Coming soon to midtown Manhattan – the battle of the observation decks, a faceoff between the famed tourist draw atop the Empire State Building and a fancy Art Deco deck at Rockefeller Center that’s been closed for 17 years.
And to mix it up further, the new owner of another famous landmark, the General Motors Building, is thinking about opening an observation center on the roof of his skyscraper.
Rock Center landlord Tishman Speyer Properties plans to reopen the decks on the 69th and 70th floors of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The tower, housing the studios of NBC, overlooks the skating rink at the landmarked office complex.
“We think we will be able to compete with the Empire State Building,” said Robert J. Speyer, who’s in charge of the renovation. “We have a strategic advantage because we have a tourist base that already comes to Rockefeller Center.”
Speyer plans to restore the observation sites to their original beauty and add modern safety features like a transparent glass railing through which photos can be taken. Originally opened in 1933, the levels were built to look like the decks of cruise ships, and even had deck chairs.
Word of Speyer’s plans provoked a feisty response from owners of the Empire State Building, whose 86th-floor observation deck drew 3.4 million visitors last year.
“Should the Rock Center observatory reopen, it will provide an excellent opportunity to view the world’s greatest building, the Empire State Building,” said a spokesman for the property. “Because of its substantially lower height and less central location, Rock Center will not offer a view anywhere near comparable to the one from the Empire State Building’s observatory.”
The Empire State Building also is threatened by possible competition from Harry Macklowe, who recently bought the GM Building for $1.4 billon. Sources said an observation deck is on his list of new ways to generate revenue at the building at 767 Fifth Ave., which has stellar views of Central Park across the street.
As for Rock Center’s decks, they, too, have killer views of Central Park, plus the Hudson River, Times Square and the Chrysler Building. The landlord expects they’ll make money.
“This is a smart business proposition,” Speyer said.
By LORE CROGHAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
New York Daily News
Copyright www.nydailynews.com