Plan F-18[edit]

During late 1930 and early 1931, the plans were revised and streamlined. [134] March 1931 saw the
announcement of Plan F-18,[121] which called for an International Music Hall (now Radio City Music
Hall[135]) and its 31-story office building annex to occupy the northernmost of the three blocks, located
between 50th and 51st streets. The 66-story 831-foot (253 m) RCA Building would be located on the
central block's western half, between 49th and 50th streets, and would house RCA and NBC offices
as well as broadcasting studios. The oval-shaped retail complex would occupy the block's eastern
half, with a rooftop garden. A RKO-operated sound theater would be located in the southernmost
block between 48th and 49th streets.[136] In the center of Radio City would be a new three-block-long
private street running between Fifth and Sixth avenues, with a concave plaza at the midpoint. The
complex would also include space for a future Metropolitan Opera venue on the northernmost block.
[136][137][138][134]
 An underground pedestrian shopping mall, which would be located above the underground
bus terminal, was also added in this plan. [121] The complex would include 28,000 windows and more
than 125,000 short tons (112,000 long tons) of structural steel, according to the builders. [136] It would
cost $250 million.[139][140][49]
For the first time, a scale rendering of the proposed complex was presented to the public. The
rendering was much criticized, with some taking issue with details or general dimensions of the as-
yet-unconfirmed proposal, and others lambasting the location of the tall skyscrapers around the
plaza.[141][142] Daniel Okrent writes that "almost everyone" hated the updated plans. The renowned
architectural scholar Lewis Mumford went into exile in upstate New York specifically because the
"weakly conceived, reckless, romantic chaos" of the plans for Rockefeller Center had violated his
sense of style. Mumford's commentary provoked a wave of blunt, negative criticism from private
citizens; newspapers, such as the New York Herald Tribune; and architects, including both Frank
Lloyd Wright and Ralph Adams Cram, whose styles were diametrically opposed to each other.
[143]
 The New York Times took note of the "universal condemnation" of the proposal, [142] and after the
complex's architects changed their plans in response to the criticism, the Times stated, "It is
cheering to learn that the architects and builders of Radio City have been stirred by the public
criticism of their plans."[144] Despite the controversy over the complex's design, Rockefeller retained
the Associated Architects for his project.[145]
Updated retail building and garden plans[edit]

