The old Singer Building frontage at 149 Broadway, northwest corner of Liberty Street. Photo shows the early skyscraper being demolished in September 1967. Photograph from the Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Singer
Building, designed by architect Ernest Flagg, was a 47-story building in New
York City,
completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company. It
was the tallest building in the world from 1908 to 1909 and in 1967 it became
the tallest building ever demolished. In order to provide adequate air and
light for all offices, Flagg envisioned a city of towers, in which the first
five or six stories of every building would extend over the entire lot, but the
upper stories would cover only one-quarter of the lots. The lobby was renowned
for its elegant marble and bronze decor. It was replaced by the One Liberty
Plaza.
