The Intercept reported that the building is a National Security Agency (NSA) mass surveillance hub code-named TITANPOINTE.

The building was a core part of the AT&T Long Lines Department, housing solid-state switching equipment that required tight security and ample space.

More than five million calls were blocked, and the Federal Aviation Administration private lines were also interrupted, disrupting air traffic control to 398 airports serving most of the northeastern United States.

The request was part of a previous load shedding agreement, and the switch had been performed successfully in the past, but on this occasion, it failed.

[8] Its style has been 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.

[9] The exterior walls have no windows (except for the glass in the entrance) and are made from precast concrete panels clad with flame-treated textured Swedish granite faces.

[1] An investigation by The Intercept and the documentary short film Project X by Henrik Moltke and Laura Poitras both identified TITANPOINTE by drawing on the surveillance disclosures of Edward Snowden.