Landmarks Preservation Commission September 21, 2004, Designation List 356 LP- 2144 (Former) LONG ISLAND HEADQUARTERS of the NEW YORK TELEPHONE COMPANY 97-105 Willoughby Street (aka 349-371 Bridge Street, and 7 Metrotech Center), Brooklyn. Built 1929-30; Ralph Walker of Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker, architect. Landmark Site: Borough of Brooklyn Tax Map Block 2058, Lot 1. On June 15, 2004, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the (Former) Long Island Headquarters of the New York Telephone Company building and its related Landmark Site (Item No. 1).The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. There were two speakers in favor of designation, including a representative of the owner of the building, Verizon New York Inc., and a representative of the Historic Districts Council. The Commission has also received a letter of support from Councilman David Yassky. There were no speakers opposed to designation. Summary The Long Island Headquarters of the New York Telephone Company, built in 1929-30, is a masterful example of the series of tall structures issuing from architect Ralph Walker=s long and productive association with the communications industry. Walker was a prominent New York architect whose expressive tall buildings, prolific writings and professional leadership made him one of the foremost representatives of his field during his long life. In this dramatically-massed, orange brick skyscraper, Walker illustrates his exceptional ability to apply the Art Deco style to a large office tower. Its abstract, metal ornament on the ground story display windows and the main entrance on Bridge Street, suggests constant movement, and is typical of the art of late 1920s. The structure is faced with multiple sizes of brick, laid in a variety of patterns and planes to create a rich façade design. Horizontal panels of patterned brick enhance each setback leading to the central tower. At the same time, the verticality of the structure is emphasised by narrow sections of façade that soar upward, above others, and by the way the brick is laid to create undulating vertical planes suggestive of draperies. Through his series of telephone company buildings, many of Walker=s design ideas evolved so that here he achieved a tremendous sense of harmony and refinement in his use of brick and metalwork, as well as in the overall massing. The location of this large, important structure in downtown Brooklyn emphasized the commitment of New York Telephone Company to the growth and advancement of the most modern telephone service to the expanding area of Brooklyn and Long Island. In this Long Island Headquarters Building Walker was able to apply the Art Deco style and create a skyscraper which met the technological needs of the client and the demands of the New York City Building Code. 1 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS New York Telephone Companyi Alexander Graham Bell=s invention of the telephone in 1876 and his patents on transmitting equipment led to the incorporation of the Bell Telephone Company in 1877 in Massachusetts. The introduction of Bell=s machine at the Centennial Exhibition created interest and awareness of the new system, convincing the original investors of the value of the revolutionary technology. From the outset, the company decided to lease rather than sell the telephone instruments to protect its patent rights. Originally, the telephone system connected users by a single line from one point to another. The limitations of this arrangement quickly became clear, and led to the introduction, in 1878, of the telephone switch and central exchange (or switchboard with operators).ii With this arrangement, local telephones within a service area were connected at the exchange to all others served by the same provider, and through them, were eventually able to connect with other exchanges to provide unlimited service. At the same time, the New England Telephone Company was founded to construct, maintain and lease telephones, call bells and telephone lines in that part of the country. Several other small, independent operators started their own local exchanges using leased equipment from the Bell Company and paying monthly fees to subscribe to their exchange. As the system expanded, it became obvious that it would be more useful and economical if everyone used the same types of exchanges so that they could interact, thus preventing a duplication of effort. The Bell Company furthered this process by licensing local exchanges and leasing equipment to them, but leaving the ownership and management up to local operators. These exchanges reached into all cities in the United States within a few years. In 1878, under pressure of competition from the larger Western Union Company, the Bell Telephone Company reorganized with the New England Telephone Company to form the National Bell Company. Other Bell subsidiary companies were established throughout the United States to run telephone lines and maintain exchanges, and in 1882 the Chicago-based manufacturing firm, Western Electric, was acquired by National Bell to provide telephone equipment exclusively to the Bell subsidiaries. Two of the earliest local providers were the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company (founded in 1878 with a central switching office in Manhattan and 271 subscribers) and the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company (founded in 1883). By 1885, another division, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was formed as a subsidiary of the National Bell Company, with a specific mandate to build and operate a long distance network, a process that required a different technological system as well as the cooperation of the various local exchanges. A further reorganization at the end of 1899 resulted in the New York-based American Telephone and Telegraph Company becoming the parent company of the Bell system, increasing its control of the Bell operating companies and other more independent exchanges throughout the country.iii Beginning in 1907, under A T & T, the engineering department was consolidated with Western Electric and the Long Lines Department was restructured. The many regional service providers were grouped according to larger geographical areas, and in 1909, the six companies then serving the New York metropolitan area were consolidated as the New York Telephone Company. This arrangement endured until the court-mandated divestiture in 1984, when the company became NYNEX, then Bell Atlantic New York Inc., then finally Verizon New York Inc., which continues to provide telephone service to the area today. Telephone Growth in Brooklyn and Long Island Brooklyn grew rapidly in the late nineteenth century, and by 1900 its population reached 1.1 million. During the early years of the twentieth century, local businesses as well as rapid transit also expanded, enabling the increasing population to move into vast sections of Brooklyn previously used only as farms. As residential districts spread beyond the core into the more rural and less expensive areas of Long Island, the market for telephone service grew exponentially. The New York and New Jersey Telephone Company, which had been founded to bring telephone service to all of Long Island, as well as New Jersey and Staten Island, extended its service to the furthest reaches of Long Island.iv By the early years of the twentieth century, the company had central switching offices (some with automatic switching systems) as far east as Lawrence and Far Rockaway, with others in Richmond Hill, Flushing and in the Nassau County Courthouse.v The New York and New Jersey Telephone Company ceased to exist after the reorganization of AT&T in 1909. At that time service areas were reconfigured to align more closely with state lines. All service to New York and Long Island was taken over by the New York Telephone Company, while New Jersey received its telephone service from New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. The service provided by the New York 2 Telephone Company continued to expand as the population rose and its need for telephones grew. The boom years of the 1920s created a huge expansion and the New York Telephone Company wanted to move its Long Island Headquarters from 81 Willoughby Street to a larger facility. For their new building, the company turned to architect Ralph Walker, who had already designed several related structures in Manhattan. Ralph Walker and the Firm of Voorhees, Gmelin & Walkervi In 1919, when Ralph Walker joined the architectural firm where he was to make his name, it was known as McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin. This firm had been established in 1910 with the partnership of Andrew McKenzie (1861-1926), Stephen Voorhees (1878-1965), and Paul Gmelin (1859-1937). McKenzie had previously been in partnership with Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz (from 1902 until 1909), son of renowned New York architect Leopold Eidlitz. Voorhees was a civil engineer trained at Princeton University, who had worked for Eidlitz & McKenzie as an engineer and superintendent of construction. German-born and trained Paul Gmelin had worked previously for McKim, Mead & White, and Babb, Cook & Willard before joining with McKenzie and Voorhees to form the new firm. McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin (1910-1925) did a considerable amount of work for the New York Telephone Company, an association that had begun with the designs of two downtown telephone company buildings by their predecessor Cyrus Eidlitz (1885-86 and 1890). The first structure that McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin, with Cyrus Eidlitz, designed for the telephone company was the original section of the Long Distance Building at 32 Sixth Avenue (1911-14, enlarged in 1914-16, enlarged again, with new facades in 1930-32, a designated New York City Landmark). By 1912, the firm (under its various partnerships) had completed approximately thirty new telephone buildings in New York City alone (in addition to alterations and expansions).vii McKenzie, Voorhees, & Gmelin also designed other telephone company buildings in Albany and Buffalo, the Brooklyn Edison Company Building, and the Brooklyn Municipal Building (1924-27) as well as a number of private residences.