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At a time when other developers shunned the area east of the Third Avenue
El, the Daily News selected this site so that it could house its noisy
printing presses in the same facility as its editorial offices. Designed
by Raymond Hood, the building contained the newspaper's offices and
speculative office space in a tower set back above a 10-story base with
larger floors to accommodate the presses. Its facade features a 3-story
granite slab above the entrance that is decorated with an image of office
workers underneath a sunburst motif illuminating the News Building rising
above. Art Deco features of the exterior facade include the use of
polychrome brick and red and black spandrels between the windows. The
bold verticality of the tower, the repetitive windows, and the flat, bare
facade are early characteristics of the International Style that would
gain popularity in New York after World War II. The costly building was
constructed when the Daily News had the largest circulation of any
newspaper in the United States. A large, revolving globe, set against a
backdrop of black glass and aluminum in the center of the lobby,
symbolized the paper's global perspective and quickly became a tourist
attraction. An addition designed by Harrison and Abramowitz was added to
the east side of the tower in 1958.
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