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December 5, 1940. "Joseph Mullen Inc., 18 E. 50th Street, New York. View from window." Taking in the spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral and, across Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center's International Building at 45 Rockefeller Plaza. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
On December 5th, 1940, sunset was at 4:29 PM, twilight ended at 4:59 PM. So it very easily could have been still during workday, albeit late, when this shot was taken.
Whether it is Gothic or Deco, they are remarkable as forms of art coexisting and sort of completing each other in their attempt of scraping the night sky.
Whenever I see photos like this of a building with lights on I keep wondering why. Is it just the cleaning staff; workers who forgot to turn off the lights, or even people still at the grind.
Note: at one time GE had an office building in Rockville, MD that somehow used the lighting to heat/cool the building so the lights were always on.
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