Manhattan Life Insurance Building


Record height
Tallest in New York City from 1894 to 1899^[I]
Preceded by	New York World Building
Surpassed by	Park Row Building
General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Commercial offices
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
Location	64–70 Broadway, 17–19 New Street New York City, New York
Coordinates	40°42′28″N 74°00′42″W / 40.70778°N 74.01167°W / 40.70778; -74.01167
Construction started	1893
Completed	1894
Demolished	1963 or 1964
Height
Roof	348 ft (106 m)
Technical details
Floor count	18
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Kimball & Thompson
Structural engineer	Charles Sooysmith
References
^[1]^[2]^[3]

The Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a 348 ft (106 m) tower on Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City.

History

The original structure at 64–66 Broadway was completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Thompson, and was slightly extended north in 1904 to 68–70 Broadway. It was the first skyscraper to pass 330 ft (100 m) in Manhattan.

The building was sold at least twice. In 1926, the Manhattan Life Insurance Company sold the building to Frederick Brown, who then re-sold it to the Manufacturer's Trust Company a few weeks later. Then, in 1928, Central Union Trust Company, whose headquarters were in adjacent structures to the north, bought 70 Broadway for an undisclosed sum, although the building was assessed at that time at $4 million.^[4] Following the Central Union Trust Company's sale of the buildings to the north to the Irving Trust Company, which then built a new skyscraper at 1 Wall Street, Central Union Trust moved to the Manhattan Life Building^[5] and modified the structures at 60, 62, and 70 Broadway.^[6]

The building was demolished to make way for an annex to 1 Wall Street, completed in 1965. Sources vary about whether the year of demolition was 1963 or 1964.^[1]^[2]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b "Emporis building ID 102481". Emporis. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Manhattan Life Insurance Building at Structurae
^ "Manhattan Life Insurance Building". SkyscraperPage.
^ "66 Broadway Sold; Long a Landmark; Central Union Trust Reported Buyer of Manhattan Life Insurance Building". The New York Times. February 18, 1928. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
^ "News of Bankers and Banks". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 2, 1928. Retrieved April 30, 2018 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
^ "Expansion of Bank Involves Alterations to Cost $100,000". The New York Times. January 20, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
^ Korom, Joseph (2008). The American skyscraper, 1850-1940: a celebration of height. Branden Books. pp. 199. ISBN 978-0-8283-2188-4. "In 1936, the Manhattan Life Insurance Company relocated its offices to One-Hundred-Twenty West 57th Street in midtown Manhattan. Then, catastrophe arrived when the building was only 69 years old; in a 1963 act of utter desecration, the Manhattan Life Insurance Building was demolished."

Records Preceded byNew York World Building Tallest building in New York City 1894–1899106 m Succeeded byPark Row Building

Timeline of tallest buildings in New York City

Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church (c. 1643)
Trinity Church (85 m) (1846)
New York World Building (94 m) (1890)
Manhattan Life Insurance Building (100 m) (1894)
Park Row Building (119 m) (1899)
Singer Building (187 m) (1908)
Metropolitan Life Tower (213 m) (1909)
Woolworth Building (241 m) (1913)
40 Wall Street (283 m) (1930)
Chrysler Building (320 m) (1930)
Empire State Building (443 m) (1931)
World Trade Center (526 m) (1973)
Empire State Building (443 m) (2001)
One World Trade Center (541 m) (2014)

Structures on Broadway in Manhattan and the Bronx

Buildings (The Battery – Houston Street)

Buildings (Houston Street – Times Square)
611 (Cable) 640 721 (Tisch School) 770 800 (Grace Church) 828 (Strand Bookstore) 889 (Gorham) 900 (Goelet) 935–939 Flatiron Building Madison Green 1181 (Baudouine) 1200 (Gilsey) 1232 (Grand Hotel) 1260 (Martinique Hotel) 1300 (Hotel McAlpin) 1313 Macy's 1328 (Marbridge) 1352 (Greenwich Savings Bank) Holy Innocents Church Times Square Tower 1466 (Knickerbocker Hotel)

Buildings (Times Square – Columbus Circle)

Buildings (Columbus Circle – The Bronx)

Parks and plazas
Bowling Green Zuccotti Park City Hall Park Union Square Madison Square Greeley Square Herald Square Times Square Columbus Circle Verdi Square Van Cortlandt Park

