Editing Rockefeller Center (section)

===Underground concourse===
[[File:47 50 Streets entrance 2010 vc.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Exit from the concourse to the subway station]]

A series of shop-and-restaurant-filled pedestrian passages stretch underground from 47th to 51st streets between Fifth and Seventh avenues. The pedestrian tunnel system was part of the updated 1931 plan for the center,{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=57}} and formal proposals for the system were submitted in 1933. It was supposed to comprise a system that stretched over {{Convert|0.75|mi|km}}, all air-conditioned and lined with shops. Meanwhile, the pair of four-lane roadways was supposed to be located underneath the pedestrian mall, with delivery ramps leading to a {{Convert|320|by|180|ft|adj=on|m}} central loading area {{Convert|34|ft|m}} below ground.<ref name="NYSun-Underground-1933">{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201933%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201933%2520-%25209248.pdf|title=Underground Traffic Planned|date=October 6, 1933|work=New York Sun|access-date=November 10, 2017|page=20|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref> Later plans also included a [[people mover]].<ref name="NYTimes-Tunnels-1931">{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/12/04/112694013.pdf|title=Radio City to Build Tunnels for Public|date=December 4, 1931|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref>

Ultimately, the people mover was not built, but the 25-space mall opened in May 1935.<ref name="NYTimes-Tunnels-1935" /> The complex's owner Tishman Speyer renovated the concourse in 1999 in an effort to make the underground retail space more noticeable and attract more upscale tenants.<ref name="Collins 1999" />{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=432}} The original bronze ornaments and lighting were replaced, air-conditioning was installed, two passageways were demolished, and both ground-level and underground retail spaces were refurbished as part of the renovation.<ref name="Collins 1999">{{cite web | last=Collins | first=Glenn | title=Bringing Up the Basement; Rockefeller Center Is Turning Its Underground Concourse Into a Shiny New Shopping Zone. Lost in the Bargain, Preservationists Say, Is an Art Deco Treasure. | website=The New York Times | date=February 21, 1999 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/nyregion/bringing-up-basement-rockefeller-center-turning-its-underground-concourse-into.html | access-date=December 13, 2017}}</ref>

The concourse is the uppermost level of the complex's four basement levels, as well as the only basement level open to the public.<ref name="NYTimes-Robot-City-1944"/> The lower three levels are home to storage rooms and the complex's shipping center,<ref name="NYTimes-Robot-City-1944"/> the latter of which is accessed by a delivery ramp at 50th Street.{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=209}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/05/22/97304121.pdf|title=Rockefeller City Gets a Huge Ramp; It Will Take Trucks 34 Feet Underground to Help Solve Traffic Problem. To Serve 3-Block Area; All Deliveries Will Be Made Below the Surface and Transferred to Elevators.|date=May 22, 1934|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 11, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Access is via lobby stairways in the six landmark buildings, through restaurants surrounding the concourse-level skating rink, and via elevators to the north and south of the rink. There is also a connection to the [[New York City Subway]]'s [[47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center (IND Sixth Avenue Line)|47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center]] station, serving the {{NYCS trains|Sixth}}.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1115}}<ref name="NYTimes-Expansion-1974"/><ref name="Concourse Directory">{{cite web | title=The Concourse at Rockefeller Center: Directory | website=Rockefeller Center | date=January 14, 2018 | url=https://d1v5vpeyrmf36z.cloudfront.net/ui/1/downloads/Rockefeller%20Center%20Concourse%20Map.8d2c33bf35c22c421c6eab11aaf4bdef.pdf | access-date=February 20, 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2018}}, the largest retailer in the concourse is [[Banana Republic]].<ref name="Concourse Directory"/>