Airlines Terminal Building

New York, NY - Franny Wentzel - Sunday, July 19th, 2009 : goo

[previous] :: [next]

From 1904 to 1908 the 22 storey Belmont Hotel stood on 42nd across from Grand Central Terminal.

In the late 1920s plans were made to construct an 85 storey skyscraper but the stock market crash and subsequent depression resulted only in an empty lot.

In order to pay taxes on the property against the day the economy picked up it was contrived to take advantage of the central location to constuct a city terminal for airlines serving New York City.

The Airlines Terminal was constructed in 1939 with the idea that you could buy your ticket in town and ride in comfort on a dedicated bus to the LaGuardia or Newark airports. The service lasted till some time in the 1960s or 1970s and the building was finally demolished in the early 1980s to be replaced by the Phillip Morris building.

Some details...

The ornate crown of stylised eagles - note also the curious ripple pattern where the Belmont used to abutt the Lincoln Tower.

Various urban infrastructure including...

a sidewalk cargo lift, sanitation man with pushcart and the tail of a rather curious looking motorcar. The canopy top makes it look like some sort of summer tour bus.

Store fronts - left is the Airlines Café Bar - best I can make out on the right is "Less Shop for Men"

Grand Lobby with map of the world - airlines served here include...

American Airlines
Eastern Air Lines
Transcontinental & Western Air
United Air Lnes
and Pan American Airways System

The Airlines News Theater - before the days of televison you had to get your visual fix of the days events by schlepping down to a newsreel theater.

There were several in NYC including one in the same building as Radio City Music Hall that survives today as a standard movie theater.

This article has been viewed 1736 times in the last 10 months

jack: i remember the airlines terminal.

Stephen: Anyone know of any other photos of this gem?

Stephen: Anyone know of any other photos of this gem?

Comment on this article..

[previous] :: [next]