The Helmsley Building Park Avenue

While I was exploring the city, I found the doors that opened to allow you inside the Helmsley Building on Park Avenue. One entrance the doors are locked but the other they are open and I was so excited to go inside! It is really a gorgeous piece of architecture, Beaux-Arts style, which is my favorite! 

The Helmsley Building is a 35-story building located at 230 Park Avenue between East 45th and East 46th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, which was built in 1929 as the New York Central Building, and was designed by Warren & Wetmore, the architects of Grand Central Terminal, in the Beaux-Arts style. Before the erection of the Pan Am Building—now the MetLife Building—this building stood out over the city's second most prestigious avenue as the tallest structure in the great "Terminal City" complex around Grand Central.  

On September 10, 1931, capo di tutti capi Salvatore Maranzano was murdered in his ninth-floor office here by hitmen sent by Lucky Luciano and Vito Genovese, ambitious underlings whom Maranzano had hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll to kill. Quite a mafia story.  

How gorgeous is this interior? I just loved it! I have quite a fondness for gold.  

"The impressive lobby, planned as a corridor connecting 45th and 46th Streets, echoes the magnificence of the exterior. The design and ornamentation celebrate the prowess of the New York Central Railroad, which had its headquarters on the premises. A sense of imperial grandeur is created by marble walls and bronze detail, which includes extensive use of the railroad’s initials. The Chinese Red elevator doors open into cabs with red walls, wood moldings, gift domes, and painted cloudscapes. 

Their Christmas Tree was quite lovely.  

What a gorgeous chandelier!  

I loved everything about this area where the elevators were located. So much detail every place you look, it is kind of hard to keep up with it.  

Make sure you check out this building while walking along Park Avenue. It is quite an important piece of New York City history. 

To be assured not miss a post, sign up for each one to be emailed to you HERE. Be sure to check for your Feedburner confirmation email, or your subscription will not be processed. Your email is not sold or shared with anyone. Thank you so much for visiting!