The International Building and two smaller internationally themed buildings replaced an oval-shaped retail
building that was originally proposed for the site.[146]
The complex's rooftop gardens
The oval-shaped retail building on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets was criticized for not
fitting in with the rest of Fifth Avenue's architecture, with critics referring to the proposed building as
an "oilcan".[142][146][147] The original plan had been for two retail buildings, but was changed to one in
response to Chase National Bank's request for a single building. [134] However, the oval building was
scrapped in early 1931, after Chase could not win exclusive banking rights at the building's location.
[146][147]
 An updated plan, F-19, restored two smaller 6-story retail buildings to the site of the oval
building, and proposed a new 40-story tower for a nearby site. These buildings not only would
provide retail space but also would fit in with Fifth Avenue's architecture. [146][148]
In the new plan, an oval-shaped central plaza would be recessed below ground level, with plantings
surrounding a large central fountain. A wide, planted esplanade, between 50th and 51st streets,
would lead pedestrians from Fifth Avenue, on the east, to the plaza and to the RCA Building to the
west, with steps leading down to the plaza. The western side of the plaza would lead directly to the
underground pedestrian mall. [149][150][151] A replica of Niagara Falls' Horseshoe Falls would also be built
above a 100-by-20-foot (30 by 6 m) reflecting pool, while ivy would be planted on the outside of
some of the buildings.[151] In a June 1932 revision to the plan, the proposed plaza's shape was
changed to a rectangle, and the fountain was moved to the western side of the plaza. [152][153][154] The
sculptor Paul Manship was then hired to create a sculpture to place on top of the fountain; his
bronze Prometheus statue was installed on the site in 1934. [153][155]
As a concession for the loss of the rooftop gardens planned for the oval building, Hood suggested
that all of the complex's setbacks below the 16th floor be covered with gardens. [151][156][154][157] Hood
thought this was the cheapest way to make the buildings look attractive, with a cost estimate of
$250,000 to $500,000 (about $3.1 to $6.2 million in 2020 [14]) that could pay for itself if the gardens
were made into botanical gardens.[154][158] Hood proposed a three-tiered arrangement, inspired by a
similar plan of Le Corbusier. The lowest tier would be at ground level; the middle tier would be atop
the retail buildings' low-lying roofs and the skyscrapers' setbacks; and the highest tier would be at
the tops of the skyscrapers.[159] A March 1932 update to the rooftop garden proposal also included
two ornately decorated bridges that would connect the complex's three blocks, [160][154][161][162] though the
bridge plan was later dismissed due to its high cost. [163] Ultimately, only seven disconnected gardens
would be built.[164]
Since American tenants were reluctant to rent in the retail buildings, Rockefeller Center's manager
Hugh Robertson, formerly of Todd, Robertson and Todd, suggested foreign tenants for the buildings.
[165][166][167][168]
 They held talks with prospective Czech, German, Italian, and Swedish lessees who could
potentially occupy the six-story internationally themed buildings on Fifth Avenue, although it was
reported that Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian tenancies were also considered. [148][165][167] The
first themed building that was agreed on was the British Empire Building, the more southerly of the
two buildings, which would host governmental and commercial ventures of the United Kingdom.[147]
[169]
 In February 1932, French tenants agreed to occupy the British Empire Building's twin to the
north, La Maison Française.[170] A department store and 30-story building (later changed to 45 stories)
were planned for the block to the north of the twin buildings, between 50th and 51st streets, with the
department store portion facing Fifth Avenue. [171][172] A "final" layout change to that block occurred in
June, when the department store was replaced by the tower's two retail wings, which would be
nearly identical to the twin retail buildings to their south. The two new retail buildings, connected to
each other, and to the main tower, with a galleria, were proposed to serve Italian, and possibly also
German, interests upon completion.[173][174]
Theaters[edit]
Out of the four theaters included in plan H-1, of March 1930, the city only approved the construction
of two;[106] and thus, only these two theaters were constructed. [115][134] Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, a
successful theater operator who was renowned for his dominance of the city's theater industry,
[175]
 joined the center's advisory board in 1930.[153][176][177] He offered to build two theaters: a large,
vaudeville "International Music Hall", on the northernmost block, with more than 6,200 seats; and the
smaller, 3,500-seat "RKO Roxy" movie theater on the southernmost block. [177][178] The idea for these
theaters was inspired by Roxy's failed expansion of the 5,920-seat Roxy Theatre on 50th Street,
one-and-a-half blocks away.[179][180][181] Roxy also envisioned an elevated promenade between the two
theaters,[182] but this was never published in any of the official blueprints. [177] Meanwhile, proposals for
a Metropolitan Opera House on the site persisted. [176] Official plans for a facility to the east of the
RKO Roxy were filed in April 1932;[167] the projected 4,042-seat opera facility would contain features
such as a second-floor esplanade extending across 50th Street. [183] However, the Met was unable to
fund such a move, so the proposed new opera house was relegated to tentative status. [176]
In September 1931, a group of NBC managers and architects toured Europe to find performers and
look at theater designs.[184][178][185][186] However, the group did not find any significant architectural details
that they could use in the Radio City theaters.[187] In any case, Roxy's friend Peter B. Clark turned out
to have much more innovative designs for the proposed theaters than the Europeans did. [188] The
Music Hall was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone[189][190] and interior designer Donald
Deskey[191][192] in the Art Deco style.[193] Eugene Schoen was selected to design the RKO Roxy.[194]
Pedestrian mall[edit]
In December 1931, the Rockefeller Center Corporation put forth its expanded plans for the
underground pedestrian mall. It would now include a series of people mover tunnels, similar to
the U.S. Capitol subway, which would link the complex to locations such as Grand Central
Terminal and Penn Station.[195] A smaller, scaled-down version of the plan was submitted to the New
York City Board of Estimate in October 1933. The plan included two vehicular tunnels to carry 49th
and 50th streets underneath the entire complex, as well as a subterranean pedestrian
mall connecting the buildings in the complex. Additionally, a 0.75-mile (1.21 km) system of
pedestrian passages would be located 34 feet (10 m) underground, and a 125-by-96-foot (38 by
29 m) sunken lower plaza would connect to the mall via a wide concourse under the RCA Building.
[196]
 The complex-wide vehicular tunnels were not built; instead, a truck ramp from ground level to the
underground delivery rooms was built at 50th Street. [197][198]
Unbuilt Metropolitan Avenue[edit]
An unfulfilled revision to the plan was submitted in May 1931, when Benjamin Wistar Morris, the
architect of the original Opera proposal, proposed enhancing the complex's private passageway into
a public "Metropolitan Avenue", which would run from 42nd to 59th streets. [158] The avenue would
break up the 920-foot-long (280 m) distance between Fifth and Sixth avenues, which was the
longest gap between two numbered avenues in Manhattan. [199] This was not a new proposal, as
Mayor William Jay Gaynor had posited a similar avenue from 34th to 59th Streets in 1910, [200] and
Wistar himself had proposed the avenue in 1928 or 1929. [158][201] If built, Metropolitan Avenue would
have facilitated traffic through Rockefeller Center, in a manner similar to how Vanderbilt
Avenue between Madison and Park Avenues had assisted traffic flow around nearby Grand Central
Terminal. Ultimately, only the section between 48th and 51st streets was built; it now
comprises Rockefeller Plaza, a pedestrian street.[201]

