299 Park Avenue

East Midtown | built 1966

Open on the map5 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1967

    Emery Roth & Sons builds a tower straddling live rail tracks

    Fisher Brothers developed 299 Park Avenue over the New York Central Railroad's Park Avenue main line, and its foundation was built through two layers of "ladder tracks" so the railroad could keep operating. Emery Roth & Sons designed the 42-story International Style tower, whose black facade has alternating shiny and matte stainless steel mullions. It opened in 1967.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1980

    A fire in the tower injures 125 firefighters

    The skyscraper, commonly called the Westvaco Building for much of its history, suffered a large fire in 1980 that injured 125 firefighters. Another large fire damaged it in 1981.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1981

    April 6

    A two-alarm fire on the 26th floor of the Westvaco building fills the upper floors with smoke

    A two-alarm fire early on April 6, 1981, caused extensive smoke damage to the upper floors of the Westvaco building. The blaze, on the 26th floor, was called in at 12:15 a.m. by lawyers still working on the upper floors, among them some at the offices of Debevoise, Plimpton, Lyons & Gates on the 32nd floor. The entire block was closed off, and broken glass littered the surrounding streets and sidewalks.

    Source: Internet Archive

  4. 2009

    UBS sublets 28,000 square feet to MarketAxess after a $1.3 billion quarterly loss

    In the summer of 2009, shortly after UBS reported a $1.3 billion loss for the second quarter, its third straight quarterly loss, the bank subleased 28,000 square feet at 299 Park Avenue to MarketAxess. The new lease ran 8.5 years. The Real Deal described the building as Fisher Brothers-owned and reported the deal in early August.

    Source: Internet Archive

  5. 2010

    UBS sells its stake in the tower for $335 million

    UBS, which owned a 49.5 percent interest in 299 Park Avenue, sold that stake to Rockpoint Investments for $335 million in early 2010. Fisher Brothers, which developed the site in the 1960s, has majority owned and controlled the building since its construction.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 43 buildings with stories in East Midtown