Graybar Building, Art Deco office building in Midtown Manhattan, United States
The Graybar Building is a 30-story office structure on Lexington Avenue that combines geometric patterns with Byzantine Revival design elements on its facade. The building houses thousands of workers and serves as a major component of a larger commercial complex with multiple access points.
The structure was completed in 1927 and originally called the Eastern Terminal Office Building before adopting its current name from its primary tenant. Its construction was part of a larger development effort that transformed this area of Manhattan into a major business hub.
The building takes its name from Graybar Electric Company, its original major tenant, and visitors can still sense this commercial heritage in its design. The ornate facade patterns reflect how much business leaders cared about creating beautiful workspaces.
The building features a direct underground passage connecting to a major transit hub, making arrival and navigation straightforward. Keep in mind that this is an active office building, so it is best explored during business hours when public areas are most accessible.
The building rests on air rights over railroad tracks of a major transit hub, demonstrating a remarkable engineering solution from the 1920s. This approach allowed developers to create valuable urban space above active rail infrastructure.
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