NO PHOTOS ALLOWED!

Since 9/11, the management companies of many well-known buildings in New York have closed their doors to visitors. Others will allow you to enter the lobby but not take any photos, photography evidently being the hallmark of terrorists and tourists alike (can you imagine Osama with his Nikon?). Virtually all require some form of coded identification to enter security gates before gaining access to the elevators or stairways. It is against this backdrop that structures like Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building, which allow both visitors and photography in their lobbies, seem to embody the kind of fearless liberty the U.S. of A. once endorsed. But, here are three beautiful buildings whose interiors I cannot show.

The Woolworth Building was the tallest in the world for 17 years, from its construction in 1913 until it was surpassed in height by the Chrysler Building in 1930. The company's owner, Frank Winfield Woolworth, admired gothic buildings in Europe and asked his architect, Cass Gilbert, to construct a neo-gothic tower with many windows. The result was an instant hit. Nicknamed "The Cathedral of Commerce," the exterior ornamentation (THAT I can show you--see photos) is quite stunning, and includes carvings of people of different ethnic groups, owls (a symbol of wisdom), and salamanders (a symbol for the transmutation of iron into steel and clay into terra-cotta).

However, according to the web site 'A View on Cities' (http://www.aviewoncities.com/nyc/woolworth):
"The interior of the building is one of the most sumptuous in New York. Woolworth's
private office was modeled and furnished after Napoleon's Palace in Compiègne.
The lobby is covered with marble and features a stained glass ceiling."
Now who would want to see THAT? On a tourist poster I photographed just outside the "Tourists are not permitted beyond this point" sign (see photos) two gargoyles from the interior are shown--one of the architect holding a model of the building and one of F.S. Woolworth holding coins--a symbol not only of his wealth, nor that it was based upon the '"five and dime" store chain he owned, but rather to indicate that he paid for the $13,500,000 building outright, in cash. In 1998 the structure was sold for $126.5 million.

Prior to the construction of Woolworth's dime store headquarters, the tallest building in the world was owned by an insurance company. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building held that honor for four years, from 1909 until 1913, with a 700-foot tall tower, clad in marble and inspired by the Campanile de San Marco in Venice (but twice as big). The tower was built over the original 1893 office building of the company, which had found success by selling insurance to immigrant wage earners, and was designed by the architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons. Each side of the tower holds a 4-story high clock that is larger than Big Ben's--the minute hand weighs 1000 pounds. A computerized lighting system, similar in effect to that of the Empire State Building, was installed more recently and allows the tower to be lit in a variety of hues, ranging from the staid to the garish (see the bottom of the page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Life_Insurance_Company_Tower). During a renovation in 1964, all the marble was replaced with limestone and the Renaissance features of the building were destroyed, an act which one excellent architectural site (http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GRP/GRP019.htm) termed "just a stupid and criminal act!" In a more recent reno, the cupola was covered in 23.75 carat gold leaf.

When the company needed more room than the tower allowed in the 1920s, they began building what was intended to be a 100-story edifice, almost double the size of the existing tower, across the street. Called the North Tower, it was never completed--the firm ran out of funds in the Great Depression, halting construction at 30 stories. While the building is still interesting, the original plans look awesome, and can be seen here: http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/metbldg.html. The interior of this building is known for its beauty as well, and as soon as I had quickly snapped two non-flash photos I was stopped by a security guard (there were no signs indicating photography was not allowed) who said no visitors were permitted in the lobby. When I began taking photos of the exterior of the building, the guard came outside and told me I could not take photos from the sidewalk either (!!), but would have to cross the street to take any further images. So I crossed over to Madison Park, enjoyed the sunshine, and meditated on the phrase "the terrorists have already won."

The final example of a beautiful building allowing no photography is the Fred F. French Building on 5th Avenue. Built in 1927 by a real-estate tycoon, this 38 story Art Deco office building was said to have enhanced the international reputation of 5th Avenue when it was constructed. I was able to photograph one entrance to the building, albeit behind scaffolding, but it is quite lovely and the close-up of the light fixture is one of my favorite images from this trip. For more views of the interior and exterior of the structure, look here: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID145.htm

On to ornamentation! More to come,

Dan

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