ABC Phase II / Barbara Walters Building — 47 West 66th Street
Joseph helped build a piece of American television history that became the Barbara Walters Building — and then watched, in the archive's longer New York cycle, as it disappeared for another generation of development.
From Rita’s list
No building photograph is currently assigned.
Why this project matters
- Project identity
- Verified
- Kelly connection
- Family source
- Masonry scope
- Strong
Rita’s list
Transcription: ABC - 47 West 66 Street — 1984
Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record
KM-171
2 of two
“ABC - 47 West 66 Street — 1984”
KPF's ABC Phase II building at 47 West 66th Street dates to 1985. ABC named it for Barbara Walters in 2014; the building was demolished in 2025–26 as Extell cleared the former ABC/Disney campus.
A rare complete New York lifecycle in one family job: build a state-of-the-art television facility, watch it become a cultural landmark, then see it demolished roughly four decades later for a new Upper West Side development cycle.
What Kelly did here
Family source
Strong
Project-specific material evidence now confirms a rose-colored brick, glass and granite exterior. Kelly's most plausible package is brick masonry and associated backup/CMU, but the granite and glazing should remain separate until contract records identify the trades.
This scope is recorded as strong, 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.
The construction team
- 01Architect
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
What happened to it
Demolished / redevelopment site
The former ABC campus is being redeveloped by Extell. In April 2026, plans were filed for an 86-story residential tower of nearly 1,200 feet with 430 apartments at 80 West 67th Street on the former campus.
Sources
4 citedOpen →
- 01nyc.gov
26 30 West 67th Street
- 02worldradiohistory.com
BC 1986 08 25
- 03usmodernist.org
A 1990 12
- 04abcnews.com
abc news headquarters named for barbara walters
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