Art program[edit]

Prometheus, one of the works created as part  of Rockefeller Center's art program
Both Raymond Hood and John Todd believed that the center needed visual enhancement besides
the rooftop gardens.[56][157] Initially, Todd had only planned to allocate about $150,000 toward the
building's art program, but Rockefeller wanted artworks that had meaningful purposes rather than
purely aesthetic ones.[202] In November 1931, Todd suggested the creation of a program for placing
distinctive artworks within each of the buildings. [203][204] Hartley Burr Alexander, a noted mythology and
symbology professor, was tasked with planning the complex's arts installations. [203][205][206][207] Alexander
submitted his plan for the site's artwork in December 1932. As part of the proposal, the complex
would have a variety of sculptures, statues, murals, friezes, decorative fountains, and mosaics.
[205]
 Expanding upon Hood's setback-garden plan, Alexander's proposal also included rooftop gardens
atop all the buildings,[205] which would create a "Babylonian garden" when viewed from above.[139][156]
At first, Alexander suggested "Homo faber, Man the Maker" as the complex's overarching theme,
representing satisfaction with one's occupation rather than with the wage. [206][208] However, that theme
was not particularly well received by the architects, so Alexander proposed another theme, the "New
Frontiers"; this theme dealt with social and scientific innovations and represented the challenges that
humanity faced "after the conquest of the physical world". [204] In theory, this was considered a fitting
theme, but Alexander had been so specific about the details of the necessary artworks that it limited
the creative license for any artists who would execute such works.[206] Alexander had created a 32-
page paper that explained exactly what needed to be done for each artwork, with some of the key
themes underlined in all caps, giving the paper "a tone more Martian than human", according to
Okrent.[209] In March 1932, Alexander was fired and replaced with a panel of five artists. [210][211] The
panel agreed on the current theme, "The March of Civilization", but by that point some of the art of
previous themes had already been commissioned, including the works that Alexander had proposed.
[208][212]

