Verizon Building - History

History

The building was designed by Ralph Walker of McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin Architects, and constructed in 1926. The building is 498 ft (152 m) tall and 32 stories. Construction was completed in 1927, and the building was known at that time as the Barclay-Vesey Building. It served as the headquarters for the New York Telephone Company. When NYNEX was formed as a result of the breakup of the original AT&T, the building became NYNEX's headquarters. It became the headquarters of Bell Atlantic following Bell Atlantic's merger with NYNEX, and was retained as Verizon's headquarters after Verizon was formed from the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE.

Architects and historians widely consider the Verizon Building as the first art-deco skyscraper. It was among the first skyscrapers designed under the 1916 Zoning Resolution, using the step back principle which became a key element of art deco design. The interior of the building includes 1,200,000 sq ft (110,000 m2). The lobby features marble walls and other ornate decor, including ceiling murals that depict how human communication has progressed, from Aztec runners to the telephone. Walker was inspired by Maya architecture in designing the facade. Exterior ornamentation includes complex foliage, along with babies and animal heads as part of the design, and a bell (symbol of the telephone company) above the door.

The Verizon Building has five sub-basement levels, which house communications equipment. The building remained in use by Verizon as a main telecommunications switching center in Lower Manhattan, handling approximately 200,000 phone lines and 3.6 million data circuits prior to 9/11.