Hell's Kitchen Building's Preservation Battle Set To Resume

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — A battle to preserve what is left of a beloved, art deco-style lobby in a Hell's Kitchen building is set to resume this week, months after the building's owner began ripping out the historic elements.

The McGraw-Hill Building, an iconic blue-green tower on West 42nd Street near Ninth Avenue, became the center of a legal fight this spring when its owner announced plans to renovate its facade and interior. That included plans to gut the building's lobby, a glossy space clad in colorful strips of steel separated by gold tubes, completed by the architect Raymond Hood in the 1930s.

One eye-popping rendering showed the lobby looking unrecognizable, with what critics called an "Apple-Store-Style," minimalist design.

Say farewell to the Streamline lobby of Raymond Hood's McGraw Hill Building, now destined for a gut job courtesy of MdeAS. pic.twitter.com/fKoW7jqW8e
— Lloyd Bergenson (@dieterknickbock) February 9, 2021

Preservationists filed suit, asking a judge to force the building's owners to restore the historic materials. Though State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower declined to issue an order that would have halted the demolition immediately, she let the case proceed.

On Friday, attorneys will return to court for the first time since May. And though some headlines implied in March that the damage is already done, advocates say that's not the case.

Theodore Grunewald, one of the plaintiffs behind the lawsuit, said he has learned in recent months that much of the original horizontally-striped banding — plus other key elements like the chrome doorframes, clock, radiators and emerald-green porcelain panels — remain "in situ" in the lobby, and could be bolted back at any time.

"There is something to preserve," Grunewald told Patch. "Not only is there something intact that's in its original location, but all of the pieces still exist."

While the building's owner, Deco Tower Associates, has already pledged to incorporate some of the original elements in its future design, Grunewald hopes the lawsuit will ultimately force them to the negotiating table, where they could be compelled to bring the lobby closer to its former glory.

"It’s quite possible that if we prevail in our suit, we could compel the owner to basically bolt the lobby back together," he said.

If they succeed, Grunewald and his fellow advocates are planning a second push: to convince the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the McGraw-Hill lobby as a historic landmark. (A previous, rushed effort to landmark the space before demolition began failed this spring — in part because the original, 1930s lobby had been substantially altered in the 1980s.)

Others who joined the push to save the lobby this spring included Community Board 4, the Art Deco Society of New York, and elected officials like State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

Previous coverage: Hell's Kitchen Building's Art Deco Lobby At Risk, Advocates Fear