The process of commissioning art for Rockefeller Center was complicated. Each building's architects
would suggest some artwork. Todd would eliminate all of the unconventional proposals, and
Rockefeller had the final say on many of the works.[213] There were many locations that needed art
commissioned, which prevented any specific artistic style from dominating the complex.
[214]
 Specialists from around the world were retained for the art program: for instance, Edward
Trumbull coordinated the colors of the works located inside the buildings, and Léon-Victor Solon did
the same job for the exterior pieces.[215][207]
Gaston Lachaise, a renowned painter of female nudes, executed the commission for six
uncontroversial bas-reliefs for Rockefeller Center, four at the front of 1230 Avenue of the
Americas (RCA Building West) and two at the back of the International Building.[214]
[216]
 The Prometheus, Youth, and Maiden sculptures that Paul Manship had created for the complex
were prominently situated in the complex's lower plaza. [217] Barry Faulkner had only one commission
for the entirety of Rockefeller Center: a mosaic mural located above the entrance of 1230 Avenue of
the Americas.[218][219] Alfred Janniot also created a single work for Rockefeller Center, the bronze panel
outside La Maison Francaise's entrance.[220][221] Lee Lawrie was by far the complex's most prolific
artist, with 12 works.[222] Most of Lawrie's commissions were limestone screens above the main
entrances of buildings, but he had also created two of Rockefeller Center's best-known artworks:
the Atlas statue in the International Building's courtyard, and the 37-foot-tall (11 m) Wisdom screen
above the RCA Building's main entrance. [222][223] Ezra Winter, who created the "Quest for the Fountains
of Eternal Youth" mural in Radio City Music Hall's lobby, largely adhered to Alexander's original
specifications for the mural.[224][225]
One of the center's more controversial works was created by Diego Rivera, whom Nelson
Rockefeller had hired to create a color fresco for the 1,071-square-foot (99 m2) wall in the RCA
Building's lobby.[226][227] His painting, Man at the Crossroads, became controversial, as it contained
Moscow May Day scenes and a clear portrait of Lenin, which had not been apparent in initial
sketches (see Rockefeller Center § Man at the Crossroads.)[228][229] Nelson issued a written warning to
Rivera to replace the offending figure with an anonymous face, but Rivera refused, [228][230] so in mid-
1933, Rivera was paid for his commission and workers covered the mural with paper. [231] The fresco
was demolished completely in February 1934, [232] and it was subsequently replaced by Josep Maria
Sert's American Progress mural.[233] As a result of the Man at the Crossroads controversy, Nelson
scaled back his involvement with the complex's art, and his father began scrutinizing all of the
artworks thereafter commissioned for the center.[234]
One of the sculptor Attilio Piccirilli's works at Rockefeller Center would also be contested, albeit not
until after the complex was finished. [235] He had created bas-relief carvings above the entrances of
Palazzo d'Italia[236][237][238] and the International Building North.[236][238] Piccirilli's relief on the Palazzo
d'Italia was removed in 1941 because the panels were seen as an overt celebration of fascism,[239][240]
[241]
 but his International Building North panels were allowed to remain.[235][242]

Change in name[edit]
During early planning, the development was often referred to as "Radio City". [41] Before the
announcement that the development would include a mass media complex, there were also other
appellations such as "Rockefeller City" and "Metropolitan Square" (after the Metropolitan Square
Corporation).[243] Ivy Lee suggested changing the name to "Rockefeller Center". John Rockefeller Jr.
initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was
persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants. [244] The name was formally
changed in December 1931.[56][243] Rockefeller Jr. and The New York Times originally spelled the
complex as "Rockefeller Centre", which was the British way of spelling "Center". After consultation
with the famed lexicographer Frank H. Vizetelly, "Centre" was changed to "Center". [245] Over time, the
appellation of "Radio City" devolved from describing the entire complex to just the complex's western
section;[66] and by 1937, only the Radio City Music Hall contained the "Radio City" name. [246]

