Profile

Popularly known as "30 Rock," the GE Building is the tallest, grandest and most dazzling of the Rockefeller Center buildings. The landmark emanates a futuristic, larger-than-life grace, despite its bulky limestone base, which garnered another nickname: "The Slab." The 70-story Art Deco building was originally constructed for the Radio Corporation of America in 1933, and was exceptionally modern for its time, with a contemporary open lobby and even escalators connecting the ground floor to lower level shops. As was customary in the 1930s, the Rockefellers hired a philosopher to provide guidance to commissioned artists—the entire Rockefeller complex features over 100 pieces of original art, and some of the best are at 30 Rock. Lee Lawrie’s sculptural relief over the plaza-side entrance is typically allegorical, depicting a fierce Zeus in limestone and glass. The message sculpted below, "Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the Stability of thy times" is an excerpt from the Biblical book of Isaiah. The lobby's original mural, designed and painted by Diego Rivera and depicting Lenin as a worker’s leader, was removed and replaced by a painting depicting Abe Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other less controversial figures. The old observatory atop 30 Rockefeller Center—a major attraction that was closed in 1986 to create room for the expanded Rainbow Room—reopened in 2005 with floor-to-ceiling windows and a special express elevator to the 67th floor. — Steffani Jemison

Dozens of NBC programs are produced at TV Studios in the GE Building, including NBC Nightly News, Dateline, NBC Sports, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The Today Show is produced accross the street at 10 Rockefeller Center.

Tours
Tours of Rockefeller Center are offered daily between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Sundays). Call 212-664-7174 to reserve tickets ($18.50) in advance. Tours depart every half-hour Monday through Thurday and every 15 minutes Friday through Sunday, from the NBC Experience Store at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.