Replicating this iconic photograph for Instagram may soon be easier than ever.
Real estate investment company Tishman Speyer Properties, which has been directing Rockefeller Center’s redevelopment since 1996, has proposed a slate of new features for 30 Rockefeller Plaza’s Top of the Rock observation deck, 6sqft first reported.
The proposed additions include a rotating ride allowing visitors to re-create the famed 1932 photograph “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,” in which 11 ironworkers casually eat their lunches while sitting high above the city on a steel beam. Unlike the workers of yore, ride visitors will be strapped in and raised up by machine, in the name of taking a photo. Other proposals include a new 70th-floor viewing platform called the “Top of the Top” and a giant glowing orb or “kinetic globe…beacon.”
“With these changes, we’re looking to tell the story of Rockefeller Center in a new way that will bring people back to discover what Rockefeller Center symbolizes: a beacon in the city, a place with incredible history, a place that is of the city, and that provides this beautiful and unique perspective on this city,” Tishman Speyer managing director EB Kelly said at an August Manhattan Community Board 5 meeting, according to 6sqft. The firm laid out their proposed changes to the landmarked building in a 109-page presentation titled “Top of the Rock Enhancements.”
The Board recommended the proposal for approval. On Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote on it.
In addition to the roof deck “enhancements,” the presentation also proposes changes to the ground and mezzanine level, including updating the lobby’s lighting and expanding the Top of the Rock ticketing entry area.
The proposals come on the heels of a number of roof deck updates at 30 Rock-competing tourist attractions, including Midtown development One Vanderbilt’s new glass “Ascent” ride, Hudson Yards’ 100th-floor observation deck, opened last year, and the Chrysler Building’s in-the-works new observation deck.
