| 1740 Broadway | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of 1740 Broadway | |
| Former names | Mutual of New York Building |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 40°45′54″N73°58′54″W / 40.765063°N 73.981649°W /40.765063; -73.981649 |
| Completed | 1950 |
| Owner | EQ Office |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 514 ft (157 m) |
| Roof | 375 ft (114 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 26 |
| Floor area | approx. 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2) |
| Lifts/elevators | 14 (13 passenger, 1 freight) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates |
1740 Broadway (formerly theMONY Building orMutual of New York Building) is a 26-story building on the east side ofBroadway, between55th and56th Streets, in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City.[1] The building is owned byEQ Office and shares acity block with thePark Central Hotel.
Mutual of New York built the structure in 1950 for its corporate headquarters and hiredShreve, Lamb and Harmon as architects. It left the building after being acquired byAxa.[2] The building was completely renovated in 2007.[1] Blackstone bought the building in 2014[3] and took out a $200 million loan. In 2024, Yellowstone Real Estate bought the building's loan and considered converting the structure to residential use.[4][5]
Its most famous attribute was once asign at the top of itsfaçade whichadvertised forMutual of New York, the structure's original owner. The first version spelled out the entire name, with the first letter of each of the words in it (MONY) being redneon lighting which was twice the size of the rest. It was in this form that the sign served as both the inspiration forTommy James and the Shondells' 1968hit single "Mony Mony" and as amotif inMidnight Cowboy. The subsequent version was thecorporate logo, which was theinsurance company'sacronym with adollar sign inside the "O."[6][7]
TheMONY sign was removed by Vornado in December 2007, and replaced with "1740" to reflect itsstreet address. The numerals,8+1⁄2 feet (2.6 meters) tall and inFutura typeface, are illuminated at night bylight-emitting diodes.[7]
Perched on the roof is the Weather Star, a 150-foot (46 m) tower of lights topped with a star-shapedweather beacon which was built byArtkraft Strauss. The star was green if the following day'sweather forecast wasfair, orange for cloudy, flashing orange for rain, and flashing white for snow. The direction the lights on the tower moved depended on whether the temperatures were expected to rise or fall; absence of movement meant no change. The Weather Star is still operable, but is no longer used for meteorological forecasting purposes. An electronic digital board with four sides that has always shown the time and temperature is located at the base of the tower.[7]
