General Electric Building

Manhattan, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The General Electric Building, a 50-story Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1931 at the southwestern corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, was designed by the firm Cross & Cross. Originally commissioned for RCA (then a General Electric subsidiary) and initially known as the RCA Victor Building, the structure was conveyed to GE as part of a property settlement when RCA relocated during construction. The building's distinctive 640-foot-tall octagonal brick tower features elaborate Art Deco ornaments—particularly stylized lightning bolts symbolizing electrical power—and a crown of Gothic tracery representing electricity and radio waves. Its design harmonizes with the adjacent Byzantine dome of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church through matching brick coloring and terracotta decoration. A signature corner clock above the main entrance bears the cursive GE logo flanked by silver disembodied arms grasping bolts of electricity. General Electric maintained its headquarters here from 1933 to 1974 and owned the building until donating it to Columbia University in 1993. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1985 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Architect

John Walter Cross Cross & Cross

Movement

Art Deco architecture

Built: 1931
Type: skyscraper, office building
Heritage: New York State Register of Historic Places listed place, New York City Landmark
Height: 195 m
Place: Manhattan, United States

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Location

40.75722, -73.97250