60 Hudson Street

Coordinates: 40°43′03″N 74°00′31″W / 40.717593°N 74.00854°W / 40.717593; -74.00854

View of 60 Hudson Street from One World Observatory
The top of the building as seen from Chambers Street

60 Hudson Street, formerly known as the Western Union Building, is a telecommunications building spanning the entire block between Hudson Street, Thomas Street, Worth Street, and West Broadway in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1928-30 and was designed by Ralph Walker of the firm of Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker as the headquarters of the Western Union Company, a purpose it served until 1973. The building contained offices, an auditorium, cafeteria and gymnasium, classrooms so messengers could continue their education, shops and equipment rooms, along with 70 million feet of cable.[1][2][3]

The design of the building shows the influence of German Expressionism, while the detailing is Art Deco. The exterior brick moves from darker shades to lighter ones as the building rises, passing through 19 different colors as it does. Both the interior and exterior of the building, which is now one of the most important Internet hubs in the world[4] were designated New York City landmarks in 1991.[2][5]

Internet hub

During the heyday of the telegraph, the Western Union Building was a premier nexus of worldwide communications. Since Western Union moved its headquarters to New Jersey, the building has been converted into a colocation centre where over 100 telecommunications companies have offices and can interchange Internet traffic through a meet-me-room and individual fiber optic lines. It is once again a premier nexus of worldwide communications.[6] The room is on the 9th floor in a 15,000 square foot area that is powered by a 10,000 Amp DC power plant.[4] In 2012 equipment for algorithmic trading was installed in buildings close to this one in order to conduct trades microseconds more quickly than in Wall Street a mile away.[7]

In 2006, a New York City panel approved the storage of nearly 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of diesel fuel on six floors of the building, part of some 80,000 gallons (300,000 liters) of fuel oil stored in the building. Community opposition had been raised regarding concerns that the presence of the fuel oil posed a fire hazard that could result in a catastrophic failure of the building, similar to what had happened to 7 World Trade Center, which collapsed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.[8]

Gallery

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 60 Hudson Street, Retired Western Union Employees Association. Accessed October 13, 2007.
  2. 1 2 New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Postal, Matthew A. (ed. and text); Dolkart, Andrew S. (text). (2009) Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, p.36
  3. ↑ THE WESTERN UNION BUILDING, NYC Architecture. Accessed October 13, 2007.
  4. 1 2 "One of the Most Important Internet Hubs in the World Is in Manhattan". Gizmodo.com. 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  5. ↑ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5., p.62
  6. ↑ 60 Hudson St. Meet-Me-Room, Fibernet. Accessed October 13, 2007.
  7. ↑ Kevin Slavin: How Algorithms shape our world
  8. ↑ Cave, Damien. "Waiver Upheld on Location of Fuel Tanks in TriBeCa Building", The New York Times, October 18, 2006. Accessed October 13, 2007.

Bibliography

External links

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