Episode 3282
330 West 42nd Street
Thu, 2026-Apr-30 01:41 UTC
Length - 3:16
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.
The featured article for Thursday, 30 April 2026, is 330 West 42nd Street.
330 West 42nd Street (also known as the McGraw-Hill Building and formerly as the GHI Building) is a 485-foot-tall (148 m), 33-story skyscraper in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U. S. Designed by Raymond Hood and J. André Fouilhoux in a mixture of the International Style, Art Deco, and Art Moderne styles, the building was constructed from 1930 to 1931 and originally served as the headquarters of the McGraw-Hill Companies.
The building's massing, or shape, consists of numerous setbacks facing 41st and 42nd streets, which were included to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The facade is made of blue-green terracotta ceramic tile panels alternating with green metal-framed windows, with a strongly horizontal orientation. The facade was intended to blend in with the sky regardless of the atmospheric conditions. The entrance and the original lobby were decorated with light blue and dark green panels. Most of the upper stories had similar floor plans, except for their widths, which varied due to the setbacks on the facade. At the time of its completion, 330 West 42nd Street was controversial for the use of horizontal emphasis on its facade, which its contemporaries lacked. In subsequent decades, architectural critics recognized the building as an early example of the International Style.
McGraw-Hill Companies bought the land in early 1930 to replace smaller headquarters; the company originally took three-quarters of the space, renting out the other stories. As the surrounding neighborhood became more decrepit, McGraw-Hill moved in 1972 to 1221 Avenue of the Americas. The building subsequently became the headquarters of Group Health Insurance (GHI). Since then, ownership of 330 West 42nd Street has changed several times. Deco Towers, which has owned the building since 1994, began considering converting it into condominiums in 2018. Moed de Armas and Shannon completely renovated the building (including the lobby) in 2021, and the upper stories were converted into apartments starting in 2023. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has designated 330 West 42nd Street as a city landmark, and the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a National Historic Landmark.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:41 UTC on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
For the full current version of the article, see 330 West 42nd Street on Wikipedia.
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Until next time, I'm standard Justin.
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