Editing Rockefeller Center (section)

=== 1970s and 1980s ===
[[File:RockefellerLandmark.JPG|thumb|Rockefeller Center's landmark plaque]]
600 Fifth Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza received renovations in the early 1970s. Unlike in the rest of the complex, where different components were renovated one at a time to avoid disturbing tenants, the two structures were renovated all at once because their space was largely vacant.<ref name="Horsley 1973">{{cite web|last=Horsley|first=Carter B.|title=Two Buildings Get A Major Overhaul At Rockefeller Center|website=The New York Times|date=April 8, 1973|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/08/archives/two-buildings-get-a-major-overhaul-at-rockefeller-center-2.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref> Rockefeller Center Inc. renewed their lease on the complex in 1973.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kaiser|first=Charles|title=The Truth Is, Columbia Owns Rockefeller Center Buildings, Too|website=The New York Times|date=March 21, 1976|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/21/archives/the-truth-is-columbia-owns-rockefeller-center-buildings-too.html|access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref>

Through the 1960s, the Music Hall was successful regardless of the status of the city's economic, business, or entertainment sectors as a whole.  However, by the early 1970s, the proliferation of closed-captioned foreign movies had reduced attendance at the Music Hall. The first round of staff and performer firings began in 1972.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=429}} By January 1978, the Music Hall was in debt,<ref name="Oelsner 1978">{{cite web|last=Oelsner|first=Lesley|title=Efforts to Save-Music Hall Started|website=The New York Times|date=January 7, 1978|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/07/archives/efforts-to-save-music-hall-started-public-and-private-efforts-to.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Ferretti 1978">{{cite web|last=Ferretti|first=Fred|title=Agreement Reached on Radio City Tower|website=The New York Times|date=April 7, 1978|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/07/archives/agreement-reached-on-radio-city-tower-rentals-from-the-20story.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref> and the hall's annual attendance had declined to 1.5 million visitors,{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=430}} down from 5 million in 1968.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shepard|first=Richard F.|title=Music Hall to Be Restored|website=The New York Times|date=April 19, 1979|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/19/archives/music-hall-to-be-restored-new-show-format-set-restoration-to-start.html|access-date=December 12, 2017}}</ref> Officials stated that it could not remain open after April.<ref name="Oelsner 1978" /> A [[grassroots lobbying|grassroots]] campaign formed the [[Showpeople's Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Grantz|first1=Roberta B.|last2=Cook|first2=Joy|title=Music Hall: Krupsak blames regime for woes|work=New York Post|page=8|date=March 14, 1978}}</ref> After several weeks of lobbying, the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) designated the theater as an interior city landmark in March,<ref>{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Edwin|title=Interior of Music Hall Designated As Landmark Despite Objections|website=The New York Times|date=March 29, 1978|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/29/archives/interior-of-music-hall-designated-as-landmark-despite-objections.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref> followed by a [[National Register of Historic Places]] listing in May.<ref>{{cite news|title=Radio City In National Register|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/13/archives/radio-city-in-national-register.html|work=The New York Times|date=May 13, 1978|access-date=November 23, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> The hall was set to close on April 12,<ref>{{cite web|last=Clines|first=Francis X.|title=About New York|website=The New York Times|date=March 1, 1978|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/01/archives/about-new-york-rockettes-alive-and-kicking-as-music-halls-end-nears.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref> but five days before the planned closing date, the [[Empire State Development Corporation]] voted to create a nonprofit subsidiary to lease the Music Hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Agreement With U.D.C. Keeps Music Hall Open Indefinitely|website=The New York Times|date=April 13, 1978|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/13/archives/agreement-with-udc-keeps-music-hall-open-indefinitely.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref>

