INTRODUCTORY 



THE many problems encountered and successfully solved in the designing and 

 construction of the Singer Building have attracted such world-wide attention, and 

 so many requests for information concerning the building have been received, 

 that the publication of a history of its conception, progress and completion was decided 

 upon to meet the popular demand for a work of this character. 



The material for this book has been furnished by the architect, engineers and con- 

 tractors who were engaged on the work, and as every detail has been carefully checked and 

 verified, the information given may be relied upon as being correct. 



The narrative follows the architect and contractors through each successive step of 

 planning and construction to the time when the new structure was finished and ready 

 for occupancy. Unusual interest has been aroused by the Singer Building, not alone by 

 its height, but because the Tower idea is an entirely new type of office building construction. 

 While the completed building is a monument to the genius of the architect who conceived 

 the plans, and the skill of the artisans who conceived and executed them, yet back of these 

 stands the Singer Company, whose initiative and business acumen made it possible for the 

 architect to put his plans into material form. 



Located in the heart of the financial and wholesale districts of the city, at a point almost 



equally distant from the upper end of Manhattan and the lower end of 



Queens Borough, and in close proximity to subway and elevated stations, 



as well as to many lines of surface cars, the Singer Building is readily accessible from every 



part of the Greater City. 



In the equipment of the building no expense was spared in providing every approved 

 modern device for the comfort, convenience and safety of tenants. The Tower rises high 

 above neighboring buildings, and is set well back from the street line. Thus offices on 

 the thirty-three floors above the fourteen-story basic structure are remarkably free from 

 the noise and dust arising from street traffic. 



Tenants of the upper floors have the advantage of a most magnificent view, unimpeded 

 by the walls of adjoining buildings. The Hudson, the East and the North Rivers, con- 

 stituting the magnificent harbor of New York, flow only a few blocks away, affording an 

 ever-changing panoramic view, while the Jersey Coast, Long Island, Staten Island, Governors 

 Island, the Statue of Liberty, and many other places and objects of interest are distinctly 

 visible. 



Tenants of the Singer Building, in addition to the unusual advantages afforded from 

 a business and sanitary standpoint, enjoy the distinction of having offices in a building which 

 has an international reputation and which is the most widely known office structure in the 

 world. 