Construction progress[edit]
According to Daniel Okrent, most sources estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were
hired during construction. One estimate by Raymond Fosdick, the Rockefeller Foundation head,
placed the figure at 225,000 people, including workers who created materials for the complex
elsewhere.[247] When construction started, the city was feeling the full effects of the Depression, with
over 750,000 people unemployed and 64% of all construction workers without a job. [248] At the
Depression's peak in the mid-1930s, John Rockefeller Jr. was praised as a job creator and a
"patriot" for jump-starting the city's economy with the construction project. [249] Rockefeller made an
effort to form amicable relationships with Rockefeller Center's workers. [250] Even when Rockefeller
had to reduce wages for his union workers, he was praised for not reducing wages as severely as
did other construction firms, many of which were either struggling or going bankrupt. [249] At the time,
the complex was the largest private building project ever undertaken. [251] Carol Herselle Krinsky, in
her 1978 book, describes the center as "the only large private permanent construction project
planned and executed between the start of the Depression and the end of the Second World War".
[252]

Land acquisition and clearing[edit]
The St. Nicholas Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, one of two entities who refused
to sell property to Rockefeller Center under any circumstances

30 Rockefeller Plaza (at right) was built around private property at its northwestern and southwestern corners.
The Warby Parker store in the center of this image now occupies the site of the parcel at the northwestern
corner of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
For the project, 228 buildings on the site were razed and some 4,000 tenants relocated, [47][253] with the
estimated aggregate worth of the property exceeding $7 billion [137][253] (equivalent to $87 billion in
2019[14]). Rockefeller achieved this by buying existing leases from the tenants. [253] In January
1929, William A. White & Sons was hired to conduct the eviction proceedings. They worked with the
law firm of Murray, Aldrich & Webb to give checks to tenants in exchange for property, sometimes
for over $1 million.[254] The area was mostly occupied by illegal speakeasy bars, as the Prohibition
Era had banned all sales of alcoholic beverages. Although the more tenuous of these speakeasies
quickly moved elsewhere at the mere mention of formal eviction proceedings, other tenants,
including some of the brothels, were harder to evict.[255] Many tenants only moved on certain
conditions; and in one case, the firms acquired a lease from the estate of the late gambler Arnold
Rothstein, who was murdered two months before he was set to be forcefully evicted from his Upper
Estate building in January 1929. [256] Demolition of the structures started in early 1930,[66] and all of the
buildings' leases had been bought by August 1931.[257]
The center's managers then set to acquire the remaining lots along Sixth Avenue, and at the
southeast corner of the site, so that they could create a larger complex, which led to the formation of
the Underel Corporation. The negotiations for the Sixth Avenue properties were conducted by
different brokers and law firms so as to conceal the Rockefeller family's involvement in the Underel
Corporation's acquisitions. Even so, there were several tenants along Sixth Avenue who initially
refused to give up their buildings. [258][b] In total, Charles Heydt spent $10 million (equivalent to
$120 million in 2019[14]) on acquiring the Sixth Avenue parcels, as compared to the $6 million
(equivalent to $74 million in 2019 dollars[14]) budgeted for the task.[261]
The tenants of two Sixth Avenue properties were ultimately allowed to stay. One lessee, who
occupied a plot on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 50th Street, never received a sale offer
due to a misunderstanding. The owners of the other parcel, located on the northeast corner of Sixth
Avenue and 49th Street, demanded an exorbitant price for their property. [258][c] 30 Rockefeller Plaza
was ultimately built around both parcels.[264][265]
On the southeast corner of the site, several property owners also refused to sell. Columbia
University was willing to give Rockefeller Center Inc. control of all leases in the former Upper Estate
that were no longer held by a third party. However, William Nelson Cromwell, a prominent lawyer
and Columbia alumnus, who owned three adjacent row houses at 10–14 West 49th Street, would
not move out of his house when his lease expired in 1927. [259][266] The disagreement continued until
1936, during which time Cromwell refused to pay rent on 14 West 49th Street, while Rockefeller
Center Inc. withheld $400,000 of Cromwell's rent payments to Columbia. [267][d] Rockefeller Center Inc.
would later buy 8 West 49th, thus boxing Cromwell's land in between the two Rockefeller Center
parcels.[268] The company allowed Robert Walton Goelet to keep the neighboring lot at 2–6 West 49th
Street because the company considered his "interest and concern" to be a "large concern".
However, he could not develop the land because Cromwell controlled an easement over part of
Goelet's land,[269] and the lots at 2–6 West 49th Street would be developed in 1932 as
a commercial building called 608 Fifth Avenue.[270] The St. Nicholas Church, located on 48th Street
behind Goelet's lot, also refused to sell its property despite an offer of up to $7 million for the parcel.
[271]

