Empire Building (New York City, New York)

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, apartment building, 1898_construction

293-foot, 21-story neo-Classical residential building completed in 1898. Designed by Francis Kimball of the firm of Kimball & Thompson as a 20-story office building, it has a grey granite base with rusticated white granite above, and a rounded corner at Broadway and Rector. The 21st floor, designed by John C. Westervelt, was added by in 1930. The main entrance and the Trinity Place entrance were altered in 1937-38 in Art-Deco stainless steel by Walker & Gillette. The building was the home of United States Steel Corporation from its founding in 1901 to 1976.

There is a full basement which is exposed along Rector Street and a full-height storefront on Trinity Place due to the difference in elevation between the front and the back of the building. The main entrance is a two-story triumphal arch with paired polished granite columns surmounted by eagles on globes. Broad central stairs lead to a recessed central entrance "portico" (outer vestibule), as well as to two flanking smaller arched entrances, that are set between the columns and lead to commercial spaces. The remodeled main entrance features two narrow stainless steel columns three pairs of glass doors and a tripartite transom, all framed in stainless steel; stainless steel letters and numbers "71 Broadway 71" in the band above the doors; side portico windows with stainless steel frames; and a second floor level was inserted into the main arch, with a round-arched tripartite transom with stainless steel frame and stainless steel spandrel panel with the numbers "71". At each end of the facade are stairs leading to basement entrances to the subway (with iron railings on one side each).

The north corner of the base is angled on the lower three stories and rounded above; the first-story corner window was altered into a doorway with steps by 1908, but was restored back to a window in 1937-38. Two flagpoles are located above the second story. On Rector Street, the base has a tripartite vertical articulation, with an arcade in the center section of the 3rd-4th floors. On Trinity Place, the full basement story originally had two windows at the north end, one shop entrance with steps, and a building entrance with steps at the south end. A shop entrance was inserted into the northernmost bay and the other two bay s were converted to show windows.

The lowest (5th) story of the 12-story midsection is a transition from the base, having paired arched windows. The rest of the midsection is ornamented horizontally by band courses and vertically by projecting balconies, and is capped by a modillioned cornice. The 4-story upper section has colonnaded loggias on the 18th-19th floors of each facade, with molded metal window frames and ornamental spandrel panels), a top floor with ornamental panels (some having an "E" design), and a heavy projecting bracketed metal cornice. The Broadway corner has a set back angle. The added 21st-floor is clad in white terra-cotta.

The Empire Building was converted to apartments, with 237 units, in 1997, and became a historic landmark the following year. On Broadway, the ground-floor retails spaces are occupied by Bean & Bean coffee, and Signature Bank, with the basement level occupied by an entrance to Champs Gourmet Deli, and a cleaners. The basement level along Rector Street is occupied by Factory Shoe Outlet, with the actual Champs Deli location at the west end, fronting Trinity Place.