AT&T Switching Center

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The AT&T Switching Center was built to western Midtown as a New York Telephone Company's tele equipment building.
• Like all the other telecom fortresses, this was designed to withstand considerable nuclear blast and fall-out and be self-sufficient for long periods of time.
• The building was completed with large openings at the top for the various antenna equipment, giving it a belfry-like appearance. Later, new openings have been added, as well as the antenna mast to the top.
• The building's main bulk is clad into striped walls and the tower's western elevation has twin black stripes rising from the bottom to the top.
• The massive building is heavily set-back from Tenth Avenue to a tower on the western side of the plot.
• The 21-storey building (equivalent of 40 "normal" storeys due to the increased height of each floor) is predominantly white, in concrete and white enamel tiling, with black granite.