Late 1931: start of construction[edit]

Excavation of the Sixth Avenue side of the plot began in late July 1931, [272] commencing a seven-year
period of excavation during which 556,000 cubic yards (425,000 m3) of the underlying Manhattan
schist would be removed from the site.[273] By late 1931, the empty blocks were pits up to 80-foot-
deep (24 m), with a few buildings still standing at the edges of each block. 49th and 50th streets
resembled "causeways skimming the surface of a lake". [249] A field office for the project was erected
on Fifth Avenue. It served as the headquarters for the main construction contractors Todd & Brown,
which was composed of John Todd's son Webster as well as Joseph O. Brown.[274] Brown was
especially involved in eliminating unnecessary costs and selecting firms for supplies. [275]
Designs for the RCA Building and International Music Hall, to the north, were submitted to the New
York City Department of Buildings in August 1931, with both buildings scheduled to open in 1932.
[276]
 The contracts for the music hall and 66-story skyscraper were awarded two months later. [137]
[115]
 Ultimately, the project's managers would submit 1,860 contracts to the Department of Buildings.
[277]
 Rockefeller Center's construction progressed quickly; by October 1931, sixty percent of the
digging was complete and the first contracts for the buildings had been let. [137] The foundations had
been dug up to 50 feet (15 m) below ground, and the first of the RCA Building's 86 piers, descending
a maximum of 86 feet (26 m), had been set. Of the brownstones on site, 177 had been demolished
by that October, with the majority of the remaining buildings located near the avenues. [137] Work on
the new Roxy Theatre, to the south of the RCA Building, started that November. [181][115]
The architects wanted a uniform color for the facades of all 14 of the new buildings. [140] To that end,
Raymond Hood, in December 1931, awarded a contract for Indiana Limestone that would make up
the facades. At the time, it was the largest order of stone in history, with about 14 million cubic feet
(0.40×106 m3) of limestone being shipped.[278] Rockefeller Center's managers also ordered 154,000
short tons (138,000 long tons) of structural steel, the largest such order in history, which cost one-
eighth of the projected $250 million total construction cost. The steel order involved a bidding
war between Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel. The order ultimately went to U.S. Steel, providing
8,000 jobs for its workers, but resulting in a financial loss, as the bidding war resulted in a price that
was too low to cover the cost of making the steel.[279][280] Rockefeller Center also required nearly 23
acres (1 million square feet, 0.093×106 m2) of glass for its windows, 25,000 doors, and 50 thousand
cubic feet (1.4×103 m3) of granite.[280]
As a result of the Depression, building costs were cheaper than projected. Although Metropolitan
Life's loan of $126 million remained the same, the final cost of the first ten buildings came to $102
million (equivalent to $1.5 billion in 2019 dollars[14]) by the time these structures were completed in
1935. John Todd used the surplus to install extra features in the buildings, such as wider-than-
normal utility pipes, a subterranean boiler for the complex in case the steam system malfunctioned,
and the complex's limestone facades.[281] Todd even installed sprinklers on the exteriors of the Fifth
Avenue retail buildings in case they needed to be converted into factories, since sprinklers were
required on industrial buildings at the time. [282] However, not all of the effects were positive: the
construction boom of the late 1920s and early 1930s had almost doubled the total amount of real
estate in Manhattan, and the construction of Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building would
increase the amount of space by another 56%. As a result, there was a lot of undervalued, vacant
space. After RKO's bankruptcy in 1931, Sarnoff convinced John Rockefeller Jr. to buy RKO common
stock and RCA preferred stock worth a total of $4 million (equivalent to $48 million in 2019[14]), in
return for RCA downsizing its lease by 500 thousand square feet (46×103 m2).[283]

1932–1933