Singer Building Architecture NYC

Photo shows the top floors of the old Singer Building. It is a fragment of the photograph on the right by Irving Underhill, copyright 1916. Source: Library of Congress.

This 47-story skyscraper, at 149 Broadway, on the northwest corner of Liberty Street and Broadway, was completed in 1908 and demolished in 1968. It was the world's tallest building until 1909, when it was surpassed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower in Madison Avenue.

Singer Building was designed by architect Ernest Flagg (1857-1947) in the Beaux-Arts style. The building was composed of four distinct sections. The original 10-story Singer Building at 149 Broadway was erected between 1897 and 1898, and the adjoining 14-story structure on Liberty Street was built from 1898 to 1899. In the first decade of the 20th century, the two buildings were expanded to form the 14-story base of the Singer Tower, which rose another 27 stories. The façade was made of brick, stone, and terracotta. A dome with a lantern capped the tower. It had an observation platform on the top.