Lights, Camera, WALK: A Night Walking Guide to the Most Spectacular Lighting Designs of New York City
Back to Main Page

P1: One Columbus Place Towers - 400 W. 59th St.
P2: Time Warner Center - Columbus Circle and 59th St., Lighting: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
P3: Bloomberg Tower - Lexington Ave. and 58th St., Lighting: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
Photography: David Sundberg/Esto
P4: Cityspire - 150–156 W. 56th St., Lighting: Cosentini Lighting
P5: Four Seasons Hotel - 57 East 57th St. between Madison and Park Avenues, Lighting: Fisher Marantz Stone
P6: Marc NY - 8th Ave. between 53rd and 54th St.
P7: Credit Lyonnais Building - 6th Ave.between 52nd and 53rd St.
P8: Paramount Plaza - 1633 Broadway
P9: 1 Worldwide Plaza - 825 8th Ave., Lighting: HLDC Lighting Design
P10: GE Building - 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Lighting: Abe Feder (orig)
P11: W NY–Times Square - 1567 Broadway at 47th St., Lighting: Focus Lighting
P12: One Astor Plaza - 1515 Broadway at 44th St, Lighting: Douglas Leigh Organization
P13: Paramount Building - 1501 Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets, Lighting: Ann Kale Associates Inc
P14: Chrysler Building - 405 Lexington and 42nd St., Lighting: WA DiGiacomo Associates (orig)
P15: New York Times Headquarters Exterior - 8th Ave. and 40th St., Lighting: Office for Visual Interaction (exterior and lobby)
Challenging the popular perception of power-wasting floodlights, the soaring 850’ façade is lit with only 250-watt metal halides. The nighttime illumination conserves energy by using light in a deliberate, measured manner - calibrated in a precise gradient for each façade, brightest at the base and tapering to a soft glow at the summit. This gives the tower a sensation of soaring lightness and the visual impression of achieving light levels comparable to its Times Square neighbors, while using less energy. Painted taxi-cab yellow, the custom-designed clusters of exterior luminaires integrate precisely with architectural modulation and detailing.
Supply efficiencies are achieved by design-engineering the entire base building, interior and exterior, to use a total of only twelve different lamp types – all by the same lamp manufacturer. This radically simplifies maintenance and ensures the long-term endurance of the lighting scheme.
Exterior and Lobby Lighting: Office for Visual Interaction, Jean Sundin and Enrique Peiniger
Photography: Frieder Blickle
P16: Bank of America Tower - 6th Ave. and 42nd St., Lighting: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
P17: Conde Nast Bldg.- 4 Times Square at 42nd St., Lighting: Fisher Marantz Stone
P18: 3 Park Avenue - Park Ave. between 33rd and 34th St.
P19: The Empire State Building - 5th Ave. and 34th St., Lighting: Douglas Leigh Organization (orig)
P20: The New Yorker Hotel Sign - 481 Eighth Ave. and 34th St.
P21: 1 Penn Plaza Sign - 250 W 34th St. and 8th Ave.
P22: The Epic - 125 W. 31st St.
P23: New York Life Insurance Company - 51 Madison Avenue at East 27th St., Lighting: Douglas Leigh Organization
P24: Metropolitan Life Building - 1 Madison at 24th St., Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
2004 Lumen Citation
The first priority in redesigning this 1909 historic landmark's exterior lighting was to honor its classic nature by bathing its facades in flattering light. Restoration included refurbishing of the lantern atop the building, lighting the new gold leafed dome, floodlighting eighteen stories and converting the luminous clock to color-changing fiberoptic.
Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Architect: Building Conservation Associates, Inc.
Owner: MetLife
P25: Zeckendorf Towers - Broadway and 14th St.
P26: ConEdison Clock Tower - 4 Irving Place, Lighting: Peter Jacobson and Philips/Color Kinetics
Guide Links:
Main Page - Uptown - MidTown - The Villages - Downtown - Skyline Panorama / Towers