Rockefeller Center in the context of "Sixth Avenue"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Rockefeller Center in the context of "Sixth Avenue"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres (8.9 ha) between 48th Street and 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, split by a large sunken square and a private street called Rockefeller Plaza. Later additions include 75 Rockefeller Plaza across 51st Street at the north end of Rockefeller Plaza, and four International Style buildings on the west side of Sixth Avenue.

In 1928, Columbia University, the owner of the site, leased the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr., the complex's developer. Originally envisioned as the site for a new Metropolitan Opera building, the current Rockefeller Center came about after the Met could not afford to move to the proposed new building. Various plans were discussed before the current one was approved in 1932. Construction of Rockefeller Center started in 1931, and the first buildings opened in 1933. The core of the complex was completed by 1939. Described as one of the greatest projects of the Great Depression era, Rockefeller Center became a New York City designated landmark in 1985 and a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The complex and associated land has been controlled since 2000 by Tishman Speyer, which bought the property for $1.85 billion.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Rockefeller Center in the context of Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, the headquarters of the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Rockefeller Center, as well as several prominent tourist destinations, including Broadway, Times Square, and Koreatown. Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere.

Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the world and ranks among the world's most expensive locations for real estate; Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan has commanded the world's highest retail rents and had been ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the world before falling to second in 2024. Midtown Manhattan is the country's largest commercial, entertainment, and media center, and is also a growing financial and fintech center.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of Art sale

An art auction or fine art auction is the sale of art works, in most cases in an auction house.

In England this dates from the latter part of the 17th century, when in most cases the names of the auctioneers were suppressed. In June 1693, John Evelyn mentions a "great auction of pictures (Lord Melfort's) in the Banqueting House, Whitehall", and the practice is frequently referred to by other contemporary and later writers.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of John D. Rockefeller Jr.

John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fifth child and only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in Midtown Manhattan known as Rockefeller Center, making him one of the largest real estate holders in the city at that time. Towards the end of his life, he was famous for his philanthropy, donating over $500 million to a wide variety of different causes, including educational establishments. Among his projects was the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. He was widely blamed for having orchestrated the Ludlow Massacre and other offenses during the Colorado Coalfield War. Rockefeller was the father of six children: Abby, John III, Nelson, Laurance, Winthrop, and David.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of Midtown South Community Council

Midtown South is a macro-neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, generally characterized as constituting the southern portion of Midtown Manhattan. Midtown Manhattan hosts over 700,000 daily employees as a busy hub for workers, residents, and tourists. The Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden, the Macy's Herald Square flagship store, Koreatown, and NYU Langone Medical Center are all located in Midtown South.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Senior") and son "Junior", and their primary business advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, on May 14, 1913, when its charter was granted by New York. It is the second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America (after the Carnegie Corporation) and ranks as the 30th largest foundation globally by endowment, with assets of over $6.4 billion in 2023.

The Rockefeller Foundation is legally independent from other Rockefeller entities, including the Rockefeller University and Rockefeller Center. The foundation operates under the oversight of its own independent board of trustees, with its own resources and distinct mission. Since its inception, the foundation has donated billions of dollars to various causes, becoming the largest philanthropic enterprise in the world by the 1920s. The foundation has maintained an international reach since the 1930s and major influence on global non-governmental organizations. The World Health Organization is modeled on the International Health Division of the foundation, which sent doctors abroad to study and treat human subjects. The National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health are also modeled on the work funded by Rockefeller. It has also been a supporter of and influence on the United Nations.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of Broadacre City

Broadacre City was an urban or suburban development concept proposed by Frank Lloyd Wright throughout most of his lifetime. He presented the idea in his book The Disappearing City in 1932. A few years later he unveiled a very detailed twelve-by-twelve-foot (3.7 × 3.7 m) scale model representing a hypothetical four-square-mile (10 km) community. The model was crafted by the student interns who worked for him at Taliesin, and financed byEdgar Kaufmann. It was initially displayed at an Industrial Arts Exposition in the Forum at the Rockefeller Center starting on April 15, 1935. After the New York exposition, Kaufmann arranged to have the model displayed in Pittsburgh at an exposition titled "New Homes for Old", sponsored by the Federal Housing Administration. The exposition opened on June 18 on the 11th floor of Kaufmann's store. The model is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art. Wright went on to refine the concept in later books and in articles until his death in 1959.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network, serving as the flagship property of NBC Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's two main flagship subsidiaries, alongside Universal Studios. It is the first and oldest major broadcast programming network in the United States.

NBC's headquarters are located in New York City at Rockefeller Center's Comcast Building, the network's longtime home. The network's predecessor parent companies were integral to the center's construction. NBC also notably has offices at the NBC Tower in Chicago, Illinois, and at 10 Universal City Plaza in Los Angeles, California.

↑ Return to Menu

Rockefeller Center in the context of Christie's

Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting.

↑ Return to Menu