Looking Down at 10271, NYC

Here’s another view looking out the window of 40 Wall Street, this time of the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway. The tower houses the Downtown Alliance and was the largest office building in the world from 1915 until the 1931 opening of the Empire State Building. Today, the Equitable Building is one of 43 in the city with its own zip code, 10271.

When 120 Broadway opened, its volume and verticality caused an uproar because the tower blocked so much sunlight from surrounding streets. A year later, the city adopted a zoning resolution requiring setbacks after a certain height. In this photo, you can clearly see the dark shadow shrouding narrow Pine Street along the building’s south side. The Alliance has called the building home since 1995 and we are big fans.