THE New York Daily News has been published since 1919. I am no longer a daily reader, but I reveled in its sports section in the 1960s and 1970s, with the likes of Dick Young, Phil Pepe, Red Foley and later on, Mike Lupica and on the political side, Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. The Daily News offices are now at 4 New York Plaza near Battery Park, but the paper occupied this Art Deco tower at 220 East 42nd Street near Grand Central Terminal from 1930 through 1995, designated a NYC Landmark in 1981. It was commissioned by Daily News founder Captain Joseph Patterson and designed by Raymond Hood.
Building interiors were used to substitute for the Daily Planet in the first (and best) Superman movie from 1978. The globe, one of the largest in NYC, is iconic.
Of particular interest (to me at least) is the three-story bas relief showing everyday people and the inscription “He made so many of them.” This is from an unattributed quote by Abraham Lincoln: “God must love the common people, because he made so many of them.” The News began as a tabloid, New York City’s first, and from the beginning was contrasted with the larger and more difficult to read broadsheets, with their multiple columns consisting of nine-point type. Folding such papers while standing on busy commuter trains became a rite of passage for office workers; now, most people read newspapers of choice on small handheld devices like my IPhone, and many newsstands don’t carry newspapers at all!
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4/30/22
13 comments
Took a tour of their printing press in 71.The linotype operators made lead type
of our names but they wouldnt work when we got them home cuz you have to use
special ink,not stamp pad ink.A lot of those guys went to Printing Trades high school
to be lithographers.i remember when they switched to the Coloroto process and boy
did that make the funny papers pop out
Something I just adore about New York, is, for example, 202 E 42nd St. It houses the “Sandwicherie of New York”. I’m guessing the building is 1890’s or so, but its just tucked in between these massive towers refusing to be razed. Reminds me of Bugs Bunny’s rabbit hole doing the same thing.
As a kid in the early 70s my parents used to take me there to see Santa Claus just before Christmas. There was a lavish set of the North Pole complete with elves taking up much of the lobby. The next day, the Daily News printed the names of all the visitors who came that day on a special page which was a big thrill. Ok, it was fine print but still.
One of my shop classes at Montauk JHS Brooklyn in 1960 was Printing. We were taught how to take the individual type characters out of the big wooden California Job case and arrange them in the composing tray. Quite labor intensive. Midway through to course the teacher asked if any of our relatives were in the printers union. It turned out that the union was so exclusive than only a relative of a member could join, and he would only write a letter of recommendation if you were eligible. Then came the newspaper strike of 1962 – and the union was broken (and I missed out on all the Xmas tips from my paper route)!
Just want to add that the Daily News Bldg has also been the HQ for WPIX TV (channel 11) since 1948.
That must be where “Officer” Joe Bolton hosted his Three Stooges and Little Rascals shows from in the 50’s. In the 60’s, WPIX would broadcast a Yule Log burning in glorious “Black & White” on Xmas Eve. I hope it didn’t smoke up the building too much!
There was also ‘Captain’ Allen Swift, host of the Popeye Show (1956-1960).
BTW, his real name was Ira Stadlen. His son is comic/character actor Lewis J. Stadlen.
Next on board at WPIX was Cap’n Jack McCarthy who hosted the Popeye Show for many years. “Three bells and all is well.”, he would announce every afternoon. He also hosted the NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade from 1949 to 1989.
Does the Daily News still use this building or did they sell all of their office space the day they left for 4 NY Plaza?
They were on W 33 for many years.
Kevin, maybe you and your readers might remember a weekly article in the Daily News Color section in the late 50’s into the mid 60’s called New York’s Changing Scene. After the comics of course, it was my favorite go to on Sunday.
The Daily News doesn’t even inhabit New York anymore. A couple years ago they shook off their lease downtown and moved offices to their Jersey City printing plant. Now the shrunken paper – printing soon to be outsourced to Gannett in Bergen County – is truly New Jersey’s Hometown Newspaper
I used to work at 221 West 41 Street in the mid 80s. In a weird twist of fate, the “back” entrance there, being at 220 West 42 Street was the complement address to the Daily News building.