Editing Rockefeller Center (section)

===Context===

The first private owner of the site was physician [[David Hosack]], who purchased twenty acres of rural land from New York City in 1801 and opened the country's first public [[botanical garden]], the [[Elgin Botanic Garden]], on the site.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Dana Schulz|title=The Country's First Botanic Garden Was on 20 Wooded Acres at Today's Rockefeller Center|url=https://www.6sqft.com/nyc-had-the-countrys-first-botanic-garden-and-it-was-founded-by-alexander-hamiltons-doctor/|website=6sqft|access-date=September 1, 2016|date=March 30, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Rockefeller-Buys-Realty-1928">{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/12/28/95697717.pdf|title=Rockefeller Buys $100,000,000 Realty; Part For New Opera|date=December 28, 1928|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=November 10, 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=8}} The gardens operated until 1811,{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=12}}{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=9}} and by 1823 the property was under the ownership of [[Columbia University]].{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=9}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=8}} Columbia moved its main campus north to [[Morningside Heights]], in [[Upper Manhattan]], by the turn of the century.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=427}}

[[File:Metropolitan opera 1905.jpg|thumb|alt=The old Metropolitan Opera House|Rockefeller Center originated as a plan to replace the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|old Metropolitan Opera House]] (pictured).{{sfn|Radio City Music Hall Landmark Designation|1978|p=3}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=21}}]]

In 1926, the [[Metropolitan Opera]] started looking for locations for a new [[opera house]] to replace the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|existing building]] at [[39th Street (Manhattan)|39th Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]].{{sfn|Radio City Music Hall Landmark Designation|1978|p=3}} By 1928, [[Benjamin Wistar Morris (architect)|Benjamin Wistar Morris]] and designer [[Joseph Urban]] were hired to come up with blueprints for the house.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=21}}{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=10}}  However, the new building was too expensive for the Met to fund by itself,{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=13}} and [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] eventually gave his support to the project ([[John D. Rockefeller Sr.]], his father, was not involved).{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=13}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|pp=31–32}} Rockefeller hired Todd, Robertson and Todd as design consultants to determine its viability.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1115}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=33}} John R. Todd then put forth a plan for the Met.<ref name="NYTimes-Opera-Site-Dropped-1929">{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/12/06/94215747.pdf|title=Rockefeller Site For Opera Dropped|date=December 6, 1929|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 10, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=33, map p.&nbsp;34}} Columbia leased the plot to Rockefeller for 87 years at a cost of $3 million per year,<ref name="NYTimes-Opera-Site-Dropped-1929" /> excluding some properties on Fifth Avenue and a strip on Sixth Avenue.<ref name="NYTimes-Rockefeller-Buys-Realty-1928" /><ref name="NYTimes-Engineers-Engaged-1929">{{Cite news |date=October 5, 1929 |title=Engineers Engaged For Opera Centre |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/10/05/91961261.pdf |access-date=November 10, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The initial cost of acquiring the space, razing some of the existing buildings, and constructing new buildings was estimated at $250 million.{{sfn|Seielstad|1930|page=19}}

Rockefeller hired [[Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray]]; [[Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux]]; and [[Reinhard & Hofmeister]], to design the buildings. They worked under the umbrella of "Associated Architects" so none of the buildings could be attributed to any specific firm.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1939|p=334}}{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=12}}{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=13}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1115}} The principal builder and "managing agent" was John R. Todd, one of the co-founders of Todd, Robertson and Todd.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=32}} The principal architect and leader of the Associated Architects was [[Raymond Hood]], a student of the [[Art Deco]] architectural movement.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=44}}<ref name="nhlsum"/> The other architects included [[Harvey Wiley Corbett]]{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=44}} and [[Wallace Harrison]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Goldberger | first=Paul | title=Wallace Harrison Dead At 86; Rockefeller Center Architect | work=The New York Times | date=December 3, 1981 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/03/obituaries/wallace-harrison-dead-at-86-rockefeller-center-architect.html | access-date=November 16, 2017}}</ref> L. Andrew Reinhard and Henry Hofmeister had been hired by John Todd as the "rental architects", who designed the floor plans for the complex.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=58}} The [[Metropolitan Square Corporation]] (the precursor to Rockefeller Center Inc.) was formed in December 1928 to oversee construction.{{sfn|Balfour|1978|p=9}}{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=11}}

