National Register of Historic Places

American Radiator Building

New York, New York County, New York
Listed
May 6, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80002663

About this property

The American Radiator Building (also known as the American Standard Building) is an early skyscraper at 40 West 40th Street, just south of Bryant Park, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. It was designed by Raymond Hood and André Fouilhoux in the Gothic and Art Deco styles for the American Radiator Company. The original section of the American Radiator Building, a 338 ft-tall (103 m), 23-story tower, was completed in 1924. A five-story annex, to the west of the original tower, was built from 1936 to 1937. The original structure consists of an eighteen-story tower above a base of five stories, while the western annex only rises five stories. The American Radiator Building's facade is made predominantly of black brick. Gold-colored decorations are used on the building's setbacks and pinnacles. Hood had intended for the original structure to be a standalone shaft, requiring the building to be set back from the lot line and reducing the maximum amount of space available. Inside, the basement, first, and second floors were originally designed as exhibition showrooms, while the upper stories served as office space. The building was completed five years before the American Radiator Company merged with Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company to form American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation, later known as American Standard. American Standard sold the building in 1988 to a Japanese company. The main building was sold in 1998 to Philip Pilevsky, who opened the Bryant Park Hotel there in 2001. The annex operated as the Katharine Gibbs School from 2001 to 2009 and was converted into the City University of New York's Guttman Community College in 2012. The American Radiator Building is a New York City designated landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Location

40--52 W. 40th St.
New York, New York County, New York
40.75289, -73.98392

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Engineering Societies' Building and Engineers' Club
Industrial
0 mi
New York Public Library and Bryant Park
Industrial
0.1 mi
Colony Arcade Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
New York Public Library
Industrial
0.1 mi
Knox Building
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Kip's Bay
1776Revolutionary War
1 mi

Questions about this property

When was American Radiator Building listed on the National Register?

American Radiator Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1980.

What type of historic resource is American Radiator Building?

American Radiator Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for American Radiator Building?

The period of significance for American Radiator Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near American Radiator Building?

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