Subway stations

Former

Financial District

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

West of Broadway/ State Street	1 Broadway 21 West Street 65 Broadway 90 West Street 88 Greenwich Street 94 Greenwich Street 125 Greenwich Street 130 Cedar Street 195 Broadway American Stock Exchange Building Barclay–Vesey Building Bowling Green Offices Building Castle Clinton City Pier A Cunard Building Downtown Athletic Club Empire Building James Watson House New York County Lawyers' Association Building Old New York Evening Post Building Robert and Anne Dickey House St. George's Syrian Catholic Church St. Paul's Chapel St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church Transportation Building Trinity and United States Realty Buildings Trinity Church Trinity Court Building Whitehall Building World Trade Center One 2 3 4 7 Perelman Performing Arts Center St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Vehicular Security Center Westfield Mall
East of Broadway/ State Street	1 Hanover Square 1 New York Plaza 1 Wall Street 1 Wall Street Court 1 William Street 2 Broadway 2 New York Plaza 5 Beekman Street 14 Wall Street 15 Broad Street 15 William 17 State Street 20 Exchange Place 23 Wall Street 25 Water Street 26 Broadway 28 Liberty Street 32 Old Slip 37 Wall Street 40 Wall Street 45 Broad Street 48 Wall Street 52 Broadway 55 Wall Street 55 Water Street 56 Beaver Street (Delmonico's) 56 Pine Street 60 Wall Street 63 Wall Street 63 Nassau Street 70 Pine Street 75 Wall Street 90–94 Maiden Lane 116 John Street 120 Wall Street 130 William 140 Broadway 150 Nassau Street 161 Maiden Lane 170–176 John Street 250 Water Street Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House American Bank Note Company Building American Surety Building Bennett Building Broad Exchange Building Chamber of Commerce Building Continental Bank Building Continental Center Corbin Building Down Town Association Equitable Building Excelsior Power Company Building Federal Hall National Memorial Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building Fraunces Tavern Home Insurance Plaza John Street Methodist Church Keuffel & Esser Company Building Lee, Higginson & Company Bank Building Liberty Tower Morse Building New York City Police Museum New York Stock Exchange Building New York Times Building Park Row Building Potter Building
Former buildings	7 WTC Alexander Macomb House Astor House Barnum's American Museum Blair Building City Hotel City Investing Building Equitable Life Building Gillender Building Gilsey Building Government House Hanover National Building Howard Hotel Kemble Building Knickerbocker Trust Company Building Manhattan Life Insurance Building Mills Building Mortimer Building New York Produce Exchange New York Tribune Building New York World Building Pearl Street Station St. Paul Building Singer Building Stadt Huys Tontine Coffee House Tower Building Western Union Telegraph Building World Trade Center

Other points of interest

Arts and culture	Charging Bull China Chalet Fearless Girl Four Continents The Sphere Titanic Memorial
Parks and plazas	The Battery Bowling Green Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza Hudson River Park Liberty Park Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Vietnam Veterans Plaza Zuccotti Park
Food and drink	Brasserie Les Halles China Chalet Crown Shy Delmonico's Fraunces Tavern Rolfe's Chop House Saga The Dead Rabbit

Education

Schools	High School of Economics and Finance Leadership and Public Service High School Léman Manhattan Preparatory School Millennium High School New York Film Academy Pace University Pine Street School New York
Museums	China Institute Federal Hall National Memorial Fraunces Tavern George Gustav Heye Center Mmuseumm Museum of American Finance Museum of Jewish Heritage New York City Police Museum Skyscraper Museum South Street Seaport

Transportation

Public transport	Subway Bowling Green Broad Street Fulton Street Rector St/Greenwich St Rector St/Trinity Pl South Ferry/Whitehall St Wall St/William St Wall St/Broadway WTC Cortlandt PATH World Trade Center Ferries Battery Maritime Building Pier 11/Wall Street Whitehall Terminal
Other transport	Downtown Manhattan Heliport Wall Street Skyport
Streets	Albany Beaver Bridge Broad Broadway Church/Trinity Place Cortlandt Dey Exchange Fulton Greenwich John Liberty Maiden Lane Marketfield Nassau Pearl South Spruce State Stone Theatre Alley Vesey/Ann Wall Washington West Whitehall William

See also: Manhattan Community Board 1