Rockefeller Center Ice Rink Photograph by John Telfer

193

545

258

Rockefeller Center Ice Rink

by John Telfer

Canvas Print

$75

Framed Print

$84

Art Print

$28

Poster

$28

Metal Print

$81

Acrylic Print

$89

Wood Print

$61

Tapestry

$41

Throw Pillow

$25

Fleece Blanket

$48

Duvet Cover

$99

Shower Curtain

$68

Bath Towel

$35

Ornament

$9.50

Jigsaw Puzzle

$38

Tote Bag

$26

Weekender Tote Bag

$43

Zip Pouch

$25

Portable Battery Charger

$47

Yoga Mat

$60

Greeting Card

$8.90

Spiral Notebook

$15

Sticker

$3.50

iPhone Case

$27

Beach Towel

$35

Round Beach Towel

$70

Weekender Tote Bag

$43

Coffee Mug

$14

Men's Clothing

$26

Women's Clothing

$26

Youth Clothing

$22

Toddler Clothing

$20

Baby Clothing

$24

Title

Rockefeller Center Ice Rink

Artist

John Telfer

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

FAA WATERCOLOR MARK DOES NOT APPEAR ON FINAL SALES
While in New York City during the holidays in 2011 I took a walk around the city in November and was on the opposite side of the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink. Looked around and saw a piece of stone and stood up on it so I could see across the street without being blocked by the cars and attached my zoom lens so I could get a nice focus view of skaters skating around on the Rockefeller Ice Rink on this gorgeous day in November. Took several photos but wanted to make sure one of them had everything, skaters, the statue and the people on the highter deck looking down at the skaters on the rink. This photo was the one that captured all three of those elements. Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it from 1930. Rockefeller initially planned a syndicate to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Metropolitan's continual delays to hold out for a more favorable lease, causing Rockefeller to move forward without them. Rockefeller stated "It was clear that there were only two courses open to me. One was to abandon the entire development. The other to go forward with it in the definite knowledge that I myself would have to build it and finance it alone."[5] He took on the enormous project as the sole financier, on a 27-year lease[6] (with the option for three 21-year renewals for a total of 87 years) for the site from Columbia; negotiating a line of credit with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and covering ongoing expenses through the sale of oil company stock. The initial cost of acquiring the space and razing some of the building and construction of new building was an estimated $250,000,000 dollars; a staggering sum in 1930.[7]
It was the largest private building project ever undertaken in modern times.[8] Construction of the 14 buildings in the Art Deco style (without the original opera house proposal) began on May 17, 1930 and was completed in 1939. Principal builder, and "managing agent", for the massive project was John R. Todd and principal architect was Raymond Hood, working with and leading three architectural firms, on a team that included a young Wallace Harrison, later to become the family's principal architect and adviser to Nelson Rockefeller. The construction of the project employed over 40,000 people.[9]
It was the public relations pioneer Ivy Lee, the prominent adviser to the family, who first suggested the name "Rockefeller Center" for the complex, in 1931. Rockefeller, Jr., initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants.[10]
What could have become a major controversy in the mid-1930s concerned the last of the four European buildings that remained unnamed. Attempts were made by Ivy Lee and others to rent out the space to German commercial concerns and name it the Deutsches Haus. Rockefeller ruled this out after being advised of Hitler's Nazi march toward World War II, and thus the empty office site became the International Building North.[11]
This subsequently became the primary location of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence, British Security Coordination (BSC) during the War, with Room 3603 becoming the principal operations center for Allied intelligence, organized by William Stephenson, as well as the office of the future head of what was later to become the Central Intelligence Agency, Allen Welsh Dulles.[12]
The Center is a combination of two building complexes: the older and original 14 Art Deco office buildings from the 1930s, and a set of four International-style towers built along the west side of Avenue of the Americas during the 1960s and 1970s (plus the Lehman Brothers Building). (The Time-Life Building, McGraw-Hill and News Corporation/Fox News Channel headquarters are part of the Rockefeller Center extension now owned/managed by the major private real estate firm, Rockefeller Group.)
In 1985, Columbia University sold the land beneath Rockefeller Center to the Rockefeller Group for 400 million dollars.[13] The entire Rockefeller Center complex was purchased by Mitsubishi Estate, a real estate company of the Mitsubishi Group, in 1989, which fully bought out Rockefeller Group. In 2000, the current owner Jerry Speyer (a close friend of David Rockefeller), of Tishman Speyer Properties, L.P., together with the Lester Crown family of Chicago, bought for $1.85 billion the older 14 buildings and land from the previous syndicated owners: Goldman Sachs (which had 50 percent ownership), Gianni Agnelli, Stavros Niarchos, and David Rockefeller, who organized the syndicate in 1996 and is historically associated with the other partners.
Featured 8/19/12 Beauty of the World
Featured 9/11/12 Lets All Participate
Featured 12/11/12 The Photographers Cafe
Featured 6/2/13 Photography From Around The World
Featured 12/28/14 New York-New York
Featured 2/9/15 Landscape and Landmark Photography
Featured 12/3/15 New York Sunsets Sunrises Landscapes and Iconic Places
Featured 11/11/18 ABC Group
Featured 3/3/19 No Place Like Home
Featured 4/24/20 The Road To Self Promotion
Featured 2/4/22 100 Favorite Group