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The Rainbow Room Is Now Officially A New York Landmark
By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 16, 2012
Modified Oct 16, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 16, 2012
Modified Oct 16, 2012
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This has been a good month for New York's late, lamented restaurants. First the Tavern on the Green's new operators signed on the dotted line to take over the de-Crystal Roomed Central Park standby. And today the Landmark's Preservation Commission voted to make the interior of the shuttered Rainbow Room the 115th landmarked interior in town. And unlike, say, the East Village Historic District, this one seems like a no-brainer to us. Now to get New Yorkers back up there!
Despite concerns that a 1980s renovation of the "Streamlined Modern" Art Deco restaurant high above Rockefeller Center might stop the space from being landmarked the Commission went with it unanimously. "The Rainbow Room came to epitomize New York City glamor," commission chairman Robert Tierney said in a statement. "It retains not only many of its original characteristics, but also several generations’ worth of memories."
The original Rainbow Room, with its famous dancefloor in the sky, was designed by Rockefeller Center architect Wallace Harrison with the help of decorator Elena Bachman and set designer Vincent Manelli and was updated in the 80s by Hugh Hardy. And it really is a gorgeous space that deserves to be seen by New Yorkers. So now the building's owner, Tishman Speyer, has to do is get a real restaurant in there. C'mon guys, do it! This place just radiates glamour.
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landmarks
LPC
rainbow room
rockafeller center
Garth Johnston
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