New York Life Building
skyscraper in New York City
The New York Life Building, also known as 51 Madison, is the headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Company at 51 Madison Avenue in the Rose Hill and NoMad neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. The building, designed by Cass Gilbert, abuts Madison Square Park and occupies an entire city block bounded by Madison Avenue, Park Avenue South, and 26th and 27th Streets.
The New York Life Building was designed with Gothic Revival details similar to Gilbert's previous commissions, including 90 West Street and the Woolworth Building. The tower is 615 feet (187 m) tall (the equivalent of forty stories), consisting of 34 office stories topped by a pyramidal, gilded six-story roof. At the time of the building's construction, many structures were being built in the Art Deco style, and so Gilbert's design incorporated Art Deco influences in its massing while retaining the older-style Gothic Revival detailing. The New York Life Building is distinguished from the skyline by its gilded roof.
The New York Life Building was constructed in 1927–1928 on the site of Madison Square Garden. Upon completion, the New York Life Building was described as being run "like a small city". After World War II, New York Life became especially profitable, and built an annex to the north between 1960 and 1962. Additionally, New York Life completed a series of renovations to the original building during the late 20th century.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “New York Life Building” as skyscraper in New York City. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as skyscraper in New York City. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1499859. Authority coordinates are 40.743, -73.986. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1927, 1928, 1960 and 1962.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “New York Life Building”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow New York Life Building primary sources, New York Life Building archive and York research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “New York Life Building” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.