33 Thomas Street
Encyclopedia
The former AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas Street is a 550 feet (167.5 meter) tall skyscraper
in the Borough of Manhattan
, New York
, United States
. It stands on the east side of Church Street
, between Thomas and Worth Streets, in the Civic Center
neighborhood of New York City
. The building is an extreme example of the Brutalist
architectural style, with no windows and a flat concrete slab facade.
The building is a telephone exchange
or wire center building which contains three major 4ESS switch
es used for interexchange
(long distance) telephony
, two owned by AT&T
and one owned by Verizon. It also contains a number of other switches used for Competitive local exchange carrier
(CLEC) services, but is not used for Incumbent local exchange carrier
(ILEC) services, and is not a central office. The CLLI code
for this facility is: NYCMNYBW.
and completed in 1974. As it was built to house telephone switching equipment, the average floor height is 18 feet (5.5 meters), considerably taller than in an average high-rise. The floors are also unusually strong, designed to carry 200 to 300 pound per square foot (10 - 15 kPa) live loads.
The exterior walls are precast concrete panels clad with pink-colored Swedish granite
faces. There are six large protrusions from the rectangular base which house air ducts, stairs and elevators. There is a series of large, protruding ventilation openings on the 10th and 29th floors. William H. Whyte
claimed that it features the tallest blank wall in the world.
It is often described as one of the most secure buildings in America, and was designed to be self-sufficient and protected from nuclear fallout
for up to two weeks after a nuclear blast. Its style has been generally praised, with the New York Times saying it is a rare building of its type in Manhattan that "makes sense architecturally" and that it "blends into its surroundings more gracefully" than any other skyscraper nearby.
The location was previously the site of cast-iron buildings, typical of the area, the façades of which were preserved prior to demolition. The building was a core part of the AT&T Long Lines Department, housing solid-state
switching equipment which required a high level of security and space. The Long Lines Department became AT&T Communications in 1984, after the Bell System divestiture
. The AT&T Long Lines Building is now commonly known by its street address, 33 Thomas St., like many major New York City commercial buildings.
AT&T gradually transitioned switches and other facilities from their former AT&T Long Lines headquarters building at 32 Avenue of the Americas
, just a few blocks away, completing the move by 1999. 33 Thomas is still used for telephone switching, but some of the space is also used as highly secure datacenter space.
On September 17, 1991, management failure, power equipment failure, and human error combined to completely disable AT&T's central office switch at 33 Thomas. As a result, over 5 million calls were blocked, and Federal Aviation Administration
private lines were also interrupted, disrupting air traffic control
to 398 airports serving most of the northeastern United States. Because the building was designed to be self-sufficient, AT&T had a load shedding agreement with the electric utility
, Consolidated Edison
, where they would voluntarily switch from utility power to on-site generators on request. This was a routine procedure that had been performed successfully in the past, but on this occasion, it went horribly wrong. After switching power sources, standard procedure was to check all the equipment power supplies, known as DC plants, for problems. But due to scheduled training, the check was not performed, and one plant went on battery backup. The alarms were not detected until it was too late to maintain uninterrupted power.
After the destruction of the World Trade Center
in the September 11, 2001 attacks
, AT&T Local Services restored lost facilities they acquired from the former Teleport Communications Group
based there, to 33 Thomas and 811 10th Avenue.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in the Borough of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It stands on the east side of Church Street
Church Street (Manhattan)
Church Street is a short but heavily travelled north/south street in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs along the eastern edge of the site of the World Trade Center destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Its southern end is at Trinity Place, of which it is a continuation...
, between Thomas and Worth Streets, in the Civic Center
Civic Center, Manhattan
Civic Center is a neighborhood in downtown Manhattan covering the area around New York City Hall. It is bounded on the west by Broadway, on the north by Chinatown, on the east by the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge, and on the south by the Financial District.As in other civic centers, it is the...
neighborhood of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The building is an extreme example of the Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
architectural style, with no windows and a flat concrete slab facade.
The building is a telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
or wire center building which contains three major 4ESS switch
4ESS switch
The 4ESS switch is a Class 4 telephone Electronic Switching System that was the first digital electronic toll switch introduced by Western Electric for long distance switching. It was introduced in 1976 in Chicago, Illinois to replace the 4a crossbar switch. The last of 145 in the AT&T network was...
es used for interexchange
Interexchange carrier
An Interexchange Carrier is a U.S. legal and regulatory term for a telecommunications company, commonly called a long-distance telephone company, such as MCI , Sprint and the former AT&T in the United States...
