Equitable Trust Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, high-rise, Neoclassical (architecture), historical layer / disappeared object, 1918_construction

262-foot, 20-story Neo-Classical office building was completed in 1918. Designed by Warren & Wetmore, it was clad in brown brick above a 4-story limestone base. The base had six bays on both facades. The modernized main entrance, with glass-and-metal doors, was in the south bay on the avenue. The other bays had plate-glass storefronts, except for the 3rd bay from the east on 45th Street, which had brown metal infill, and the easternmost bay, which had a service entrance with a stone enframement. The 2nd floor at this bay had a single-window, while the others had tripartite show-windows. The 3rd floor had 3-over-2 windows, except for the two middle bays on the avenue (which has 4-over-2 windows) and the end bays on the north facade (and the 2nd bay from the east), which had single-windows. A band course with a Greek fret-motif runs across the 3rd floor (where the easternmost bay on the north facade ends), interrupted at the two middle bays on the avenue by a pair of large cartouches framing a stone panel inscribed with "EQVITABLE TRVST BUILDING", and in smaller letters, "ERECTED ANNO DOMINI MCMXVII". There was a central light court above this panel at the upper floors. To either side, the 4th floor had four single-windows, and on the north facade, it had paired windows in the three middle bays and single-windows in the end bays.

The upper floors match this pattern on the north facade, and had evenly-spaced single-windows on the west facade (four at each wing and four in the recessed center wall). The inward-facing side walls of the light court each had two single-windows. The side wings were set back on the north and west above the 12th floor, marked by a cornice with small lions' heads; in the center the cornice continued as a band course across the wall. A string course ran below the top floor, which was crowned by a projecting, bracketed roof cornice.

The east elevation was faced in beige brick, with three bays of paired windows. The ground floor was occupied by Cosi Cafe, and J. Crew apparel. The building was owned and occupied by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from 1979 to 2013. It was connected to Grand Central Terminal by an underground walkway.

The building was demolished in 2022.

babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015086591750&v...
therealdeal.com/2020/04/03/virus-crisis-prompts-mta-cit...


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