New York City is something of a forest of skyscrapers, but as its many skyscrapers age, eventually, it comes time for them to be demolished. And after they come down, they pass into the pages of history and fade from memory. Perhaps the most notable such skyscraper that the Big Apple has known was the Singer Building.
While the Singer Building was (briefly) the tallest building in the world when it was first built, it would pale compared to the tallest skyscrapers in the world today. Pictures of the world's tallest buildings really show just how far the limits of engineering have been pushed.
History and Construction Of The Singer Building
Just as the Singer Building is fast passing into a distant memory, so is the company that the building served as the headquarters for. It was the headquarters of the Singer Sewing Machine Company (remember the Singer sewing machines?).
The Singer Building opened to the public in 1908 at 149 Broadway. It was a record-breaker - as fate would have both in life and in death (or in construction and in demolition). Sixty years after resetting the record for the tallest building ever built, it reset the record for the tallest skyscraper to ever be peacefully demolished.
- Opened: First Opened to the Public in 1908
- Address: 149 Broadway
- Height: 612 Feet
- Stories: 47-Stories
- Construction Record: Tallest Skyscraper in the World At Construction
- Demolition Record: Largest Skyscraper To be Peacefully Demolished (at the Time)
Foreshadowing that it would not enjoy a long career, the Singer Tower was only briefly the tallest building in the world from 1908 to 1909. It was then overtaken by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (what a mouthful).
NYC Icon and Unorthodox Design
The Singer Building was one of the early skyscrapers in Manhattan and was designed in multiple phases from 1897 to 1908. It was composed of four distinct sections:
- Original 10 Stories: Built Between 1897 and 1898
- Adjoining 14 Story Building: Built From 1898 to 1899 (On Liberty Street)
- Fusion Into The Base: In The Early 1900s These Two Buildings Were Expanded To Form The 14-Story Base of The Singer Tower
- Tower: After That, the Remaining 27 Stories Were Added
The facade of the Singer Building was that of brick, stone, and terracotta, but the building had a steel skeleton. When it was complete it has a stunning marble-clad entrance to the lobby. It had 16 elevators and 410,000 square feet of office space.
For decades the Singer Building was a prominent landmark of downtown Manhattan. It was known for its unique shape. According to the NY Times, this was due to the building's architect, Ernest Flagg, disliking "the way the sides of modern skyscrapers grew upward from the very edge of their plots, making narrow ravines of the city streets below."
It seems Mr. Flagg thought buildings of more than 10 to 15 stories high should be set back from the street. This gave rise to the Singer Building's most unique feature - a narrow 35 story tower rising above the tower's lower floors.
While that made the tower unique and noteworthy (it was considered an icon at the time of its demolition), it was also instrumental in its literal downfall.
Demolition and Early Retirement of The Singer Building
In 1961 the Singer Company decided to move out of the building and into Midtown and the Singer Building was sold off. The buyer was hopeful that the New York Stock Exchange would relocate to the vacated building. But this didn't happen.
Part of the reason was the small square footage of the building's narrow tower - this had become antithetical to the booming growth of businesses of the time that demanded more (not less) office space. This was long before the days of the current work-from-home environment...
So in 1964, the decision was taken to demolish this comparatively young skyscraper. Today the Phenix that arises out of the ashes (or just plot) of the Singer Building is the 54-story, 743-foot high One Liberty Plaza. The Liberty Plaza has several times more office space than the old Singer Building.
- Demolished: In August 1967
- Liberty Plaza: The Building Occupying The Site of The Singer Building
The Singer Building was the tallest building to have been demolished for 60 years. That was until 270 Park Avenue 708-foot-tall skyscraper was demolished between 2018 and 2021 to make way for the new 1,425-foot JPMorgan Chase Building (currently under construction).
Today there are some who consider the Singer Building's demolition to be one of the greatest failures of the early preservation movement.
While one may not be able to visit the old Singer Building, one can see the pictures and attempts to preserve the history of this building online at the NYPAP website and the New York Architecture website.