Paramount Building
1501 Broadway | also 200 West 44th Street, 1501B Broadway, 1501A Broadway | Times Square | built 1927
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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.
- 1922
Zukor's company assembles the Paramount site from the Putnam Building and Westover Court
The landmark report says the Paramount site was assembled in 1922, when the 1493 Broadway Corporation, headed by Adolph Zukor, bought land that had belonged to the Astor estate. It included the six-story Putnam Building on Broadway, named for the spot where George Washington met General Israel Putnam. Behind it stood Westover Court, ten four-story houses that had been turned into bachelor apartments. Zukor then leased the property to the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation for twenty-one years.
- 1925
Paramount celebrates the project with a barbecue of oxen roasted over the ruins of Westover Court
Demolition contracts for the Paramount site were awarded in May 1925, and Famous Players-Lasky filmed the work, starting with the old Westover Court apartments. That August the company threw a barbecue at the nearby Hotel Astor. The oxen and lamb on the menu had been roasted over the ruins of Westover Court.
“…held a barbecue in the nearby Hotel Astor that August, serving oxen and lamb that had been roasted over Westover Court's ruins…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1926
The 3,664-seat Paramount Theatre opens beside the new tower and takes in $80,000 in its first week
The Paramount Theatre opened on November 19, 1926, in the wing behind the company's new headquarters tower. Its Neo-Renaissance auditorium held 3,664 seats under a frescoed ceiling, the lobby recalled the grandeur of the Paris Opera, and a huge Wurlitzer organ nicknamed the Dowager Empress accompanied the silent films. Daytonian in Manhattan reports that the house took in $80,000 in its first week.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1926
Mayor Walker lays the Paramount cornerstone over two feature films and Admiral Byrd newsreels
At the dedication of the Paramount Building in May 1926, Mayor Walker set the ceremonial cornerstone in place. Sealed in its copper boxes were the front pages of the city's morning papers, along with two feature films, three gold pieces worth five dollars each, and newsreels of Admiral Byrd's polar expedition. Notable New Yorkers and members of the film industry made speeches, and a letter of congratulations from Thomas Edison was read to the crowd.
- 1926
Paramount films the lifting of eight 144-ton roof trusses over its theater
While the Paramount Building rose, its owners had the work recorded on film, which the landmark report calls a first for any building. The cameras caught the setting of eight steel trusses over the theater's auditorium, each 122 feet long and 144 tons, hoisted 115 feet above the future stage. Contractor Thompson-Starrett designed travelling derricks on steel rollers to carry the cranes for the unprecedented lift.
“…the setting of eight, 122-foot long trusses which supported the roof of the theater's auditorium. Each truss weighed 144 tons and was hoisted 115 feet…”
- 1927
The Paramount tower's clock and glass globe tell the time by flashing
The tower's four clock faces use stars in place of numerals, recalling the Paramount trademark of stars around a mountain peak. A glass globe on top was meant to represent the company's worldwide activities. At night the clocks and globe gave the time in white or red light: the globe flashed on and off to mark the hour, once at the quarter hour, twice at the half hour and three times at three-quarters.
- 1927
Glass-enclosed observation decks open atop the Paramount Building's highest setback
In November 1927, a few months after the office tower was finished, Paramount added glass-enclosed viewing platforms to the north and south faces of its uppermost setback. The company had already assigned the six largest floors of the 33-story tower to its own offices, and the clock faces and glass globe crowned the building above. The platforms were taken down in later years.
“In November of 1927, glass-enclosed observation decks were added to the north and south sides of the topmost setback; these have since been removed.”
- 1942
Frank Sinatra's New Year's show at the Paramount draws a roaring crowd of teenagers
Untapped New York dates the first public outburst of crazed teenage fandom to December 30, 1942, during Frank Sinatra's New Year's booking at the Paramount. Sinatra later recalled five thousand kids stamping, yelling and applauding so loudly that he was scared stiff and could not move. Jack Benny remembered thinking the building was going to cave in.
Source: Untapped New York
- 1943
The Paramount Building wins an air-raid readiness award and blacks out its famous globe
At the start of World War II the leasing firm William A. White & Son prepared the tower for air raids, and in 1943 the building earned an award for air-raid readiness. Tenants collected scrap paper for the war effort. The illuminated globe and the clock on top were blacked out.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1956
Elvis Presley's first film, Love Me Tender, premieres at the Paramount beneath a 40-foot cutout
Love Me Tender, Elvis Presley's first movie, premiered at the Paramount Theatre on November 15, 1956. Crowds of fans packed Broadway outside on opening night beneath a 40-foot Presley cutout. In the same years the promoter Alan Freed used the theater for live rock-and-roll shows that spotlighted new acts such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1964
The Paramount Theatre closes after a screening of The Carpetbaggers in 1964, and its grand interior is dismantled
Daytonian in Manhattan reports that the popularity of television and the decline of the Broadway neighborhood badly hurt the theater's revenues. Paramount locked the doors after the last showing of The Carpetbaggers on August 4, 1964. Afterward the grand staircase disappeared, the frescoes were destroyed, the chandeliers were sold, and the huge organ went to a convention center in Wichita, Kansas. The interior was converted into stores and offices.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1988
The Landmarks Commission designates the Paramount Building over its owner's objection
On November 1, 1988, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Paramount Building, three years after a public hearing in November 1985. Three witnesses spoke for designation, while two representing the owner spoke against it. The commission cited the tower as the eastern headquarters of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, forerunner of Paramount Pictures, and as a fine example of the 1920s setback skyscraper.
“Three witnesses spoke in favor of designation. Two witnesses (representing the owner) spoke in opposition to designation.”
- 1999
The World Wrestling Federation buys the Paramount Building's base and opens a theme restaurant
Planet Hollywood spent $13 million converting the ground-floor and basement space into a live-music venue and lowered the basement by 7 feet, but it ran into financial trouble and sold the space. The World Wrestling Federation bought it in July 1999 for $9 million and put $7.5 million into a theme restaurant. WWF New York opened that November; it closed in early 2003 as The World, and a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant opened in the building that year.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2001
A new LED marquee debuts on the Paramount Building with an American flag the day after September 11
The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved an LED marquee for the building in May 2000, after at first hesitating. The marquee made its debut on September 12, 2001, the day following the terrorist attacks, and its first display was an American flag.
“The new marquee was unveiled with an American flag display on September 12, 2001, one day after the September 11 attacks.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 1501 BroadwayWikipedia
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