhattan is Rockefeller Center, a complex of nineteen buildings, covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets, and is one of the most recognizable areas of the city.

The first private owner of this land was Dr. David Horsch, who, in 1801, purchased twenty acres in, what was then, rural New York. Horsch created the first botanical gardens (Elgin Botanical Gardens) in the United States. It operated until 1811. By 1823, Columbia University had acquired ownership of the property (little documentation could be found about what happened to the site in between those years). Around the turn of the century, the university moved its main campus to Morningside Heights and then leased its former site to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. for 87 years. Rockefeller established the Metropolitan Square Corporation (the precursor to Rockefeller Center, Inc.) in 1928 in order to delvelop plans for the site. His original plan was to use the property for a new Metropolitan Opera building. However, this fell apart after the stock market crash of 1929 when the Opera found that that it would be too expensive to move. Under John D. Jr.’s supervision, a number of plans were discussed to create a mass media entertainment center, which would include space for television, movies, radio, and plays (with four performing arts theaters). The original anchors of this media complex became Radio Corporation of America (RCA), National Broadcast Corporation (NBC), and Radio Keith-Orpheum (RKO). During these early years, various names for the complex (which originally included 14 Art Deco buildings, with five International Style buildings {for foreign tenants} to be added later), which included “Radio City”, “Rockefeller City”, “Metropolitan Square”, before eventually settling on “Rockefeller Center.” The RKO Building was the first to be completed (September of 1932). The famed Rockefeller Center Christmas tree made its first appearance in December 1933 at the center of the plaza. Four years later, eleven buildings had been completed. Over the course of the construction process, Rockefeller Center employed between forty-thousand and sixty-thousand workers, making it the largest “ private” building project ever undertaken in contemporary times (and second only to the government’s WPA of the Great Depression era) Because Lorraine had a personal historical connection to the construction of Rockefeller Center (see the photos below), we really wanted to visit this site. It was quite an experience.

Facing 5th Avenue (opposite St. Patrick’s Cathedral), Rockefeller Center covers 22 acres of Mid-Town Manhattan.

Stock photo of Center Plaza’s skating rink and the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (first put up in 1933) in the background...

...but during the summer months, the rink is transformed into a food court.

A bronze plaque has been imbedded on the spot where the Christmas Tree is placed every year.

With my back towards the plaza, I took this picture looking towards 5th Avenue (because this was such a favorite photo spot, I had to be quite patient to get this picture without a huge number of people in the way).

Fourteen of the nineteen buildings in the complex were decorated in the Art Deco style...

...which tends to generate strong feelings both pro and con.

Surrounding the edges of the central plaza are the flags of nations.

One of the most famous pictures depicting the construction of Rockefeller Center is this 1932 image of immigrant workers entitled “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper”. Two of Lorraine’s great uncles ( brothers-in-law to each other) are in this group (one in each end)...

Decades of research have gone into trying to identify these workers. A recent Public Broadcasting System documentary and this 2018 National Geographic Article did finally identify Lorraine’s uncles...

...as Sonny (Patrick) Glynn and Matty O’Shaughnessy of Ireland.

During research for this posting, we did come across another version of this picture (shown here of the workers waving).