After the stock market [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|crash of 1929]], the Metropolitan Opera could not afford to move anymore.{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=11}} After the opera plans were canceled on December 6, 1929,<ref name="NYTimes-Opera-Site-Dropped-1929" />{{sfn|Balfour|1978|p=11}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=48}} Rockefeller quickly negotiated with [[RCA|Radio Corporation of America (RCA)]] and its subsidiaries, [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company (NBC)]] and [[RKO Pictures|Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO)]], to build a [[mass media]] entertainment complex on the site.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=50}}{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=29}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=70}} By May 1930, RCA and its affiliates had agreed to develop the site.{{sfn|Balfour|1978|p=53}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=142}} Todd released a new plan "G-3" in January 1930, followed by an "H plan" that March.{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=11}} Another plan, announced in March 1931,{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=12}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=57}}{{sfn|Popular Mechanics|1932|pages=252–253}} received mostly negative feedback from the public.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|pp=180–182}}{{sfn|Balfour|1978|p=36}} The design of the complex was affected greatly by the [[1916 Zoning Resolution]], which required [[Setback (architecture)|setbacks]] to all high street-side exterior walls of New York City buildings in order to increase sunlight for city streets.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|pp=16–17}}{{Efn|As per the 1916 Zoning Act, the wall of any given tower that faces a street could only rise to a certain height, proportionate to the street's width, at which point the building had to be set back by a given proportion. This system of setbacks would continue until the tower reaches a floor level in which that level's floor area was 25% that of the ground level's area. After that 25% threshold was reached, the building could rise without restriction.{{sfn|Kayden|Municipal Art Society|2000|p=8}} This law was superseded by the [[1961 Zoning Resolution]].{{sfn|Kayden|Municipal Art Society|2000|pp=11–12}}|name=zoning}} The plan also included rooftop gardens<ref name="NYSun-Plans-Revised-1931">{{cite news |date=August 24, 1931 |title=Plans Revised For Radio City |page=20 |work=The New York Sun |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201931%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201931%2520-%25208099.pdf |access-date=November 16, 2017 |via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Gardens-1931">{{Cite news |last=Hood |first=Raymond |date=August 23, 1931 |title=The Babylonian Dream Soon to Be Made Reality in Radio City Is Seen by the Architects as a Huge Experiment Holding the Possibility of a Completely Transformed Metropolis |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/08/23/118418603.pdf |access-date=November 11, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and a recessed central plaza.{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|pp=61–62}}<ref name="NYTimes-Roof-Bridges-1932">{{cite news |date=March 19, 1932 |title=Rockefeller Centre To Have Roof Bridges |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/03/19/100696666.pdf |access-date=November 11, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="NYSun-Plans-Revised-1931" /> The International Complex, announced in 1931, replaced an earlier plan for an oval retail building;{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=92}}{{sfn|Balfour|1978|p=44}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=59}} its name was derived by the British, French, and Italian tenants who eventually occupied it.{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=87}}{{sfn|International Building Landmark Designation|1985|p=8}}{{sfn|Krinsky|1978|p=69}}

During early planning, the development was often referred to as "Radio City",{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=11}} "Rockefeller City", or "Metropolitan Square" (after the Metropolitan Square Corporation).<ref name="The New York Times 1931">{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/12/21/98091856.pdf|title=Radio City to Bear the Name of Rockefeller; Formal Title Will Be Chosen in a Few Days|date=December 21, 1931|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 11, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ivy Lee, the [[Rockefeller family]]'s publicity adviser, 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.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|page=258}} The name was formally changed in December 1931.<ref name="The New York Times 1931" /> Over time, the appellation of "Radio City" devolved from describing the entire complex to just the complex's western section,{{sfn|Fitch|Waite|1974|p=12}} and by 1937, only the [[Radio City Music Hall]] contained the "Radio City" name.<ref name=SRW-Radio-City-1937>{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252014%2FJamaica%2520NY%2520Long%2520Island%2520Daily%2520Press%2FJamaica%2520NY%2520Long%2520Island%2520Daily%2520Press%25201937%2FJamaica%2520NY%2520Long%2520Island%2520Daily%2520Press%25201937%2520-%25206215.pdf|title=Mystery on Sixth Ave.|last=Miller|first=Moscrip|date=1937|work=[[Screen & Radio Weekly]] |access-date=November 10, 2017|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref>