preview

A History of New York City Skyscrapers (with Bibliography) Essay examples

Good Essays

A History of New York City Skyscrapers Whenever anyone thinks of New York City one of the first things that come to mind is the tall extravagant skyscrapers located in this city. Since the late nineteenth century New York has been home to some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. For many tourists that come to New York City, the first thing they want to see is the skyscrapers of Manhattan. One of the first skyscrapers built in New York City was the World Building, which many people know as the Pulitzer Building. Joseph Pulitzer was the original owner of this building; he was publisher of the famous magazine the New York World. Pulitzer is a great example of how diverse this city is, because he was the owner of the World Building …show more content…

The S. Paul Building stood at 315 feet tall. The architect and engineer for this building was George B. Post, the same man who put up the World Building. This building was located on Broadway, and Ann Street. This building was eventually demolished in 1958. Many critics called the St. Paul Building the least attractive design of all the New York skyscrapers. Just one year after the St. Paul Building was opened; the Park Row building was opened on Ann Street and Park Row. The construction of this building started in 1896, and this building took only three years to complete. In the 1890's advances in steel-frame construction opened up new opportunities for developers. Before steel frame construction, buildings with more than eight stories had to have very thick lower floors for support. We have to accredit the steel construction of this building to R.H. Robertson. Mr. Robertson said that when he was drawing up the plans for this building he wanted to make it look smaller what it actually was. This building is 391 feet tall and it was the tallest building in New York City in 1899, before the Park Row Building was put up the Manhattan Life Insurance Building held the title for the tallest building. This building has 26 floors, and a semi-circle bay of 10 elevators. In 1899 about four thousand people worked in the Park Row Building. The Park Row Building is still standing today. The Park Row Building is located at 15 Park Row, across the street from City Hall.

Get Access