Park Avenue apartment buildings are some of the most sought after real estate in New York City. The avenue is very peaceful because commercial vehicles like large trucks are prohibited. Its beautifully designed buildings create architectural lines of perspective that fade off into the distance which are especially gorgeous in the early morning sunlight.

*Park Avenue looking south towards The Helmsley Building. - Photo: Chris Baker*

Did you know that the reason Park Avenue is so wide is because it contains the northern start of the New York Central Railroad underneath it. Before it was covered over it was a pollution nightmare and certainly not a desirable place to live!

*Park Avenue (4th Avenue at the time) looking south from 56th Street - Getty Images*

Park Avenue wasn’t covered over until 1915 after steam locomotives were swapped out for cleaner, electric trains. Plans for Terminal City (a development around Grand Central Terminal with hotels, office buildings and convenient pedestrian tunnels) were underway. There was a need to improve the Park Avenue Viaduct, which is the roadway wrapping around Grand Central. It was proposed that the New York Central Railroad construct a building that would straddle the viaduct and help with traffic by having the roadway actually cut through the new building.

*A 1913 sketch of the proposed Terminal City. - Photo: NYPL Digital Archives*

Construction started in December of 1926. I find it very fascinating that the steel beams used were so large that they had to be brought in by rail. Designed by the now famous Warren & Wetmore, It was the last major project of Terminal City and was completed in September of 1929. The New York Central Building was 34 stories tall with 1.4 million square feet of office and space and 40 elevators. Although it was a revolutionary office building for its time - it was harshly criticized.

For the most part the office space was occupied by numerous rail companies, which I think all of us in today’s era will find fascinating. Train travel was a big deal (and big business) back then!

In 1958 Irving Brodsky purchased the building and renamed it the New York General Building.

*The New York Central Building in 1930 looking north. - Photo: NYPL Digital Archive*

In the late 1960’s the New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad and became the Penn Central Railroad. By 1970 things weren’t looking great for Penn Central and they filed for bankruptcy and made plans to unload their key properties - the New York General Building being one of them. By 1977 Harry Helmsley had obtained ownership and began a major interior and exterior restoration.

I’m not sure how many of you realize the magnitude of Harry Helmsley’s real estate empire so here’s a list of some of his notable properties… The Empire State Building (should I keep going?), The Graybar Building, The Flatiron Building, and The Villard Houses just to name a few.

Starting in 1998 the building was sold a few times over with the stipulation that the name remain.

Today, The Helmsley Building brings some class and luxury to a Park Avenue that seems to be evolving into a world of glass spires. I walk through it’s passageways often and during Summer Streets in August love running around the viaduct when its closed to traffic.

Lucky Luciano and Vito Genovese

I’d like to leave you with what I think is the most forgotten and most interesting piece of Helmsley Building history…

Salvatore Maranzano - the boss of all mob bosses - nicknamed Little Caesar, had an office at the Helmsley Building (then the New York Central Building). He hired an Irish hitman, Vinnie ‘The Mad Dog’ Coll to take out Lucky Luciano who was a threat to his leadership within the family. Maranzano ordered Luciano and Genovese to report to his office for the hit, but an ally of theirs Tommy Luchesse of the Luchesse Family had gotten wind of it. They showed up with wiseguys pretending to be government agents and took out Mad Dog and then stabbed and shot Maranzano in a major mob hit! Luciano was able to take control of the 5 families and created the infamous 'Commission'.

Wow!

The Helmsley Building

The Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument

Delmonico’s