(long distance) telephony
Telephony
In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....
, two owned by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and one owned by Verizon. It also contains a number of other switches used for Competitive local exchange carrier
Competitive local exchange carrier
A competitive local exchange carrier , in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company competing with other, already established carriers ....
(CLEC) services, but is not used for Incumbent local exchange carrier
Incumbent local exchange carrier
An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
(ILEC) services, and is not a central office. The CLLI code
CLLI code
CLLI code is an identifier used within the North American telecommunications industry to specify the location and type of a piece of telecommunications equipment or of a relevant location such as an international border or manhole location...
for this facility is: NYCMNYBW.
Design
The Long Lines Building was designed by architect John Carl WarneckeJohn Carl Warnecke
John Carl Warnecke was an architect based in San Francisco, California, who designed numerous notable monuments and structures in the Modernist, Bauhaus, and other similar styles. He was an early proponent of contextual architecture. Among his more notable buildings and projects are the Hawaii...
and completed in 1974. As it was built to house telephone switching equipment, the average floor height is 18 feet (5.5 meters), considerably taller than in an average high-rise. The floors are also unusually strong, designed to carry 200 to 300 pound per square foot (10 - 15 kPa) live loads.
The exterior walls are precast concrete panels clad with pink-colored Swedish granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
faces. There are six large protrusions from the rectangular base which house air ducts, stairs and elevators. There is a series of large, protruding ventilation openings on the 10th and 29th floors. William H. Whyte
William H. Whyte
William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte was an American urbanist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher.Whyte was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1917 and died in New York City in 1999. An early graduate of St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware, he graduated from Princeton...
claimed that it features the tallest blank wall in the world.
It is often described as one of the most secure buildings in America, and was designed to be self-sufficient and protected from nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
for up to two weeks after a nuclear blast. Its style has been generally praised, with the New York Times saying it is a rare building of its type in Manhattan that "makes sense architecturally" and that it "blends into its surroundings more gracefully" than any other skyscraper nearby.
History
Solid state (electronics)
Solid-state electronics are those circuits or devices built entirely from solid materials and in which the electrons, or other charge carriers, are confined entirely within the solid material...
switching equipment which required a high level of security and space. The Long Lines Department became AT&T Communications in 1984, after the Bell System divestiture
Bell System divestiture
The Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...
. The AT&T Long Lines Building is now commonly known by its street address, 33 Thomas St., like many major New York City commercial buildings.
AT&T gradually transitioned switches and other facilities from their former AT&T Long Lines headquarters building at 32 Avenue of the Americas
32 Avenue of the Americas
32 Avenue of the Americas also known as the AT&T Long Distance Building, is a 27-story landmarked Art Deco skyscraper located in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. The building reaches a height of 549 feet up to its twin spires, and was completed in 1932...
, just a few blocks away, completing the move by 1999. 33 Thomas is still used for telephone switching, but some of the space is also used as highly secure datacenter space.
On September 17, 1991, management failure, power equipment failure, and human error combined to completely disable AT&T's central office switch at 33 Thomas. As a result, over 5 million calls were blocked, and Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
private lines were also interrupted, disrupting air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
to 398 airports serving most of the northeastern United States. Because the building was designed to be self-sufficient, AT&T had a load shedding agreement with the electric utility
Electric utility
An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments,...
, Consolidated Edison
Consolidated Edison
Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $14 billion in annual revenues and $36 billion in assets...
, where they would voluntarily switch from utility power to on-site generators on request. This was a routine procedure that had been performed successfully in the past, but on this occasion, it went horribly wrong. After switching power sources, standard procedure was to check all the equipment power supplies, known as DC plants, for problems. But due to scheduled training, the check was not performed, and one plant went on battery backup. The alarms were not detected until it was too late to maintain uninterrupted power.
After the destruction of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, AT&T Local Services restored lost facilities they acquired from the former Teleport Communications Group
Teleport Communications Group
Teleport Communications Group was the first Competitive local exchange carrier in the U.S.It was formed as Teleport Communications in 1985 by Merrill Lynch as the private sector participant in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's "Teleport Project." The Teleport Project envisioned a...
based there, to 33 Thomas and 811 10th Avenue.