1978Manhattan, New YorkCommercial

New York Telephone Building — 1095 Avenue of the Americas / West 42nd Street

A once-reviled telephone tower whose plaza became famous for teaching New York how to use movable chairs.

Manhattan, NY. Photographed in 2025; a current view, not a construction-period photograph.

Current view · 2025 · Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0 · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity: Very strong
Kelly connection: Family source
Masonry scope: Probable

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: New York Telephone Co. - W. 42 Street — 1978

Transcription: New York Telephone Co. - W. 42 Street — 1978

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-123

Sheet

2 of two

As written

“New York Telephone Co. - W. 42 Street — 1978”

The tower opened in 1974; New York Telephone opened a public retail shop there in 1978.

Why it matters

A near-perfect 'building changes meaning' card: a reviled telecom slab, a surprisingly successful plaza, and a later façade makeover.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Probable

Likely: selective masonry alteration: likely CMU/block partitions and fire-rated walls, infill or enlargement of openings, patching/rebuilding of existing masonry, and localized brick/stone work rather than the building's original structural frame.

This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it