page_title: Rockefeller Center
section_title: Rockefeller Plaza
hierarchical_section_title: Rockefeller Center / Other architectural elements / Rockefeller Plaza
caption_attribution_description: English: Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, as seen in January 2018
context_page_description: Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, split by a large sunken square and a private street called Rockefeller Plaza. Later additions include 75 Rockefeller Plaza across 51st Street at the north end of Rockefeller Plaza, and four International Style buildings located on the west side of Sixth Avenue.
  In 1928, the site's then-owner, Columbia University, leased the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr., who was the main person behind the complex's construction. Originally envisioned as the site for a new Metropolitan Opera building, the current Rockefeller Center came about after the Met could not afford to move to the proposed new building. Various plans were discussed before the current one was approved in 1932. Construction of Rockefeller Center started in 1931, and the first buildings opened in 1933. The core of the complex was completed by 1939.
  The original center has several sections.
context_section_description: Rockefeller Plaza is a pedestrian street running through the complex, parallel to Fifth and Sixth avenues. This street was also part of the original plans for the Metropolitan Opera, and Benjamin Morris originally intended for the road to stretch from 42nd to 59th streets. Only the 720-foot (220 m) section between 48th and 51st streets was built, and the road was open in its entirety by 1937. The road was given the name "Rockefeller Plaza" in 1933, despite the potential confusion with the Lower Plaza, because it was believed that the "Plaza" in the road's name would emphasize its "spatial unity" with the Lower Plaza and Channel Gardens. The original intention of the street's construction was to enhance the shopping district of Fifth Avenue, to its east, but this never happened, and Rockefeller Plaza now primarily serves as a pedestrian passage that connects all of Rockefeller Center's separate components.
  As with most numbered crosstown streets in Manhattan, Rockefeller Plaza is 30 feet (9.1 m) wide with curbs on either side of an asphalt surface. However, the sidewalks are much wider than on typical streets. In addition, Rockefeller Plaza is supported by a multi-level steel skeleton underneath, which houses the underground mall, storage rooms, and the complex's shipping and loading center. As such, it contains a 14.5 inches (37 cm) layer of waterproofing. The surface of Rockefeller Plaza outside Radio City Music Hall, between 50th and 51st Street, contains small bronze circles for theatergoers to stand on while waiting to enter the hall. Until the 1980s, the plaza contained plaques that affirmed Columbia University's ownership of Rockefeller Center, but these were removed with the 1985 sale of the complex to the Rockefeller Group. Since Rockefeller Plaza is technically a purely private property to which the public is welcome, the plaza is closed for part of one day every year.
caption: Rockefeller Plaza
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