A ''New York Times'' report in 1982 stated that Rockefeller Center had been popular among tenants from its inception, being almost fully rented for much of the first half-century of its existence.<ref name="Prial 1982"/> The major exception was in the 1970s, when it was only 85&nbsp;percent rented.<ref name="Prial 1982"/><ref name="Stern (2006) p. 576"/> However, Rockefeller Center was not popular as an entertainment complex, having been used for mainly commercial purposes through its history.<ref name="Prial 1982">{{cite web|last=Prial|first=Frank J.|title=22 Acres Of Real Estate That Generate Millions|website=The New York Times|date=June 17, 1982|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/17/nyregion/22-acres-of-real-estate-that-generate-millions.html|access-date=November 23, 2017}}</ref> The LPC held hearings in 1983 to determine how much of Rockefeller Center should be protected as a landmark.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lake |first=Katharine |date=April 18, 1983 |title=Rockefeller Center landmarking proposed |page=106 |work=New York Daily News|via=newspapers.com  |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567070/rockefeller-center-landmarking/ |access-date=March 13, 2022}}</ref> The Rockefeller family and Columbia University acknowledged that the buildings were already symbolically landmarks, but their spokesman [[John E. Zuccotti]] recommended that only a small section (including the RCA Building, Lower Plaza, and Channel Gardens) should be protected. By contrast, almost everyone else who supported Rockefeller Center's landmark status recommended that the entire complex be landmarked.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=September 21, 1983|title=Rockefeller Center: a 'Jewel' but Is All of It a Landmark?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/21/nyregion/rockefeller-center-a-jewel-but-is-all-of-it-a-landmark.html|access-date=February 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wiener |first=Caryn Eve |date=September 21, 1983 |title=6-Block Landmark Viewed as Too Costly |page=25 |work=Newsday|via=newspapers.com  |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567027/6-block-landmark-viewed-as-too/ |access-date=March 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Stern (2006) p. 576">{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=576}}</ref> The LPC granted landmark status to the exteriors of all of the original complex's buildings, as well as the interiors of the International Building's and 30 Rockefeller Plaza's lobbies, on April 23, 1985.<ref name="Stern (2006) p. 576"/>{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=426}}{{sfn|Adams|1985|pp=270–271}} In its approval of the complex's landmark status, the commission wrote, "Rockefeller Center ranks among the grandest architectural projects ever undertaken in the United States".{{sfn|Adams|1985|p=269}} The buildings became a [[National Historic Landmark]] two years later.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv">{{harvnb|ps=.|Pitts|1987}}</ref><ref name="nrhpphotos">{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=87002591|photos=y}}| title=Rockefeller Center&nbsp;– Accompanying photos, c.1933 to c.1986| date=January 23, 1987| publisher=National Park Service| access-date=March 6, 2014}}</ref> The [[United States Department of the Interior]] wrote in its report that the center was "one of the most successful urban planning projects in the history of American architecture".{{sfn|Pitts|1987|p=3}}{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=427}}

Columbia University was not making enough money from Rockefeller Center leases by the 1970s, since a series of negotiations with Rockefeller Center Inc. (now Rockefeller Group) had effectively reduced the annual lease payment to $11 million. The university's funds had dwindled so much that by 1972, their expenses were paid for by their endowment fund.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=428}}  In 1983, Columbia University started looking to sell the land beneath Rockefeller Center.<ref name="Dowd 1985"/> Two years later, Columbia agreed to sell the land to the Rockefeller Group for $400 million.<ref name="Dowd 1985">{{cite news|last=Dowd|first=Maureen|title=Columbia Is To Get $400 Million In Rockefeller Center Land Sale|work=The New York Times|date=February 6, 1985|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/06/nyregion/colombia-is-to-get-400-million-in-rockefeller-center-land-sale.html|access-date=December 11, 2017}}</ref> The Rockefeller Group immediately set out to modernize many aspects of the complex.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=431}} The Rainbow Room was closed for a $20 million restoration and expansion that brought the restaurant's floor area to {{convert|4500|sqft|m2}},<ref>{{cite news|last=Giovannini|first=Joseph|title=Rainbow Room: Re-creating the Glamour|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/07/style/rainbow-room-re-creating-the-glamour.html|access-date=November 3, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 7, 1987}}</ref> and it reopened in December 1987.<ref>{{Cite news|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/20/arts/architecture-view-the-new-rainbow-room-s-wonderful.html|title=Architecture View; The New Rainbow Room: S'Wonderful!|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=December 20, 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 9, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> The RCA Building's observation deck was subsequently closed because the Rainbow Room's expansion eliminated the only passageway to the observatory's elevator bank.<ref name="NYTimes-RCA-Summit-1986">{{Cite news|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/18/nyregion/a-quiet-place-at-rca-s-summit-drifts-onto-the-pages-of-the-past.html|title=A Quiet Place at Rca's Summit Drifts Onto the Pages of the Past|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=June 18, 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 7, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> In mid-1988, the RCA Building was renamed the GE Building.<ref name="Stern (2006) p. 578"/><ref name="Hevesi">{{cite news|last=Hevesi|first=Dennis|title=30 Rock? RCA? NBC? No, G.E.!|work=The New York Times|date=July 14, 1988|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/14/nyregion/30-rock-rca-nbc-no-ge.html|access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref> [[Mitsubishi Estate Co.|Mitsubishi Estate]], a real estate company of the [[Mitsubishi|Mitsubishi Group]], purchased the Rockefeller Group in 1989.<ref name="Stern (2006) p. 578">{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=578}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Cole|first=Robert J.|title=Japanese Buy New York Cachet With Deal for Rockefeller Center|work=The New York Times|date=October 31, 1989|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/31/business/japanese-buy-new-york-cachet-with-deal-for-rockefeller-center.html|access-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref>