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

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Advocates are pushing the city to preserve the Art Deco-style lobby of a Hell's Kitchen building that they fear could be gutted during an upcoming renovation.

The McGraw-Hill Building, an iconic blue-green tower on West 42nd Street, has long been a treasured spot for architecture lovers. Its lobby, a glossy space clad in colorful strips of steel separated by gold tubes, is a big reason why— completed by the architect Raymond Hood in the 1930s, it is considered a shining example of Streamline Moderne design.

Now, though, the building's owner has enlisted an architectural firm to renovate the building's facade and storefronts, and an early rendering has fueled fears that the lobby's distinctive elements would be wiped away.

"The ball is in the Landmarks Commission’s court," said Theodore Grunewald, a preservationist who filed an emergency request to the city commission, asking them to designate the building's lobby as a historic landmark to prevent it from being altered.

An LPC spokesperson confirmed Friday that they had received Grunewald's request, which he said amounted to a "200-page scholarly document." But time is of the essence: some demolition permits are already on file, and scheduling a hearing about the lobby may be the only way to halt the process.

"It’s essential that they act quickly," Grunewald said.

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

The building itself is already a designated landmark, but its interior has been left unprotected. At an LPC hearing last week, commissioners unanimously signed off on the proposed renovations, but appeared surprised when preservationists pleaded with them to save the lobby and suggested they might support such efforts, Curbed reported.

The Art Deco Society of New York has also launched a petition asking for landmarking, which had gained more than 2,200 signatures by Friday.

"LPC will carefully review the materials submitted," LPC spokesperson Anthony Fabre said in a statement.

MdeAS, the architecture firm, claims that its plans will not destroy the lobby, telling Curbed that preservationists had misunderstood the designs. The firm has not offered specifics about those plans, however, and removed images from its website that appeared to show most of the ornate details being removed. (MdeAS did not respond to Patch's request for comment.)

Grunewald said he was "pessimistic" that the preservation push would ultimately succeed, citing a failed 2018 effort to stop demolition of the AT&T Building lobby on Madison Avenue. Still, he hopes the LPC will consider the emergency request.

"They can’t screw this up," he said. "This is too important."

#EMERGENCYHISTORICPRESERVATIONALERT@ArtDecoSocNY now has a petition online calling upon @NYCLandmarks to extend legal protection to the lobby of Raymond Hood's 1931 #McGrawHill Bldg.

Please urge the LPC to schedule a designation hearing without delay!https://t.co/yi3SoOZx3a pic.twitter.com/hwsFT0KDKL
— Theodore — Six — Feet — Apart — Grunewald (@TedGrunewald) February 11, 2021