Manufacturers Hanover Bank Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, bank

390-foot, 30-story International-style office building completed in 1962. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons for the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, it was the first building to apply the glass walls of International Style to bank design. The ground floor has black granite piers and a granite band across the top. Between the piers, the bays are slightly recessed at the ground floor. The main entrance is in the wide central bay on the avenue, with two sets of glass revolving doors. To either side are four bays of glass-and-metal storefronts. The north and south facades have six evenly-spaced bays with more storefronts (plus an additional half-bay at the west end on 52nd Street); there is a freight entrance at the westernmost bay on 51st Street, and metal service entrances at the west end on 52nd.

The upper floors have a curtain wall of aluminum, clear glass windows, and black-tinted glass spandrels. At the western end on both the north and south, setbacks begin above the 6th floor, and above the 10th floor at the rest of the building's north, east, and south elevations. These continue at every 2nd floor up to the 18th floor, from where the thinner, almost-square upper tower rises vertically to the roof line. The top two levels are mechanical floors with black metal vents, with the aluminum mullions continuing up to the roof line. The ground floor is occupied by Fidelity Investments, a Valley Bank branch, and an AT&T wireless store.