Daily News Building
- Architects
- Raymond Hood John Mead Howells
- Style
- Art Deco
- City
- Manhattan, NY
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The Daily News Building is an Art Deco skyscraper at 220 East 42nd Street, designed by Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells and completed in 1930 as one of several major developments to rise along 42nd Street in that era. A similarly styled expansion by Harrison & Abramovitz followed in 1960. When it opened, critics gave it mixed reviews, calling the design utilitarian, but the building is now a National Historic Landmark, with its exterior and lobby also designated New York City landmarks.
the building
The lobby globe. The entrance on 42nd Street leads to a rotunda lobby dominated by a large rotating painted globe, a set piece that became one of the building's signature images.
Facade rhythm. The 36-story tower rises 476 feet, its face divided into vertical bays of windows separated by white-brick piers, with brick spandrel panels filling the gaps between floors — a striped, ascending pattern rather than applied ornament.
Three connected structures. The complex combines the 36-story main tower with a 14-story printing plant on 41st Street and an 18-story annex on 42nd Street, all on one rectangular site running between 41st Street, Second Avenue, and 42nd Street.
the style
Hood and Howells worked in Art Deco, but stripped of much surface ornament — the drama comes from the striped brick-and-glass bays rather than carved detail, which is part of why early critics found it merely utilitarian rather than grand.
More on Art Decothe architect
Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells designed the original 1930 tower together; the later 1960 expansion was the work of the successor firm Harrison & Abramovitz, working in a similar style to match the original.
significance
The building is a National Historic Landmark, and both its exterior and its lobby are individually designated New York City landmarks (LP-01049), with National Register of Historic Places listing as well.
nearby
- Ford Foundation Building
- 310 East 44th Street
- 307 East 44th Street
- Chrysler Building
- Graybar Building
- Pershing Square Building