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Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower

1909 establishments in New York City23rd Street (Manhattan)Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in ManhattanClock towers in New York CityEmporis template using building ID
Flatiron DistrictFormer world's tallest buildingsHistoric district contributing properties in ManhattanMadison AvenueMetLifeNRHP infobox with nocatNational Historic Landmarks in ManhattanNew York City Designated Landmarks in ManhattanOffice buildings completed in 1909Skyscraper office buildings in ManhattanUse mdy dates from April 2020
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co Bldg 01
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co Bldg 01

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (colloquially known as the Met Life Tower and also as the South Building), is a skyscraper occupying a full block in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. The building is composed of two sections: a 700-foot-tall (210 m) tower at the northwest corner of the block, at Madison Avenue and 24th Street, and a shorter east wing occupying the remainder of the block bounded by Madison Avenue, Park Avenue South, 23rd Street, and 24th Street. The South Building, along with the North Building directly across 24th Street, comprises the Metropolitan Home Office Complex, which originally served as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (now publicly known as MetLife). The South Building's tower was designed by the architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons and erected between 1905 and 1909. Inspired by St Mark's Campanile, the tower features four clock faces, four bells, and lighted beacons at its top, and was the tallest building in the world until 1913. The tower originally included Metropolitan Life's offices, and since 2015, it has contained a 273-room luxury hotel known as the New York Edition Hotel. The tower was designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1989, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It was also made a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The east wing was designed by Lloyd Morgan and Eugene Meroni and constructed in two stages between 1953 and 1960. The east wing is also referred to as One Madison Avenue. It replaced another building on the site, which was built in phases from 1893 to 1905, and which was also designed by LeBrun's firm. When the current east wing was built, the 700-foot tower was extensively renovated as well. In 2020, work started on an addition to the east wing, which will be designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and be completed in 2023 or 2024.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
Madison Avenue, New York Manhattan

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Wikipedia: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company TowerContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.741111111111 ° E -73.9875 °
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Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower

Madison Avenue 1
10010 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
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Metropolitan Life Insurance Co Bldg 01
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co Bldg 01
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Madison Square Presbyterian Church (1854)
Madison Square Presbyterian Church (1854)

Madison Square Presbyterian Church was a Presbyterian church in Manhattan, New York City, located on Madison Square Park at the southeast corner of East 24th Street and Madison Avenue. Construction on the church began in 1853 and was completed in 1854. It was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, the son of noted architect Richard Upjohn, in the Gothic Revival architectural style. The congregation's original building was acquired by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and was demolished in 1909 to make way for the 48-story Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower. In exchange, the church received a 75 feet (23 m) by 150 feet (46 m) plot of land across 24th Street that became the site for Stanford White's Madison Square Presbyterian Church. The congregation had been founded by William Adams in 1853 and served as the church's pastor until 1873, when he left to take the position as president of the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Funeral services for Adams were held at the church on September 3, 1880, in what was described as "a fitting tribute to a man who was recognized as the most eminent Presbyterian minister in America". His coffin was carried into the sanctuary by eight students from the Union Theological Seminary.The cornerstone for the church was laid in ceremonies held on July 12, 1853, led by Rev. Adams. Edward Huntting Rudd was baptized there and later served as assistant pastor.Reports had reached the leaders of the congregation in the 1890s that Metropolitan Life was interested in acquiring the site of the church so that it could consolidate its operations in the block bounded by 23rd Street, 24th Street, Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South (then known as Fourth Avenue). The elders of the church agreed that they did not want to move the congregation further uptown, but would be willing to sell the site if an appropriate location could be found near the existing church. As the years progressed, the church was increasingly affected by the construction of new office space by Metropolitan Life and became more willing to reach a compromise with their corporate neighbor. Representatives of Metropolitan Life contacted the church in May 1902 with an offer to make a lot across 24th Street, on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue, as a replacement for the original site, and an agreement was reached with the insurer later that year in which the company paid the church $325,000 that would be used towards the construction of a new church. Once the new church was completed the old building was demolished and became the site of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, a 48-story building completed in 1909, which was the world's tallest building for three years, until 1913, when it was surpassed by the Woolworth Building.