Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
| Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower | |
|---|---|
The Metropolitan Life Tower in 1911
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| Alternative names | Met Life Tower Metropolitan Life Tower |
| Record height | |
| Tallest in the world from 1909 to 1913 | |
| Preceded by | Singer Building |
| Surpassed by | Woolworth Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Location | 1 Madison Avenue Manhattan, New York City |
| Construction started | 1905 |
| Completed | 1909 |
| Owner | Abu Dhabi Investment Authority |
| Height | |
| Roof | 213.4 m (700 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 50 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Napoleon LeBrun & Sons |
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Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
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| Coordinates | 40°44′28.46″N 73°59′14.64″W / 40.7412389°N 73.9874000°WCoordinates: 40°44′28.46″N 73°59′14.64″W / 40.7412389°N 73.9874000°W |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001874 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 29, 1972 |
| Designated NHL | June 2, 1978 |
| Designated NYCL | 1989 |
| References | |
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, colloquially known as the Met Life Tower, is a landmark skyscraper located on Madison Avenue near the intersection with East 23rd Street, across from Madison Square Park in Manhattan, New York City. Designed by the architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons and built by the Hedden Construction Company, the tower is modeled after the Campanile in Venice, Italy. The hotel located in the clock tower portion of the building has the address 5 Madison Avenue, while the office building covering the rest of the block, occupied primarily by Credit Suisse, is referred to as 1 Madison Avenue.
Inside the building is the New York Edition Hotel, a 273-room luxury hotel that opened in 2015.
The tower was a later addition to the original 11-story, full-block Metropolitan Life Home Office building (the "East Wing"), which was completed in 1893 and was also designed by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons. Plans for the tower were first announced in 1905. In 1953-57, the original Home Office building was replaced with the current building, designed by D. Everett Waid. Then, between 1960 and 1964, the Tower itself was modernized by Lloyd Morgan and Eugene V. Meroni.
There are four clock faces, one on each side of the tower, located from the 25th to 27th floors. Each clock face is 26.5 feet (8 m) in diameter with each number being four feet (1.2 m) tall. The minute hands each weigh half a ton. The original tower was sheathed in Tuckahoe marble, but during the 1964 renovation plain limestone was used to cover the tower and the East Wing, replacing the old Renaissance revival details with a streamlined, modern look. Much of the building's original ornamentation was removed.
At its southeastern corner, it includes an entrance to the 23rd Street New York City Subway station serving the 4 6 <6> trains.
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