The Chanin Building (/ˈtʃænɪn/ CHAN-in[a]), also known as 122 East 42nd Street, is a 56-story office skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

[10] Because of the varying widths of the surrounding streets, three separate groups of setbacks were mandated for each elevation of the facade as per the 1916 Zoning Resolution.

[17][18][19] This led critic Matlack Price to write the Chanin Building was "design[ed] in masses rather than in facades".

[20][21] The Chanin Building's massing was inspired by that of Eliel Saarinen's unbuilt proposal for Chicago's Tribune Tower.

[26] The base of the building bears black Belgian marble around the storefront windows, which are each made of plate glass.

[27] Directly above, a bronze frieze depicts scenes of evolution, ranging from simple organisms to more complex animals and plants.

[13][24][28][29] A second terracotta frieze runs the whole length of the lower facade, presenting a dramatic collection of angular zigzags and curvy leaves.

The fourth story is faced with ornate terracotta panels depicting plants, evoking the stylized forms common in the Art Deco style.

[13][33] These lights, meant to highlight the details of the building, were characteristic of the Art Deco style;[32] on cloudless nights, they could be seen from more than 40 miles (64 km) away.

[13][30][37] The bronze ornamentation continues in the waves on the floor, mailboxes, and elevator doors, extending the general Art Deco style from the outside inward.

[41] The floors above were originally the offices of the Chanin Organization, with an Art Deco restroom that a building trade convention's judges referred to as "America's finest bathroom".

[35] Chanin also decorated his offices with wrought brass and iron; etched glass; and several types of marbles, woods, and leathers.

[16] The reception room also contains illuminated panels depicting areas in which Chanin was an active developer, such as bridges, skyscrapers, Broadway theaters, and rapid transit.

[25] The top of the building was used as a transmission site for WQXR-FM starting on December 15, 1941, when it was relocated from Long Island City in Queens.

[4][19] Irwin Chanin was an American architect and real estate developer who designed several Art Deco towers and Broadway theaters.

[2] They then built and operated a number of theaters and other structures related to the entertainment industry, including the Roxy Theatre and the Hotel Lincoln.

[2][52][53][54] Chanin believed the area around Grand Central Terminal had potential for growth because of the construction of hotels and apartment buildings at Tudor City, Sutton Place, and Lexington and Park Avenues.

[19][57][58] The Chanin brothers initially planned to erect a bulky square 45-story tower designed by Rouse & Goldstone.

[64] The erection of the frame was not without problems: in one incident, the boom of a construction derrick fell from the 20th floor, nearly splitting a truck in half, though no one was injured or killed.

[65] The steelwork was completed by that June,[63] and as was tradition at the time, two gold rivets for the Chanin Building were driven into the frame on July 2 to mark this event.

[69] Initially, the lobby space was occupied by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's bus terminal, ticket offices, and waiting rooms.

[10] In addition, the Sterling National Bank took up much of the mezzanine space on the Lexington Avenue side,[73] and a self-service and table-service restaurant opened in the basement.

[76] In subsequent years, the Chanin Building continued to attract tenants such as Guest Keen and Nettlefolds,[77] a Howard Johnson's restaurant,[78] and the Barry Goldwater 1964 presidential campaign's New York state headquarters.

[80] Despite this success, the Chanin Building faced some issues: its owners, along with those of the Nelson Tower and Century Apartments, were charged with real estate tax fraud in 1974.

[85][86] Modern tenants include Apple Bank,[87] of which Stahl was the only stockholder,[88] as well as the International Rescue Committee, which had moved to the building in 1994.

"[20][90] A promotional brochure, with artwork by Hugh Ferriss, described the Chanin Building as the "mise en scène for the romantic drama of American business.

"[23] Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said that the Chanin Building was "one of the pre-eminent pieces of American Art Deco—a gracefully ornamented, 56-story slab".

[91] The fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City, published in 2010, characterized the Chanin Building as being "classic style, rather than stylish ephemera.