The Waldorf Astoria

The Empire State Building is considered, along with the Statue of Liberty, as the symbol of New York City. One of the most famous intersections in the world is it's location at Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street. I can remember when it was the tallest building in the world.

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But another reason for the Empire Sate Building being such an appropriate symbol of the city is it's location.

Tall buildings, while looking impressive, are efficient only where real estate is very expensive. An eighty-story building actually has less available floor space than two equivalent forty-story buildings. The reason is that, to maintain the same elevator service, the eighty-story building must have twice as many elevator shafts which take up space on every floor of the building.

Large buildings are more efficient then an equivalent amount of space in smaller buildings. But that is true only when the large building can be fully-utilized. If the economy takes a downturn, and part of the building becomes vacant, that starts the building on a downward spiral because it has most of the same expenses as before but now must charge the remaining tenants more to cover those expenses. This prompts more tenants to leave, thus continuing the spiral.

Large buildings, built during good economic times, are usually the first buildings to suffer when times are not as good. The often-heard term "revitalization" basically means trying to find something to do with now-empty space in buildings that were built in better economic times.

But, on the other hand, a large building is likely to be better-known and, if it can build up enough prestige, will never have to worry about being vacant. We can definitely say this about the Empire State Building.

On the site of the Empire State Building was two mansions belonging to the Astor family:

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The family had the homes razed to build two magnificent hotels on the site, first the Waldorf and then the Astoria. The Waldorf was completed in 1893. The Waldorf was the largest hotel in the world when it was completed. At first the two hotels were separate, built by feuding factions of the family. They were later combined, and linked by the famed "Peacock Alley".

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Like many great buildings, the two hotels were not popular at first. They were criticized for being in the wrong location for hotels and for being detrimental to the neighborhood. But part of Queens was named Astoria, in the hope that the Astors would invest there.

But the restaurants and lounges of the two hotels became the social center for the wealthy in New York City. For those perceived as the most important people in the city, sometimes referred to as "the 400", the hotels were the places to be. There were frequent dinners and balls held for the wealthy, various dignitaries and, royalty. In the New York way of expressing it, "anybody who was anybody" could be found at the Waldorf or Astoria.

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Important meetings were held at the hotels. The U.S. made an independent inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, in which John Jacob Astor IV died. The planning of the Panama canal was done at the original Waldorf-Astoria. Two of the most prominent U.S. broadcasting companies, NBC (National Broadcasting Corporation) and ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation), made their first radio broadcasts from the hotels.

But the center of social life in New York eventually moved further uptown. When the hotels were built, the concern was that they were too far uptown, but now the opposite proved to be the case. The legendary hotels were sold and demolished, and the Empire State Building was constructed on the site. It's location is a major part of why the Empire State Building is such a fitting symbol of New York City because my feeling is that it is business transactions among people who met at the original Waldorf-Astoria that has done much to make New York the city that it is today.

The two hotels were combined into one, and built as the present Waldorf-Astoria, on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. Some of the rooms are actually suites of famous people who have lived at the hotel, and which always adds to it's prestige. Former U.S. president Herbert Hoover was one of the longer-term residents. The Peacock Alley, which had linked the original Waldorf and Astoria, was recreated as a restaurant in the new Waldorf Astoria.

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