1500 Broadway (Times Square Plaza)
1500 Broadway | also 155 West 43rd Street | Times Square | built 1972
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1888
Eugene O'Neill is born in the Barrett House hotel at Broadway and 43rd Street
The playwright was born on October 16, 1888, in the Barrett House, a modest family-run hotel overlooking what was then called Longacre Square, where Broadway meets 43rd Street. The spot lies within today's 1500 Broadway site. His father, James O'Neill, had moved his wife Ella into the hotel in late August to await the birth of their third child. The building was torn down in 1940.
Source: playbill.com
- 1914
ASCAP is founded at the Hotel Claridge, which stood on this lot
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers takes shape at the Hotel Claridge, the hotel that later gave way to 1500 Broadway. A first meeting at Luchow's restaurant is poorly attended because of bad weather, but its nine attendees become founding members and call a second meeting. More than 100 people come to the Claridge on February 13, 1914, where ASCAP is officially created and George Maxwell is elected president.
Source: ebsco.com
- 1941
A Camel cigarette billboard puffing steam tops the Hotel Claridge on this corner
The Claridge, which opened in 1910 under the name Rector Hotel, stood at the southeast corner of Broadway and 44th Street, where 1500 Broadway now stands. A billboard for Camel cigarettes sat on the building from 1941 until 1966, blowing out puffs of steam. The office tower later replaced the hotel.
“Hotel Claridge, built in 1910 as the Rector Hotel. From 1941 to 1966, that building had contained a billboard advertising Camel cigarettes, which emitted steam jets.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1961
Pool scenes for The Hustler are shot at Ames Billiards in the Hotel Claridge
The pool-hall scenes of the film The Hustler, released in 1961, are shot at Ames Billiards, a billiard parlor on the second floor of the Hotel Claridge. The hotel, which stood at Broadway and 44th Street where 1500 Broadway now rises, operated for 59 years until it was demolished in 1970 for the office tower.
“In the film The Hustler (1961)... the pool scenes were shot in Ames Billiards on the building's second floor.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1972
The National cinema opens at the base of 1500 Broadway with The Poseidon Adventure
The National, the tower's cinema, started its run on December 12, 1972, premiering The Poseidon Adventure. Wikipedia calls it the first movie theater newly built in Times Square in 37 years, the previous one being the Criterion Theatre of 1935. National General Pictures, the theater's namesake and intended flagship tenant, had pulled out of the project before the tower was completed.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1974
The first office leases are signed in a nearly empty tower
After 1500 Broadway opens, only 10 to 15 percent of it is occupied during its first year, nearly all of it retail space and the cinema. The first office leases come in March 1974, when the clothing store Lane Bryant and Xerox together take 30,500 square feet. The American Federation of Musicians, Actors' Equity and the Junior League are also among the early tenants.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1982
The National Theatre is split into two screens and reopens as the RKO National Twin
Operated by RKO Century Warner, the National was divided into two auditoriums in 1982, one seating 968 and the other 513. The twin opened on March 19, 1982, with Porky's on one screen and Christiane F. on the other. It kept running as a two-screen house until it closed in January 1998.
Source: cinematreasures.org
- 1997
ABC leases the lower floors of 1500 Broadway after Disney executives scout from the National Theater's marquee
In late 1997 the American Broadcasting Company took a lease on the tower's lower floors, a deal that followed a visit by two executives of its parent, the Walt Disney Company, who had stood on the marquee of the old National Theater while searching for studio locations. The theater was closed for the conversion, and the bottom five stories were stripped and rebuilt beginning in mid-1998. Good Morning America began broadcasting from the studios in 1999.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1998
The RKO National Twin closes with Home Alone 3, and ABC's Good Morning America takes over the space
The twin cinema ended its run on January 22, 1998; the last films shown were For Richer or Poorer and Home Alone 3. The gutted space became the street-level studios of ABC's Good Morning America, which occupied the space until June 13, 2025.
Source: cinematreasures.org
- 1999
Good Morning America broadcasts from its new Times Square studio with Serena Williams
Good Morning America originates for the first time from its Times Square studio on September 13, 1999. The guest is Serena Williams, the newly crowned U.S. Open champion, who sits down with anchor Diane Sawyer and sports reporter Robin Roberts.
Source: adweek.com
Further reading
- 1500 BroadwayWikipedia
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