Rockefeller Center

Lean over the sunken plaza: the golden Prometheus, the skyscraper rising behind it and the ring of flags make up one of the most photographed scenes in New York. What you see is a complex planned like a small city, something new in its day.

1A project born from a failure

John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased this land from Columbia University to build a new home for the Metropolitan Opera. The 1929 crash sank that plan, and Rockefeller decided to press ahead on his own with a commercial complex. Between 1931 and 1939, fourteen Art Deco buildings went up, giving work to thousands of people in the depths of the Great Depression.

2Prometheus and the Christmas tree

The gilded bronze Prometheus is the work of Paul Manship and was installed in 1934. On the granite wall behind it, an inscription inspired by Aeschylus recalls how the Titan stole fire to give it to mortals. In winter the plaza becomes an ice rink, open since 1936, and above it stands the famous Christmas tree: the first one was put up by construction workers in 1931.

In 1932, ironworkers eating lunch on a beam high above this complex became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century.

Not everything went smoothly: in 1934 the mural Diego Rivera was painting in the lobby of the main tower was destroyed because it included a portrait of Lenin.

3What to look for

• Prometheus, encircled by the ring of the zodiac.
• The figure of Wisdom above the entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, by Lee Lawrie.
• The Channel Gardens, the promenade sloping down from Fifth Avenue.