[8] Within the New York City area, McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin designed numerous other buildings for AT&T or its affiliates during the same time span.

[9] Though setbacks in New York City skyscrapers were mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution in order to allow light and air to reach the streets below, they later became a defining feature of the Art Deco style.

[16] By contrast, the West Broadway elevation, which is perpendicular to both Thomas and Worth Streets, is symmetrical, with the top floors behind a central slab.

The office space, conversely, was placed on the exterior walls, so 60 Hudson Street did not require light courts that were as extensive as in nearby buildings.

[9] A brick facade was used for 60 Hudson Street and for Walker's other communications buildings, since he preferred the material for its texture and its flexibility in color combinations.

[18] The use of brick was likely influenced by Dutch and German Expressionism,[12][19] as well as Walker's preference for "unity and harmony", his dislike of terracotta-on-brick ornamentation, and his observation that stone could change color within a short time.

The other archways on Hudson Street include storefronts on the ground level, and curtain-shaped windows with vertical muntins on the second story.

The remaining bays on Thomas Street contain rectangular windows or ventilation grates, which are set between brick piers.

[26] When he designed the Barclay-Vesey Building, Walker had believed that it should serve "as a machine which had definite functions to perform for the benefit of its occupants.

In contrast to the complex stone designs of his previous commissions, the ornamental program at 60 Hudson Street is more subdued and exclusively uses brick.

[25][31] Extending off this corridor are two elevator banks, one on each side, as well as numerous additional doorways to service areas, stairwells, and the storefronts at each of the building's four corners.

Also on the south side is a telephone alcove; an entrance to the lobby outside the building's former auditorium; and a passageway to the former cafeteria,[29] Small vestibules separate the main corridor from Hudson Street and West Broadway.

This space contains plaster on the upper portions of its walls, as well as an arched ceiling supported by octagonal brick piers.

[33][34] Many elements of the facade were also used in the lobby, such as the brick reliefs and chevrons; curtain-shaped thresholds and doorways; use of bronze trim; and the mailboxes and doors, which are designed in a style reminiscent of the exterior setbacks.

[28][37] This reinforced 60 Hudson Street's role as "the heart of a nerve system of wires and cables reaching to every corner of the nation and the world.

[8] Simultaneously, work proceeded on 24 Walker Street, a shared-operations building erected five blocks north on the current 32 Avenue of the Americas site in 1911–1914.

[45] Under the tenure of Western Union president Newcomb Carlton, the company's operations grew and its equipment was upgraded to modern standards.

[6][28] That November, Western Union acquired three more buildings, thereby obtaining about 75 percent of the land on the city block bounded by West Broadway and Worth, Hudson, and Thomas Streets.

[52] Newcomb Carlton, president of Western Union, announced on October 4, 1927, that the company had completed plans for a 15-story edifice on the block, which he said would be the world's largest telegraph building.

[67][68] By late 1971, Western Union had indicated its intention to move corporate offices to New Jersey, although it would retain nearly 3,000 workers at 60 Hudson Street.

[69] Western Union moved its headquarters to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, in 1973 and continued to occupy much of 60 Hudson Street.

[72] 60 Hudson Street remained a major telecommunications hub, as the wires of six long-distance communications providers converged under the building.

[73] After Western Union left, 60 Hudson Street was converted into a colocation center and grew into one of the most important internet hubs in the world.

[74] Hundreds of telecommunications companies interconnect their respective internet networks (known as peering) as well as conventional TDM traffic through numerous meet-me rooms and optical and electrical lines placed throughout the building.

[78] Various data centers including Epsilon, Digital Realty, and DataBank house internet and telecommunications providers for the purpose of collocating high capacity transport equipment used to terminate traffic both inbound and outbound with each other.

Community opposition had been raised regarding concerns that the presence of the fuel oil posed a fire hazard that could result in a catastrophic failure of the building.

[89] In early 2022, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure announced that it would acquire the building's owner, DataGryd, whose sole property was 60 Hudson Street.

[14] Critic Paul T. Frankl stated that designs like that of 60 Hudson Street were effective, comparing them to "brick tapestries hung from the sky".

[12][92] Architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern described the interlocking slabs of the massing as fulfilling "Hugh Ferriss's poetic conceit of the tall building as a manmade mountain".

[14] Writing for The New York Times in 1982, Paul Goldberger described 60 Hudson Street as "fine Art Deco building [...] which powerfully closes the vista from Duane Park to the north.